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Events here take place one week afterPART ONE.

WOODS OF THE WRAITHS

Midnight was a magical time in Asphodel. Most often, it was a time when fireworks exploded in the skies, with lords of the manors battling it out on who had the most impressive aerial spectacle to entertain their guests. It was also a time when proposals were made and romance bloomed in the air, with gentlemen going down on bended knees as they presented heirloom rings that had been passed down from generation to generation to the women they wished to spend the rest of their lives with.

But for the three exquisitely beautiful ladies ofTrois Belle Lames,midnight was, more frequently than not, the time for blood and mayhem.

Trois Belle Lames stood forThree Lovely Blades,a name that Soleil and her two younger sisters hid behind so that no one would know they weren’t exactly spending their free time knitting and painting flowers when they weren’t attending any of the parties they had been invited to.

Once the sun had set and darkness embraced the world, the Orpheline sisters transformed into soldiers, ditching their corsets and ball gowns for the less restrictive military greens and boots. Rather than practicing their steps for the waltz, theyworked on their marksmanship and stamina, and instead of looking for eligible catches to trap in matrimony, they hunted for otherworlders that preyed on the weak—-

Like now,only this time it was a fellow human that was their prey.

Soleil, the curvy blue-eyed blonde leader of theTrois Belle Lames,studied the fading footprints they were tracking with an unreadable gaze. “What can you say about this, Aurora?”

After almost half a month, they had finally been given a worthwhile lead, pinpointing the whereabouts of the traitor responsible for their last operation, which had been nothing but a setup for an ambush aimed to kill them.

It was critical that they catch the traitor, not for revenge, but to find out how deeply they were compromised. No one was supposed to know anything about the operations Soleil’s group led, and yet everything that could go wrong that night had gone wrong.

Aurora crouched down and shook her head after a moment. “This isn’t leading anywhere.” The slender brown-eyed redhead was mostly known as the brains of the group, but few people were aware that she was also the better tracker among her sisters. “He knows we’re on his trail.”

“Or she,” Soleil murmured absently.

“I don’t care about the blasted traitor’s gender,” Fleur grumbled. The doe-eyed brunette looked around furtively as she spoke, and her sense of foreboding increased when she heard the leaves rustle around them. Only her sisters knew of her intense distrust of everything otherworldly.

And what could be more otherworldly, she thought glumly,than the Woods of the Wraiths?

A forest of black, silver, and white, it was a place that threatened to devour anything with color in life.

Anything or anyone, Fleur corrected herself, knowing that even trained soldiers like her and her sisters were still in danger in this particular neck of woods. Even if it had been a solid lead, and she knew it was, they really shouldn’t have come here. The Woods of the Wraiths were forbidden territory, even for them. Anyone here was fair game, literally. If they ended up devoured by a rabid shifter or turned into a living voodoo toy by a crazed witch-—since they had come here without express permission from their superiors, no one would be coming to their rescue. Even if it meant being torn or chewed into pieces, Asphodel’s human government would consider their deaths an unfortunate accident.

Fleur glanced up, and the sight of the full moon in the sky made her grimace. To most other people, it might be a romantic view, but for those like her who knew the truth, it usually meant bad stuff was more likely to happen.

“It would really, really be nice,” she said half-seriously, “if we had someone furry to protect us.”

Soleil let out a rare, unladylike snort. “Says the one who’s been adamantly against an otherworlder partner—-”

“But that’s me, not you,” Fleur pointed out, before adding piously, “And for the record, I happen to think his lordship is the ideal partner for my beloved eldest sister—-”

“Perhaps because he also happened to grant you a one-day access to Brimstone’s ducal library?”

Fleur had the audacity to grin. “Oh, you know about that?”

Soleil simply sighed. Where had she gone wrong at raising this girl? She was just so easily bribed.

“I also think Fleur has a point, though,” Aurora volunteered.

“Not you too, Aurora.” Soleil stomped her foot, which would have been a cute display of vexation – if she had been wearing her usual silk slippers. But with high-grade, battle-proof military boots, she only looked like she wanted to crush someone to death.

“We’ve survived without him for almost ten years—-”

“But it’s different now,” Aurora interrupted.

“How is it different, pray tell?”

“Gladly. Then, the otherworlders we fought didn’t really want to kill us. It wasn’t personal.”

One golden, beautifully arched brow went up. “Oh, so killing us can benotpersonal?”