MALAKAI’S POV

Talia shifted her weight, already leaning into me again, her fingers tracing the line of my forearm.

"Malakai, you saw it, didn't you?" she sighed, her voice dropping into a manufactured, breathy register. "That... woman. She was horrific. She spoke to me as if I were a common intruder. I was only trying to welcome her, and she practically bared her teeth at me. You really shouldn't allow the staff—or the guests—to be so unruly."

I looked down at her. I didn't see a fragile sister. I saw the girl who had once poisoned a maid’s tea because the woman had dared to look me in the eye...