The marriage had lasted six days, and in all that time, Audra had never once stepped foot inside her husband’s bedroom. Tonight, she was going to change that because she was fairly certain tonight was the night she would die. “There’s no such thing as curses,” she told herself firmly, her voice echoing in the empty hallway. Except…
what if the curse was real? What if tonight really was her last night on this earth? She stopped in the middle of the corridor, her heart hammering against her ribs. You’re insane, she thought as she inched forward.
You’re not going to die, and you’re not going to visit the King of the entire realm in the middle of the night, no matter how gorgeous he is. You’ve been married to him for less than a week, and he hates you. She turned around, willing herself to go back to her lonely chambers, and stilled. Because if curses weren’t real, why had the King’s six previous brides all died on the seventh night of their marriage to him?
A shiver traveled up her spine. Seven. That was the exact number of nights that had passed since she herself had married him. Six dead queens.
What were the odds of her not becoming the seventh? Their portraits were all hanging right there on the wall, and it felt like their painted eyes were warning her in the flickering torchlight. Hiasin. The first queen.
A pale blonde beauty who had fallen from the castle’s highest tower. An accident, they’d said. Regina. Died of a heart attack in her sleep.
Natural causes, they’d said. Lina. Thrown from her horse. Tragic, they’d said.
Celestine. Drowned in her bath. Marielle. Found dead in the gardens with no visible cause.
And Isolde. Brutally savaged by a boar on a hunting outing. Six queens. Six accidents.
All on the seventh night. Did they know? Audra found herself thinking. On their seventh night, did they lie awake like I did, counting down the hours and berating themselves for marrying the cursed King?
Gods. She’d married the King. Her. A tavern maid.
She still couldn’t wrap her head around that. “I’m here to see my husband,” she told the guards upon reaching his chambers. They exchanged a look. “What?
” Audra asked. “Nothing,” one of them muttered, stepping aside to let her pass. She knew exactly what they were thinking. Not once had she been to her husband’s room since they were married, and for good reasons.
That they had never met before getting married, for example. Or that neither of them had wanted to get married. And there was the small, insignificant matter of the curse. Audra sighed.
There’s no such thing as curses, she told herself again. Except… except if this really would be her last night, if she really was going to die, then she at least intended to live first. And if she was being honest with herself, which she rarely was, there was only one thing she wanted to do with the hours she had left.
Or rather, one person. She took a deep breath, heart thundering, and knocked. At first, nothing. No movement, no sound.
Audra was seconds from turning around, more disappointed than she thought she’d be, when the door opened. King Ender stood in the doorway, shirtless and bathed in moonlight, dark hair tousled from sleep. And at the sight of her, he went unnaturally still, gray eyes fixing on her, pale and wolf-bright in the dark, like a predator deciding whether to move. “Audra,” he said.
“Shush,” she said. “Don’t say anything. ”
Her gaze caught on the sharp line of his cheekbones, the curve of his mouth she’d spent all week trying not to look at. The silence stretched.
There was a warning in the way he stood there, blocking the doorway, in the set of his jaw. The tension coiled through his frame. Her skin prickled the closer she got. “You shouldn’t be here,” he said finally.
She gulped. Standing this close to him, she could feel that strange, faint pulse again, that odd tug pulling her toward him whether she wanted it to or not. It was like standing near a fire. You could feel the heat even without touching the flames.
She couldn’t explain it. Ever since they’d said their vows, she’d felt it. “You believe I’ll be dead by sunrise,” she prompted. “Don’t you?
”
The change in him was immediate. He took a visible step back, horror crossing his features, and turned away. “Audra,” Ender said, his voice rough. “I’m sorry.
”
“Shush,” Audra said again, and stilled. As a King, she thought it was unlikely that many people dared shush him. “If what you believe is true, there’s nothing to be done. In a few hours, I’ll be gone.
”
She took a step toward him and felt that pull intensify, reeling her in. He didn’t turn back to face her, just stood there, rigid, his hands clenched at his sides. The moonlight cast half his face in shadow, making him look almost inhuman. They were strangers, really, bound by vows and a curse and nothing else.
And yet that strange pulse beat between them, insistent as a heartbeat. “I’m here,” she said, taking another step, “because I need you to do me a favor. ”
The King nodded immediately, his voice rough when he finally spoke. “Whatever you—”
She cut him off.
“I need you to take me to bed. ”
If someone had asked Audra what had caused her doom, she would have replied that it was all Gerald’s fault. He’d been the one who’d pursued her relentlessly, showing up at the tavern where she worked every night with gifts she’d later discover had been stolen. He was also the one who’d refused to let up, even after she’d realized he wasn’t just a thief, but also a cheat.
Really, if it weren’t for Gerald, she’d never have ended up married to the cursed King in the first place and facing what might very well be the last night of her life. But Gerald wasn’t here right now. “So, if you think about it,” Audra said, “you can’t really say no, given that this is all your fault. ”
The King’s eyes widened.
“My fault? ” His voice rose slightly. “You’re the one who tricked me into marrying you. ”
“For the last time, I thought that priest was a hoax.
” Audra crossed her arms over her chest. “Besides, you didn’t exactly say no. ”
“I don’t even remember saying yes,” the King protested. “And whose fault was that?
” She tilted her head. “I didn’t force you to drown yourself in liquor in a dodgy tavern. Now, did I? ”
The King rolled his eyes.
“At least you admit the tavern you worked in was dodgy,” he shot back. “And I would never have agreed to anything if I’d been remotely able to think straight. ”
Audra found herself momentarily distracted by the way the moonlight caught the line of his throat, the strong column of it, the way it led down to his collarbones, his chest. Focus, she told herself firmly.
“You know,” Audra said, pushing off from where she’d been leaning against the door frame, “for a man who allegedly killed all six of his wives, you could stand to be a little more careful about who you say yes to. ”
She pushed past him into the room, because technically he still hadn’t actually said no, and she chose to take that as encouraging. Her arm brushed his bare chest as she passed, and that faint pull flared warmer for just a moment. His skin was hot against hers, and she felt him go rigid at the contact.
“I didn’t kill any of them,” the King denied, appalled. “I would never. ”
“Well, your mysterious curse killed them,” she retorted. “Same difference.
”
His face closed off immediately, and Audra realized she’d struck a low blow. “Look, I forgive you,” she said magnanimously. The King turned back around so fast she nearly jumped. “You forgive me?
” he said, affronted. “For letting you manipulate me into marrying you? ”
“Yes. ” Audra nodded solemnly.
She beamed at him, her brightest, most winning smile. “Now stop gawking and come here and ravish me. ”
He stared at her. “You’re mad,” he decided finally.
“That’s what you are. ”
“Probably,” Audra agreed. Under his intense gaze, her confidence wavered a touch. His eyes, gray and unreadable, slowly traveled over her again, down the length of her body and back up, considering, lingering on the curves of her hips, the dip of her waist, the way the fabric clung to her breasts.
For the first time since barging into his room, she became acutely aware of just how thin her nightgown was. Heat crept up her neck and into her cheeks. “What? ” she asked, aiming for defiant and landing somewhere closer to breathless.
“You can’t even grant me one night? ”
The King looked away, breaking the spell. “You’d willingly spend the night with a man rumored to have killed six wives? ” he asked quietly.
She noticed the tension in his shoulders hadn’t eased, and her own irritation softened. “You said it wasn’t you,” Audra said more gently this time. “That it was the curse. ”
The King let out a humorless laugh.
“Maybe I’m the curse. Ever think of that? ”
Audra fell silent. Looking at him now, towering over her, bare-chested and bathed in moonlight, she had a brief moment of doubt.
Had she just accelerated her own death by coming here? Was she the world’s biggest fool? Probably. After all, she’d picked the drunkest man in the tavern to pretend to be her fiancé, part of an absolutely brilliant plan to get Gerald off her back by convincing him she was already spoken for.
