“Thanks, brother,” Jaden said, meaning it. “I needed that.”

“I’m always here for that, or a good kick in the ass, which works just as well sometimes,” Ty replied with a smile. “Go on. Her father’s in bad shape. She’ll be needing you, trust me.”

Needing him. Hadn’t she said as much?

Jaden left the parlor and headed for the stairs, exponentially calmer and ready—almost ready—for whatever Lyra decided. And then, he would try like hell to support her as best he could… as long as she stayed by his side.

Lyra was still at Dorien’s side as the sun began to rise.

She rested her head on the covers beside his arm, willing this poison to work its way out of his system. Jaden had poked his head in a while ago, noticeably calmer. She needed o remember to thank Ty for that, since she was sure it had been his influence. Jaden was quiet, but still waters ran deep. He was no exception.

He’d said that Dorien would likely never look the same if he pulled through. Many of the scars would remain. Lyra didn’t care… Dorien was her father, and despite what had happened, she still felt a terrible and deep love for him when she looked at his pale, almost fragile form laying so still in the bed.

He’d also said that he would be waiting for her in their room, and that he was all right with whatever she decided as long as he could stand by her. Lyra smiled as she began to drift off, thinking that she wouldn’t have it any other way. What a gift, to have a man who didn’t always feel the need to stand in front of her…

“Lyra.”

Simon’s voice slipped through her haze, and she lifted her head. He stood in the doorway of the room, the oddest expression on his face. It bespoke some incredibly strong emotion that might have been love… and was almost hate.

A chill slipped down Lyra’s spine, though she admonished herself for it immediately. This was Simon, her best friend!

“Did you come in to take a shift?” she asked, standing to place her hands at the small of her back and stretch. “I want to stay, but there’s no change at all. He’s quiet. And I’m beat.”

“You can’t stay,” Simon said, not moving a muscle and continuing to stare at her. “It’s time to go.”

“Go? Go where?” Lyra asked, feeling the first tickle of fear at the back of her throat.

He looked wrong somehow, like someone had taken her childhood friend and put someone else in his skin. Someone dark.

“Home, of course,” Simon said. “We have a deal, Arsinöe and I. We’d already agreed that if she helped me take Alpha, she’d have the full use of the pack and all its resources. But once she figured out Jaden was in town, she sweetened the pot a little: I give her Jaden, I get you.”

“Me,” she murmured, trying to get her head around what was coming out of Simon’s mouth. “But you don’t want me.”

“More like you didn’t want me,” Simon replied, his voice queerly flat. “What was I supposed to do, beg you? You were what I wanted. You, and to get the hell out of that Podunk town. Remember when we were sixteen and we used to talk about going to Europe, checking out the Thorn’s ancestral grounds, poking around all of the old lore…”

“We were just kids,” Lyra said. “It was a great dream, Simon. We could still do it. But things got in the way…”

“Yeah, with you they always seem to. School, playing werewolf ice princess, and then that cat vamp,” he spat in disgust. “You’re lucky I’m willing to overlook that half-mark you’ve got.”

He must have seen her surprise, because he smirked. “You and your cousin aren’t the only ones who can access the histories, you know. I can deal with the mark. I can deal with the fact that you screwed him. But trust me, I’ll enjoy giving him to Arsinöe. She’s got a lot of plans for him. When they’re finished, I’m thinking that mark may fade right away. Jaden certainly won’t be around to get in the way anymore.”

As she watched him, listened to the unfamiliar coldness coming from her childhood friend, Lyra felt something inside start to ache.

“Don’t do this, Simon. I loved you. We were friends. Why would you do this to me? To the pack? To my father?”

“I told you how I felt. I wanted out. I wanted more than I was ever going to get pigeonholed into a second-rate position in the Thorn. If you haven’t noticed, Lyra, there’s not much room for upward mobility in our little pack. My bloodlines were only good enough for your father when he was getting desperate. You should have seen the faces when I won the Proving,” he said with a smile. “The Dales weren’t supposed to be Alpha material. Guess they were wrong. But if it makes you feel any better, this is your fault.”

“Mine?”

“If you’d consented to marry me when Dorien tried to force it, I could have been Alpha and avoided all of this. I still would have taken it.”

