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F ilak would be back.

It should have been a frightening thought. A threat with enough power to keep Daisy awake and terrified, huddled under her fur, casting fearful glances toward the door.

But instead, she felt herself sinking into the bed, into its surprisingly comfortable warmth. The furs were so soft, the room so dim and cozy, and she could just think about that, only that…

She ended up sleeping again, for what felt like a considerable amount of time, and when she awoke, the room was brighter and busier than before, with multiple people in view. Two of them were Rosa and the woman from yesterday — Jule , her name had been — and they were both sitting on the bench beside Daisy’s bed, and speaking together in low, urgent voices.

But upon catching Daisy’s gaze, Rosa instantly broke off, and beamed toward her with a warm, relieved smile. “ Oh , it’s so good to see you awake, sister!” she exclaimed. “ I hope you’re feeling better this morning? And that you’re beginning to recover from yesterday’s deeply traumatic and highly unnecessary ordeal?”

She shot a baleful glance toward the door — toward what? — and Daisy’s heart skipped, her hands clutching at the heavy fur still draped over her. “ Er , yes, I think so,” she replied, in a voice still scratchy with sleep. “ Thank you so much for the bed, and the help.”

Rosa waved it away with a dismissive flap of her hand, while beside her, Jule cleared her throat. “ You’re welcome to stay here as long as you like,” she said, her eyes steady on Daisy’s face. “ And again, I want to apologize for yesterday, and for all the distress we caused you. We’d be honoured to do whatever we can to try to make amends to you.”

Daisy swallowed, but twitched a shrug, and dropped her gaze toward her fur. Yesterday’s mess hadn’t been Jule’s fault, had it? No , it had all been due to Filak , and Lew . And the mass murder, the poison, Sybil , Lord Nash , how much belladonna to feed a newborn…

It still churned up bile in Daisy’s empty-feeling stomach, and twisted more bitter awareness into her thoughts. Gods , it was all so appalling, so utterly, unconscionably vile — and how had she missed it, all this time? How had she not seen it, or suspected it? Lew had often been selfish or casually cruel, yes, but he’d never been partial to violence, either. His primary goal had always been his work, his research, his renown as a scientist and a scholar, and now — now he was willing to commit mass murder? To poison innocent children ?

“So how are you going to stop Lew’s attack?” Daisy asked Jule , far too loud and abrupt — but suddenly she needed to know, needed it more than anything else. “ Because — you will stop him, right? You’ll find a way to keep your people safe? Your children?”

She didn’t miss the surprise flickering through Jule’s eyes, followed by something much like relief. “ Yes , of course,” she replied. “ Preventing this attack is now our top priority. We’ve already sent our best scouts to follow Mr . Wallace , to determine who he’s been working with, and the extent of the Council’s involvement. We also have a timeline — it looks as though they’re planning to begin their offensive by the end of the month. Just over two weeks from now.”

Two weeks. Daisy’s breath shuddered out, and she swiftly calculated a timeline. That would have given Lew enough time to not only prepare and oversee the attack, but also to stay and evaluate the results afterwards, too. To catalogue the outcomes, maybe do some drawings or dissections of the casualties…

Daisy shivered all over, and drew in a deep breath. “ Right ,” she replied dully. “ Two weeks from now would — make sense.”

Jule nodded, and made a note in a small book Daisy hadn’t noticed she’d been holding. “ But on the positive side,” she said, “as far as we can tell, Mr . Wallace and Lord Nash don’t yet realize we’re aware of their plan. Which gives us a much-needed tactical advantage.”

Daisy should have given some kind of response, but her voice felt locked in her throat, her eyes trapped on that book in Jule’s hands. A book that whipped up a sudden panicked vision of Lew’s notebook, down in that dungeon.

“But — what about Lew’s notebook?” she demanded, her voice shrill. “ If he realizes it’s gone missing, won’t he immediately suspect that he’s been compromised? That his horrible plan might be at risk, after all?”

But Jule shook her head, and gave Daisy a reassuring smile. “ Yes , which is why we sent the notebook back to Dusbury as soon as we could last night,” she replied. “ It’s now been replaced in your apartment, and with any luck, Mr . Wallace won’t have even noticed it was touched. But our scouts are still keeping close watch over the situation, and they’ll be bringing us regular reports, and helping to guide our strategy.”

Oh. Well . That all sounded promising — right? As though they’d thought of everything, and had it all well in hand. So why was Daisy’s heartbeat still pattering in her chest, a low miserable dread still drumming through her thoughts. Maybe because she was still part of this, partly at fault for this. And she should be doing more, she should be offering…

“But — wouldn’t it be better for you if I went back to Lew myself, though?” she asked, though it came out unsteady, uncertain. “ If I go apologize to him, and make up some story about where I’ve been? And that way, if he notices anything unusual about the notebook, I can take responsibility for it. And more importantly” — she hauled in a shaky breath — “ I can try to learn more about his plans for the attack, and report whatever I learn back to you directly.”

