Matilda sat in the parlor of Archer’s townhouse, frowning at the crackling fireplace. She hadn’t touched the tea the butler had laid out for her on the low-lying marble table, though she’d certainly indulged in two creampuffs and one chocolate torte while waiting for Archer to return. She could have come back later, but it was freezing outside, and after standing on guard duty last night, she was exhausted. And in need of anything to distract her from reliving that dance with Benjamin .After the waltz had finished, he’d merely told her that if she abandoned her post again, he’d break a hole through the ice in the trout pond and toss her in. And then, as though he hadn’t just danced with her in a way that made her knees tremble, he stalked back inside and left her to suffer in the cold. He hadn’t even mentioned the dance this morning during their run. Maybe she’d just imagined the whole thing. Maybe the frigid night air had made her stupid.She’d been distracted during her first Dark

When he returned, and after they’d both eaten half of the cake he’d swiped from the kitchens, Matilda lay back on the couch, a hand on her full belly. Benjamin was already sprawled across the cushions, sleeping soundly. Staying up until the middle of the night at the ball, then awakening for their sunrise run this morning had been exhausting. Why hadn’t he just canceled the run?You know, the courts weren’t always like this, Jeremy had said. There was a time when people valued honor and loyalty—when serving a ruler wasn’t about obedience and fear…. Do you think another court like that could ever rise again?Matilda hadn’t given Jeremy an answer. She hadn’t wanted to talk about it. But looking at Benjamin now, at the man he was, and the man he was still becoming …Yes, she thought. Yes, Jeremy . It could rise again, if we could find more men like him.But not in a world with this king, she realized. He’d crush a court like that before Jeremy could muster one. If the king were go

When the council meeting was over, Bolton did his best not to look at his father, who had been watching him so carefully while he’d announced his plans to the king, or at Leonard , whose sense of betrayal rippled off of him as the meeting went on. He tried to hurry back to the barracks, but he wasn’t all that surprised when a hand clapped on his shoulder and turned him around.“Wyne ?” Leonard snarled.Bolton kept his face blank. “If she’s capable of opening a portal like she did last night, then I think she needs to get out of the castle for a while. For all of our sakes.” Leonard couldn’t know the truth.“She’ll never forgive you for having her shipped off like that, to take down a whole country. And in such a public way—making a spectacle out of it. Are you mad?”“I don’t need her forgiveness. And I don’t want to worry about her letting in a horde of otherwordly creatures just because she’s missing her friend.”He hated each lie that came out of his mouth, but Leonard drank th

She knew the shift had happened, because it hurt like hell. A flash of blinding pain as her features ripped free of the hold that hid them. The man lunged, and she plummeted into the well of power that was suddenly overflowing inside of her.Magic, savage and unforgiving, erupted out of her, punching into the creature and sending it flying. Flame—years ago, her power had always manifested as some form of fire.She could smell everything, see everything. Her heightened senses pulled her attention every which way, telling her that this world was wrong, and she needed to get out now.But she wouldn’t get out, not until Benjamin and Fleetfoot made it to safety.The creature stopped rolling, on its feet in an instant, and Matilda put herself between it and Chaol. The man sniffed at her, sinking onto its haunches.She lifted Damaris and bellowed her challenge.From far off in the mist, roars answered. One of them came from the thing in front of her.She looked at Chaol, still crouched ov

For a heartbeat, there was only the warmth of Leonard ’s mouth, the press of his body, the stiffness in his every trembling muscle as Nesta slanted her lips over his, rising onto her toes.She’d kissed him with her eyes open, so she could see precisely how his own widened.Nesta pulled away a moment later and found his eyes still wide, his breathing harsh.She laughed softly, making to unhook her fingers from his jacket and strut down the hall.She only got as far as lowering her right hand before he surged forward to kiss her back.The force of that kiss knocked them toward the wall, the stone slamming into her shoulders as all of him lined up against all of her, a hand sliding into her hair while the other gripped her hip.The moment Nesta hit that wall, the moment Leonard enveloped her, it destroyed any illusion of restraint. She opened her mouth, and his tongue swept in, the kiss punishing and savage.And the taste of him, like snow-kissed wind and crackling embers— She moaned, u