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At the same time, recognition sank into the guards, and they launched. I smashed the vial onto the floor between us, dispersing dense mist. Holding my breath, I grabbed Irving's arm and tugged him in the direction of the Ministry meeting room as the guards started to drop, fighting against the sedation gas in the air to no avail.

A lanky guard appeared in front of us, his sword slashing through the mist and barely missing me as I shoved Irving down. Fuck! Still holding my breath, I grasped for the paralytic at my waist, uncorking it with my teeth. The guard’s hand over this nose and mouth did nothing to protect him from the liquid that splashed into his eyes. He went down, and the remaining guards received the same until no movement was left in the main hall.

Irving and I made a run for it. Air rushed back into my burning lungs the moment we were away from the tranquilizer bomb, and Irving swayed on his feet beside me, coughing. I whacked him on the back and when he straightened, his eyes were heavy lidded.

“Take a few deep breaths,” I told him. “You’ll be fine.”

He nodded, his chest expanding with full breaths.

“We have to hurry. I’m going to get you out of her clutches, alright? But I’ll need you to trust me.”

“I trust you.”

We both glanced at the door to the Ministry meeting room. The tranquilizer would only last so long, we needed to hurry. I unlatched the miniature crossbow from my waist, my thumb sliding over the wood.

As we stepped into the meeting room, someone lurched to their feet. All eyes were on us, Bellatrix’s shockingly unbothered gaze on me. Still, her heart lagged, and surprise bled from her pores.

That's right, bitch. I'm still alive.

“How did you get past the guards?” she spat.

The lycans toward the end of the table were already tense, but their eyes homed in on me, nostrils flaring as if they scented the mating bond. I lifted my chin proudly, not hiding Sylvan’s claiming bite. Let them all see it.

That hatred in Bellatrix’s eyes revived a slew of memories I had to fight to keep in the past—the blood on my hands as she blamed me for killing my uncle, and the times she rendered me immobile, trapped beneath her powers while I writhed in pain.

Irving was shaking beside me, the claw weapon held behind his back. His pulse hammered in my ears along with my own. I couldn’t do anything to calm him down, but I needed to calm myself.

Minister Felix Morgans stood up, his hands held out toward me as though he was trying to tame a horse. I tried my hardest to keep from rolling my eyes as he said, “Aurelia, we mean you no harm. If you would just calmly turn yourself in …”

A scoff flew past my lips. “I mean you no harm either, Minister,” I said. “Whatever Bellatrix has told you is a lie. I’ve simply come to offer the truth.”

“Where are those godsdamned guards?” Bellatrix spat.

“Are you willing to speak the truth under oath, Mother?” I asked.

She looked at me as though I had five heads.

“How about under a truth serum?” She didn’t need to know the compulsion modification.

There was the slightest tension in her body. I could see it in the muscles corded in her neck and in the clench of her fists at her sides. My body snapped to attention the way it did when Sylvan used his alpha bark. Except this sensation, I knew too well from years of Bellatrix’s powers taking hold of me. This sensation sent a ripple of panic down my spine. Thank fuck for my alchemized earring lessening the effects and giving me the chance to fight it.

I turned my focus inward, steadying my breath and my shaky hands. The dart flew through the air before pain shot through my knees. My shoulder was wrenched, my hands forced behind my back. The weapon was pried from my fingers. I hadn’t even heard the door open nor the fresh wave of guards that poured into the room. No matter—I’d made my shot.

Bellatrix yanked the dart from her neck and dropped it onto the table. I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my lips before the sentries yanked me up from the floor. My shoulders pained, heat rising up inside me as the wolf tried to take over my defenses. I breathed out. I am in control. I am not afraid. The wolf doesn’t control me. We are one.

Sylvan’s comforting presence was somewhere in the vicinity, anchoring me. He was too close, in fact. I couldn’t see him, but I felt him.

Do not intervene, I thought, as if he could hear me. Keep that fucking alpha bullshit in check. I can handle this.

The sentries started to pull me out of the room, meaning all of this would’ve been in vain. “Bellatrix Nygaard, look at me!” I shouted, fighting to remain facing her as they tried to drag me away.

Her body stiffened, the whites of her eyes expanding.

Good, the serum worked. In spite of everything, glee shot through me. I wanted to pump my fists in the air. I had her under my command for once. “Who is behind the recent lycan attacks? Who commands them? Who stages them?”

The veins in her neck bulged, her muscles strained. Then the words flew out of her so forcefully it sounded painful. “I do.”

Felix’s head whipped toward her. “Guards, wait!” he shouted. They stopped moving, their focus shifting from me to Bellatrix. “Let her speak,” he said.