The girl could eat. The castle must have taken away her hunger, too, because she put away six tacos before I could even finish two.

“Best tacos ever, man. Righteous.”

She was talking to the owner, Sky Spill Water, like she was on the road with the Dead right along with him. He’d come to sit by us after seeing my girl go after her food with such gusto. Said he was inspired by her. He was some kind of supe, but I couldn’t identify what. He smelled a little like troll.

He wasn’t the only one who was inspired, either. There was something about Atlas that I hadn’t noticed before. Maybe it was setting her free of the castle. Maybe it was the deep-seated magic of Havenwood Falls.

Maybe it was just because Atlas was Atlas.

“This bride of yours is something else,” Sky said while practically forcing a serving of flan down our throats.

“She really is,” I said, waiting for her to have something in her mouth, taking away her chance to protest. Eyes cut to mine, and even around a mouthful of flan, she smiled and took my hand under the table.

I didn’t know if it was the magic of the waterfall or simply getting out from under the roof of oppression, but something was happening to us. Something soul-tugging and life-altering.

I thought maybe I was falling in love with my mate.

Stupid thing to do on my part.

We bade goodbye to Sky before he tried to fill us up with more food. He invited us to some kind of outdoor concert, but Atlas spoke up quickly and made our excuses.

“I couldn’t eat another thing. That place was so good.”

“I’ve actually never eaten there.”

She cracked up. “Oh, Harrison, you’re such a snob. “

Well, that hurt. She wasn’t wrong, on the same coin.

“I am. Wanna help me with that?”

“Help you with not being snobby? Sure. Pick up that penny.”

I looked down at the sidewalk where she pointed. Pennies were dirty and not even worth their weight in copper.

“Why?” That was my first question.

“Just do it.”

“It’s . . .” I hadn’t realized I had such an aversion to coins.

“Pick up the damned penny. I’ll give you a reward later if you do.”

The penny was in my hand before she could finish her sentence.

“For the rest of the day, you have to wave to people in town and smile.”

“That sounds painful.”

Reaching between us, she took my hand in hers. “Trust me, the rewards will be good.”

“Hello!” I yelled to the first person I saw and waved like a lunatic.

Ronya Augustine, one of the mages, didn’t wave back. Her lip curled at my out-of-character greeting, and as we passed her, she mumbled something under her breath that even my shifter hearing couldn’t make out.

Soon she’d forgotten our deal, enamored by the town square. “Oh! Look how beautiful. It reminds me of the Gilmore Girls!”

I didn’t know who the Gilmore Girls were or why the town square reminded her of them, but whoever they were had her eyes lit up like the lights for the fallen at the Festival of Lights in January.

I’d snuck into the Festival of Lights one time with Dolrich. He ended up tattling on us. We were fifteen.

“Who are the Gilmore Girls?” I asked.

She looked at me, incredulous. “Are you serious right now? If we weren’t already mated, that would be a deal breaker.”

“I’m totally serious.”

“It’s a show. This epic-cult-like show. Never mind. The binge starts tonight.”

I nodded. For the next hour, we stayed around town square. She made us take selfies in the gazebo, and I swore she touched every pumpkin, cornucopia, and turkey in the square.

Ridiculous.

And adorable.

“So where’s the Terrace?”

This again.

I was hoping she would forget that part. My father warned me to never go to the Terrace. It was where the lesser servants lived. It was not for royalty.

It was strange that one instant, my father shielded me from the things that only royalty should know, but in the same breath be offended that I wasn’t alpha material.

“I think it’s this way.”

We went down Main Street right off town square, and I looked up at a few apartments on the second floor over the retail shops at ground level. Most of the businesses around town square had offices or apartments above them. The Terrace was a group of apartments above the butcher shop.

“I think that’s it.”

Atlas took my hand. “Come on.”

We went up the stairs off the back alley and knocked on the dilapidated door. Someone had poured salt across the threshold, outside the door. They must’ve been expecting evil to try to cross.

“Who is it?” A familiar voice called from the other side.

“It’s Atlas and Harrison,” Atlas called through the door.

After a few turns of locks and what sounded like a chain, the door opened, but just a sliver.

“Come in. Most of the staff are at the castle, but the rest of us are off since the alpha is away.”

Oscar gave Atlas a look. He was scared. Why was my childhood friend scared of me?

“It’s okay,” Atlas said. “He knows how to keep his mouth shut. So this is it? For how many people?”

The place was like a refugee camp. Each area was the size of a dorm room, and that was being generous. Atlas covered her mouth and nose, but not before I saw her mouth gaping open at the horrific sights of squalor. Cots were stacked right next to each other, and most were on their last leg. Some were so broken that their owners had laid them to rest on the bare floor. There was no place for a couch, and the kitchen consisted of a two-burner stove and a sink smaller than those in our guest bathrooms. The windows were covered in newspapers duct-taped to the panes. The paint peeled from the walls, and the floors were stripped, concrete-cold, and naked. Smells of sweat and tears made my eyes burn with the stench. This was no place for any creature.

This place was paid for by my father. Why was he having them live like this? They may be servants, but they were bears just like us.

“You live here, Oscar?” My heartbeat thumped heavily in my chest as I waited for him to answer. I almost felt betrayed by my friend. If he was living like this, I could’ve done something. I would’ve spoken to my father.

“This is where the men sleep. The women servants and your father’s women are in the next apartment over.”

“But you’re married, Oscar. You have a mate.”

He hung his head, as though I’d reminded him of his worst nightmare.

“We are not allowed to sleep in the same room with our mates.”

My hands went to my hips. I looked left and right wondering what in the fuck was going on.

