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Helios's voice broke her from her musing, and she was lifted from her crouch on the ground, pulled to stand before them all, spotlight digging into her skin. Her eyes burned. "I am an example of such success." His eyes were on hers then, hand to her wrist, but the smallest of smiles on the corner of his plump lips. "I was almost a Lonely, feasting on the flesh of my mates. I was destined for a gun to my head. Then I met her."

Helios's voice quivered, a strange warmth twisting through his voice, and her mind danced to their meeting. The way he'd wavered through insanity, crazed for her. But he'd been honest, understanding, reasonable. He had been sweet.

"The Lonely subsided in my mind with her care over time, with her presence, I no longer feel the hunger. I am still weak, but I grow stronger each day." He turned then, snapping at the crowd. "You cannot drain your mate to death in a single night if you want your entire pack to survive. You cannot weaken her so greatly that she cannot think. It needs to be slowly done, carefully, with a willing, caring, sane Alpha until your pack is at the peak of health. It lowers all risks and reduces the gamble." His scowl deepened. "Have we not repeated this fact to all of you again and again? Have we not emphasised the importance of doing things right?"

But the crowd was not convinced, and the voices were raised. A noble stepped forward, enraged. "I know a family that has tried as you've said. A kind, sweet family that cared so dearly for their Alpha she did not work a day. But still at the end of it all, when she was at her ripest with love in her eyes, they failed. They all transformed at the end. And we have all tried with our Alphas. What else can we do but try? But the increase continues, and our people change! How do we know that you are not lying?" His roar was filled with insanity. "You contradict yourself with your lies. You don't know what you're doing!"

Another roared. "None of you do! My cousins are dead! They even promised to mate with their Alpha before they took her!"

A third. "You don't know if the disease is now taking root in our souls. If it worsens as we wait! I know more and more that change!"

"It's infectious!"

Klaus scoffed; a hand raised. "It is not. And why would we lie?"

A shout echoed through the hall. "The seductress has taken you!" This seemed to fuel the rage, growing in the hall.

The crowd continued, the voices growing. Bloodthirsty and snarling. They did not care now for the soldiers that lined the halls. Their desperation had risen, their sense of morality destroyed. The chanting voices were becoming one.

"The bitch has you all in her grasp!"

"She's a demon! A monster!"

"We see how you treat her! How her skin is unmarred! How you all waver with your decisions!"

"She was fucking ready to die! She was willing to do it! We've all seen it!"

"The criminals should all face their crimes! SHE SHOULD FACE HER CRIME FOR HURTING OUR KINGS!"

And then the breach of the dam, floodgates opening. The flames whistled and roared. A single lone spark that would start a wildfire. The Omegas before them were screaming, and she could hear their voices through the chant. A growing tsunami, the crowd surged forward, voices echoing. The excitement throbbed and pulsed like a beating heart.

"We should drain them!"

"Alphas should not exist!"

"We should kill them all!"

"Kill those beasts!"

"We should slit their throats and drink our fill!"

"WE SHOULD EAT THEIR HEARTS NOW!"

Their words had her breathing growing harsher, pants escaping her throat. The rage throbbed through the crowd, the roar ringing in her ears, a riot at the cusp of its making. Her eyes darted to the seven, understanding now that her guesses had been right. That their rule was on the line, and that bloodshed might occur. That their people were after the heart as the Lonelys were.

And this had a quiet sort of realisation rushing through her, a final lightbulb turned on. It was not just incensed words. A gasp erupted from her lips. They had always wanted hearts. The pieces were falling into place.

Her heart had always been on the line.

A year for the contract.

Was it a countdown to her death?

Solar stepped forward; arms raised, calm, peaceful, smiling. "If a demonstration is what you want then you will have it from your Kings." He beamed. "It is convenient that we do have an example." The growl started from behind her, and she turned.

Quinn's breath caught in her throat as Rowan stepped into the light like the devil. Just like the wolf, he seemed fine, prowling. But fear struck her then, awful terror rushing forth at the darkness in blown eyes, at the ink that spilt from his lips. A wet cough and it flooded from his throat, spat wet upon the ground, a dark sticky void that crawled.

Ink.

Real Lonely Ink.

How?

Her despair grew as his claws were revealed, sharpened talons flashing. A predator that was after her, and Quinn was prey. The crowd went quiet. She fell back upon the ground. "Rowan," she whimpered. "Rowan—" When had it become so severe? When had he transformed? He sagged into each step, expression flushed, sweat shimmered on his hairline, and he moved like a puppet on strings, teeth revealing canines that flashed. His body rippled back into his human form.

The stumble, the sag, his breath misted ink all over her cheeks. Then she caught a glimpse of his eyes—still clementines, full and shimmering, eerily obsidian where his pupils grew and swallowed the colours into glassy darkness. The crowd watched, baffled and silenced. Rowan seemed to twist, growing almost frenzied, screaming into the air like a monster, more ink splattered from his throat, drenching his chest in black as if freshly feral. Her panic had her frozen on a stage made for her end. She turned reaching for safety, for Elysian, for Icarus—

He lunged.