Dariel's [POV]

I recall my response to Saige, a woman with haunting beauty, a ravaged throat, and shadowed blue eyes that felt like she was staring right into my soul. Her beauty isn't as bright and dazzling as Claudine Olio, but it she grabbed me by the throat and forced me to pay attention.

A small, soft, female hand closes around my arm. As I study it, I envision savaging it before I toss it—and the remains of the woman into the room's corner. And then I turn to Claudine with a ...