Page 62 of Steel Heart Iron Claws

Night rolls back his shoulders as fey lines break out along his skin. His ears and eyebrows lengthen. His skin pales to the pallor of death beneath locks as dark as crow feathers. This already devastatingly attractive man becomes more beautiful than anything I have ever laid eyes on.

A terrifying beauty—the beauty of the End.

“You’re Immortal Woudix. The Ender. God of Death,” I breathe between trembling lips.

His hound, Hawk, sidles up to him. Now, her glamour is dropped, too, and it’s painfully clear why I can’t communicatewith her. Her flesh is patchy. Rotting. A portion of her cheek is missing to show her teeth.

She’s dead.

My stomach clenches. A pain seizes my heart, squeezing out every drop of blood until I feel as spent as a candle stub. Any minute, my legs might give out. I feel my mind and body shutting down. Unable to process…this.

Butthere.

The tall, arched window at the front of the hall is open. Gasping, I take a step toward it.

Heavy footsteps approach me from behind as Artain murmurs, “Go ahead, Highness. Try to run. I like to play with my quarry before I catch it.”

“Artain!” My father’s booming voice reverberates like a bell strike. “Lady Sabine is a princess of this realm. Not some plaything for you to toy with!”

Artain’s grin falters.

Panic seizes me. Dots form at the edges of my vision as if, at any moment, I’ll faint.

I dart to my left, trying to find a gap in the crowd, but am blocked by Immortal Samaur. Heart racing, I double-back toward the right, but Immortal Woudix and his hound have moved to fill that place. I take a step forward, but Artain blocks me.

The only fae not hemming me in is Iyre, who continues to munch on roasted carrots disinterestedly.

Darkness roars louder around the edges of my vision.

Desperate, I sprint to the open window and pull myself onto the stone ledge. A draft of wind blusters up from the valley below.

I dare to look down.

It doesn’t matter that the Hall of Vale is on the castle’sground floor, because all of Drahallen Hall rests on a high promontory over the Ramvik River. The fall is thirty feet straight onto jagged river rocks.

Below, low-flying falcons glide in concentric circles between me and the river.

The partygoers immediately fall silent, holding their communal breath as I inch my foot backward toward the drop.

The smug grin on Artain’s face vanishes.

My father’s urgent rasp breaks the silence. “Sabine—don’t. Think about what you are considering. You are human. You cannot return from a fall like that.”

“Return?” My chest heaves as I look down at the falcons. A pair of eagles and a giant hawk have joined them, drawn to my need. “Return towhat? A father who lied to me? A court full of deceitful gods?”

My father takes a slow, cautious step forward. “We were waiting to reveal the truth until you were ready to accept it.”

All the fancy parties. All the riches. All the smiling servants.All a ploy to win me to their side before they broke my world.

ButI’mthe only one who decides my fate.

As gasps ring out through the crowd, I slide my foot back another inch, dropping my gaze to the river, counting the number of birds circling below, debating if I’ll fall—or if I’m strong enough to fly.

Chapter 19

Basten

Dawn rises beyond the white limestone windowsills of Hekkelveld Castle as I stride down the hall after leaving the man I once called “master” broken and bleeding on his bedroom floor.

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