Page 75 of The Alien's Vicious Starflash Manor

How much longer can I maintain this fragile balance?

Not long, I fear.

The moons are coming, dragging all my secrets into the light, and I am powerless to stop their advance.

Just as I seemed powerless last night to stop myself from giving into the desire I’ve felt for her all along, powerless to stop myself f

But if I can’t allow myself to see Lara, then I won’t be able to continue the Evans sisters’ court training.

Then again, it won’t matter how much time I spend trying to train Lara and her sister if I can’t control myself—or my magic—around her.

The ice spreads from my fingertips across the ornate desk, blooming unbidden across the polished wood. With a muttered curse, I pull my hands back, flexing my fingers as I try to regain control of my wayward magic.

Six days until Jonyk’s peace summit. The timing couldn’t be worse.

I have to wonder if the prince is trying to cause the attendees of his “peace summit” discomfort.

Papers lie scattered across my desktop—letters half-written to Uanna and Lord Vazor, each one a testament to my mounting desperation.

The proud Duke of Starfrost, reduced to begging for help.

Begging. The word evokes the memory of Lara on her knees, and a thin sheet of ice shivers into being around me.

Fuck.

I cannot train the Evans sisters alone. Not with my powers fluctuating like this. Not with the double full moon approaching.

Not with Lara’s presence haunting every corner of my domain.

Frost crackles up the walls as that thought, too, slips through my barriers. I inhale sharply, forcing the ice back, but it refuses to fully retreat. The temperature in my study drops further, and my breath clouds in the air.

“Fucking hells,” I mutter, pressing my palms flat against the desk. The wood should be cool beneath my touch, but instead it burns like fire.

Everything burns lately. Or freezes when I don’t expect it.

I turn back to the letters, forcing myself to focus on the immediate problem. The Evans sisters need to learn court etiquette, politics, self-defense, plus how to navigate the prince’s deadly ice maze—and they need to learn it all before the summit.

Before I sacrifice them to save my world.

The thought sends another surge of unwanted power through me. Ice explodes across my desk, encasing the half-finished letters in a thin sheet of frost. When I try to summon enough heat to melt it, nothing happens.

My magic flickers and dims until I sense it only as a thin thread buried deep inside.

“Goddess damn it all.” I slam my fist against the desk, and the impact sends spiderwebs of ice racing across the surface.

I have to have help. I can’t wait any longer. Uanna may be manipulative, but she knows court politics better than anyone. And Vazor...

My hand trembles slightly as I reach for a fresh sheet of paper. His twin daughters could help too—they’ve navigated the firelord court their entire lives. They could teach the Evans sisters what they need to know.

What they need to survive.

Until I need them dead.

It’s like I can’t stop thinking about what’s coming, no matter how hard I try. Or what’s been—and again, a vision of Lara with her mouth wrapped around my cock flashes across my inner eye.

Ice crystals form in the air around me, suspended like frozen tears. I wave them away with an impatient gesture, but they refuse to dissipate completely.

The door opens, and Tenyt steps inside. He hesitates at the threshold, likely noting the arctic temperature and the frost coating every surface.

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