Page 105 of First Offense

My breath caught in my throat.

Auric was over a hundred years old—closer to two hundred—and he’d never known anyone to be reformed? Anyone at all?

“Neither have I,” Novak replied. “Not a single one.”

I swallowed. They were similar in age, and Novak had been surrounded by Noir for… “How long have you been a Noir?” I’d heard how and why he Fell, but didn’t know the exact timeline.

“Over a century,” he replied. “And I’ve known hundreds of Noir. None of whom ever came close to reform. Nor were any of them guided toward it. These prison camps are not meant to rehabilitate or prepare an angel for some sort of re-ascension. We’re being trained for an entirely different purpose.War.”

Auric was shaking his head. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“I never said it did,” Novak returned. “But that doesn’t make it any less true.”

“So I’ll never be reformed,” I whispered.

Even if this was all some sort of messed-up punishment meant to make me appreciate my purpose within the dukedom, there was no guarantee of how long it would last or that it would even work.

As Novak said, I could be in this misery for an eternity.

Or I could embrace it.

What kind of queen would I become then?

And what kind of queen was I destined to become otherwise?

Which one do I want to be?I wondered, shivering as Novak released me to slide effortlessly to his feet. “Dinnertime,” he said just as someone started to unlock our door.

My stomach twisted.

But it wasn’t a hunger for food.

No, I was craving something else entirely.

Leather and evergreen topped with cherries.

A forbidden sort of mix, one that was becoming harder and harder to avoid sampling every day.

28

Novak

I smoothedmy thumb over Layla’s forehead, trying to calm the lines that had formed there while she slept. She relaxed considerably beneath my touch, her lips parting on an alluring sigh.

The poor thing was exhausted from her fourth night of tossing and turning.

We’d been allowed outside for only one hour a day for the last five days in a row. Each time, Auric scanned the perimeter for improvements to security and frowned upon finding none.

I suspected that was the point.

The guards weren’t preparing this prison for protection. They were up to something else. Not a culling or another match, but a game of sorts.

Not only had they moved us to these improved accommodations, but they were also feeding us heartily. They provided exercise areas in our rooms to maintain our endurance. And they granted us an hour a day outside to witness just how poorly this reformatory was being guarded.

Something was definitely about to happen.

And I was prepared for whatever they had in store.

Layla might not have chosen me yet, but I accepted her as mine. Auric made a noise, one that told me he strongly disagreed. Or, more likely, did not appreciate the way I was touching Layla while she slept.