Dominic’s voice was low as he leaned against the edge of the table in his chambers with his sharp eyes locked on me. The tension in the room was clearly suffocating.

“Do you even know what it means to be a rogue, Serena?” he began with a hint of bitterness in his tone. “Do you understand what it’s like to be cast aside? To be hunted and branded as a monster, no matter what you do?”

I stood rigidly across from him with my hands clenched at my sides. “I know they’ve been wronged,” I said carefully, refusing to let him see the discomfort his intensity caused me. “I know...