Nathan's POV

　　The heavy door of the opulent chamber shuts with an ominous click, reverberating through the room. It's a sound that echoes within me. The air is thick with the scent of jasmine and something darker, a musk that's all too familiar- fear mixed with false bravado.

　　I stand before Ally, her slender form silhouetted against the moonlight spilling through the floor-to-ceiling windows. She's back in the palace, her first night returning to this gilded ...