Page 185 of The Soulbond and Her Beloved

“There you are,” the Grand King said softly. “My prey.” He tilted his head slightly. “Did you enjoy the hunt? I did. But now I get to take home my prize. The best one yet.”

Zaiper gasped, trying to focus. “Werewolves… on Urekai land? I never thought you’d stoop—”

“When it comes to protecting our people fromyouand your bloodsucking allies,” Daemonikai said, circling him like a panther, “I’d have opened the gates to the witches of the Eastern Wilds if it meant keeping my people safe.” He clasped his hands behind his back. “In fact, inviting the werewolves was one of my finest decisions.”

“It sure was,” Azrael growled behind him.

“W–how?” Zaiper’s eyes widened.

“You see, I received the most detailed letter from Sinai—”

Zaiper’s eyes flared. “That’s not possible.”

Daemonikai smiled. “As I was saying, I received the most detailed letter from your accomplice. She told me to deliver you a message,Consider this revenge, for thinking it was acceptable to stab me in the back after I protected yours for so long.”

Zaiper staggered where he stood, punched in the gut.

“And she was very thorough, too.” Daemonikai gave a soft tsk. “Three parchments. Three different messenger birds. Sent from three different outposts. I wonder if that number was symbolic.”

“I can’t…” Zaiper croaked. “You mean to tell me… she… Sinai?”

“Yes.” Daemonikai nodded calmly. “And I’m grateful to her. Because now—finally—I have you within my grasp. By the time I’m done with you, Zaiper… you’ll wish I had killed you in court. You’ll wish your life had ended before today ever began.”

“Why don’t we start now?” Behind him, Azrael’s voice was low and hungry. “I wouldn’t mind catching in on the fun.”

“No. Not yet.” Daemonikai nodded toward the sky. “Not under that.”

The eclipse moon hung like a blazing wound—beautiful, cursed, and cruel.

“I want him alive,” Daemonikai said. “The toxins in his blood tonight make him fragile. I don’t want him dropping dead just yet. That’s not part of my plans.”

Daemonikai looked at him. Unblinking. Then swung.

The punch cracked against Zaiper’s face with such force, the echo snapped through the trees. His head jerked to the side, and the crack of bone—his nose—rang clear. He choked, blood flooding his throat. He gagged, swallowing it by reflex, then slumped down the bark of the tree.

The taste of iron filled his mouth. He tried to move, but couldn’t.

Daemonikai’s voice came again—distant, fading, like thunder behind a storm cloud. “Wegai. Take him away.”

Boots approached.

Zaiper’s vision blurred, and all he saw was the moon, glowing like an eye that had watched every sin he’d committed… now bearing witness to his fall.

Chapter forty-three

THE REBIRTH OF THE ECLIPSE MOON

AsthesoldiersdraggedZaiper away, Daemonikai turned toward the werewolf king and extended his hand. “Thank you, Azrael.”

The werewolf king clasped it with a firm nod. “Anything for a friend. When I fought those bloodsuckers and you came to my aid, it changed everything. We may be even now—but call on me again, and I will come.”

“You too, my friend. The lands of Urekai are always open to you.”

“As is werewolf soil,” Azrael replied.

Daemonikai watched him walk away into the shadows, armor gleaming under the strange light of the eclipse moon.

His mind pulled back to a few weeks ago—he’d been working in the study with Emeriel when the letter came. He had initially asked for it to be discarded.

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