But her voice was badly wavering now, her heartbeat erratically jangling against her ribs. If she really went back to Lew , she would have to touch him again, to pretend to want him again, to sleep in bed with a lying cheating murderer . And suddenly the visions of Filak were swirling through her thoughts too, Filak’s hands, Filak’s teeth, sólin mín…

“I’m sorry, but we’d really rather you didn’t,” came Jule’s reply, clipped and certain. “ We’re told you left behind a note saying you were returning to the city, and if you suddenly reappear out of nowhere, that will certainly raise Mr . Wallace’s suspicions more than anything else. And if he believes you’ve been compromised, or that you’ve learned about the attack, that puts all of us at risk.”

Right. Daisy couldn’t deny her stark, sinking relief, even as her heart kept unevenly thudding, building a distant nagging ache behind her eyes. She should still be doing something, anything, and it felt like she was missing something important, but she couldn’t even think, stupid …

“And also,” Rosa’s voice cut in, a little too sharply, “ We have a slight… problem.”

They did? Daisy blinked up, frowning, and then followed Rosa’s narrow, glinting gaze across the room. Toward …

Filak .

He was leaning against the end of the opposite divider, standing casually with his arms folded, as though he’d always been there. But he surely hadn’t been there even a moment ago, he hadn’t . Because now Daisy could feel the weight of his eyes, glittering hard and intent on hers. Strong enough to be a touch, a caress, shimmering heat low in her belly, flaring it into her cheeks.

“He refuses to leave you!” Rosa snapped, with an exasperated flail of her hand toward him. “ Kesst has thrown him out multiple times now, but he somehow keeps sneaking back in! And just before you woke up, we tried to have him bodily removed, so he wouldn’t upset you — but he accused us of cruel and unwarranted mistreatment against a favoured son of the Ka -esh, by keeping him away from his newly bonded mate! And then ” — she took a deep breath, puffing out her chest — “he threatened to declare war against us, on behalf of his kin in the north!”

Her voice had risen to a wail, her eyes flashing dangerously on Filak’s cold watching face. While beside her, Jule clapped a hand to her shoulder, and gave her a reassuring little shake. “ He wouldn’t,” she said, though she aimed a sharp look toward Filak , too. “ No single orc has that kind of authority, not even in the north.”

“But you don’t know that for certain, Jule ,” Rosa countered. “ None of us know anything about him! He’s been nothing but chaos since the first day he came here, and now here he is, kidnapping innocent women and locking them in dungeons , and threatening to launch these — these inter- Ka -esh hostilities , for the first time in our clan’s entire history !”

Her outraged voice rang even louder, while Jule’s mouth betrayed a faint twitch, and she gave another reassuring shake to Rosa’s shoulder. “ I’m sure it was an empty threat,” she replied firmly. “ But Filak does seem very… attached to Daisy . And ” — she shot Daisy a rueful glance — “highly concerned for your welfare.”

Rosa’s loud snort rather echoed Daisy’s own tumbling thoughts — Filak had locked her in a dungeon — but now Filak’s hands rose before him, snapping out sharp movements in midair. The same way he and Julian had done the day before, almost as if it was a manner of speaking — and in return, Rosa wrinkled her nose, her lip curling in distaste.

“Filak’s also demanding to speak with you, Daisy ,” she said sourly. “ He claims that it’s very important. And you’ll want to hear what he has to say.”

Oh. Daisy’s breath caught, and when she darted another look at Filak , he was still watching her with those intent, piercing eyes. While his hand now jerked up to his heart, his sun, drawing that cross over it with his claw, again and again.

I am sorry, Daisy . I am sorry.

It twisted painfully in Daisy’s own heart, in her empty curdling stomach, and she grimaced, dropped her eyes. She didn’t want to hear anything else he had to say… did she? She should be finished with him, forgetting him…

“But of course there’s no obligation whatsoever, Daisy ,” cut in Jule’s flat voice. “ If you would prefer Filak leaves you alone — whether just for now, or forever — he will honour your wishes, I promise you.”

She sounded very certain about that, and Daisy risked another brief, searching glance up toward Filak . Who was still studying her, still signing that cross at her, his shadowed eyes bleak, or even regretful. As if he would never hurt her. As if he would never lock her alone in a dungeon, never snap a permanent collar around her neck, never stuff her own art in her mouth…

Daisy should have looked away, shaken her head. Should have said, nei, Filak , nei , and demanded he go away at once, to somewhere she would never see him again, forever. But her voice felt locked in her throat, as something prickled strange and hot behind her eyes. And finally she twitched a shrug, and dropped her gaze back to the fur.

“Fine,” she managed, in a voice that didn’t sound like hers. “ Just this once.”

There was an instant’s stillness, and then Daisy was vividly, powerfully aware of Filak’s tall form striding over toward them. Coming closer and closer, his footsteps silent on the stone floor, his eyes raking like a touch over her skin.

And then, in a jerky movement, he fell to his knees. Sinking down beside the bed, his body suddenly, unnervingly close. His shadowed eyes catching hers, glimmering as they held, as his clawed hands thrust something up toward her…

“For you, sólin mín ,” he said, in stilted-sounding common-tongue. “ I am sorry.”

Daisy blinked at him, and then at the object in his hands — the chest. The small, square chest of polished wood, with a gleaming little latch on the front. It was beautifully carved, as if it was made to hold something important, something precious.

And as Daisy kept staring, not breathing, Filak’s claw carefully flicked the latch, and popped the lid open. Revealing …

The jewels. The fortune .