Percy’s POV

Across the table, Veronica stared at Rue as if she were something rotten that had crawled out of the gutter and dared to sit among nobility.

Her thin lips curled.

 “I still don’t understand,” she said coldly. “Why would someone like you lower yourself to stay with a woman like her?”

My chest tightened.

Veronica leaned forward, her eyes glittering.

“Percy,” she continued, her voice dripping with false concern, “you are from a respected clan. Powerful and ...