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“How are you so sure?” Sabien asked.

Dagmara wasn’t sure. She wasn’t sure about anything anymore. Everything she thought she knew had been shattered.

“Now,” Sabien’s voice brought her back to her senses. “I told you who I am. I feel it is only fair for you to tell me who you are.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I am Queen Magda—”

He came toward her in a fury. Before she knew it, he pinned her to the wall, his body flush against hers, and his hands on either side of her head. She could feel his hot breath against her lips when he growled, “Stop lying.”

“I’m not lying!” She tried to squirm away from him, but it only created friction between their bodies. Her heart lurched in her chest as she felt his muscles stiffen. He was like a rock against her. And he was staring at her lips.

She froze once more, her breathing shallow.

No…he wasn’t staring at her lips. He was staring lower.

His fingers trailed her neck, sending shivers through her body, and grasped the fabric of her sleeve. Slowly, he pulled the shoulder of her dress to the side, revealing her collarbone and the scar. With one shoulder of her dress hanging, she knew her bodice dropped dangerously low.

“I knew I recognized you.” His breath was warm against her face. He traced his thumb over the scar. The scar he had given her the night she shoved him off the Azuremi bridge.

He smiled. “Hello, Dagger.”

Her mission had officially been compromised.

Dagmara was suddenly aware of how firm he was against her and how her curves were pressed against him. She recognized the warmth flooding through her body and the bottomless pit of emotion in her stomach. She couldn’t let her mission be compromised now. She finally had access to the royal chambers.

“You’re wrong,” Dagmara said.

“I know the face of the woman who tried to kill me.”

Heat rose in her chest. It was all over.

Then a thought struck her.

“I’ll tell Claude about you.”

“Blackmail?” He let out a sharp laugh. “Claude will never believe you.”

Was that true? Dagmara knew she wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t seen the magic with her own eyes.

But if she told Claude about Sabien, she would have to confess how she knew. She would have to admit that Sabien was the one who had created the wolf out of water and that she didn’t have magic. She would have to confess who she really was.

Sabien seemed to read her thoughts as though she professed them out loud. He gave her a smirk. “Don’t worry, I’m very good at keeping secrets.”

“What?”

Sabien fixed the shoulder of her dress, covering her scar. Then he took a step back, finally giving her room to breathe. “I have no intention of outing you, Dagger.”

“Then why confront me in the hallway?”

“I figured I should explain that I have magic, and you don’t,” Sabien said casually, “and I wanted you to admit you’re not Magdalena. Very risky move by the way. Why go through with the wedding and not kill Claude earlier?”

“I have no intention of killing Claude,” Dagmara said.

He crossed his arms. “Sad excuse for an assassin then, aren’t you?”

“I’m here to find proof that he killed King Bogdan and Prince Aleksy, nothing more. If you knew I was an assassin, why not tell everyone to protect Claude?”

“I…was mad at him for killing Bogdan before I had the chance to discover the truth. And I told you, Claude and Bogdan were using assassins to kill people with magic. Claude is the type of king who would kill me if he knew I had this magic.”