Only to discover said drunk was actually the cursed King in disguise, drinking away his sorrows, and that the fake priest she’d bribed to perform a fake ceremony had turned out to be horrifyingly, spectacularly real. Clearly, her judgment was questionable. Nevertheless. “If I’m as good as gone,” Audra said in a soft voice, far more vulnerable than she’d intended, “I’d rather go doing something pleasant.
”
The King raised an eyebrow. When he spoke, his voice was dry as dust. “Pleasant. ”
She cocked an eyebrow.
“Are you saying you’re incapable of pleasing a woman? ”
His mouth opened, then closed. She watched his throat work as he swallowed, watched the way his eyes darkened just a fraction, the gray deepening, storm-cloud dark. “I walked right into that one, didn’t I?
” he said. “You most certainly did,” Audra confirmed. “Now, are you going to continue sulking, or are you going to come here and honor your wife while you’ve still got the chance? ”
For the first time since she’d knocked on his door, he snorted with amusement.
The smile that followed didn’t quite reach his eyes, but it was there nonetheless, a small crack in his armor. “Is that really how you want to spend your last night on this earth? ” he asked. There was sadness beneath the question, raw and unguarded, and it caught her off guard.
Audra’s eyes drifted, entirely of their own accord, to his bare chest, to the defined muscles of his abdomen, to the way his sleep pants hung low on his hips. She wondered what it would feel like to touch him, to run her hands over all that warm skin. “I mean,” she swallowed, “there are worse ways to go. ”
The King sighed, long and resigned, and ran a hand through his already disheveled hair.
Then he took a step toward her. Audra instinctively tensed, her breath catching. The pull between them thrummed louder now, insistent. “What are you doing?
”
He took another step and suddenly he was towering over her, close enough that she could feel the heat radiating off his skin, close enough to see the gray of his eyes warming, gold bleeding into them, bright and involuntary, close enough to catch the scent of him. Wood smoke and night air and male. Her heart skipped a beat, and for a moment neither of them moved. The silence stretched taut between them, electric.
“Well,” his voice had dropped lower, rougher, “you asked for it, didn’t you? ”
Then he cupped her face in both hands, large, warm, calloused, and kissed her. The kiss began as a light press of their mouths, his thumb brushing along her jaw in a feather-like caress that made her shiver. It was softer than she’d expected.
“Is this what you had in mind? ” the King asked quietly against her mouth. Audra was left completely breathless. “Who told you to stop?
” she managed. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Then he kissed her again. This time, she kissed him back.
Her fingers tightened in his hair, and she felt him respond, his grip on her waist firm enough to leave her dizzy. And that was when she first felt it. A thread curling at the edge of her mind, unfamiliar. She frowned against his mouth, chasing it.
Fear. That was the first thing she could name. A low, buried fear that didn’t match the heat of the moment at all. She was frightened herself, so at first she thought it was only her own dread bleeding through.
Then it shifted, and she caught another layer beneath it. Guilt. Heavy and consuming. And Audra felt many things.
But guilt was not one of them. “That isn’t mine,” she thought, bewildered. She pulled back, blinking up at him. “I can feel you,” she said.
He smirked, one eyebrow raised. “Well, these things are rather unavoidable, darling, if we’re going to—”
“No. ” She rolled her eyes. “I mean, I can feel what you feel in here.
” She pressed a hand flat to her own chest. “Like it’s mine, only it isn’t. ”
His smirk faded into a more careful awareness. “Oh.
” He blinked. “Yes. Well, it comes with the mating bond. ”
She stared at him.
“Remember,” he prompted, “the part where you supposedly were only pretending to marry me, but during which a priest bonded us and I made you my mate? ”
She thought back to that chaotic night, the cramped back room of the tavern. “He did say a bit about mates,” she said slowly. She hadn’t understood it then.
She wasn’t sure she understood it now. “Good thing you remember,” the King said dryly, “because I certainly don’t. ”
She might have rolled her eyes, except she was still turning the feeling over. This impossible, intimate thing of having another person’s heart pressed against the inside of her own.
She found she wanted to know more of it. She kissed him and reached for it on purpose. It was like the difference between hearing music through a wall and stepping into the room where it played. Suddenly, he was there.
Not his body, though that too, but him. Everything he felt rushing into her. And what he felt underneath the fear and the sorrow was want. It was nothing like her own.
Hers was a nervous, fluttering thing. His was vast and edged with a restraint so fierce it made her breath catch. He’s being careful with me, she realized. The knowing undid her more than any kiss could have.
She lost track after that of what was hers and what was his. At some point, he lifted her, his hands sure and strong beneath her thighs, and carried her to the bed. At some point, the last of the fabric between them was gone, and the vulnerability that should have terrified her didn’t, because she could feel him. “You’re certain?
” he asked, somewhere against her skin. His hand found hers, fingers lacing through hers and pinning them gently beside her head. “Yes,” she whispered. She had expected…
she wasn’t sure what she’d expected. An act to endure, maybe a curiosity satisfied. Not this. Not the way his mouth mapped every inch of her skin with devastating patience.
Not the way his free hand traced the curve of her waist, or the way he murmured her name when she arched into his touch. She’d thought she would be discovering her own body. Instead, she was discovering him. Who he was, and what she did to him, reflected back through this strange bond.
It was too much, and not enough, all at once. There was nowhere to hide inside a bond. He felt all of it. Her nervousness, her wonder.
The exact moment her fear gave way to an ache so bright and helpless she thought she might shatter from it. She clung to him, her fingers digging into his shoulders. She felt pleasure crest in him the same instant it crested in her. Afterwards, Audra looked at him, hair messy, eyes still dark with lingering desire, and smiled.
“I’m not dead yet,” she said. He looked at her, an unreadable flicker crossing his expression. Then he traced his fingers along her arm, raising goosebumps in their wake. “Do you want to—”
“Yes,” Audra said immediately.
She kissed him again. The second time was different. Now that the first strangeness had passed, she was braver, not just with her hands but with the bond itself. She kept catching his feelings a half second before his face showed them, the flare of want before his breath caught.
This time she learned the sounds he made. The way his breath hitched. The moment when his restraint shattered. The third time, she was the one who reached for him.
She was no longer frightened of any of it. She pushed him onto his back and watched his eyes go dark with want as she took control. Between times, they talked. Small, intimate conversations in the darkness.
Ender told her about his first wife, Hiasin. Audra told him about Gerald, about her father’s debts. They laughed, too. Soft, breathless laughter as they traded kisses and teasing touches, as his hands mapped her skin with a familiarity that should have taken years to build.
And slowly, inexorably, the bond between them strengthened. Audra lay tucked against his side, her head on his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. She’d never felt safer in her life, which, considering that she was supposed to be dying tonight, was absolutely absurd. At least she would die happy.
That had been the whole point of this. Through the bond, she felt that he was physically content, but emotionally devastated. “Hey,” she murmured. A small smile tugged at her lips.
“At least I won’t have to grow old and have sex that can’t possibly hope to compare for the rest of my life. ”
Ender snorted, a soft, sad sound. She stroked his arm gently. “It’s not your fault,” she said quietly.
He stayed silent for a long moment. “Then you like pretending you’re not scared,” he said softly. “But I—”
“I’d rather you pretended too,” she interrupted, “if you don’t mind. ”
He was quiet, considering, then he nodded.
“All right,” he whispered. Ender kissed the top of her head, his arm tightening around her, and against his skin, she murmured, “It was nice knowing you. ”
She meant it. As sleep pulled her under, her final thought was that perhaps one extraordinary night like this was worth more than a lifetime of never knowing what it felt like.
Audra woke to warm sunlight. For a blissful moment, she wondered whether she’d died and gone to heaven. Everything felt perfect. The sunlight streaming through the windows was a kiss of perfection.
The silk sheets were impossibly soft against her bare body. For a few drowsy seconds, she simply basked in it. Then she realized there were arms wrapped around her. A warm body pressed against hers, solid and real, a steady heartbeat beneath her ear.
