“My lady,” he says. “You are awake.”

“I am.” I cradle my injured arm against my body. The bandages make everything feel tight and stiff. “Noah kicked me out.”

“Your ‘doctor’ is fierce in his own way.”

Jake snorts and leans against the door, closing the quiet of the courtyard in around us. “Don’t let him hear you say that.”

I swallow. “Are you—are you going home? Were you waiting for me to wake up?”

“Not yet.” Jake kicks at the grit of the stone steps. “Noah won’t leave until everyone is stable.”

“That’s amazing.”

Jake shrugs, though it looks resigned. “He’s not happy about it.” A pause. “His parents are going to worry. His sister. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen if the cops came to the apartment. His cell phone was on the table.”

I push my brain through the ramifications of that, and my thoughts go in a dozen different directions. Not many of them work out well for Noah. If anything happened with Lawrence’s men and Noah is implicated in that … that could hurt his career. His family.

“I’m sorry, Jake,” I whisper.

He shrugs again. “I’m going back down to help him.” He glances at Grey, then at Rhen, whose large black eyes watch us from across the courtyard. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Of course.”

He gives me a gentle hug, but before he pulls away, he looks down and says, “You really were amazing, Harp.”

My mouth opens, but he shakes his head. “It wasn’t all him. He wouldn’t have done it without you. You deserve the respect.” Then he smiles, a shadow of the old Jake, before life clobbered us all. “Mom would be really proud of you, Princess Harper.” He kisses me on the forehead, then heads back through the doors into the castle.

I ease down the steps, gripping tightly to the banister while clutching my injured arm to my body.

Grey moves to stand in front of me. “You should likely not be walking down steps.” He unbuckles his dagger belt, then slides the weapon free. “You should likely not be walking at all.” With the remaining length of leather, he wraps it double around my forearm, then loops it behind my neck to fasten the buckle.

With the makeshift sling, I can relax my arm for the first time since waking. It’s a relief I didn’t know I needed. “Thanks, Grey.”

A nod.

“You didn’t pull your stitches loose?” I ask.

“Ah. Yes. The doctor says if I do it again, he will do me the honor of removing my arm.”

“So he probably wouldn’t be happy you’re standing out here armed.”

“Likely not.”

I’m very aware of my breathing. Of his. Of the cursed creature in the back corner of this courtyard.

“Are you protecting the castle from Rhen?” I ask quietly. “Or the other way around?”

His eyes are dark and inscrutable in the twilit darkness. “Both, my lady.”

“I hoped …” I sigh and look at my hands. I can’t look at Rhen now.

“I believe he did as well.”

A low growl comes from across the clearing. The darkness seems to part. I see nothing, but Grey draws his sword.

Then, beside me, a female voice says, “Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

MONSTER

Destroy.

CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

HARPER

Rhen charges across the clearing when Lilith appears. His screech echoes against the walls of the castle.

Lilith steps beside me. “No, no, Prince Rhen,” she says quietly. “I would hate to harm this lovely creature.”

He skids to a stop in front of us, snaking his glittering neck in a threatening way. He snaps his fangs right in front of her face.

“Kill her,” I say to Rhen. “I don’t care if she kills me. Just do it.”

He growls, that low, menacing sound that makes my insides curl—but he doesn’t attack.

“He cares if I kill you,” Lilith says delightedly. “Quite a bit, I would say.”

“I said I loved him,” I snapped at her. “I kissed him. I risked my life for him. What else do you want to break the curse?”

“You risked your life for Emberfall. Not for him.” She sighs. “If you loved him, the curse would be broken. It is not something I must do. It is something you must do—or not do, as the case may be. True love is not about romance. True love requires sacrifice. A willingness to place another’s life above your own.”

“Then Grey should have broken the curse,” I say. “He’s been doing that over and over again.”

“Grey was oath-bound to do so. Is that not true, Commander?”

At my side, Grey is very still, and very quiet.

