Reed POV
The fire from Blaze's final strike still sizzled behind us as we walked into the edge of dawn.
The market was quieter now. Cowed. Scorched in places. Word of our interrogation had spread like wildfire, and even the dark-blooded things that haunted these alleys gave us a wide berth.
But Blaze wasn't speaking.
Not even a glance.
His jaw clenched so tight, I could hear the bone grind. Shadows simmered around him like a storm about to snap.
"Say it," I muttered.
Still silence.
I stopped walking. "You're going to explode anyway. Might as well do it now."
He turned slowly, eyes glowing like molten gold. Fury, raw and roiling, broke through his calm like a dam collapsing.
"You knew."
My chest tightened.
"You fucking knew, Reed."
"No," I growled, stepping toward him. "I knew about the ceremony. The mating dance. My father's idiotic desperation to find a Queen for his little golden throne. But the Hunt? That I didn't know."
