The city lights blurred into streaks of gold and white below us, the helicopter vibrating through my very bones. Ivy buried her face in my neck, her small body trembling, not from the cold, but from a fear she was too young to understand. The initial roar of the ascent had settled into a deafening thrum, a sound that matched the frantic beat of my heart.
Riven's arm around my shoulders was the only solid thing in a world that had just been ripped out from under us. He wasn't looking at me. His gaze was fixed on the retreating skyline, his jaw a hard line, his father's empire shrinking to a malevolent cluster of light.
