DAMIEN

The palace loomed ahead, tall and gleaming beneath the pale light that filtered through the high glass arches. The stones underfoot were too clean. Too quiet. Even the breeze that usually whispered through the garden halls felt… still.

Something was off.

I felt it in my bones. In my breath. In the way the fine hairs on the back of my neck prickled.

This was supposed to be a day of reward—of power being handed over. The women were getting their damn clans today. So was Aaron. That’s what the Queen had promised. That’s why we were summoned.

But my instincts screamed otherwise.

Something wasn’t right.

I walked in...