Page 64 of Savage Crown

The way she stills—truly stills—for the first time since she walked into my chambers.

"You should have covered your tracks better," I murmur. "Seraphina found your letter."

Lartina doesn’t move.

But I feel the shift in her.

The calculations.

The immediate reshuffling of whatever game she thought she was playing.

I loosen my grip, just slightly, just enough to let her think she’s regained ground.

And then she laughs.

Soft. Amused. Infuriating.

"You trust that human girl?" she breathes, shaking her head. "Oh, Rylan. You always did have a weakness for the ones who bite back."

I say nothing.

She’s right.

But not in the way she thinks.

She tilts her head, studying me, and I see it peeking through—uncertainty.

She wasn’t expecting this.

Wasn’t expecting me to resist her.

Wasn’t expecting me to see through the illusion she so carefully spun.

"You’ve lost your touch," I tell her quietly.

Her red eyes flicker, just for a second.

That’s how I know—she’s afraid.

She recovers quickly, smiling, stepping back, severing the heat between us.

"Believe what you want, darling," she purrs. "But in the end, we both know what’s coming."

I hold her gaze. "Do we?"

She reaches for the door, pausing just before opening it.

Then—softly, deliberately—she says. "I hope she’s worth it, Rylan. When I take everything from you, I want to see the moment you realize you should have chosen me instead."

She disappears into the hall, the door clicking shut behind her.

And I stand there, my skin still burning from where she touched me.

But it’s not her that’s in my head now.

It’s Seraphina.

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