“And then handed us over to the Ptolemy,” Lyra said, the ill feeling in her stomach intensifying until she thought she would keel over from it. “Gods, Simon, what are you doing? Do you know what they do to their servants? What they’ll do to you?”

“Not to me,” Simon said. “To the others, maybe, but not me.”

Lyra could only stare at him for a moment, astounded that she hadn’t seen this side of Simon before. Either it hadn’t been there until recently, or he’d just hidden it away until presented with the right opportunity. Hidden it under a mask she’d believed in.

“So everything you told me was a lie,” she said, her voice a hoarse whisper. “My father… Eric…”

“Yeah, well, if you thought they were going to postpone the damned Proving just because princess Lyra got booted, you’re wrong. It was two nights ago. Didn’t you notice the full moon? No, never mind, you were probably too busy pouting and pretending your whole fucking life was over. And your pathetic father, so surprised to see me win. Actually said he was proud of me. Must have been a new feeling for him.” His voice turned vicious, ugly. And unrecognizable as the boy she’d once known.

“How?” she asked softly.

Simon shrugged, his eyes feral. “I could have done it myself. Not that the Blacks ever gave my family credit for anything. She sees it. My—our—new queen. She was looking for strength, not just my damn pedigree. I’ve waited my whole life to be first in line, to get what I wanted instead of just the scraps you and your family left behind. And you know what? It was easy for me. A couple of Ptolemy in the woods for the Proving to clear the way, a little of Arsinöe’s poison for Daddy, and I’m right where I belong.” His lip curled. “Where you could have been, if you had the guts to do what it takes to get what you want.”

Lyra felt sick. Simon’s words had sliced her open as effectively as any knife.

“And Eric? Was he even helping you?”

At that, Simon actually laughed. “Like I needed a Black to take over? To try and push me out of the way? No, Lyra. You’re not listening. You never did. I did this. Your prick cousin was so upset at the Proving I thought he was going to sit right down and bawl. I would have liked that, actually. I thought about killing him, but Arsinöe likes the look of him, gods know why, so he’s being… taught to obey. He likes rules so much, he’ll get the hang of it.” Simon smiled, and it was a horrible thing. “You bought all the crap I told you about him, didn’t you? I whispered in a lot of ears, and he never knew where it came from. Dumbass. Those stories must have just killed that prude every time he heard one. The women, and the kinky death sex. I had a lot of fun with that.”

Every revelation was a new punch in the gut, and there was no question Simon was enjoying her reaction. That he was preening over it.

“You know the only twisted thing about Eric is that he’s probably still a virgin,” Simon snorted. “He had a stick up his ass, but he was never any danger to you.”

“You were,” Lyra said, taking a step back. Her heart began to pump more quickly, adrenaline rushing through her system. “Were you ever who I thought you were, Simon?” It infuriated her and made her feel so incredibly sad at the same time. Especially because in Simon’s sad smile, she saw a ghost of the boy she’d adored.

“Sometimes,” he said. “But you only saw who you wanted to see. Nobody ever really saw me. I tried to run with the Shades, but I couldn’t be what they wanted either. I’ve got so much anger in me, Lyra.” His face twisted into something almost unrecognizable. “So much anger. I don’t even know where it comes from. But you can make me feel better. You always do. Even when you’re being a selfish bitch.” He pulled something thin and silver from his pocket, and Lyra recognized it immediately: one of the collars the Ptolemy had used on their cats to keep them animal.

He would use it on her.

“I’ve got another for Jaden, and a sack to throw him in. Pretty fitting for vamp trash.”

“Simon,” Lyra said slowly, moving away from the chair toward him. “You know I’m never going to accept this. I’m going to fight you tooth and nail, fang and claw, until one of us kills the other.”

“No,” Simon said confidently. “You’ll submit. Arsinöe’s going to help me with that too. As long as I give her Jaden. It’s amazing, how bad she wants this cat. The one downstairs, too, but she’s waiting on him. Said one at a time is less conspicuous.”

Lyra glanced at her father, still and unconscious, and then looked back up at the monster who had fooled her for so many years. Horror and sadness faded, consumed by a black rage unlike anything she’d ever known. It looked as though she would be having her Proving here and now. And with the sun just breaking over the horizon, she would be doing it just as she’d once wanted: on her own.

Except now she found herself wishing, desperately, that Jaden were by her side.