Page 1

Chapter 1

Kato Emrys was fucked.

He gave one last heave against the ropes before his body gave out.

Shards, he was so, sofucked…

But hey, at least he had time,here, tied up on the ground of the old palace stable, to re-evaluate his life choices in flagrantly self-flagellating detail.

Specifically, the choices that had led him to this particular pile of shit.

He hadn’t lived the most charitable life. He’d had fun. A lot of fun. Usually at someone else’s expense. A full accounting of every questionable decision, every careless or cruel distraction he’d indulged in since his fall from grace just wasn’t practical—especially given the current constraints on his life expectancy.

Ropes bound his hands and feet behind him, his aether was nearly gone. He was also pretty sure he was lying in a literal pile of horse shit—the Universe did love its irony. Thankfully, his nose was so twisted and broken that he had no sense of smell left to confirm.

Sand and gravel scraped against his cheek, sticking to the sheen of blood on his skin as he tried to rise, tried to lift himself—only to fall back, panting. There was a collar around his neck, made of something translucent and heavy. It was a weight that kept him pinned to the ground. Cold like ice, he could feel its strangeness creeping like hoarfrost beneath his skin. The numbness was slowly locking up his body.

Vaughn jumped him not long after Skye wandered off. Kato was tending the horses when the first blow came—a fist to the back of the neck. He tried to fight back and got in a few goodshots too. But Vaughn had the advantage, the numbers. Carin whispered the most miserable little “sorry” as she tied him up.

And then they’d left him. To die presumably, or maybe they’d be back. He wasn’t sure he cared at this point. He just wished the Universe would stop dragging this out.

He’d tried to break free. Couldn’t. Fuck, he could barely lift his head. He was a shadow mage, and yet all his mighty strength had failed him. He’d be dead once the shades found their way inside the stable. And from the growing noise, that moment was coming sooner rather than later.

It was still distant but getting closer. A steady rhythm of growling, gurgling, and shuffling footsteps that kept circling, and circling... They’d already spooked the horses, who, at the first sudden ear-splitting yowl that signified something horrible was approaching, had broken from their stalls and half-trampled him on their way out.

So, yes—Kato was fucked. And he didn’t see a way to get un-fucked. Not without a miracle or hell, he’d even settle for some funny, clichéd twist where he woke up suddenly, safe and warm in his bed because, hey, it was all a dream.

He blinked.

Blinked again, harder this time, really squeezing his eyes shut just in case.

Still no luck.

“Stupid, idiot brother…” Kato tugged weakly at the knots around his wrists. The ropes bit into his skin, every pull a reminder of how useless the effort was. “Last time I ever try to do anything nice...”

It had all been a mistake. Going to Kalahad. Helping Skye. Believing, even for a second, that a brother was anything more than a stranger with a little shared blood.

He shouldn’t even have been a part of this. None of it was his fight. Skye had just shown up with those stupid, sad eyes andthat tired sob story about a lost love. And Kato, like the fool he was, had let it get to him. He’d let himselfcare.

That was the real mistake. And now he was paying for it.

Nobody was coming. Kato knew that much. They’d been played—the only question was by whom.

Did Kalahad know? Had they been sent into this on purpose? Did someone see him coming and laugh at how easy it was to string him along? Kato could almost hear it, the mockery in their voices.Let the bastard think he’s helping. Let him bleed out in the dirt like the fool he is.

What if they killed Skye? What if he was already dead? Was that on him—for never learning? For always trusting the wrong people?

Kato shoved the thought down. Hard.

No.Skye had walked into this willingly. If their mother wanted someone to blame, she could look at her golden boy—not the fool who got dragged along for the ride.

“My god, you areintenton burying yourself in self-pity.”

Kato froze, breath tight in his chest.

A woman’s voice, full of light and amusement. He’d know it anywhere. There wasn’t a single part of him that would ever forget.

Carefully, he opened bruised, swollen eyelids. He searched the stable, looking up and down the rows of empty stalls, each one delineated by a wall of rotting wood capped with a cage of rusted iron. Until he got to the far end of the main aisle and the woman standing there.