Hours later,

Author

While Beta Lucas was standing on the stone terrace, adjusting his silver-plated pauldrons with the practiced air of a man who knew he looked the part, he had no idea he had an audience... and not the kind that asked for an autograph.

Half a training yard away, framed by the jagged, menacing silhouettes of the weapon racks and a mood that could curdle fresh milk, Aria moved like a woman moments from dismantling a kingdom.

His jaw clenched tighter with every hollow, bone-deep thud of her fist against iron-wood.

In the shadows of the arched walkway, the twins, Ezra and Elias, were visibly uncomfortable.

Their fingers...