She slowly turned over and stared at Ender, asleep, holding her. His hair was an absolute mess. Her fault, she remembered with a flutter in her stomach. And there was still a faint red mark on his neck where she’d…
She looked outside at the sunlight streaming through the windows. Looked back at him. Looked at her own hand, flexing her fingers experimentally. The seventh day had passed.
She was still here. Which meant—
“I knew it! ” Audra sat upright triumphantly. “There’s no such thing as curses!
”
The King startled awake, his eyes flying open. She spread her arms dramatically. “Behold, your majesty! It is I, your living, breathing wife!
”
Ender simply stared. Then slowly, very carefully, he reached up and touched her cheek. “But that’s not how—” He seemed unable to form a complete sentence. Audra smiled.
His expression was so hopeful and frightened at the same time that she found it unexpectedly adorable. “Told you there was no curse,” she said. “So, how about—”
She was going to say, “How about we get some breakfast? ” Or perhaps, “How about we get back to what we got up to last night?
” But she didn’t, because suddenly Ender was pulling away, sitting up abruptly. “We have to get the marriage annulled,” he declared. “Today. ”
Audra’s heart sank.
“Wow. Was it really that bad last night? ”
“No, that’s not—” he started. But she interrupted him.
“So the very instant you find out there’s no curse, the first thing you choose to do is get the marriage annulled? ” She pouted. “Not even a congratulations for still being alive, Audra? ”
Ender gave her an incredulous look.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course there’s a curse,” he said. “And for some reason, it spared you. ” He got out of bed, starting to look for clothes.
“But whatever protected you could stop working at any moment, so we have to hurry and—”
Audra interrupted. “Have you considered that there just isn’t a curse? ”
He gave her a look. “And all six of my previous mates just happened to die in unrelated accidents exactly seven days after marrying me?
”
Audra blinked. “Yes. ”
He sighed, found his sleep pants, and pulled them on. Then he turned back to her, reaching for her hand.
“I’m not letting this curse kill you,” he said firmly. “Go get dressed. I’ll wake the council and fetch a priest. This is a miracle, and we cannot waste it.
”
She immediately snatched her hand back. “No. ”
He reached for her again, and she batted him away. “No, Ender.
I refuse to have this marriage annulled. ”
He frowned, genuinely stunned. “Why not? ”
Audra blinked, surprised at how strongly she felt against it.
“Well,” she paused, turning it over. “If I was supposed to die by the rules of the curse, I would be dead already, right? ” She glanced toward him, realized he was still gloriously shirtless, sleep pants hanging low on his hips. She looked away quickly.
“But Audra, you never meant to marry me,” Ender pointed out. “You’ve told me plenty of times. We were drunk. ”
“No.
” She pointed at him. “You were drunk. I was trying to convince my ex that he had to give up on me. ”
“Well, now he has,” Ender said.
“So please, can we—”
She suddenly thought of Gerald. His smug face. His persistence. The way he’d show up at the tavern night after night, ignoring every rejection.
“No, he hasn’t,” she sat up straighter. “The second he hears you’ve dumped me, he’ll be right back on my doorstep. ”
“There,” she thought, pleased. A perfectly valid reason which made complete sense as to why she wanted to remain married to Ender.
Though the latter didn’t seem to think so, given the deadpan look he was sending her. “I’m the King,” he said. “I can exile the man to the far ends of the earth if I want. ”
She blinked.
“Really? You’d do that? ”
“Of course,” Ender said, like this was even a question. “Now, can we please get the marriage annulled before the curse catches up?
”
Audra folded her arms. “No,” she glowered. She felt upset. The trouble was, she wasn’t exactly sure why.
Probably because he was being needlessly paranoid. Yes, that made sense. “I don’t believe in your stupid curse,” she said. “And besides,” she gestured around the lavish bedroom, “I quite like it here.
”
Ender stared. “You quite like it here? ”
Audra nodded emphatically, proud of her latest valid reason. “This time last week I was a barmaid struggling to pay for a room.
Today I’m a queen sleeping in silk. What do you think? ”
Ender rubbed his forehead, looking genuinely frustrated. “This is ridiculous.
I’ll give you an estate, servants, money, anything. Now please, let’s stop wasting time before the curse—”
He was interrupted. A maid walked in carrying fresh linens. She froze.
Stared at Audra, sitting in the King’s bed, very much alive and very obviously having spent the night. Her mouth opened. “No,” Ender said, voice rising. “Please don’t.
”
“The Queen lives! ” the maid exclaimed. Another maid appeared in the doorway, then the guards. Then more servants drawn by the commotion.
Within minutes, the room was chaos. “The Queen is alive! ” came a cry. “It’s a miracle!
” shouted someone else. “The curse is broken! Perhaps she’s carrying an heir already! ”
Ender hastily yanked the bed sheets higher over both of them, looking absolutely horrified.
“No, no, no! ” he protested. “It’s not what it looks like! She’s definitely not pregnant!
”
Audra blinked at him innocently. “How would you know, your majesty? ” she countered. “I mean, you were rather enthusiastic last night.
”
Ender’s face fell while she smiled sweetly, adding, “All six times. ”
The council members who’d now gathered inside erupted. “A miracle! ” they crowed.
“The royal line is saved! ” Someone cheered. “The Queen must be protected at all costs! ”
Through the bond, Audra felt Ender’s emotions shift from panic to something darker, heavier.
Despair. He looked at her, and she saw it written plainly on his face. He was convinced that she’d just sealed her own death sentence, and there was nothing he could do to stop it now. A few days later, Audra was still getting used to being treated like royalty.
Nobles had been sending gifts non-stop since word spread that she’d survived the seventh day. Many came to pay their respects in person, bowing so low she worried they’d topple over. Just two weeks ago, these same people would have treated her like furniture. She’d been serving drinks, enduring snapped fingers and impatient demands.
Now she got curtsies and serene addresses. Lord Redford was finishing his elaborate speech about the miracle of her survival while she opened yet another gift box. Chocolates. She popped another into her mouth, closing her eyes in bliss.
“Let this never end,” she murmured. The doors burst open. “This must end now,” Ender said, striding in. Without even looking up, Audra reached for another chocolate.
“You heard your counsel. We must never divorce. ”
She shrugged. Ender started pacing.
He looked terrible. Pale and tense, dark circles under his eyes like he hadn’t slept properly in days. “They’re a bunch of idiots if they think you’re safe,” he growled dismissively. “I am safe.
”
“You’re not. ” He interrupted, running a hand through his hair. “How do you not see that, Audra? ”
She blinked.
The last time he’d called her Audra had been in bed a few nights ago, whispering it against her skin. Heat crept up her neck. “You need to relax,” she said. “You’re going to give yourself a stroke.
”
“I’m not the one in danger. ”
He walked over, wearily, knelt beside her chair, and gently took her hand. “Please. You have to listen to me.
” His eyes met hers, desperate and exhausted. She sighed, setting down the chocolate box. “I understand you’re genuinely worried, but I’m alive, Ender—” She immediately cleared her throat when she saw his eyes widen. “I mean, your majesty.
”
He looked away. “You may call me Ender,” he said quietly after a pause. Their eyes met, and Audra felt something warm unfurl in her chest. “Does that mean I can stay?
” She smiled. At her suggestion, he immediately let go of her hand. “No. ” He snapped, standing up abruptly.
She pouted. “You think because you’ve been spared, you’re safe,” Ender said. “Clearly everyone else thinks so too,” Audra pointed out, nodding toward the hushed whispers at the closed door where somebody was trying to listen in. “Because they don’t care about you, Audra.
They just—”
“But you do? ” Audra interrupted, her heart skipping a beat. “Care? I mean—”
Ender paused, looking flustered, his cheeks coloring.
“I care about keeping you alive. Yes. Believe it or not, it’s difficult living with six deaths on my conscience. ”
Audra’s heart dropped slightly.
