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ZOEY

My blood-slicked hands tremble under the cloak Isla gave me.

The hall is silent. The guards say nothing. The Night Court sleeps, but my heart pounds loudly enough to wake the dead.

Not wanting to spend a second more in this hall than necessary, I ball my fist and pound on the doors.

They open almost immediately.

Aerix stands there, shirtless, his dark hair tousled from sleep, his midnight eyes narrowing as they rake over me. His wings twitch, flaring behind him, and the frost in the air sharpens, crackling like ice beneath my skin.

“Inside,” he commands, and I stumble through the threshold, the door slamming shut behind me.

He’s on me in a second, his hands gripping my shoulders, his magic sweeping over me in a cool current.

“What happened?” he asks, his gaze sharp and assessing.

“I had to…” I trail off, shaking my head, my voice catching in my throat.

“Had to what?” he presses, the frigid intensity in his eyes making my breath catch.

“Victoria and Sophia left. Henry came to my suite. He forced himself inside. I thought…” I swallow hard, the memory of Henry’s fingers tearing at my clothes flashing behind my eyes. “I don’t know what I thought. Because then he was on top of me, ripping at my nightgown, and I—” My voice breaks, and I pull out my dagger, the blade stained with blood. “I killed him.”

Aerix’s eyes meet mine, and my heart stops. Because he’s not looking at me with disgust, or with fear.

He’s looking at me with dark, glimmering pride.

“And how do you feel?” he asks calmly, brushing his thumb across my bloodstained cheek.

I can barely gather myself together enough to breathe, let alone think. Yet, somehow, I do.

“Powerful,” I admit, and he smiles—predatory and possessive.

“You look beautiful,” he says, his fingers still caressing my face. “And I think I just fell even harder for you than I did before.”

I close my eyes for a second, swallowing the last of my fear, his words stroking the dangerous part of me that’s been growing since I entered the Night Court.

“You do know how much I care about you, right?” he asks, quiet and urgent, his voice laced with a vulnerability I’ve only heard when he’s on the brink of losing control.

“Yes,” I reply, not doubting him for a second.

“And you care about me, too?” he asks, softer now, tension coiling between us.

From the way he’s studying me, I know he needs to hear it. He’s practically begging for it, like if I don’t say it, something deep inside him will break.

“I love you, Aerix.” I press my palms to his chest, keeping my gaze locked on his. “And I trust you. Always.”

His body shudders with relief.

“I’m going to keep you safe. I promise,” he says, and then, as if a switch has been flipped, he pulls back, his expression turning calculating. “We can’t have you blamed for Henry’s murder.” He moves with practiced efficiency, pulling clothes from his wardrobe and thrusting them into my hands. “Change into this.”

I clutch the clothes to my chest, my heart pounding.

He steps toward me again, his closeness making my heart race. “You did what I would have done,” he says, and there’s something so calming in the way he’s looking at me—something that makes my muscles relax. “I’m going to make sure no one touches you without suffering for it. No one but me. Now—change. And stay right here while you do. Because I want to see it. I want to revel in it.”

My breath quickens as I strip off my ruined nightgown and pull on the garments he provided: black leggings and a soft, oversized tunic. It smells like him—winter air and fresh pine.

“Who knows you were alone with Henry?” he asks, although from the heated way he’s staring at me, I’m surprised he can think straight, let alone plan a cover up for murder.

“I think Katerina knew,” I tell him. “She saw us earlier, when you dropped me off.”

“Katerina is bound to silence,” he says. “And she knows exactly how precarious her position is in our court.”

Our court. Not his court. As if it belongs to me as much as it belongs to him.

My heart clenches at the meaning behind his words, and I feel more cherished and loved than ever.

But I need to focus. Time is of the essence, and I don’t want to learn first-hand what happens to those who kill the queen’s favorite pet.

“Isla helped me get to you,” I tell him, praying she won’t end up paying for it. “She’ll be okay, right?”

“Isla’s immune from anything at court,” he says, affection creeping into his voice. “The king and queen will protect her. They always have.”

I release the breath I was holding.

“She told me she was raised by them,” I say. “That she sees you as a brother.”

