Chapter 66

DARIAN

Keira.

That name hadn’t been spoken inside this palace for years.

Nothing so beautiful belonged here. The only other time I felt that was when I brought Hazel home after the Hunt.

Every step felt like it defined the turn of the world and the halls seemed longer, infinite even, when I weighed down the carpet with each step.

My office doors stood open and the demonic voices in my head and seething wheezes didn’t stop until I walked inside and shut the doors.

Keira.

The name was whispered in the angelic tone it was meant to be said and usually it stopped when I closed the doors but this time it continued. Her name echoed in my ears, it reached the high ceiling and plastered itself on the walls all around me.

“Stop!” I grabbed my hair and pulled.

I dropped my hands down on the desk and heard the crack in the thick oak wood.

It rushed up my core and filled my chest, I couldn’t contain it and the scream rippled from me in