“But how were any of them your fault? You didn’t—”
Ender suddenly exploded. “I married them, didn’t I? ” His voice rose, raw and anguished.
“Every time it’s the same thing. I let the council convince me the previous deaths were just bad luck, and that I absolutely must remarry because the crown needs an heir. And every time—” He stopped. His hands were shaking.
“Every time. ”
“But not this time,” Audra said patiently. “Not yet. But who’s to say by tomorrow—”
“Anybody could be dead by tomorrow, your majesty.
That’s just life,” Audra interrupted. He looked beyond frustrated. “I can’t believe how foolish you’re being. ”
Audra stood and walked toward him.
“You know what? You need to relax. Chocolate. ” She plucked one from the box and tried to pop it in his mouth.
He grabbed her wrist to stop her. The moment he touched her, she felt a glimpse of pure fear through the bond. Raw and overwhelming fear, the kind that kept you awake at night. Audra’s heart squeezed.
He didn’t want the marriage annulled to be rid of her. He genuinely believed he was trying to save her. She was about to say something comforting when she started feeling something else. The warmth and pull of the mate bond spreading from where they were touching throughout her body.
She looked into his eyes. Ender immediately let go of her like she’d burned him. “I’m getting this marriage annulled whether you like it or not,” he said, turning on his heel toward the door. He yanked it open and nearly collided with a young man with sandy hair and an easy smile.
“Well, someone’s in a mood. ” The stranger grinned. “Shut up, Percy. ” Ender snapped as he swept past.
The young man turned back to Audra, bowing elegantly. “Your majesty, I’ve come to pay my regards—”
“You can leave your gift over there,” Audra said, mood soured. Percy looked genuinely dumbfounded. “Oh, I’m sorry.
I didn’t think of bringing—” He noticed her glare and smiled sheepishly. “My mistake. ”
Audra sighed, feeling guilty. “No, sorry.
It’s not you. It’s the King. ”
Percy guessed. “He’s being a stubborn ass.
”
She grouched. “Yes—” She immediately cleared her throat. “Let me rephrase. His majesty is being a little paranoid.
”
Percy looked amused. “Perhaps I could offer your majesty the gift of some advice. I’ve known his majesty since he was very young. We practically grew up together.
”
Audra raised an eyebrow. “And was he always so tightly wound? ” she asked. Percy’s smile faded slightly.
“No, your majesty. But being cursed has taken quite a toll on him. ”
Audra sighed, echoes of Ender’s distress lingering through the bond. “I suppose it can’t be easy having lost six wives,” she murmured, suddenly sad.
“It has not,” Percy agreed. “But I don’t know if that curse is real,” Audra sighed. “I mean, if it were, I’d be dead. Yet here I am.
”
Percy turned pensive. “Perhaps it spared you because of his majesty’s feelings,” he said. Audra frowned. “His feelings?
”
“I can tell you for a fact he didn’t have very strong feelings for his previous mates. Take Lady Hiasin for example. She was engaged to the King since birth. They were good friends, but he wasn’t in love with her.
”
“Well, he’s certainly not in love with me,” Audra protested. Percy looked at her pensively. “Perhaps not. But you were with him the night everyone believed you were meant to die, weren’t you?
”
Audra blushed furiously. “That is more than I can say for at least half of his previous wives,” Percy continued. Audra’s eyes widened. “He didn’t bed them?
”
“He didn’t dare approach them. He was too worried about the curse. ”
“Well, by that logic, then perhaps he simply didn’t care much about me. Hence why he took me to bed,” Audra pointed out.
Percy smiled. “Perhaps. Or, unlike the others, he actually chose you. And maybe that made all the difference.
”
Audra laughed. “He was drunk and barely aware he was marrying me. ”
“And yet he still married you, didn’t he? ” Percy said.
“Still went along with claiming you as his mate. There must have been some sort of attraction. ”
Something fluttered in Audra’s chest at the thought. She crushed it down immediately.
“I’d play on that attraction if I were you,” Percy continued. “I don’t care about staying. If he wants me gone, I’ll go. Whatever,” Audra said, folding her arms.
Percy raised a skeptical eyebrow. Audra cracked first. “But say I did want to stay. How would you suggest I go about it?
Playing on the attraction, I mean. ”
Percy’s smile widened. “Are you asking me to help you seduce your husband? ”
“No—perhaps,” she replied, flustered.
“I’m only curious. Besides, it was your idea. ”
Percy laughed. “I can see why his majesty likes you.
You might be just what he needs. ”
“So, you’ll help? ” Audra asked. “I think the entire castle is willing to help, your majesty.
You’re the bride who lived. We’ve all been waiting for some hope, and you’ve brought us hope. Now, we just need to make sure the King starts hoping too,” Percy said. Audra considered this.
She thought about Ender. The way his eyes had looked at her that night, dark and intense. The way he’d held her afterward, so protectively. She reached for another chocolate, popping it into her mouth.
She decided she was indeed going to seduce her husband. For the chocolate, obviously. Audra’s first attempts at seduction were subtle. She started finding excuses to touch Ender more often, lingering just a little too long whenever she handed him something.
Next came the dresses. Nothing scandalous, but flattering enough that Ender’s eyes snagged on her repeatedly throughout the day. But despite all of this, the King still talked of annulment. “Perhaps it’s time to step things up a notch,” Percy said, approaching Audra thoughtfully.
He instructed Audra to invite Ender to her chambers under the pretense of discussing the annulment. “Then what? ” Audra asked. “You’ll see.
” Percy simply grinned. Later, when summoned, Ender entered her chambers with grim determination. “So, you’ve finally come to your senses—” He walked in and froze mid-step. Audra was waiting for him, lounging in a bath.
She wore a thin white chemise that clung to every curve, wet and nearly transparent. His eyes widened comically. “What are you doing? ” he asked, his voice coming out strangled.
“Bathing? ” she replied innocently. His gaze traveled down, tracing the curves visible through the wet fabric. Then he realized he was staring and turned his face to the ceiling.
“You said you were amenable to the annulment,” he said. Audra stretched lazily, letting one leg emerge from the bath. “I am amenable to discussing it,” she said. His eyes dropped and followed the movement of her leg.
“So, what are your terms? ” he asked. She could see the muscle jumping in his jaw. “Terms?
I don’t have any terms,” she said, letting her leg glide up and down the side of the bath. “You don’t? ” He murmured, mesmerized. “No, because I don’t want the annulment at all,” Audra said.
His eyes snapped to hers, sharp and alert again. “But you said—”
“I said I was willing to discuss how unwilling I am to end this marriage,” Audra interrupted. His mouth opened, closed, opened again. “Shall I get up so we can discuss it face to face?
” she asked. She started rising from the bath. Ender took three rapid steps backward, nearly stumbling. “No!
Stay! I’m—” He didn’t finish the sentence. He fled. Audra burst into laughter.
But despite her best efforts, he still called another council meeting to discuss the annulment. “Any other brilliant ideas? ” Audra asked Percy. “Why don’t you just sleep in his room?
” Percy suggested. “You are his wife, aren’t you? ”
Audra grinned, delighted. That night, she padded into Ender’s chambers in her thinnest nightgown, hair loose down her back, and stood at the edge of his bed.
He was already lying down. One eye cracked open. “What are you doing? ” he asked.
“I can’t sleep,” she said, and let her voice go small. “I’m scared. ”
Ender gave her a long, dubious look. “I know what you’re doing,” he said flatly.
“What? ” She pressed a hand to her chest, wounded. “It’s true. I’m scared.
”
He sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face. “Scared of what? ”
“The curse? ” She offered.
“The curse you’re adamant doesn’t exist. ”
“Who said I meant that one? ” She was already lifting the edge of his blanket. “There are other curses in the world, Audra.
”
But she was already sliding in beside him, and by the time he’d propped himself up to object, she’d made herself thoroughly comfortable. A long silence. “Fine,” he said at last, and lay back down, keeping a careful hand’s width of space between them. “Good night.
