Present Time

Leaves wound around my ankles, skittering across the steps leading into the ancient stone temple. Centuries ago, the temple had been painstakingly dismantled by mortal slaves, the stone blocks loaded onto galleons and transported across the Atlantic in an armada. Our ancestors left the old world, our Chapter moving in its entirety, to claim this new world of the Americas. Half of those mortals that came with my ancestors had been slaughtered, their blood and bone ground down and used as mortar to cement the temple's blocks of stone into place. After the temple had been rebuilt, the remaining enslaved mortals were offered in sacrifice to Hazus, lord of Nine Hells, and his sister, mother Skalki.

The temple was enormous and reminiscent of a Greek structure. The surrounding trees were so tall their latticework of leaves and branches bowed over the sloping roofline, yet where the branches brushed against the stone, their limbs were skeletal, devoid of leaves, as if the temple itself were a deathly entity and nothing living could touch it.

Wrong, wrong, wrong—my senses sang. An eerie sensation skimmed across my skin as if the temple had awoken to my presence and expelled a chilling, venomous breath. An awareness prickled through the air and a shudder rippled down my spine. I kept away from this part of the woodland, no matter how much the thing inside pleaded and begged, demanded and insisted to come here.

Torches burned in sconces. Wildfyre danced over gnarled creepers that were entwined around the doric columns dominating the porch and tangled around the relief sculptures carved into the sides of the buildings. Light and shadow played over the sickly moss and lichen encrusting the images of our Gods: goat-like horns furled back from Zrenyth's cold angular face; curves and grooves capturing the beauty of mother Skalki, the goddess's forked tongue unfurled; and winged Brangwene, with his reptilian skin, caught in mid-flight.

Upper and Lower Houses, immediate family members, and their high-ranking relatives were gathered around our temple like newly-born spiders emerging from their nest. Younger children were not permitted at the ceremony of the Horned Gods for obvious reasons, which was why I hadn't been present at Lise and Aldan's engagement blessing a few years ago.

Tonight, our tithe would be sacrificed.

And her death would gift my sister with extended life and fertility.

Nausea roiled in my gut at the thought of facing the tithe I'd kept company with Graysen by my side. Her terrified, despairing sobs had awoken me in the middle of the night and were a memory I couldn't erase.

Gods, what I'm going to witness tonight...

I pushed the frightening thought away, shoved it down deep, and frantically searched the faces of those nearby until I found her. Guards were clustered around my family like an unkindness of ravens. Amongst my family, there was only one person I had a desperate need to see and speak with first. Hitching up my skirt, I ran for her as well as I could in these stupid shoes my mother had forced me into, the nearest guards stepping aside at my approach.

As soon as Evvie heard my clattering footfall over the uneven cobblestones she spun around. "Nelle?"

I threw myself into her arms. "Evvie!"

We clung together, holding each other tightly. "Are you all right?" she whispered into my ear, her voice cracking. She pulled back to gently frame my face with her hands. Her blue-green eyes shone too brightly, and moisture dampened the lashes. I was sure she'd see the same in mine, my throat already thick with tears. "I've been so worried about you. Of what you'd do to him. And if he should discover you."

"He didn't." Though Corné had been so close to finding out.

E vvie didn't need to know that it was Caidan who'd stopped me just in time. She'd only worry further, knowing the Crowther brothers knew my secret.

Betrayal was a noxious fume clogging my lungs. Graysen obviously had told Caidan I was other, even though he'd given me his fucking word he wouldn't. When did he tell him? As soon as I'd shown myself after the Uzrek? Or when his brothers had first showed up on our estate?

It rankled and hurt that he'd spilled my secret. That his word meant nothing.

Yet, if he hadn't shared what I was with Caidan—

Gods, I'd been a mere breath away from ending Corné, from choking the life out of him with my adamere bracelet.

Caidan hadn't exposed me, when by all rights he should have. Instead, he'd prevented me from revealing myself to Corné by stealing me away from the laundry. I should be grateful, I knew that, but his actions were in direct contrast to how I'd always regarded the Crowthers. They detested me. Quiet, ice-cold Kenton always stared at me as if sizing up an opponent, and Jett never bothered hiding his dislike, his hate-glares almost rivaling mine. So why keep my secret? Especially if it could advance their family by handing me over to the Horned Gods and then watch my family fall...I couldn't fathom why they hadn't.

There were so many missing puzzle pieces that made up the Crowther family. I'd walked most of the way through the woodland thinking about Graysen, what he'd confessed, those whip marks at the hand of his aunt, and the death of his mother by the Horned Gods.

What must it have done to him, turned him into?

I knew I was intertwined with his mother's death. How precisely, I didn't know, but the suspicion sat heavily in my chest with cold dread.

