“Yes, he does,” a new voice said, and I turned to find Julia in the doorway, two large men at her back. “Or rather, he did.” She glanced pointedly at her brother and I followed her gaze to find Jake’s eyes open and staring blankly at some point near the top of the wall. “Call the police and report a break-in,” she ordered, and the men stepped past her. “Speak to our man in Homicide. He’ll take care of the details.”

The first guard brushed Kori aside, and she sank onto her knees next to the wall, defeat dulling her eyes as one man picked up Tower’s desk phone and began dialing.

“Don’t fret, Korinne,” Julia said. “The evil king is dead, thanks to your loyal lover.” She spread her arms and gave me a broad smile. “Long live the queen.” She stepped closer and ran one hand up my arm, practically purring. “Jonah was never Jake’s heir.” She trailed her fingers over my shoulder and across my chest, and the movement became bold as she watched my face for shock, or anger, or whatever she’d expected me to feel in the face of her betrayal.

“I know,” I said, and her hand fell away. Her eyes narrowed, then her jaw clenched as she read the truth in my statement. “Jonah’s a sadistic monster, but not overburdened by brains. Jake wasn’t stupid enough to leave his kingdom in reckless hands, and you’re not stupid enough to think you could control Jonah—unless he was bound to you.”

“None of that matters now,” Kori said, standing, still stunned by Jake’s death, and still holding her gun. “Jonah died voiceless, in a pool of his own blood. In the basement. I’d call that irony, except it seems so fucking fitting.”

Julia’s eyes narrowed further, and her fists clenched at her sides.

“What do you want us to do with her?” The remaining guard asked, aiming at Kori even as Kori took careful aim at Julia. And behind her, I caught a blur of motion and a brief glimpse of a welcome, familiar face in the foyer.

“Nothing. You are free,” Julia said to Kori. “I suggest you go out the way you came in, now, before the police arrive and start to draw the inaccurate conclusions I have every intention of fostering.”

“Sure.” She chambered a round in her gun and shifted her aim up to Julia’s head. “Right after I send you after your brothers.”

The sudden bolt of pain in my head was almost enough to paralyze me, but I’d been expecting it. “I can’t let you shoot her.” I stepped between Kori and Julia, whom I’d sworn to defend.

“Ian?” Kori stared at me, confused. Heartbroken.

“Ian is my new bodyguard.” Julia ran one hand lightly over my shoulder from behind, and I hated her touch almost as much as I hated the pain and betrayal shining in Kori’s eyes. “My own personal bringer of the night. You’ll have to kill him to get to me. And I don’t think you want to do that, do you, Korinne? In fact, I don’t think you want anyone else to do that, either, do you?”

Kori lowered her gun, but didn’t holster it. “What did you do?” she whispered, her eyes alive with pain.

“I did what I had to do. I can’t let you hurt her. But you’re more than welcome to hurt him.”

“What?” Julia demanded as I turned, and she spun to follow my gaze. Olivia Warren and a tall blond man stepped into sight in the foyer, with Barker between them, still wearing the grease-stained shirt he’d worn an hour earlier.

“Ian?” Kris said, and I nodded. “Kenley gave me your message. Here’s what you asked for.” He pushed Barker forward a single step, without letting go of the Binder.

Julia’s men raised their guns, but Kris and Olivia were faster, even with each holding one of Barker’s arms. Their silencers thwupped, and Julia’s men fell, their guns unfired.

Julia gasped, then she opened her mouth to shout for more help.

“Don’t.” Olivia aimed at her head. I pulled Julia out of reach of both Kori and Olivia—I had no other choice.

“Break Kenley’s and Ian’s bindings, and I’ll let you live,” Kori said, aiming her gun at Barker now.

“If you even think about it, I’ll have your tongue cut out and shoved down your throat so that you drown in your own blood,” Julia spat.

Barker stared at her, terrified and confused.

Kori shrugged. “At least my way’s quicker and less painful. I’m sorry.” She aimed, and her gun thwupped once. A neat hole appeared in Barker’s head, and he fell over backward in the middle of the foyer.

Kris and Olivia both stepped away from him as Kori took aim at Julia. And this time, I let her. Because I could.

“I’m unarmed,” Julia said, her tone reasonable, her fear almost hidden by steady hands and a firm jaw.

“You’ll never be unarmed as long as there’s a tongue in your mouth and a brain in your head,” Kori spat. “It was your idea to turn the lights off wasn’t it? In the basement. It was your idea to let me rot in the dark.”

“Jake wanted to kill you,” she said, arms held out, displaying her defenselessness. “I saved your life.”

“Because you wanted me to suffer.”

Julia couldn’t argue with that.

“Don’t worry,” Kori said as the first police sirens wailed in the distance. “I want you to suffer, too. Everyone’s gonna know you betrayed the king of the castle. And Kenley’s going to take away your loyal subjects, one at a time.”