”
“Good night,” she said sweetly. She gave it ten breaths. Then she rolled over and fitted herself against him. Ender went rigid.
“Audra, what—”
She nuzzled into his shoulder. “I’m cold. ”
For a moment, he didn’t move at all. “You are not cold,” he said.
His voice had dropped lower. “It’s the middle of summer. ”
“I have poor circulation. ” She slid one foot against his calf.
“That is—” He stopped. Swallowed. “Go to sleep. ”
“I’m trying.
”
She pressed her back flush to his chest. His breath stirred her hair, coming faster, each exhale a little less steady than the last. She felt his hand twitch. Felt it lift, hover over the curve of her hip.
Then retreat, curling into a fist against the mattress instead. Through the bond, the effort of it reached her. The sheer straining restraint. Want and refusal grinding against each other until she half expected sparks.
“Good night, Ender,” she murmured. A long-suffering pause. “Good night,” he gritted out. Over the next nights, she kept accidentally getting closer.
He never sent her away. Yet Percy reported that Ender had become even more determined to annul the marriage. “Excellent,” he said. “Excellent.
”
Audra frowned. “It means you’re getting to him,” Percy explained. Percy had one final idea. She should attend the council meeting herself.
Audra did, uninvited, a few days later. As Percy had planned, every seat was occupied. So without hesitation, Audra sat on Ender’s lap. He froze.
“What are you doing? ”
“Finding myself a seat,” she said innocently. The counselors immediately rushed to agree, very obviously helping her case, and the meeting resumed. Or tried to.
Someone was droning about grain tariffs. Audra didn’t hear a word of it. She was too busy settling her weight back against Ender’s chest with a contented little sigh. Beneath her, he’d gone rigid.
“And if the western routes remain closed,” the counselor was saying, “we propose—”
Audra reached up and idly began to twist a lock of Ender’s dark hair around her finger. His breath stopped. “Your majesty? ” a counselor prompted.
“Continue,” Ender said a fraction too tightly. She kept playing with his hair, and his eyes drifted shut for half a second before he wrenched them open again. She bit back a grin and shifted in his lap, dragging herself slowly against him as she did. Ender made a sound low in his throat that he turned badly into a cough.
“Something the matter, your majesty? ” Audra asked. “Nothing,” Ender said tightly. She hummed unconvinced and reached for his collar.
“It’s crooked,” she murmured, letting her finger trail along his throat. “The tariffs,” Ender said hoarsely. “You were saying something about the—”
“Eastern tariffs, majesty,” the counselor supplied. “Yes.
” Ender paused. “Those—”
Audra settled back against him with another wiggle. She felt him swallow hard against her hair. “Am I too heavy, husband?
” she asked, all innocence. “You’re fine,” Ender said through his teeth. “Are you sure? ” She squirmed again, slower this time.
“You sound tense. ”
She shifted once more, and his breath hitched audibly, in front of the entire council. One hand flew off the chair arm and landed on her hip, fingers spreading, gripping, then tore itself away and slammed back down against the wood. “Everyone out!
” he barked. The council members exchanged delighted looks and filed out quickly, murmuring their approval. The doors clicked shut behind them. Silence.
Then Ender moved. His hands closed around her waist, and he lifted her off his lap in one smooth motion, like she weighed nothing, and set her down on the edge of the council table. She barely had time to register the cold wood beneath her before he was there, stepping into the space between her knees, nudging them apart with his hips. Her skirts rode up her thighs.
His hands came down flat on the table on either side of her, boxing her in. “What,” he said very quietly, “do you think you’re doing? ”
He leaned in until they were nose to nose. “Nothing,” she managed.
“I told you there wasn’t enough room. ”
“Liar,” he breathed. His nostrils flared slowly, his head tilted, drawn toward the curve of her throat. He inhaled deep, deliberate, and she felt the shudder move through his whole body.
When he drew back to look at her again, the gold had all but swallowed the gray. “You have no idea,” he said, “what you’re doing to me. ”
“So show me,” Audra whispered. She didn’t decide to say it.
It simply fell out of her, reckless and wanting, and she watched his gaze drop to her parted lips and his head start to lower. She rose up an inch. His hand left the table and found her thigh, fingers pressing into bare skin, and a sound tore out of him, low and desperate. And then he wrenched himself back.
It was violent, the way he did it. He shoved back from the table, chest heaving, and stood there breathing like he’d run for miles. “No,” he said. “No, Audra.
I won’t. ” His eyes squeezed shut. “I won’t do this. I won’t be the thing that kills you.
”
And before she could say a word, he turned and strode for the door. Audra stayed where she was, perched on the edge of the table, skirts still shoved halfway up her thighs, her heart slamming against her ribs. She pressed a hand to her chest where the bond still throbbed with the echo of his want. “That’s it,” she muttered, beyond frustrated.
“I’m going to make this King cave. ”
The ballroom was, Audra thought, the most beautiful room she had ever stood in. She wore a turquoise gown that had taken three seamstresses two days to fit, and when she’d descended the great staircase, heads had turned. Not one of them was the head she wanted.
Ender stood across the room, smiling at something an elderly lord was saying. He’d smiled at a great many people tonight. He had not smiled at her once. Audra took a slow turn about the room and told herself she didn’t care.
She drifted a little closer to where he stood, close enough that he’d have to notice her. He turned his head the other way, toward a girl in blue. Something small and hot twisted under her ribs. She ignored it.
“You look like you’re plotting a murder,” said a voice at her elbow. Percy, impeccable as always, a knowing look in his eye. “Do I? ” Audra said flatly.
She hadn’t taken her eyes off Ender and the girl in blue. “You do. ” Percy followed her gaze unhurried. “Care for a dance?
”
“Not really. ”
“Wonderful. ” He took her fingers in his. “Come along.
”
“I can’t even dance,” Audra muttered. “I’ll lead,” Percy said easily, turning her. “He’s watching, you know. ”
Audra’s heart lurched.
“Probably a coincidence,” she muttered. “Oh, I think not. ” Percy spun her out. “Tell me.
Do you know the way to a man’s heart? ”
“Jealousy? ”
“Is it? ” Audra sighed.
“Definitely. When the man is half-wolf,” Percy grinned. “We get terribly possessive of our mates. Truly, there’s almost nothing we wouldn’t do for them.
”
Something flickered through the bond. Audra nearly missed a step. It was faint but unmistakable. Annoyance.
She gasped. “You think if I make him jealous enough, he’ll actually accept me? ”
Percy dipped her. “He’s already accepted you.
He simply has to admit it. ”
Hanging there in the dip, Audra turned her head and found Ender again. He was staring openly, his knuckles white around his glass, and then, with terrible deliberateness, he turned to the girl in blue and asked her to dance. Audra’s teeth clicked together.
“Perhaps,” she said, “we should step it up a notch. ”
Percy’s eyes gleamed. He took her hand and led her from the floor, toward the tall glass doors that opened onto the gardens. “If this doesn’t work,” he murmured as they slipped out into the dark, “my name isn’t Percy.
”
The night air was cool after the heat of the ballroom. The music dwindled behind them as Percy drew her down a gravel path until they came to a stop behind the wide trunk of an old tree. “Well,” Audra said, “he’s certainly not going to look at me out here. ”
“Good,” Percy smiled.
“Leave him wanting more. ”
Silence settled. “What now? ” Audra asked.
“Now we wait. ”
The waiting was unbearable almost at once. Because in the quiet, her mind went straight back to the ballroom. To Ender’s hand on that girl’s waist.
To the easy smile he gave everyone but her. Her stomach knotted. She didn’t understand why. She had no right to his time and attention.
It wasn’t as though she and Ender were ever real. He was letting her be Queen and live in luxury. Shouldn’t that be enough? But the image of his hand at another woman’s waist would not leave her alone.
She turned abruptly. “Look—” she said, walking off. Percy caught her wrist. “What are you doing?
”
Audra frowned, trying to move away. “You asked for my help,” he said. He stepped closer. She tried to step back.
