Graysen paced back and forth, growing more agitated. I caught the roll of his shoulders, the way he cracked his neck. A gleam in his eyes, fast and swift—quicksilver seeping through the black. There and gone again.

Tamer.

The air was taut with tension.

With three pairs of violet eyes that flicked from Graysen to me—surveying my face, perhaps to weigh my worth, how I'd react being dragged into the Emporium because that was how I'd go—my fingers gouging wood trying to stop myself from being dragged in there.

Jett leisurely strolled closer. There was an empty smile on his handsome face, but his eyes were somewhat glassy, and on the crease of his top lip was a light sheen of perspiration. "Ah, where would the fun be if we told you that?" he answered, tapping me on the nose with a finger. A finger that shook slightly.

Scowling, I batted his hand away, hard.

A softly given snarl, and it hadn't come from my wraith-wolf.

I realized here, right here in front of Draxxon, was the worst place Graysen's brothers could have discovered us for the first time.

My spine stiffened at the silent exchange between Kenton and Jett, the sharp look from Caidan. The glance that went from Draxxon's scaled body to Graysen, and then slid to me.

This aspect of Graysen and I—Wyrm and Tamer—unnerved them. It was a variable they hadn't anticipated at all. It turned a spotlight on Graysen that revealed he wasn't completely trustworthy. That this thing between him and me could cause their brother to sway.

Clarity shone true like a bathroom mirror wiped clean of steam.

I was Graysen Crowther's weakness.

He was a Tamer and I needed to exploit that.

It wasn't me he was going to tame—I was going to tame him.

"Fuck. Enough," Graysen warned his brother, pivoting on his heel. "I've things to do. I'll join you later this evening." He jerked his chin toward the far door past the rows of tables and gigantic pillars holding the ceiling aloft. "Come along, Pet. Time to stretch your legs before going back into your cage."

My gaze snapped to his as I instantly bristled at being spoken to like that. But I dampened the hot coals his words had stoked, nodded once, and followed him out with Sage padding beside me.

Striding past the Crowthers, I let my icy gaze slide from one to the other.

Caidan's weakness was Evvie.

Kenton, I suspected, might be swayed by someone that seemed to be already twisting my way, judging by the look of silent approval she'd given me earlier today.

Jett was the only one I wasn't sure about.

I also didn't like the way he was looking at Sage. There was a sly look in his eyes that glistened with dark interest. "I like your dog," he murmured quietly as I strode past. "His head will look really good nailed to my bedroom wall."

Anger ignited. Embers of wrath crackled through my veins. Churning heat waves and smoke boiled my blood. I forgot everything that I'd just decided, and the control over my emotions unspooled. I was going to make him pay with blood if he did anything to Sage.

I rushed Jett, striking out with a fist and a scream of fury.

He did too, his hand coming up, to block me...hit me...

I didn't know.

I didn't get to find out because Graysen had moved with that untraceable speed once more. He was beside me in a blink. His large hand lashed out, fast. He grabbed hold of Jett's wrist before he could touch me. His fingers latched so tightly that the golden skin on Jett's wrist went white from the pressure and his younger brother winced. "I don't want the merchandise marked," Graysen warned. For once, cold flames burned in his black eyes, making the golden flecks flicker.

Jett's head whipped around to face Graysen, his glassy eyes widening with an incredulous look.

Caidan too had moved almost as swiftly, to grab my fist before I struck Jett in the jaw. I struggled, hissing and spitting my fury at Jett. "You do anything to Sage and I will kill you!" I breathed in ragged pants, pulling at Caidan, trying to tug myself free. "You hear me, Crowthers? I'll kill all of you!"

Caidan held up his free hand, palm facing forward. "Woah... Let's just drop this a couple of angry degrees."

Yanking back, I wrenched my arm free from Caidan. Graysen stood close enough that my shoulder brushed his upper arm. Sage barked and snapped, the contained lightning around his neck crackling and sparking as he danced on the spot, trying to sink his fangs into Jett's leg.

