EPILOGUE
Dante
The wards around the containment field give off a faint glow, a mixture of iron and witchcraft strong enough to hold the feral minds pacing beyond it. Dozens of shifters prowl the pasture—some walking on two legs, some on four—all mindless. All mine.
I rest one leg over the other and watch the way they move. The power inside me has quieted to a steady flicker. Gray lines run beneath my skin where the darker current used to crawl. Less than I tasted from the portal, but still enough.
The door opens behind me. The Beast steps inside with his head lowered. “The witch reinforced the wards,” he says. “They won’t slip out.”
“Good.” I motion him forward. “Come here.”
He obeys with that rigid posture he thinks hides his fear. It doesn’t. It only makes him more interesting.
“You surprised me,” I say. “I didn’t expect you to go through with the redhead.”
He twitches then tries to hide it. He fails.
“I admit, her scream was delightful,” I continue, smiling. “But your sister’s face when it happened…that was the part I will enjoy for a long time.”
He doesn’t move.
“You did well,” I say. “Well enough for a place at my side.”
He lifts his gaze slightly.
“You are my second now.”
He opens his mouth as if to speak, then freezes before finally answering. “Thank you.”
I wave him off. “Go.”
He slips out of the door without another sound.
A voice speaks from the far side of the room. “You trust him enough to make him your second?”
I smile at the window. “I trust him to break when I want him to,” I say. “And I trust him to keep breaking when it matters.”
“An unexpected choice.”
I rest my hand on the window frame. “Unexpected is what I do best.”
“The elders weaken,” I say. “Soon the seat will be empty.”
“And we’ll be the ones they bow to.”
THE END