Chapter 8

Alex

I spent the morning pretending to read, but the same page had been open for twenty minutes and not a word stuck. Every time I tried to focus, my thoughts scorched back to the Royal Archives: Primordials burning on their first shift, the madmen’s names etched in blood, Sebastiano drifting beside each fresh corpse. Three days—then the full moon would wrench Calista from me, whether I was ready or not. If Weston and I failed to seal our bond, the power rising inside me would destroy us both.

The library door creaked. I sensed Weston before I smelled him—my wolf always woke first.

“Dearest?”

I kept my eyes on the page.

“You’ve been reading the same line since I came in.”

“I’m studying it carefully.” I refused to look up.

“The book is upside down.”

I glanced down, cheeks burning, and snapped it shut. “That explains why it made no sense.”

He crossed the room in two strides and sat beside me. “Talk to me.”

“I don’t kno