~~CHAPTER FORTY~~

~~THE ASHEN COURT~~

~XANDER MORTAIN~

The courtyard exploded into violence.

I felt the shift in the thread of control a split second before the first strike landed. Several True-Blooded and a cluster of armed guards breaking free of the forced obedience at the exact same moment.

They did not come for me first.

They went for Anika.

Three figures weaved through the panicked subjects. One of them carried a length of dull silver chain that pulsed with dark enchantment. I recognized the purpose of it instantly. A suppressor. Something designed to bind and smother a Sovereign’s power.

They knew she was my weakness.

The first attacker reached her...