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There had been almost no complaints from any of the six provinces about my rise to power, except Drakorum.

The mountainous province to the east was home to the Shifters—magic-wielders who could shift at will into their given animal form.

They were the most volatile of the magic types, ruled by their temperamental emotions and primal instincts.

I should know. I was one of them.

My mother’s ancestors lived in Drakorum until generations ago when they moved to the capital of Veridia City. That was where she met my father, the heir to the empire and an Alchemist with roots in the Feywood province. My brother inherited his Alchemist blood, whereas I took after my mother.

I’d never even been to Drakorum until five months ago. Emperor Gayl’s laws had always forbidden traveling among the provinces. I felt no pull to the cold, rocky land, despite my heritage. There had never been this innate desire in me to connect to that part of my background.

And yet…they were my people. In more ways than one.

They knew better than anyone what my life had been like, growing up as a Shifter, learning to deal with the unpredictable nature of our magic.

Being so angry or scared or distraught that you were unable to control the shift.

Forcing two vastly different sides of yourself into one body, one mind, one heart, and somehow having to decipher which was which.

The fact that it had been one of my own, a fellow Shifter, who’d tried to murder me in my sleep…

I didn’t need to be accepted by everyone. That was what I told myself, anyway. But this constant strife with Drakorum pricked me on a deeper subconscious level than I’d expected.

“Fine,” I said with a sigh. “I promise not to send the guards away again.” My features softened as I took in Lark and my mother, two of the women who meant the most to me in this world. “Thank you for looking out for me. I know these last few months have been… trying for everyone, not just me.”

My eyes lingered on Lark’s wheelchair. Guilt bit at me every time I saw her.

It may not have been my fault that she was in it, but I would never forget what we’d both suffered that day in those dark chambers.

The day Gayl attacked and changed our lives forever.

The day I tried so hard to not think about.

Along with the fact that I still stood on two feet, while she would never be able to walk again.

Lark gave me a wry smile as she wheeled closer to my desk. “I know we’ll have this same conversation again in a week, but I appreciate the sentiment.”

I started to laugh—because we both knew she was right—when I noticed a pencil had fallen from my desk, landing in the path of one of her wheels.

The hard iron slowly crushed the small piece of wood.

Crack .

Something jolted through my body.

A fear, a pain , so visceral it echoed down my spine.

The sound of crunching bone filled my ears before the white-hot sting reverberated from my ankle. Looking down, I saw bone jutting from skin, the sharp edges of the break gleaming in the firelight.

Another crack.

Distantly, my mother and Lark’s voices broke through the haze, but I barely registered the words coming from their mouths.

“Well, actually, Clarissa may not be here in a week for you to berate her again, Lark.”

“Ah, yes, I almost forgot about the Mysthelm proposition,” Lark said.

The room went out of focus, replaced with a vast chamber.

A scream ripped from my throat. I couldn’t feel my shoulder, couldn’t feel anything except for excruciating pain as a third snap vibrated through me.

And another.

And another.

His cold voice was all around me, filling me, breaking me. My skin and muscles sagged where bone had once been. I crumpled to the ground, already feeling the healing powers of my Shifter blood take effect, but it was too much. Too wrong. Too much pain.

“Clarissa, dear, are you feeling alright?” A soft, wrinkled hand rested on my upper arm. I flinched, my skin tingling as I took a deep breath and tried to pull myself from the memory.

“Yes—yes, I’m fine. Just…give me a moment. I need to get ready for the meeting,” I said, offering Mother a placating smile. Without waiting to hear her response, I turned and threw open the door leading from my office to my bedchamber, shutting it with a click .

My breaths came out rapid and shallow as I leaned my head against the back of the door.

I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the panic to pass, for the false pain to disappear.

My Shifter half rose to the surface in my distress.

I flattened my hands along the wall as my nails sharpened into claws.

Sounds from outside the palace and the forest surrounding the perimeter reached my ears, which I could feel elongating, fur brushing against the skin at my neck.

Opening my eyes, I turned to face the mirror on the wall adjacent to me. Staring back were eyes tinged in yellow and soft, red ears coming to a point next to blonde hair, my features rippling back and forth.

Human and fox.

Focus. Steady. Don’t lose control. Get it together, Rissa .

I didn’t want the others to see me like this. What they thought was their strong, capable, competent leader, reduced to a trembling mess by a mere sound .

But there were times when I wasn’t strong. Moments where I wasn’t capable.

And when that memory swept in, when the hysteria took hold, I feared this nightmare would never go away.