Graysen relaxed his grip and let his brother go. He leaned close. The fire blazing in his black eyes had been extinguished and his tone was back to bored and flat. "If any fingerprints should bruise her, brother, they'll be mine."

My eyes flared wide and a cold shiver rippled down my spine.

But I was too far gone to fall into caution. I wanted to bite back at Jett. And no one was going to stop me. "Here's the thing," and I poked Jett in the chest as I said it, not caring if he didn't look right, with sweat dampening his hair, or the way his eyes looked like they were glazed with pain. "You need me in one pretty piece to auction me off." I hooked a thumb toward Graysen. "Like he,"—dickface—"said. No marring the merchandise."

"I can terrorize you in other ways," Jett threatened, his features strained.

"So can I," I shot back.

Jett bared his teeth at the same time his fingers clenched.

Graysen hissed, a warning his brother caught and heeded. Jett froze, reluctantly unfurling his fingers. His nostrils flared and his full lips tightened to a thin line.

I saw from my periphery Graysen angle his head toward me. The question was directed at me but he didn't take his eyes off Jett. His voice was a low rumble. "Why did I let you out of your cage, little bird?"

He swiveled slowly around to face me and stilled. There was nothing on his expression, nothing at all. And he made it so much easier for me to be afraid of him.

He was territorial before, strangely protective.

Now he was pure menace.

He didn't need brute strength, just that utter stillness.

Bone-biting fear froze my blood.

I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry, my tongue too heavy to speak.

Subarctic cold radiated from him and I jerked back as it brushed against my skin in frigid waves. I bumped into Caidan and stumbled away as Graysen stalked toward me, his posture intimidating, his stride predatory.

My heart sped up and faltered and raced. I backed up and he matched me step for step until the back of my thighs suddenly caught on the edge of a table.

I jolted, barely stifling the startled cry. The movement shuddered the table and I heard the sound of rocking plates and mugs against the wood.

Graysen loomed over me.

All the hair on the back of my neck rose.

He slowly leaned down so we were at eye level, his breath skating over my lips. This time he smiled, but it was cold, and the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Because I love the hunt," he said softly.

Wintry air swirled along my cheekbone as he reached for me, intending to push his hand into my hair and clamp down. Not with fangs but with fingers. To grasp the back of my neck like a predator and force me to submit.

I reacted in pure, mindless terror. My heart slammed in my chest as I whirled around and ran. I sprinted along the coarse floor between the gigantic stone pillars that held the ceiling aloft and cast long shadows. My footfall cracked against the adamere walls and rebounded down the vast room, chased by the loud, cruel sound of laughter.

Sage surged beside me as I escaped through the open oak doors, then raced ahead. His keen senses found a way out of the Crowther home, leading me through hallways and past startled soldiers. Anxiety burned in my throat as I burst into the middle of a gateway with curved arches bracing the roof and portcullis at either end, their threatening metal lacework looming overhead as I darted underneath and erupted outside the Keep.

Part of me knew it was useless to even try to run. This was Graysen's territory, there was no inch of it he didn't know. Yet I had to try. It was pure survival that drove me on. I flew across a weathered porch, down the stone steps into a lush garden with pebble paths of white and gray stones, and plunged inside a copse of trees with drooping branches adorned with serrated leaves.

The thick canopy let through dappled light that skittered across my frozen skin. Sage raced ahead, his paws spraying stones in his wake. My braid slapped against my back, and spindly branches scratched at my face and bare arms as I ran across the uneven surface. I pushed myself faster, faster, my frantic breaths harsh gulps as terror rattled through me.

All I held in my mind was that cold, empty look Graysen had delivered while his brothers surrounded me like an imposing wall, waiting patiently to see how he'd break my spirit.

Why did I let you out of your cage, little bird?

Because I love the hunt.

Had I read him wrong these past few days? He'd been nothing but solicitous up in his residences—I'd been the one tormenting him in my childish way, and he'd borne the brunt of my wrath. But was that just him playing a twisted head game, simply to amuse himself?

My heart exploded with fright and I shrieked when I heard an eruption of noise.

Graysen was right behind me.

Hunting me like an animal.

His pounding footfall crunched through pebbles.

