One second they were kissing, the next he pulled away. His expression had changed so abruptly.
Did she initiate the kiss or had he?
She blinked, trying to understand what just happened.
Why did he look repulsed?
She glanced down and realized she was holding his hand. Immediately, she pulled her hand free, as if burned.
She turned without a word and walked toward the lake, unbothered by the gold light blooming beneath each step.
Dexmon wanted to go after her—every muscle in his body screamed to. But he couldn't. If he moved or spoke now, his wolf would surface. So he stayed where he was, fists clenched, jaw tight, forcing himself to breathe.
At the water's edge, Serena sighed. She was already soaked. There was no question how she'd reached the island. Without hesitation, she dove in. The lake flared gold around her, but she paid it no mind.
She emerged on the far shore dripping and unnervingly calm. Her eyes drifted toward Hyran.
"You truly have no idea what you just did," he said, faintly amused.
She stayed silent, not wanting to draw more attention to whatever he was referring to.
By the time Dexmon reached the opposite shore, Serena had already wrung the water from her hair and fallen into step beside Hyran, silently following him.
Hyran glanced sideways. "Sylvarae. The obsolete plural for oath-bound recollection?"
"Vaerethen," Serena answered.
He rubbed his temple. "The third appendix of the Velshan Codex. What color ink was used for the corrective annotations?"
"Faded green. Mixed with ash," Serena said without looking at him. "But that is not the original. The first book you handed me today cites it. Additionally, the book you handed me written in Vellum references it indirectly."
She turned her head to meet his eyes. "But, you already knew that."
"That I did," Hyran said.
"And you suspected I would know the answers," Serena said, her gaze returning forward.
"At this point, withholding answers would tell me more than giving them."
"Ah. This is not an examination," she said. "We are in negotiation."
Hyran's expression shifted between amusement, irritation, and intrigue. He had underestimated her. Again.
"You know," he said, "most who run from chaos usually fall into its pits."
"You're assuming chaos is a pit," she said, not even glancing at him. "Chaos is a ladder."
Hyran exhaled, equal parts impressed and vaguely alarmed.
"Fine. Is it safe to assume you remember everything you read down to the page number?"
Serena stopped mid-step, genuinely stunned.
"Oh please," Hyran added dryly. "Do not give me that look. You walked into that."
"She does," Elara chimed in from the back. "Ask her to read at alpha speed."
Serena turned slowly, shooting Elara a look of pure betrayal.
Elara lifted her hands. "Time-saving measure."
Dexmon couldn't help but stare. The annoyed look Serena gave Elara was absurdly endearing.
Then the words caught up to him.
Wait. She does what?
Hyran continued without missing a beat.
"She has translated texts in over seven languages. Nine, if we include the common tongue and Draken-Vorah. Ten if we count her culture's tongue that overlaps with Draken-Vorah. Elara would speak that as well based on her reaction."
Elara's eyes widened.
"Please, a toddler could have figured that out," Hyran said, glancing back to Elara with clear amusement. "Are you going to tell me the name of the language you both were referring to?"
"I appreciate the flattery," Elara said, "but you are mistaken."
"Don't insult my intelligence," Hyran snapped, rolling his eyes.
Elara tilted her head, amused. As if she'd underestimated him — not the other way around.
"Glaciovox," she said, lips twitching. "Doubtful you'll find anything on it. But if anyone could, there's no question it would be you."
Serena shot her a warning look.
"What?" Elara said, shrugging. "The man's good. I won't lie."
Hyran's lips twitched again in amusement.
"Queen Bellatrix voiced concern that Serena might be illiterate," he added politely. "If someone could kindly pass along that she is fluent in ten languages, that would be great."
The tone was cool. Casual. Lethal with sarcasm.
"Please don't," Serena said, snapping fully out of her daze, the edge in her voice sharper than she intended.
Hyran snorted.
"She would hate you more," he said, clearly enjoying this. "Fine. If someone could instead pass along that she knows her basic shapes, colors, and the alphabet, I would appreciate it."
Elara laughed again, highly entertained.
"She's really doubled down on illiteracy," Gavriel added. "Among other colorful things."
Dexmon whacked him.
"What?" Gavriel protested. "She has. Don't shoot the messenger."
King Tiberon's lips twitched, but he kept his gaze forward and offered no comment.
When they reached the top of the spiral stairs and emerged back into the library, Hyran stopped and turned to face Serena.
"Right then. You will be useful. Meet me here daily. Same time."
He turned away before she could respond.
Serena felt dazed again. Elara clocked it instantly and stepped in.
"Please excuse us," she said smoothly, dipping her head. Serena mirrored the gesture on instinct. Elara steered her out of the library, leaving the Alpha, Gamma, Beta, and Prince behind — all four of them staring after them.
