Sonia's laughter echoed off the dungeon walls, hollow and sharp like breaking bones.
"He didn't tell you, did he?" Her voice slithered through the dim light, dripping with spite. "He didn't tell you what he really is. You got mated to a cold-hearted killer," Sonia spat.
"An abomination. Do you know what he did to the last person who crossed him? Do you know what he's capable of? How he executed the northern tribes?"
Behind Iva, she felt the shift.
Caleb's aura changed. The temperature in the corridor dropped. The shadows seemed to deepen, to reach, to whisper. His power pressed against her back like a living thing—dark and ancient and restrained by nothing but his will.
But Iva didn't turn around.
She kept her eyes on Sonia, ignoring her words.
"Why did you do it?" Iva asked, her v