His breathing—excited.

He could have caught me so easily, but he had let me run just to terrorize me further. I didn't know where I was going, wildly pushing past low-hanging branches and following the twists of the path ahead.

Suddenly his arm banded around my middle and I was lifted off the ground.

I screamed and struggled within his firm lock around my waist, kicking out and trying to free myself. "Let me go!"

I managed to slam my heel into his shin and wrench us off-balance. He stumbled back with a startled oof, accompanied by my high-pitched shriek. Both of us swayed widely as he lurched backward before falling onto his ass. I jolted along with him, briefly airborne.

Graysen only held me tighter as I half-twisted around, trying to hit him with my fists, screeching at him to let me go. One hand grabbed my wrists and handcuffed them. His stubble-dusted chin was right beside my ear, but all he did was shush me. "It's okay...I've got you... I'm not going to hurt you," he repeated until my ragged, fire-tinged breaths quietened and my weary limbs were too heavy to put up a fight any longer.

I sagged against his chest, feeling his heartbeat against my back, an uneasy pace to match my own.

It took a long moment for it to register that Graysen wasn't cold. His body didn't hold the subarctic temperature he'd projected within the Great Hall. And strangely, Sage wasn't baring his teeth or growling. My wraith-wolf wasn't even bristling. He huffed and then lay down on the path, watching us both with bright silver eyes, more curious than anything else.

Twisting around on Graysen's lap, I wondered who I was going to face. Both of us pulled back to look at each other better.

There was life back in his gaze and lingering wariness. My gaze bounced between his black eyes, the thick, long lashes fluttering as he blinked. The blankness was gone, along with the cool indifference.

My braid slipped off my shoulder as I tilted my head to the side. I was genuinely curious. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Become so cruel and intimidating?" Because he'd terrified me, and so easily too. And like the snap of the fingers, it was gone—and here he was, the man I knew up in his rooms.

He raised a black eyebrow, looking at me as if he couldn't understand why I didn't get it. "I'm an enforcer," he said slowly, his tone lifting up as if he'd asked a question.

I frowned at him. I knew he was an enforcer. His family were sent in by Upper House Novak to deal with wayward crime lords who sought to free themselves from our reign. Often ending with him breaking bones and ending lives.

"My father raised us all in the art of violence," he answered when the silence dragged on between us. "Our House terrorizes the crime syndicates. Sometimes it's not the loud, angry face that scares someone so much—it's the smile, the quietness of it all."

I tipped my mouth up to one side. "You're so good at it," I said slowly, as I scrutinized his relaxed features with narrowed eyes. "Switching between the two."

"It is a talent," he replied, his own mouth tipping up to mirror mine.

My gaze snapped back to his, and I sharpened my tone. Because that slide he'd made into menace simply to intimidate me in the Great Hall was bullshit. "What are you playing at? What was all that in there—that performance in front of your brothers?"

His eyes widened a bit and he sucked in a breath as if giving himself time to consider how to word it. "It will be easier for you to roam freely if they believe..."

"Believe what?" And then I understood. I finished for him, "That you're doing what they think you are—breaking me, so they won't interfere."

Tendrils of hair that had come loose from my braid wavered as he released his breath. "If I didn't, then one of them would try to step in."

Anger ignited and blustered through my blood. "You're all fucking psychopaths," I spat, thinking back on his brothers trying to intimidate me. Kenton telling him I should be locked away in the dungeons below the Keep.

He gave a pained sigh, his gaze dipping to the pebbles and weeds growing between plantings of hosta that edged the path. "Yeah, we are," he agreed quietly.

A gentle breeze swirled through the garden, swaying leafy greenery and bringing with it a hint of jasmine and roses and Graysen—his scent soaking my lungs with every sharp inhale. I wriggled my hands in his grip, glaring down at his makeshift handcuffs. My wrists looked tiny and delicate with his large fingers banded around them. "Let me go."

"I'm not going to hurt you," he protested sharply, sounding slightly offended as his gaze snapped to mine, dark brows drawn over his eyes.

"No. You might not. Not directly. But you're taking me to the Emporium!"