The dim, flickering torchlight of the archive corridor caught the sickly green sheen of the poisoned dagger as it sliced through the cold air.
Time seemed to slow to an agonizing crawl. As the masked figure lunged forward, the heavy black hood slipped back just a fraction of an inch, revealing a cascade of dark hair and the sharp, cruel eyes of a female assassin.
The woman's face was twisted into a confident, anticipating sneer. She had undoubtedly been briefed on her target: a discarded, magically weak Fox Princess who had somehow managed to secure the protection of two Apex Predators.
The assassin expected exactly what anyone in the Demon Realm would expect from a pampered, pregnant royal caught alone in the dark. She expected Lexianna to freeze like a frightened rabbit.
