When Thora woke, the room had gone dark. At some point, her position had shifted—she was lying flat on the couch now, a silver suit jacket draped over her like a blanket, carrying the faint, familiar scent of mint. She pushed the jacket aside and sat up. The room's lighting had been dimmed to something soft and easy on the eyes—comfortable, almost cocooning. What unsettled her was the realization that someone had moved her body while she slept. She had no memory of it at all. Had she really let her guard down that completely around Darius? Completely lost every instinct that warned her of danger? She couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad one. Darius wasn't in the room. The only trace of him was the spread of food arranged on the low table in front of her—all things she liked, still steaming hot, timed with the kind of precision that suggested he knew her routine down to the minute. Thora didn't stand on ceremony. She dug in. She was genuinely hungry. It was deep into the night now, nearly dawn. By her count, she'd slept roughly four hours—for someone whose life ran on a brutal training schedule with razor-thin rest windows, that was practically a full night's sleep. After she finished eating, Darius still hadn't returned. Thora figured he'd gone to deal with the counterfeit situation or something connected to the Hawthornes. She held a clear glass mug in one hand and leaned against the panoramic window, taking a quiet sip of water. The casino floor below was still blazing with light. Crowds moved in and out, though the foot traffic had thinned compared to daytime. A place like this never slept. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the money never stopped flowing. It was one of the most profitable operations in all of Chaules. No wonder the Blackwoods' total assets couldn't even be fully cataloged in the military academy's database. So, technically speaking, she'd married into money. Landed herself a sugar daddy? Then again, being mated to Darius was genuinely convenient—money was never an issue no matter where she went, and any resource she needed was always within arm's reach. That, in Thora's mind, was the most practical and satisfying part of the arrangement. "You're awake?" Darius had entered without her noticing, his presence sliding up silently behind her. Thora didn't turn around. She gave a flat hum. "Yeah." In truth, she'd sensed him the moment he walked through the door.Without warning, she felt herself yanked backward. Something warm pressed against the curve of her neck. Darius's arms locked around her from behind, his face buried deep into the hollow of her throat. Thora barely reacted. She was about to open her mouth and ask something when a tingling sensation rippled across her neck, followed by a sharp sting. His eyes were shut. Starting from her throat, he kissed her with a desperate, consuming urgency—biting, licking, dragging his lips across her skin—trailing a scorching path all the way to the sensitive spot behind her ear. There was none of his usual tenderness. Only raw, frantic need. Thora's expression shifted in an instant. Her elbow drove backward with vicious force. She spun, hurled the remaining water in her mug straight into his face, and followed through with a brutal kick. He didn't see it coming. The impact launched him off his feet and sent him crashing into the couch. He clutched his chest for a long moment before slowly pushing himself upright. His head stayed lowered, lips curving into a smile that sent a chill down your spine. He brushed the dust from his clothes with leisurely, unhurried movements. Thora's eyes were locked on him like crosshairs. Her voice came out cold as a blade. "Where's Darius?" His voice was a near-perfect copy of Darius's, but the tone was nothing alike—freezing cold, laced with undisguised menace. "Darius, Darius... Is he all you ever think about?" He lifted his head slowly. Crimson pupils glowed with an eerie, blood-red light beneath the wet strands of hair plastered across his forehead. Breathtakingly beautiful and lethallyseductive, all at once. "What's this? We haven't been apart that long. You've already forgotten about me ... hm?" Thora's gaze stayed ice-cold, locked onto his without a flicker. "You've known all along what I am to him. Isn't that right?" His eyes bored into hers, his tone carrying the certainty of someone who already knew the answer.