Page 95 of The Alien's Cruel Starfrost Domain

“And once you have the sister? What then?” the second stranger asks.

I can almost hear Ivrael shrug. “I follow the plan. We meet at Jonyk’s palace and take down the traitor prince.”

At this, the terror seeping through my limbs freezes into horror as hard as the icicles dripping from the eaves of Starfrost Manor.

Inside Ivrael’s study, the conversation hasn’t waited for my physical responses, and I hold my breath to hear Ivrael’s next words over the cold pounding of my own heart. “You’ll have the twins there as well?”

“Of course.” The older man is the one who answers.

“And what do your girls know of the plan?”

“I decided it was better not to tell them beforehand.”

“Good call. I haven’t told the human girl anything, either.”

“Where is she, anyway?” the younger stranger asks.

“I put her to work in the kitchen.”

The men laugh, and the ice inside me shatters in a volcano of blazing anger. I consider bursting into the room, demanding to know what they’re talking about, what plans Ivrael has for me, for Izzy. But they’re still talking, and I think maybe I can learn more from eavesdropping.

“She is…” Ivrael pauses thoughtfully. “Rash. Prone to acting without thinking. She’s tried to run away several times already.”

“She ran? Where did she think she was going?” I’m beginning to think I dislike the older stranger.

Ivrael’s harsh laugh grates across my skin. “I have no idea. I assume she thought she could get back home.”

“Back to Earth? But it’s not?—”

“I know. But her sister is still there.” I silently curse Ivrael’s interruption. Earth is notwhat?

“And you don’t think she might be more inclined to stay if she understood the stakes?” No, I decide. The younger man is the more irritating of the two.

Ivrael’s derisive snort echoes, and I clench my teeth to bite back the growl I want to let out. “She wouldn’t believe she has any reason to help me.”

I wouldn’t believe it because I could never have any reason to help Ivrael.

“Then give her a reason. Tell her the truth.”

Wait. Truth? What truth does the older stranger want the duke to tell me?

This time, Ivrael laughs aloud. “She wouldn’t believe me. She couldn’t—not until she sees it for herself.”

“If you don’t tell her beforehand, she’ll never forgive you for what you’ve done, what you’re planning to do.”

Ivrael’s voice drops so low I can barely hear it. “I know. I’ll neverforgive myself, either.”

I frown so hard my forehead aches with it, and I’m still trying to figure out what these two could possibly mean when I hear the scrape of a chair across the floor. “You’d better get back to your guests,” the older stranger says.

“And you have a grand entrance to make,” Ivrael replies.

The younger man laughs. “Not to worry. I haven’t forgotten.”

“If you do this, you won’t be able to show your face at the summit.” Ivrael’s voice carries a warning. “Someone might recognize you.”

“I have no issue with that,” the younger man says. “I don’t want to be there, anyway.”

I don’t begin to move until I hear their footsteps moving across the floor toward the door. And then I’m darting into the room across the hallway, the silver parlor, a room where Ivrael is supposed to entertain his personal friends. It’s a room I’ve never seen used.

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