“Do you know,” she says, “I have been to see Karis Luran? She needed to know what you were doing to her soldiers.” Lilith pouts. “She is very upset indeed. I was able to comfort her and learn a great many things about the late King of Emberfall.”

Rhen growls again.

“Ah, yes,” says Lilith. She strokes a fingertip down Rhen’s face, and he flinches away. It’s terrifying to see a creature like him flinch.

“A great many things,” she says softly. “It turns out I sought the wrong prince all along. But you will be far more useful to me like this.”

“Leave him alone.” My heart roars in my chest. “What do you want?”

“Our dear prince knows what I want. He can submit, or I will destroy you. I do not even need a leash.” She reaches out a hand to touch my cheek.

Fire explodes through my face. I’m on my knees, my good hand pressed to my cheek. I’m crying and I don’t even know what happened.

I’m not bleeding. She didn’t break the skin.

Rhen growls—but he falls back. An acquiescence.

“No,” I say. “Please. Rhen. Don’t.” There has to be another way. I may have helped defeat the soldiers from Syhl Shallow, but he rallied his people. He formed this army. He is the ruler here, not me.

Lilith takes a step toward Rhen, and he shies away from her like a beaten dog. “Think of what we could do.”

“Enough!” says Grey. His sword is drawn, but he hasn’t taken action.

Lilith smiles and turns back toward him. “You cannot kill me, Commander. You know this.” She takes a step toward him, and he takes a step back, his sword up in front of him.

Her smile widens. “I can use her against you, too, you know.”

My mind spins. “No. Grey. No. Kill me. Just do it. Don’t let her do this.”

His breathing quickens, but he says nothing. He glances from me to Rhen and back to Lilith.

“Do it!” I yell at him. “You said I am welcome to any weapon you carry. Pull a knife and do it!”

He doesn’t.

Lilith turns toward me. For the first time, the amusement drains out of her face. “What is it about you that inspires such loyalty?” She puts out a hand and I stumble back. “Truly, Harper, I find it mystifying.” Her voice darkens, twisting into something that makes my chest tighten. “And frankly, quite irritating, you broken, worthless, little—”

“Take me instead,” says Grey.

She stops and looks at him.

“I am no longer oath-bound. I am sworn to no one.”

“No,” I say, realizing what he’s saying. “No. Grey. No—”

He speaks as though I am not there. “The prince is a powerful creature, but you would have to rely on his devotion to Harper, which would surely wane over time. He will one day turn on you.”

“And you would not?”

“Once given, my word is good.” He pauses. “As is yours, is it not?”

The creature growls again.

Grey does not look at him. “I am just a man, but I can go where a beast cannot. I can follow orders. I can do your bidding.”

“I find your offer intriguing, Commander. I do not believe you know what you are offering.”

He takes a breath. “I believe I do.”

He kneels.

He lays his sword across both hands.

Offers it up to her.

“No!” I say. “No! Grey! You can’t!” I move to rush forward to stop him, but Lilith catches my braid in one tight fist and jerks me back.

Rhen growls again.

Grey says nothing.

Lilith laughs. “The great Commander Grey, on his knees at my feet. They know I can still kill you, girl. I have not yet accepted his offer.”

The sword still sits on his hands, solid and unwavering. “Do you accept?” he says.

“I do.” She picks up his weapon. Releases my hair. I stagger back.

Rhen roars, rearing up to slam his feet into the ground.

Lilith whirls with the sword in her hand. “If I have him, I no longer need you.” Then she steps forward, ready to drive the blade into his side. Right under his wing.

That’s where he’s vulnerable, Grey once said. The wings.

I don’t think. I leap at her. I leap at the sword. I don’t know what I’m doing. I just can’t watch him die.

I have no armor. No weapons. Grey’s sword is razor sharp. The blade bites into my skin like a million shards of glass. I fall—but Lilith falls, too. Where our skin connects, fire rages into my body. Rhen’s roar coalesces into a screech that goes on forever.