His hand stayed locked around her wrist. He leaned in, slow and deliberate, tilting his head as though he meant to kiss her. A snarl split the night. One instant, Percy was there.
The next, he was gone, wrenched away and sent sprawling across the grass. And Audra was hauled back against a hard, familiar chest by an arm banded across her like iron. Ender. His chest heaved against her back.
When she twisted to look up at him, his eyes were burning gold, pupils blown wide, lips peeled back from his teeth. He wasn’t looking at her. He was looking at Percy. With something murderous.
“See? ” Percy laughed, propping himself up on his elbows. “Told you it’d work. ”
“Shut it, Percy,” Ender growled.
And then he was moving, his arm still locked around Audra, steering her away down the path. “What are you doing? ” she demanded. “What am I doing?
” he repeated. They rounded a hedge, out of sight of the tree, and there he finally stopped and rounded on her. “What are you doing? ” he snapped.
“My own Queen, slipping out of my ball, to disappear into the dark with some—some courtier! ”
“I thought he was your friend,” Audra pointed out. “That’s worse! ” Ender growled.
“What will people say? ”
Audra yanked herself free of his arm. “What do you care what people say? ” she snapped, fed up.
“You’ve spent weeks trying to annul this marriage. If anything, me wandering off gives you exactly the excuse you’ve been begging for. ”
Ender went very still. Then he laughed.
A short, humorless sound. “Oh,” he said softly. “So you were doing me a favor. ”
“Perhaps I was.
” She lifted her chin defiantly. He crossed the space between them in a single stride and backed her into the trunk of a tree. “No, you weren’t. ” His eyes moved over her face.
“I know exactly what you were doing. ”
“Oh? ” she managed. “And what was I doing?
”
His gaze burned into hers. “Getting a rise out of me,” he accused. “Making me jealous. ”
She was suddenly, dizzyingly breathless.
“Did it work? ” she asked. For a long moment, he only stared at her mouth, chest heaving. “Yes,” he said.
And then his lips were on hers, his body pinning hers to the tree. She gasped, and through the bond, it all came roaring into her. His possessiveness, raw and consuming. The deep, wordless certainty that she was his.
“You’ve got some nerve,” she panted, “going all territorial after weeks of shoving me away! ”
“And you’ve got some nerve,” he shot back, just as breathless, “pretending this isn’t exactly what you wanted! ”
He gestured roughly between them. “Me giving in?
You staying Queen? ”
It landed like a slap. You staying Queen. She didn’t understand why it hurt.
It was what she’d been telling herself for weeks, wasn’t it? That she liked being Queen. That she liked the silk and the servants and the life she’d stumbled into. So why did hearing him say it, hearing him shrink everything down to that, feel painfully wrong?
“Well,” she said, and her voice cracked around the defensiveness, “if you’re so set against it, then walk away. ”
They stared at each other, both breathing hard. And then, at the very same instant, they moved. The kiss was fiercer than the last.
She dragged him down. He lifted her up. The tree was at her back, and he was everywhere else. She felt how badly he wanted her.
He felt how badly she wanted him. And then, beneath the heat, beneath the possessiveness and the desire, she felt something else surface. Something warmer. Steadier.
It poured through the bond and filled her up to the brim. It was so good, so achingly good, that she wanted more of it, wanted to drown in it. And all at once, standing there in his arms, Audra understood. This had never been about staying Queen.
This had been about him. She’d wanted him since the night she was sure would be her last. She loved him. The realization bloomed through her, bright and terrifying and absolutely certain.
And Ender tore himself away as though she’d struck him. “No,” he breathed. “You can’t love me. ”
Heat flooded her face.
He’d felt it. Of course he’d felt it. “You love me too,” she said. “I felt it.
Don’t you dare pretend I didn’t. ”
Seeing him flinch, she reached for him. “Ender—”
He jerked his hand out of reach. “Why do you keep doing this?
” she asked, voice breaking. “There’s something between us. I know it and you know it. So why do you keep pushing me away?
”
“Because being with me is going to get you killed,” he said. “Not this again—”
She caught his hand, and the bond flared white. This time it wasn’t emotion that poured through it. It was memory.
And she was inside it, standing in the center of his mind. A servant in a doorway, face gray, words she couldn’t hear but understood. Hiasin. Her body found in a bedroom.
Morning light. Regina, still and cold in her bed. And the moment his heart stopped as he realized she wasn’t sleeping. Each Queen.
Each one. Each door he opened too late. Each still face. Each wave of guilt crashing over him, heavier than the last.
And then, last of all, not a memory. A nightmare. Her. Audra, laid out cold, skin gray, eyes open and empty.
The terror in it was bottomless. His heartbreak was a living thing, and it left her gasping. She surfaced with tears on her face. “Ender,” she said very gently.
She squeezed his hand. “I’m not dead. ” Her thumb moved over his knuckles. “I’m right here.
”
He looked at her, and he looked utterly destroyed. “For how long? ” he whispered. He shook his head.
“I should have forced you to leave weeks ago. It would have hurt less. ”
“Then why didn’t you? ” Audra challenged.
Anguish twisted across his features. His mouth opened. “Because,” he said roughly. The silence stretched, unbearable.
“Because I was a selfish fool,” he murmured. And he turned and walked away. “Ender,” she called after him. “Ender!
”
He didn’t look back. Not once. It had been several days since the night of the ball, during which Ender had reached out to Audra a grand number of zero times. He avoided her whenever possible, barely spoke to her when they crossed paths, and had somehow stopped responding through the bond.
At first, Audra tried to respect his need for space. But the absence of him was impossible to ignore. Before, there had always been a constant thrum of Ender somewhere at the edge of her mind, a faint warmth and presence lingering even when she couldn’t clearly feel what he was thinking or experiencing. She might not always have known his emotions, but she could still feel him there.
Now there was nothing. The bond still existed. She could sense the connection, but it felt as though a door had been firmly shut from the other side, and she could no longer see or feel what lay behind it. At first, Audra was determined to do nothing.
She gave Ender space because she felt guilty about backing him into a corner. After witnessing his memories of his dead Queens and feeling the depth of his fear, she realized she needed to be patient. He wasn’t simply paranoid. He was grieving.
Six of his wives were dead. Of course, watching her flirt with Percy, deliberately making him jealous, wasn’t going to erase years of grief and fear. She felt foolish for ever believing it would. The days swept by.
Ender remained stoically withdrawn. The closed bond became more painful with every day that went by. After an entire week of being shut out, Audra couldn’t take it anymore. So she went looking for Percy.
She found him in the castle courtyard, tending to one of the horses. “Percy. I need your help. ”
He patted the horse nervously.
“Again? ” A nervous laugh. “I don’t know, your majesty. I think his majesty has had quite enough of our shenanigans.
”
“Please. ” She stepped closer. “He shut our bond. ”
Percy’s eyes widened.
“He has? ”
“I can barely feel him anymore. ” She started pacing. “But I know he’s hurting, Percy.
I felt it before he shut me out. ” She buried her face in her hands. “I should have understood sooner. I’ve been so obtuse.
Now he’s more withdrawn than ever. ”
Percy glanced around. “All right. All right.
” He lowered his voice. “But not here. I’d rather not get attacked again. ”
“Then where?
” she urged. “I was about to go riding. ” A smile. “Fancy coming?
”
They collected two horses from the stables and rode out quietly, keeping to a sedate walk until they’d passed the gate so as not to draw attention. Only once the castle had shrunk behind them and the treeline swallowed the road did Percy speak. “So you said he closed your bond. ” He guided his gelding onto a narrow forest track.
“What makes you say that? ”
“It’s like—” she struggled to explain it. “He was there, and now he isn’t. ” She looked miserable.
“It feels awful, Percy. Like a piece of me is missing. ” She shook her head. “Except that piece isn’t mine.
It’s him. ”
Percy studied her carefully. “You can’t feel him at all? Even if you try now?
