Page 55 of Savage Crown

It would be easy—one order, one command, and she’d be eliminated before sunrise.

Before she can do any more damage.

Before she can ruin me.

I rise from my chair, pacing toward my chair. The parchment Lartina sent me still sits where I left it, the edges slightly curled from where my fingers pressed into them.

A message meant to divide. A game she’s played before.

I know what she wants.

To drive a wedge between me and Seraphina.

And yet—I still can’t ignore the question festering in my mind.

What if she’s right?

What if Seraphina is the trap I never saw coming?

I pour myself a drink. The dark elven wine slides down my throat like fire, burning against my resolve.

My fingers twitch around the glass.

There’s only one way to be sure.

I have to push her.

I have to break her.

If Seraphina is truly loyal, then she’ll survive whatever I throw at her.

And if she isn’t?

Then I’ll know exactly what to do.

—

The hours slip by in silence.

I try to lose myself in work, in ledgers and coded messages, in the web of secrets and transactions that keep the Midnight Den alive.

But my mind keeps circling back to her.

With the way she looked at me tonight.

Not with fear. Not with guilt.

With something darker.

Something hungry.

As if she was just as furious as I was.

As if she was just as tempted.

I don’t like it.

I don’t like that I still feel the ghost of her breath against my skin, the way her lips parted when I grabbed her chin, the way she didn’t look away.

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