Chapter 30 · Crown Orders

Kade's eyes were red.

Not wolf gold. Not human brown. Red like old wine, like the kind of blood that's been sitting in a vial too long.

I was still on the floor where I'd landed when his consciousness kicked me out. My hands were shaking. The silver knife he'd given me was digging into my palm.

"Silas." Kade's voice came out smooth. Calm. Nothing like the snarling, half-feral alpha who'd been fighting the curse for weeks. "Gather the council. I have new orders."

Silas didn't move. He was standing in the doorway, every muscle locked.

I knew what he was seeing. His alpha. His best friend. Wearing someone else's face.

"Kade." Silas's voice was rough. "That you in there?"

Kade tilted his head. The movement was too smooth. Too controlled.

"Kade Thornwood is resting," he said. "I suggest you do as I ask."

I pushed myself up. My legs felt like water but I made it to standing.

"He's not—" I started.

Silas shot me a look that could've stripped paint.

"I know," he said.

Kade—no, not Kade, the thing wearing him—stood. He moved like he'd never been sick a day in his life. No tremor. No fever flush.