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Fucking Archer.

"Leave," I whispered. Just for once I wanted to be alone. I needed to reflect on what Callum told me and then figure out what to do with Sierra. The image of her silver hair splayed across my sheets flashed unbidden in my mind, and I pushed it away with a growl.

"I'm not going to do that." Being the asshole that he is, he grabbed my glass, refilling it and pouring himself one before sitting down in the chair across from me. Those daggers of his made the briefest appearance before disappearing again, a nervous tic I'd observed over centuries.

This was my favorite place in the world. In my library office. Surrounded by my books and dark mahogany wood paneling. A fire in the hearth crackling away, the white noise grounding me and making me feel sane in an otherwise insane realm. The scent of leather bindings and ancient parchment usually calmed me, but tonight even this sanctuary felt compromised.

"Fuck you," I snarled at Archer. But it lacked venom. I felt drained. Not even my calming place could soothe the rage I was feeling.

Yet, it was more than rage.

"I don't think you fucking me is going to make you feel any better right now."

"I fucking hate you." I shook my head. This demon could really try my patience at times. The fact that I tolerated it was evidence of a bond deeper than either of us cared to admit.

"No, you don't." He gave me a knowing and sad smile. "You hate that I'm the one person who calls you on your shit. And the only one who truly knows what's going on in that crazy head right now."

I sipped my drink, savoring this one instead of downing it all in one go. He was right. Other than Sierra he was the one person who'd ever dared to talk back to me.

Well, Callum did, but that was so long ago it was when we were both petulant children. Before kingdoms and responsibilities drove wedges between us.

"What do you think about what Callum said?"

"Which part?" Archer leaned forward, his hazel eyes darkening. "To look to the future? That he implied Sierra wouldend up as both of yours? Or that you think he'll be ruling his realm soon?"

"You really need to stay out of my head." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Let's dive into all of them but first do you agree with me about Maxiun?"

"That he'll choose to meet his end without your mother by his side?" Archer contemplated this for only a moment before he nodded. "The only reason they were able to carry on after the death of your father was because they had each other. Without Claudia, and without Darius, Maxiun wouldn't have any reason to live. Callum is grown and more than capable of ruling."

I scrubbed a hand over my mouth and nodded. "Exactly. I don't know if Callum was able to come to this conclusion yet." My obsidian eyes fixed on the flames, seeing patterns that weren't there.

"He's grieving. He may have been putting up a decent front, but he was struggling coming to terms with her death. Much less contemplating his father's as well."

"This is all too much of a coincidence." My claws tapped against the crystal tumbler, the sound resonating in the quiet room.

"You're right." Archer grimaced. "Sierra. The attack. The fact that it's getting close to her twenty-ninth birthday. We need to tell her everything."

"Why do you have to be right?" I groaned. "And why do I have a feeling I'm going to be the one she takes all her anger out on?"

Archer chuckled. "Because you're the asshole. I'm just the innocent bystander." His daggers appeared again, twirling between his fingers in that familiar pattern that meant he was plotting something.

Just what I needed.

More complications.

6

Sierra

As I floated off in dreamland—a state that was forced on me by Archer—I relieved all sorts of memories that I wanted to forget. Not the gentle kind that fade with time, but the sharp, jagged ones that cut deeper with each remembrance.

Mainly the night Rowen abandoned me.

Phoenix, Arizona

2017

I laughed as the rain started to pour from the sky. A monsoon! It was my first one and I wasn't going to miss the opportunity go out and dance in the humid rain. The air felt electric against my skin, like it recognized something kindred in me.