Evvie's disappointed frown brought me back from my troubled thoughts. She shook her head at me. "That temper of yours."

My mouth fell open. "Can you blame me? He's been hurting you, Evvie."

"It's just—"

I was done with her trying to downplay it. "Just a few bruises? Go on...that's what you were going to say, wasn't it?" I hissed out an infuriated breath. How far would she go to hide it from us? Would she tell us if he took a fist to her face, or pushed her so hard she broke a bone?

"What else has he been muttering to you?" I'd seen the way her smile faltered, the pale quality to her skin as he slyly whispered into her ear.

All the color drained from Evvie's face and her hands trembled slightly as she lowered them from my face. She half-turned away so the wildfyre limned her edges in blue and cast the rest in shadows so dark I couldn't see her expression.

Gods, what insidiousness had he been spilling to her? The creature reared up, hissing and snarling, and I took a moment to force the rising anger to dissipate and willed the dark power to quieten.

I gently tugged on Evvie's arm. "You didn't tell me."

She turned back, wiping at the tears clinging to her lowered lashes. Her voice broke as she said, "And what would you have done? Lost it, that's what. You'd have given into your temper to protect me. I'm the one who protects you, little sister. Me."

I leveled my gaze at her. "I don't need your protection."

She hitched a shoulder, trying for a smile, but it was tremulous. "I beg to differ."

Wrapping my arms around her middle, I hugged her tightly. We half-snickered, half-sniffed back our tears. Drawing away, I looped a hand around her arm to hustle her away.

The Wychthorns had a line of guards separating us from the rest of the Houses. Some families were entering the temple to take their places inside the chamber, while the rest milled about talking to other members of our society. Their chatter and murmurings were a clamor of discordant noise inside my head. I rubbed at my ears, the sound as irritating as the itchiness of my skin. The creature was stirring and stretched along my bones, curious and intrigued by the temple, and all these lethal souls gathered in one spot.

My mother spoke with Lise, a rare smile illuminating her face, while my father was engaged in conversation with Aldan and his father Lukus Reska, overlord to the gambling arm of our empire. My father caught our movement, angling his head toward me. A single flash of relief shone in his blue eyes to see me returned and safe, then the emotion was shuttered away so quickly I doubted anyone else would have seen it. He turned his attention back to Lukus. But there'd been a promise that we'd be speaking soon.

I led Evvie beneath the draping boughs of a willow, not too far away, but enough for us to speak openly without our family overhearing. Two guards shadowed us but halted as soon as she held up a palm.

I gently ran my hand down Evvie's arm and over the soft silk hiding her shame. When I thought back on it, she'd been wearing long sleeves for a while now. And those bruises...some of them were old. Guilt gnawed at me. Why hadn't I realized this sooner? "You didn't say a word to me. You hid this from me, from all of us."

Just like her friendship with Caidan. What else was she hiding?

Taking her hand in my own, I felt the slight trembling of her fingers and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "Don't marry Corné. End the engagement. Call this off now."

Long lashes feathered against her cheeks when her eyes fell shut. Beneath my hands, hers flexed as she sucked in a sharp breath, tipping her chin up and opening her eyes. Her answer was resolute. "No."

I blinked, taken aback by the fierceness of the word. "Evvie, father won't allow it when I tell him how Corné's been treating you."

She gave me a sad look like I was a naive child, and I suppose she was right, me thinking our father would put her above what he needed to carry on with the mantle of Great House. Absurd.

"Please," I begged her. "He can't force you to do this. All you have to do is say no, walk away."

"I might not marry him after all, little sister."

Wait...what?

For a long moment, only silence flowed through me.

I squinted at her, my mind reeling.

Evvie's gaze turned sidelong and fell on Corné, who remained unusually quiet as he stood beside Carola, her mouth never ceasing in motion. His cheek was an angry portrait of revulsion—swollen and bruised and blotched with blood crusting the grazes from where I'd struck him with my bracelet. But he was cradling his hand. One of his fingers was bound in gauze and strapped straight.

"I didn't do that to him..." I breathed out in shock.

Evvie chewed her bottom lip giving me a rueful glance. "I might have slapped him and afterward stood on his hand. I might have broken his finger...on purpose."

I clutched her upper arm as stunned laughter burst from me. "Are you serious?"

She gave me a devious look, her chuckle joining mine. "It felt good, really good."

My hair ruffled as I shook my head in disbelief. Letting go of her, the knotted trunk of the willow tree dug into my spine as I leaned against it. My eyes widened in wonderment at my older sister. She had an amazing, confident smile on her mouth that rounded her cheeks softly.

Evvie sighed, and the fabulous smile disappeared. She slowly twisted around and joined me, leaning against the tree. Her shoulder pressed against my arm, and I realized her eyes were narrowed on Corné. "If I do this right...I won't end up marrying him."