“Why not?”

Oscar’s head hung again. Atlas chimed in. “Oscar, give us a few minutes, okay? We’d like to see the female quarters next.”

He nodded and went to the sink, ran the water, and started to wash a motley crew of mismatched dishes.

“Harrison, listen to me.” With her hand fisting the front of my shirt, Atlas pulled me closer. She wasn’t angry. I could feel the desperation coming off her in waves of scent through our ever-strengthening bond. “Your father did this. Don’t you understand? This is only one of the many things he keeps from you. He doesn’t want his servants sleeping together, because what happens when married couples sleep together?”

My eyes had been focused on her mouth while she spoke, but with her question, they raised to her eyes. “They have cubs.”

“Yes, and if you loathe an entire population, what’s the last thing you want them to do?”

My shoulders slumped, and the room began to spin. “Procreate.”

“Exactly. Your father is essentially keeping his servants sterile. There is someone from the castle who comes every night and locks the apartments from the outside to make sure the mates can’t get to each other. Your father is a special kind of dictator, right under your nose. It’s no wonder he doesn’t want you going with him to meetings. He loves to keep you ignorant.”

She let go of my shirt, and I wavered on my feet. With my hand on the wall, I braced myself for whatever was to come next.

“Oscar, can you show us the rest? Please? We are so sorry to interrupt your day off.” I ground out the polite words.

“It’s okay. My mate is working anyway. We have opposite days off.”

We took a five-minute tour of the rest of the place. The female quarters were as sparse as the rest. Five hundred thousand thoughts pummeled through my mind, along with limitless questions.

“You said something about my father’s women? What does that mean?”

Atlas took my hand, trying to console me. “Come on, Harrison. We can talk about this later.”

“No.” I pushed Atlas’s hand away. “Tell me now. This shit is enough. I’m not some helpless spoiled prince. Tell me the fucking truth. I’ve obviously been lied to all my life. Oscar, please, if you ever considered me a friend, tell me the truth.”

A light blazed in Oscar’s eyes, and before Atlas could speak, he stepped forward. “You know what? I’ll tell you, Harrison. I don’t even care if you punish me or banish me or whatever. It’s time. Your father keeps a harem of sorts here. He calls on them night and day. Sometimes they get pregnant, and he makes sure they get taken care of when they do. We make minimum wage working for your father while we serve him steak on a golden platter. He hides everything from you. Everything.”

“Why hasn’t the Court stopped this? Why haven’t they stepped in? It’s their duty to protect the supes who live here.”

Oscar bowed up against me. “Because your father makes deals with demons. He has one named Justus Abbadon that he deals with to keep this place under some kind of glamour. We don’t know what the deal is exactly and to tell you the truth, we don’t want to know. We have reported it to the Court, but what they see is nothing but façade. They see a five-star hotel when they look in here, and then think we are nuts for reporting it. I think Ric suspects something is going on here. He stops in from time to time, but with the demon working for your father, despite his sense that something is off, Ric can’t make a case. Your father has so many ill-willed supes in his pocket, I’m surprised he can keep track. One of the mages must be involved, too, covering up the demon’s magic.”

This must be why my father hated the Kasuns and the rest of the Court so much. They suspected that he was up to something.

I thought back on my life for some clues. For some reason, my mind scrambled for an argument against Oscar’s accusations. That was easier than accepting what he was saying. This was my father. Why would he betray the son who would one day take over his job?

Maybe because I was never intended to be alpha.

“What about the news? There are servants who read the news to him. I get copies of it by email. Why haven’t I heard about this?”

Atlas reached for my hand, but I moved out of the way again. There was nothing anyone could do to soothe me now.

“Harrison, your father doesn’t let any news enter the castle that doesn’t involve absolutely bowing down to him. And Oscar says he’s heard of a plan to get rid of me as soon as you become alpha—if you become alpha.”

My pulse drummed between my temples, and the pain almost blinded me. “I can’t hear any more.”

I walked out, around cots and blankets full of holes, to the outside, where I was finally able to catch a breath of fresh air.

This wasn’t happening.

“I’m going home,” I announced and started down the stairs.

“Harrison?” Atlas came to the door. Her voice was tiny, and desperation hung from the tip of it. “You’re leaving me here?”

Of course I wasn’t.

I turned, only about ten steps down, and faced her. I was ashamed and could barely bring myself to look her in the eye. I was part of this. I was under this regime that branded and burned her people.

I was at the root of her pain—the pain of her kin.

And I was too ignorant to even know it.

“Of course not. I’m sorry. Come with me. Atlas, stay with me.”

The look on my mate’s face broke me. She was in me and with me and swirling through me and burrowed so deep, I wouldn’t ever be able to get her out.

I didn’t ever want to. And I’d be damned if my father ever touched her.

She didn’t move, so I pushed further. “Atlas, let’s go home, love.”

She turned to say goodbye to Oscar and gave him some empty promises about trying to make it better.

Oscar didn’t come out to say goodbye.

I didn’t blame him.

“Hey, I don’t want to go home yet. Is there a place we can get a cup of coffee or something?”

A cup of coffee would wake me up, and at this point, I wanted a drink that took the edge off the rage that was brewing in my chest.

“I’ve got a better idea.”

Taking her hand, I led us to The Dirty Knuckle. The bar was frequented by humans and supes alike. I’d only been once.

“Oh, nice. Coffee was just for conversation. I see you’re looking for a reprieve.”

I turned on her, swift and steady. “I’m looking for a fucking way out of this life that is blowing up all around me. The only thing in it that’s worth anything to me is you. You understand? The one person I thought would be fleeting is now the only one who is solid.”