”
Audra closed her eyes, concentrated. Nothing. She shook her head desperately. “It’s like knocking on a door and nobody answering.
”
Percy grimaced. “I see. ” A thoughtful pause. “That means he can’t feel you either.
”
Audra was close to tears. “What do I do? I felt his fear, Percy. He genuinely believes I’m going to end up like the others.
I saw inside his mind. It breaks my heart. ”
Percy considered this quietly. “Which means he really loves you.
”
Audra looked away. “I don’t think that matters anymore. Not as long as he keeps believing in this curse. ” She buried her face in her hands again.
“How do I fix this? How do I make him see I’m safe? ”
By now they’d ridden deep into the forest, the castle long out of sight. Percy drew his horse to a halt in a small clearing and swung down, and Audra dismounted too, glad to stretch her legs on the soft turf.
She heard Percy move behind her. She lowered her hands and saw the gleam of a dagger in his. “Oh, Audra. ” A sad smile.
“You’re not safe. ”
Audra froze. “Percy. What are you doing?
”
He took one slow step toward her. “I’ll make it quick. ” Another step. “Painless, almost.
I’ve grown rather fond of you, you know. ”
Audra instinctively backed away. “Percy. Why would you want to hurt me?
”
His expression darkened. “I’m not going to hurt you. ” He raised the dagger. “I’m going to kill you.
”
Everything suddenly clicked. He was the one who insisted they ride out here alone. Away from the castle. Away from everyone.
This wasn’t an accident. He’d planned this. But since when? Audra took another step back, tripped over a root.
Of course there was a root. She fell on her haunches on the soft turf. “Why would you—”
The realization hit her mid-sentence. “There was never a curse.
” Her voice was barely a whisper. “It was you all along. You killed them. The six other brides.
”
Percy’s face twisted, almost offended. “Five. ” He stepped closer. “I killed five.
” His voice hardened. “Hiasin chose to die. ” A flash of genuine frustration. “She jumped.
I couldn’t stop her. ” He reached for Audra. “But now—now, six. ”
She scrambled backwards.
“No! ”
She lashed out with her heel, kicking him hard in the shin. He lost his balance, just enough for Audra to roll to her feet and sprint. She didn’t look back.
As she ran through the forest, she desperately reached for the bond over and over. Trying to call Ender. Trying to push her fear through the bond. Trying to reach him somehow.
Nothing. She was looking desperately for somewhere to hide when an arm suddenly wrapped around her, pulling her backwards. “Enough. ” He held her tightly.
“You can’t escape me. ”
She struggled. “Let me go! You don’t have to do this!
”
Percy’s eyes hardened. “I do. It will destroy Ender. ” He pressed the dagger against her throat.
“Because unlike the others, he actually loves you. ”
His grip tightened. “Do you know what happens to a wolf who loses their mate? They die.
Or they go mad from the pain. ”
Audra stared at him. “Why? Why would you want to destroy him?
”
For the first time, real hatred crossed Percy’s face. “Because—” He pressed the knife just enough to nick her skin. She gasped. “He took everything from me.
”
Audra’s voice shook. “Please, Percy. This isn’t you. ”
Percy gave a hollow laugh.
“No. It’s what’s left of me,” he agreed. Audra closed her eyes. There was no escape.
To Audra’s relief, Percy didn’t kill her immediately. Instead, he pressed the knife against her back and forced her to keep walking. She tried speaking several times, but every time, he ignored her. Every so often, she heard him muttering quietly to himself.
“I have to. I have to. ” It sounded less like he was convincing her and more like he was trying to convince himself he was doing the right thing. Audra didn’t dare keep talking.
She was terrified that if she pushed him too far, he’d snap. Her mind raced as they walked. She kept replaying every conversation she’d had with Percy, searching for clues she’d missed. The friendly smiles.
The easy laughter. The way he’d helped her with Ender. It had all been a lie. Or worse, it had been real.
And he was doing this anyway. Her hands trembled. He was trying to stage her death. He wanted everyone to believe the curse had claimed another Queen, keeping suspicion away from himself.
That suspicion was confirmed when they reached the edge of a cliff. Her stomach dropped. The ground fell away into nothing. Far below, she could see jagged rocks and the thin silver line of a river.
And Percy kept forcing her closer. Only a few steps remained. This was it, Audra thought. This was how she was going to die.
Smashed and scattered amongst the rocks. She thought of Ender. Of the bond he’d closed between them. Would he even know when she was gone?
Or would he simply feel the connection snap like a rope breaking under too much strain? She desperately tried reaching for him again through the bond. Nothing. She was alone.
“Percy, please—”
“Shut up. ”
Audra desperately scanned the surroundings, searching for anything she could use. A branch. A rock.
Anything. Just as there had been nothing useful for the past fifteen minutes, there was nothing here either. She decided to stall instead. Slowly, she turned around until she was facing him.
Percy scowled. “I didn’t say you could turn around. ”
“You said you killed everyone but Hiasin. Why?
” Audra interrupted. “Shut up,” Percy growled through clenched teeth. “Did she jump before you could hurt her? ” she probed.
Percy snarled, furious. “I would never hurt her,” he said, jabbing the knife against her back. The fury in his voice surprised her. For the first time since he’d revealed himself, she saw a genuine emotion cross his face.
Grief. “Then why did she jump from that tower? ” she asked quietly. “To get away from you?
”
Percy’s face twisted. “To get away from it all,” he said darkly. “Because she was broken. ” He gripped Audra’s shoulder hard.
“Now Ender’s finally going to know how she felt. ”
They were almost at the edge. Audra could feel the wind now, cold against her face. She looked down despite herself and immediately regretted it.
“Percy! ” Her voice shook. “Please. ”
She hated how small she sounded, how afraid, but she couldn’t help it.
She didn’t want to die. Suddenly, something lunged into the edge of her vision, slamming into Percy with a savage growl. Audra fell to her knees in the chaos, her legs finally giving out beneath her. She looked up.
An enormous wolf had Percy pinned beneath him. She immediately knew who it was. The bond burst open again. She felt Ender all at once.
Fierce. Terrified. Protective. She gasped, tears springing to her eyes.
He was here. He’d come for her. “Ender! ” Her voice shook.
He immediately started moving toward her. “I’m here,” she heard through the bond. The relief that flooded through her was so intense it hurt. But before he reached her, Percy drove the knife into his side.
“No! ” Audra screamed. The wolf let out a wounded cry. Through the reopened bond, Audra felt every ounce of his pain.
It was overwhelming. Sharp and burning, like fire spreading through her own ribs. She grabbed her own side instinctively, doubling over. She couldn’t breathe.
All she could feel was his pain. Ender’s head immediately snapped toward her. The instant he realized she was feeling his pain, he shut the bond again. The pain disappeared.
But the absence felt worse. After finally having him back, losing him again made her want to scream. Percy, bleeding from several bites, laughed bitterly. “You could have spared them.
” He lunged again. Ender caught his arm in his jaws. Percy cried out. “You chose to marry them knowing they’d die!
” he screamed. Ender was clearly struggling from the wound in his side, but he refused to give way. He angled his body between hers and his, drawing Percy’s attacks and attention away from her. She could see the blood now, dark and wet against his fur.
Fear clawed at her throat. He was going to die protecting her. Audra desperately searched the ground, forcing herself to focus. She had to help him.
Her eyes landed on a large rock. “You took her from me! ” Percy screamed. “She was mine!
” He lunged, weapon raised. “You took her from me! ” His voice broke. “And discarded her seconds later!
”
Her fingers scrabbled in the dirt, trying to tear the rock loose, fingernails snapping. “She died! ” Percy screamed. He raised the knife again, preparing to stab Ender.
Audra pried the rock loose and threw it as hard as she could. It struck Percy full in the head. He staggered. Ender immediately took advantage.
He tackled Percy again, pinning him to the ground only a few feet from the cliff’s edge. Then he shifted back into human form. He was naked, but bleeding heavily from the wound in his side. He was breathing hard, staring at Percy in complete disbelief.
