The library was warm, but it wasn't a comforting warmth. It was the stifling, pressurized heat of a storm front waiting to break.
I sat in the high-backed leather chair behind the desk. Adrien leaned against the mantle of the fireplace to my right, cleaning his fingernails with a dagger. Lucian stood by the door, arms crossed. Silas and Maelle sat on the sofa, watching like spectators at a gladiator match.
Across from me sat the Council delegation.
Castor looked like he was sitting on thumbtacks. Leandre, the thin man, was sweating, his eyes darting around the room, sensing the heavy iron threads I had woven into the air.
And then there was the woman.
She hadn't introduced herself. She didn't have to. She radiated heat. Her skin was dark and flawless, her hair a coil of tight braids t