“Isla’s been with us since she was born. She’s family.” He shakes his head, as if dismissing the topic. “Who else saw you tonight?”

“Aurora was with Isla when I went to the king’s suite to ask for help,” I say, and he turns to the window, his wings fluttering, a breeze stirring around him.

“Aurora could be pinned as an accessory to the crime,” he muses aloud. “She saw you covered in blood, and Isla will make sure she doesn’t report it. That’s enough to implicate her.”

My mouth goes dry. “But she didn’t do anything wrong.”

His gaze snaps back to me, cold and cruel. “If we need her, we’ll sacrifice her. My only concern is protecting you. Now, who else saw you?”

I draw in a sharp breath, searching his face.

There’s no mercy there—only devotion wrapped in ruthless resolve that makes me burn with desire.

“Victoria and Sophia,” I manage, my throat tight. “Victoria hates me, but?—”

“We’ll say that Victoria confronted Henry over you, and then she killed him in a fit of jealousy,” he interrupts, like it’s the simplest conclusion in all the realms. “She’s one of mine, and no one will care if she’s gone. I was close to sending her to the barns, anyway.”

I stare at him, letting it sink in. “You want to frame Victoria for Henry’s murder.”

He rushes toward me, grabbing my shoulders like he’s begging me to see reason. “I want to keep you safe,” he says. “And this is the cleanest solution.

“She’ll be killed,” I say, barely able to get the words out.

“Yes,” he agrees. “And I need you to be okay with it. To accept it. Can you do that? For me?”

The from before—the one who volunteered at animal shelters and worried about which colleges she’d apply to—would have paused.

But that girl died in the cold Winter Court.

Then she started to thrive in the Night Court. Where she’ll continue to thrive, no matter who she has to step on—or stab to death—to get there.

“Do it,” I say, the words a heavy door closing on who I used to be.

His breath leaves him in a rush, his eyes flaring with pride.

“We need to move quickly,” he says. “Is Henry’s body still in your suite?”

I twist my fingers together, my stomach knotting. “On the floor in the living room. There’s... a lot of blood.”

Something in my voice must alarm him, because he pauses to look me up and down.

“You gave him what he deserved. Now, we need to get Victoria’s scent on the body,” he says, moving to a cabinet and retrieving something that looks like a large bottle of ink—or blood. “This will do. Especially given that she won’t have an alibi.”

“I don’t know where she went after leaving the suite. How do we know she wasn’t with?—”

“No one will give her an alibi,” he cuts me off, his eyes hardening with the look he gives me when he doesn’t want me to push further. “I’ll make sure of it.”

I nod, trusting him.

“And me?” I ask. “Where will I be?”

“Here, in my quarters,” he says simply. “Where you belong.”

The certainty in his voice—the possessive finality—sends a shiver straight through me.

“What about Sophia?” I ask. “She said she was going to…”

I trail off, unsure how Aerix will react if I tell him Sophia went to spend the night with Elijah. I know Aerix doesn’t care about Sophia—nowhere close to how much he cares about me—but she still technically belongs to him. And Aerix protects what’s his.

Although, given that he’s plotting how to frame Victoria for Henry’s murder, he apparently cares about the others far less than I realized.

“I’ll handle Sophia.” His wings flare, and he strides to the door, opening it and whispering to one of the guards outside.

When he returns, his expression is resolute.

“It’s done,” he says.

“That easily?”

“When you’re a prince,” he says, an edge of dark humor in his voice as he moves toward me, “murder is just another type of politics.”

I trail my fingers over his bare chest, feeling the tension there—the power just beneath the surface.

“Murder. Politics,” I say, my heart racing as I gaze up at him. “You make them both look beautiful.”

He gives a low, pleased sound, sliding his hand to the small of my back. “They’re all just tools,” he murmurs in my ear. “And I’ll wield every one of them for you.”

My heart stutters, and I lean back slightly, meeting his hungry gaze. “And I love you for it,” I say, not wanting him to doubt me for a single second.

With that, his mouth crashes onto mine, claiming and devouring. But in the back of my mind, I think of Victoria—asleep somewhere, oblivious to the noose tightening around her neck.