“What are you talking about? ” he said, panting. “I didn’t discard her. I cared for her.
You know that. ”
Percy thrashed beneath him. “She was barren! ” His eyes blazed with hatred.
“When you found out, only days after your wedding, you asked for an annulment! ”
Ender went pale. “I didn’t. ” He looked horrified.
“Percy, I didn’t. I swear. ”
Percy wasn’t listening anymore. “She jumped from that tower believing she had nothing left!
”
Ender desperately shook his head. “The council wanted me to divorce her. I refused! ”
Percy let out a scream of pure rage and threw Ender off him.
In the struggle, he rolled toward the cliff’s edge and slipped right off the edge. His eyes widened, and he grabbed for Ender, trying to drag him over with him. “No! ” Audra screamed.
She lunged forward without thinking. She grabbed Ender’s arm with both hands, pulling with everything she had. Her muscles burned, her fingers creaking in their sockets, but she refused to let go. And just when she felt like she had nothing left to give, Ender heaved back with her, and together they fell back onto the top of the cliff in a heap.
Without Percy. Percy’s scream echoed below. And then silence. Audra stared over the edge, hand over her mouth.
She wanted to feel relief. Instead, she just felt hollow. But before the grief could consume her completely, she felt a wave of relief flood her soul. Ender had opened the bond fully again.
She felt his fear, his relief, his overwhelming protectiveness. His arms were around her, hauling her tightly into his arms. “You’re safe,” he breathed. She clung to him, her hands fisting in his hair, needing to feel him solid and real beneath her touch.
“I felt your fear,” his voice shook. “I thought I was too late. ”
Audra buried her face against him. “You came.
”
She felt his love flowing through the bond. It was fierce and absolute and unshakable. Everything she’d hoped for. She poured hers back without hesitation.
“You came back to me,” she murmured. Through the bond, she felt his response. “Always. ”
They simply held each other.
Two people who’d nearly lost everything, clinging to what remained. The fire had burned down to a steady golden glow. Audra sat wrapped in a thick blanket on the floor before it, and behind her, propped against a mountain of pillows in the great bed, lay Ender, bare to the waist, save for the bandage wound tight around his ribs where Percy’s blade had gone in. She could still hardly believe he was here.
That either of them was. “Are you all right? ” Ender asked softly. Audra huffed a small laugh.
“Am I all right? ” She raised an eyebrow. “You were stabbed. ”
Something eased in his face, the ghost of a smile.
Tired, but real. “I’m an Alpha,” he said. “I’ll heal fast. And I’m not the one who nearly died.
”
Audra’s smile faltered. Because she had nearly died. She could still feel the ghost of it, the cold press of the blade, the terrible patience in Percy’s eyes as he’d explained, so reasonably, why she had to. A shudder rolled through her before she could stop it, and Ender saw it.
Through the bond, open again, she felt his answering flinch of guilt. “I’m sorry, Audra,” he said low. “I should have—”
“It’s not your fault,” she cut in firm. “I let him manipulate me for weeks.
I danced right into every trap he set. Don’t you dare take that on yourself. ”
But Ender only shook his head against the pillows. “And I let him hurt all my mates for years.
” He sighed. “They died because of me, Audra. Every one of them. ”
“No.
” She shifted up onto her knees and reached for his hand where it lay atop the blankets. “They died because Percy had gone insane. ”
“Insane with grief,” Ender said, “over the loss of his mate. ” He fell quiet for a moment.
“He never told me,” Ender went on at last, “that his wolf had recognized Hiasin as his all those years ago. And he never said a word. ” A muscle leapt in his cheek. “I would never have married her if he had.
I swear it. I’d have stepped aside in a heartbeat. ”
“You were all friends,” Audra said softly. “Weren’t you?
”
“Yes. ” Ender swallowed visibly. “She was my betrothed. Promised to me before either of us could walk.
And she was human. ” He glanced at Audra, something complicated in his eyes. “So perhaps she never felt the bond with Percy the way he felt it. Perhaps to her, it was only a fondness she couldn’t explain.
” He looked back at the fire. “But it must have taken a toll on her all the same. Being kept from the one she was meant for, on top of everything else. ”
Audra frowned.
Through the bond, she could feel the grief in him. Old and worn, but no lighter for it. “Everything else? ” she prompted gently.
“My council wanted me to end it,” Ender said. “The betrothal. A healer had discovered something her family had kept very well hidden. Hidden precisely so the marriage would go through.
” His thumb moved absently over Audra’s knuckles. “Hiasin couldn’t bear children. A complication from an illness she’d had as a girl. She never even knew.
Her family had kept it from her too. ”
Audra’s frown deepened. “I’ve never heard of such a thing,” she said. “I mean, how can anyone be certain of that unless you’ve tried?
”
Despite everything, the corner of Ender’s mouth twitched. “That was precisely my argument. ” He let out a breath. “I told the council I wouldn’t go through with an annulment over it.
I refused. I didn’t even speak to Hiasin about it. I didn’t want to frighten her with something that might never matter. ” His voice dropped.
“But she found out anyway. Word travels in a palace. She found out the council wanted me to set her aside, and she believed I would. ”
Audra felt the sorrow crest in him.
“None of it was your fault,” she said fiercely. Ender smiled at her, soft, grateful, and utterly unconvinced. She felt it through the bond as clearly as she saw it. The quiet, immovable certainty that he was to blame.
It would take him years, she suspected, to believe otherwise. Perhaps she would spend those years telling him, over and over, until he did. “For now,” she simply squeezed his hand. “Thank you,” she said quietly.
“For rescuing me. ”
His brow creased. “How can you thank me? ” He protested.
“I nearly failed to keep you safe. I was so certain I was protecting you from the curse by keeping away from you. ”
Audra pouted and let a little of her old defiance creep back into her voice. “You shut me out,” she said.
“From our bond. ”
Ender’s face crumpled. “I’m sorry. ”
“Don’t do it again,” Audra warned.
“I couldn’t if I wanted to. ” His fingers tightened around hers. “It’s been torture, Audra, keeping away from you. The bond pulls me toward you every waking moment.
My wolf is convinced you belong to me. ”
“But you don’t? ” she asked. Ender’s mouth curved.
“I am my wolf, Audra. ” His eyes held hers. “He isn’t some separate creature I keep on a leash. He’s a part of me.
An instinctual part. But mine. ” A pause, and then, steady and certain. “So yes, I want you to be mine.
I’ve wanted it from the second I first saw you. ”
Audra snorted. “You mean while you were dead drunk in a tavern? ”
“Yes,” Ender replied, serious.
He held her gaze unwavering. “I believe you are my true mate. Every wolf has one. Though most of us go our whole lives and never find her.
When I saw you that day, drunk as I was, half-drowned in my own misery, a part of me knew. ” His voice gentled. “It’s why I claimed you. Why I said the words.
Even like that, my wolf reached for you and would not let go. ”
Audra stared at him. “So all this time,” she said slowly, “you’ve felt something for me? ”
“I didn’t feel something.
” He lifted their joined hands and pressed his lips to her knuckles. “I felt everything, from the beginning. But I was so sure that having you would be the thing that killed you, and I couldn’t risk it. ” His voice broke just slightly.
“I couldn’t lose you. ”
Audra kissed him. She rose up out of the blanket and cupped his face in her hands and kissed him, careful of his wounded side, pouring into it everything she didn’t have the words for. Every week of wanting.
Every night he’d turned away. Every moment she’d spent believing she was alone in this. Through the bond, it all flowed back to her, doubled. His relief.
His devotion. His love. “I swear, Audra,” Ender murmured against her lips. “From this moment on, I will never fail you again.
”
Audra pulled back just far enough to look at him. “Just let me stay by your side,” she said. “That’s good enough for me.
”
And she kissed him again, slow and certain and unafraid, while the fire burned warm beside them, and the bond sang at long last, with nothing held back between them.
