Page 169 of House of Crimson Cloak and Silver Teeth

“Alert the huntsmen!”

Panic floods through me. I try to back away but my legs betray me. They buckle and I collapse at the gate, I’m too exhausted to run even if I wanted to. My legs fold beneath me and I crumple to the ground. Blood pools beneath me, dark against the pale cobblestones.

More guards emerge from the compound. Within seconds I’m surrounded by eight of them. Their spears point inward, creating a fence of steel I can’t escape.

I’m looking at my death, arranged in a perfect circle around me.

There’s a bitter poetry to it. Dying at the gates of the person I once came to kill. Maybe this is justice. I will be put down like a mad dog.

“What’s going on here?”

The voice stops my heart. It’s familiar despite the mask that muffles it.

Shade.

Hope surges painfully in my chest.

He pushes through the circle of guards, demon mask in place and hand resting on his sword hilt. I try to stand but my legs won’t listen. I manage to lift my head, to meet his gaze through the mask’s eye holes.

The demon mask stares down at me, blank and expressionless. I’ve seen him wear it a thousand times but never has it felt so impenetrable.

How do you say ‘it’s me’ when you have no words?

His pale gray eyes study me. I search them desperately for any hint that he sees me. We’ve known each other since we were kids.

I put everything I have into my eyes. Look at me, Shade.

But just like Garrett, there’s no flicker of recognition. Nothing that says he sees past the wolf exterior to what’s trapped underneath.

His gaze is sharp. The same look he gives to threats before eliminating them.

“Strange,” he says in that emotionless voice I know so well. “Wolves don’t usually come this far into the city.”

I whine, the sound pathetic even to my own ears.

You’ve known me for years. You have to know me.

Nothing. Shade stares at me like I’m a beast and nothing more.

“Should we kill it?” one of the guards asks, spear angled for a killing thrust.

Shade tilts his head slightly, considering. “It’s what we would do in Tiamat for rabid animals. Make it quick though.”

Fuck this dense airhead.

Rage flares through the despair. Of all people, Shade should know me. We’ve worked together for years. I’ve saved his life. He’s saved mine. If I could still speak, I’d be screaming at him.

I aim to lunge at that mask and tear it off his face. I want to force him to look at me until he sees the truth. But I can’t move. Even breathing takes an effort as I lie on the ground and wait for the spear.

“Wait.”

A soft voice cuts through the tension. It carries a quiet authority that makes every guard freeze. They part immediately, creating a path for her.

Queen Rhianelle Wiolant of Aelfheim.

She’s wearing a plain dress suitable for early morning in the gardens. Her silver hair is loose, catching the dawn light.

I’ve only seen her from a distance before, but up close she’s even smaller than I expected. She barely comes up to the guards’ shoulders. Her features are delicate and she looks so fragile that I think a strong wind could blow her over. This is the queen I tried to kill. The one Aurora and I stalked through her garden with blades drawn.