I stared at her sidelong, trying to process what she'd just said.

What did she mean by that?

However, a faint smile bloomed on my mouth as relief rippled through my entire body.

"But I do need to go as far as being engaged to him," Evvie amended.

My smile faltered and my heart lurched. Not quite what I was hoping for, but still, she wasn't going to marry him, and that alone lifted my spirits. As did the glint of steel gleaming in her ocean eyes as she spoke. "The Pelans are up to something. Working on something so secretive even Father doesn't know. They've got a direct link with Master Sirro on this."

I knew that. I rubbed my temple with the heel of my palm, my mind spinning back to the night the Pelans turned up at our home. What had Graysen told me?

They're on the verge of giving birth to something that will gain the Horned Gods' favor.

"Whatever it is," my sister continued. "Corné believes it will ensure they will rise above us. We'll be usurped and the Pelans will be shifted up into Great House." Her fingers curled into fists and her lips thinned. "I won't allow that to happen...if I can manage it. The only way I can get into the Carpellean Mountains and into their laboratory is through Corné. I need Corné to get access. If we're engaged, he'll let me in. And if, at first, he won't allow it—I'll force him."

My breath clenched tightly in my lungs with surprise. My sister pushed off the tree, pacing a few steps. There was still sweetness in her, and a sliver of self-doubt, but there was courage too. That she should try, even if she failed. I liked that look on her.

I shook my head in disbelief and awe. "What the hells happened to you, Evvie?"

She blew out a surprised puff of air and shrugged. Long lashes framed her widened eyes, as if whatever was going on in her head she was still trying to come to terms with it herself. "Graysen Crowther, of all people."

Just hearing his name had my skin tightening all over and my heart fluttering in my throat like a moth stuck in a bottleneck.

It took a few seconds, where I remained perfectly still and dumbfounded, for what my sister had shared to catch up inside my head. Graysen? It astounded me. My tongue was suddenly so thick and heavy in my mouth I couldn't even move it to ask—How?

She glanced away to stare at the Pelans strolling up the stone steps and disappearing into the temple, before bringing her gaze back to mine. She remained thoughtful. Considering. "He said some things to me that made sense. That made me want to fight back. That gave me the strength to pursue an idea I already had, but hadn't the guts to act on." She tugged at the cuff of her sleeve before gifting me a wry smile. "He's not as bad as I thought." She paused for one long moment, then her nose wrinkled as she leaned slightly closer to me. "Well, maybe it might be too early to change my mind about him. But I'll give him a chance. For you."

Because Graysen and I were to be married. That's what she thought. That's what everyone thought. Unease snaked through me...because he'd never mentioned marriage, not once in all those years since the marriage contract was signed. And still no word of it even now with my twentieth birthday so close. No mention of it from any of his family either.

And now, knowing about his mother and how she'd died. Not in a car crash as the rest of the Houses believed, but at the hands of the Horned Gods. And his aunt had punished him brutally for his failure to protect his mother.

But how could you protect your loved ones from the malevolent force of the Horned Gods?

However, this wasn't about me and Graysen. This was about Evvie and Corné.

Evvie's gaze was drawn away from me again. I followed her line of sight and it fell upon the Crowthers. They stood apart from the rest of the Houses, clustered together like shadows, stoic, unreadable, unapproachable. Graysen stood beside his aunt, and I wondered how he could, after all she'd done to him.

He'd changed into a new tuxedo, custom-made and conforming to his lethal physique. His body was arranged in presumed casualness—weight on one hip, a hand tucked into a pocket. I could read him though, the tension lines around his jaw, the skin creased and feathered from unblinking eyes, the fixed way he stared at the massive arched entryway to the temple, the stone cut to resemble the fanged mouth of Hazus, god of Nine Hells. He was aware of my attention yet refused to look my way.

As if she's everything.

Graysen abruptly spun around and stalked off, punctuating how he felt with every brusque step away.

My heart clenched, then sank.

He didn't want to want me. And I didn't know if it made me feel worse for knowing it.

Evvie's voice startled me from my disheartened thoughts. "Whatever I discover," she said, her gaze meeting mine, bright and finely honed, "hopefully will allow Father to strategically place us in a position that ensures our continuation as Great House."

Her eyes slid away and I saw their brightness dim and become a little clouded with hurt.

"And Caidan?" I asked because she wasn't looking at Graysen any longer. She was staring at his younger brother. Caidan was the only one of the Crowthers talking to another House. He stood at the edge of his family with one of the Estlore girls. Elyse Estlore was a year or two older than Evvie, with long blond hair twisted into an elegant top-knot and sky-blue eyes that sparkled with humor at whatever Caidan was sharing with her.