Verity's POV

The shadows were so close I could feel them brushing against my skin like cold fingers reaching for my throat. Veyran's smile stretched wider as he watched me struggle and I knew in that moment that I was about to die.

Then the window exploded.

Glass shattered inward in a spray of glittering shards and the sound was so loud it drowned out everything else. A horse burst through the opening and its hooves hit the marble floor with a crash that shook the entire room. The animal ...