Daemon wasn't just making wild claims. He'd somehow created shadow beasts that could track me, that were specifically targeting pregnant women, that knew my name.
Which meant his claim about the baby might be true.
And if it was true, then our child was in more danger than we'd ever imagined.
"Get Elena," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "Get every magical defense we have. And someone tell me how in the gods' names Daemon is controlling shadow beasts from outside the castle."
"My Lady," Mira's voice was small. "What if he's not outside the castle?"
"What do you mean?"
"What if he never left? What if the escape was staged, and he's been hiding here the whole time, waiting for you to return?"
The possibility sent ice through my veins.
"Find him," Kael ordered the guards. "Search every room, every corridor, every space large enough to hide a man. And someone get the Princess to safety NOW."
But even as guards surrounded me, I knew safety was an illusion.