As they walked, mage-librarians froze and watched. They whispered loudly, like she wasn't there. A few clapped softly.
"They were right. She is very thin. A runt likely."
"She's fae. No wolf glows."
"Princess Agnes and Queen Bellatrix both said she was illiterate and mute. They'll be thrilled to hear this!"
"She doesn't strike me as a whore. Maybe they were mistaken."
"Whores can read too."
"No, no, you have it wrong. They were prostitutes before coming here. Their mothers were the whores. That's how they know each other."
"Very young to be prostitutes but Queen Bellatrix said they start them early."
Serena kept walking. This wasn't the first time.
At that last comment, she and Elara exchanged a single look.
A dry, wordless glance that clearly said: You've got to be joking.
And no one missed it.
By the time they got back to the room in the infirmary she'd been staying in, she collapsed onto the bed in her damp training suit.
Her head throbbed, and sleep took her before she even realized it, a folded towel abandoned beside her.
✦✦✦
Serena woke and saw the moon through her window. Her training suit was still damp. She should have changed into something dry. She should have tried to fall back asleep.
But her mind kept circling.
The kiss. The way his expression had shifted, one second his mouth on hers, the next something like revulsion twisting across his face. Was that real?
She stared at the ceiling and counted to sixty. Then she sat up, because lying still with her own thoughts was brutal.
There was a painting across from her bed that she'd noticed earlier. Every time she stared at it, déjà vu hit hard.
She crossed the room and pressed the lower corner. The painting swung inward like a door.
She stepped into a dark, narrow tunnel that no one in their right mind would explore.
She continued down it, pausing when she heard muffled voices from a small opening in the stone. Slivers of light showed through from a tapestry on the other side.
She should have kept moving. She knew that. Later, she would replay this moment and confirm that yes, she absolutely should have kept moving.
Curiosity got the better of her, and she pushed the tapestry forward an inch, peeking through.
War room. Side angle. Giant table dominating the space.
On it, a woman. Her dress was rucked up around her waist, bare breasts exposed. Her legs wrapped around a man who was thrusting into her.
Gavriel Sterling.
And the woman laying across the table in front of him....
Serena inhaled sharply and blinked a few times as if her eyes were deceiving her.
They were not.
Queen Bellatrix.
He flipped her onto her stomach and his hand came down on her ass with a crack.
"More?" His hips drove forward into her. "Tell me what you want."
She didn't answer. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back, his mouth dropping to her ear as he fucked her into the table.
"I asked you a question."
"Make me," Bellatrix hissed.
Gavriel's free hand reached for a candle. He tilted it pooling wax along the dip of her back. "You don't get to move."
He set the candle down and gripped both of her hips, pulling her back onto him.
"You like that?" His voice was raw, dropping lower. "Tell me how much you like it."
Bellatrix convulsed under him. His hand cracked across her ass again, keeping her pinned against the table.
"Louder," he said through his teeth.
Serena's face burned to her ears. She'd understood sex from an academic distance and overheard conversations.
This was not that.
This was Gavriel. The same Gavriel that was a few years older than her. Entirely too young to be a Gamma. Entirely too young to be... oh gods.
And he was bending Bellatrix over a war table and making her scream like the castle was on fire.
"Serena..." he groaned.
Serena's hand flew to her mouth.
Gavriel froze. His eyes snapped open, something between horror and realization flooding his face.
Bellatrix went rigid. Her expression shifted from pleasure to fury instantly. She shoved herself off the table, her dress falling back around her hips.
"Her. HER. Of all people."
She struck him across the face hard. The crack echoed off the stone like a whip.
Gavriel stood there, jaw turned from the impact, pants still partly down.
Serena pulled back from the tapestry and moved down the corridor without a sound. She found the nearest painting that opened to a main corridor and pushed through it.
Enough of secret tunnels for today. Gods never again.
She was so deep in the wreckage of her own thoughts that she walked right into someone.
"Serena?" Dexmon caught her, brows furrowed. "Where have you b-" He cut himself off. "Are you okay?"
The question didn't register.
"Apologies," she said, dipping her head. "Please excuse me."
She moved past him, quickly down the corridor, into the infirmary room she'd been staying in.
✦✦✦
She woke once in the middle of the night, half-conscious beneath warm covers, her mind hazy. She was no longer cold. No longer wet.
She blinked slowly, her thoughts slow and drifting, and became aware of something—or someone—behind her.
Arms. Strong, warm. Wrapped around her.
The scent was intoxicating. Familiar. Safe. She couldn't place it in her fogged mind, but she didn't try. She only knew that she liked it. Liked the way it grounded her, calmed her.
She sank into it, into the heat and comfort, and drifted back to sleep.
When she woke again, fully this time, the room was bright with morning light.
She was alone.
No arms around her.
Just the faint scent of something wild and steady still lingering on her pillow.
She must have imagined it.