And I feel nothing.

Because in the Night Court, we all play the game.

And I’ve learned how to win.

When Aerix pulls back, he brushes his fingers along my cheek, smearing the blood there like war paint.

“Tomorrow,” he murmurs, his lips ghosting over my ear, “I’m having your things moved out of the human quarters. You’ll live in the suite connected to mine. No more separation, and no more distance. You’ll finally be where you belong.”

I pull back just enough to look up at him, my pulse quickening. “Has a royal ever done that for a human before?” I ask.

It’s rare,” he admits. “But not unprecedented. Isla lived in a suite connected to the king’s quarters before she was old enough to join the human wing. As for Katerina’s brother…” His tone shifts, an edge of amusement in it. “He’s been in Mirena’s quarters this entire time.”

I blink, stunned. “But Mirena only has Sebastian.”

“Sebastian’s a decoy.” His fingers trace my collarbone, his touch leaving frost patterns on my skin. “My sister keeps her true love locked away where no one can see him, and she takes enough from Sebastian to ensure no one questions his weakened state.”

I nod, processing this information. Because with Victoria gone, Aerix will only have me and Sophia to feed from—and he never takes close to enough from me to make me weak. He likes to have me strong for him.

Which means he’ll have to take more from her.

“What will happen to Sophia?” I ask, hoping he’ll answer instead of leaving me wondering.

“She’ll be weak, but alive. As for you… I’ll continue to only feed from you once a day,” he confirms my suspicion, his fingers trailing down my throat and lingering over his favorite spot to feed. “I like you strong, . I need you strong. And when I drink from Sophia… I want you to watch.”

A dark thrill pulses through me.

“I need you to know that she’s only a necessity. That I’ll never want her as anything other than a meal, because everything I do is for you,” he continues, rough and urgent, his fingers digging into my shoulders. “Do you understand? Do you trust me enough to do this for me?”

His wings flare, and his lips part slightly, like they always do when he’s thinking about feeding on me.

“I’ll watch,” I promise, reaching up to trace the sharp line of his jaw. “I want to see.”

“Good.” His eyes dilate with savage satisfaction, wind swirling around us, his breaths quickening. “Because I never want you to doubt, even for a second, that you’re the only one I hunger for.”

He closes the distance between us before I can respond, his mouth claiming mine with the same burning intensity he’s had since the night we said we loved each other and he carved his name onto my hip.

“You’ll be safe here with me,” he murmurs, scooping me into his arms and carrying me to the bed, pulling at my clothes in a desperate fervor as he removes them one by one. “I’ll have art supplies brought to your quarters. Books. Dresses. Anything you want.” His voice drops to a whisper that sends chills down my spine. “Because you’re mine until the stars burn out and the realms crumble into dust.”

I tangle my fingers through his silky hair, tugging just enough to make him groan.

“And I want every part of you,” I tell him. “Your darkness. Your hunger. Your love. Because if it’s for me, I want it all.”

Frost crackles across the sheets as he lays me down, his wings flaring with anticipation and desire.

“Say it again, .” His gaze burns into mine as he hovers on top of me, leaving a torturously few inches between my body and his.

“I love you,” I tell him, and he shudders, sinking into me in a fluid motion that steals my breath away.

“And I love you,” he says as he begins to move inside me, drawing a gasp from my throat as need for him burns through my veins, threatening to consume me in a single heartbeat. “You have every broken, brutal piece of me, and I’ll destroy anyone who tries to take you from me.”

“Make them bleed.” I move my hand up to trace my fingers across the base of his wings, and he presses his forehead to mine with a sharp inhale, as if I’m undoing him with each word I speak.

“For you, I’ll do anything,” he growls, and from there, the night dissolves into a blur of sensation—his hands, his mouth, and his wings enclosing me in a cage I never want to escape. He worships my body with a manic intensity, like he’s branding himself into my soul.

And far later, cradled in the arms of my night prince as sleep claims me, I know I’ve made my choice. I’ve chosen darkness. I’ve chosen him.

And I’m going to stay with him—always.