NIKOLAI

“There’s something you should know about Raya Banks, something that could destroy the Stone City if it falls into the wrong hands...Your Highness,” The woman whispered fiercely, and I watched her eyes glaze over, her bare oval face and the cracked line of her pink lips quivering with the effort that it took to hold the tears back.

I inhaled sharply, leaning back on my haunches and swirling the glass that had been sweating on the table before downing the whisky, feeling tears spring to my eyes when the alcohol burned my throat.

”Goddamn Raya,” I whispered, gulping reflexively through the lump that had formed in my throat, my...