“I could reach the rank of Maven, lead armies of dark wielders against everyone we care for, and watch every vein in my body turn red as I channel all the power in the Continent, and I would still love you. What I did doesn’t change that. I’m not sure anything can.”

will speak for me in my absence while taking counsel from my only living blood relative—Cadet Durran. Lieutenant Tavis has been co-leading my classes and will step into the role of professor to teach them fully while we’re gone until it’s time for the next professor to rotate in.” “If I give my permission,” Halden retorts. Wrong move, Halden. “I

And expel another piece of my humanity.

“That venin by Jack’s cell had silver hair,” I mutter, setting my dagger to an apple and peeling it in one long ribbon. “That’s weird, right?”

“Good.” Ridoc nods, then rocks back on his heels and takes a deep breath. “Oh, and just so we’re clear, that strike up there wasn’t”—he gestures between us—“you know. Us.” He flinches. “I mean, it was us because I pissed her off, but it wasn’t us…us, if you know what I’m saying.” I fight to keep from rolling my eyes. “Well aware,” Xaden replies.

“You see, Dain’s too honorable to wield in a challenge, but you’ll find that my sense of morality has learned to…waver.” I retrieve another dagger and shake it in her direction. “You lift your hand against him again, and the next one goes through it. He’s the reason you’re alive. The reason you’re all alive!” Power thrums through me, buzzing with

“Now that the Duke of Angst is gone,” Bodhi says, his voice rising, “we have a problem.” Of course we do.

to secure the braid in place, and most definitely noticing that he used the term we. It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him I’ll be actively working on one of those things in the next forty-eight hours, but he doesn’t want to know, and losing control a few minutes ago

There hadn’t been one on Dain’s wrist, either.