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Chapter One

KONFLICT KORVEN

Iwas pissed.

Standing in the middle of Emberwick’s council chamber, my heart was hot as hell. Serenity Veylor was on my right, acting innocent while my family’s blood was still fresh. In front of us, four families were waiting to see what the last two left from this war would do next.

Judge Marquette cleared his throat. “Konflict Korven. Serenity Veylor.”

He called our names straight, letting us know exactly what time he was on. I didn’t turn toward Serenity. I could feel how nervous she was, even though she tried to hide it.

“The families you come from have fallen. You two are what’s left of your houses.”

He let the silence sit on our shoulders until it turned heavy.

“Traditionally, the council does not intervene in inter-familyconflicts. Every family has sovereignty. But this time, the destruction has reached a point where the council cannot ignore it. Both leaders of your houses are gone, and with them went the stability this organization has relied on for decades.”

I kept my eyes on him, even though everything inside me burned with the urge to do what I was supposed to do before the other families stepped in. We all knew the first rule of this organization:no one interfered when two families went to war. Sovereignty was absolute.That rule had been set in stone since the city was founded, decades ago.

Emberwick sat on the west coast of Canada, right on the edge of British Columbia. It was built to look like Vancouver, with big ports and busy streets. On paper, it followed Canadian laws like any other city. But in reality, Emberwick had its own rules. The city was closed off, hard to get into, and the laws of the outside world didn’t mean much here. Everything belonged to the Big Six—the six families who founded the city and split the power between them.

None of that mattered tonight. All I could focus on washerstanding next to me.

Serenity took a shaky breath. I heard it, even though she tried to be quiet. Pain always had a sound if you listened close enough. I didn’t feel shit. Her people emptied mine. Her father murdered my mother in cold blood while I was running toward her, too late to save her. I wanted Veylor blood buried so deep the swamp couldn’t spit it back out.

“Konflict.” Judge Marquette turned to me. “You take your father’s chair as head of the Korven family, effective now.”

A weight pressed into my chest as reality hit faster than I had time to brace for it. I always knew this day would come, but not at thirty years old with my family lying cold in the ground behind me.

Marquette didn’t give me space to answer before he shifted toher.

“As for the Veylor seat, the council has always been made up of patriarchs. Without a surviving male heir, that seat will remain open until a worthy family earns the right to claim it.”

Her shoulders pulled in a fraction. Enough to show the pain was real.

And I still didn’t give a fuck.

I finally let my voice loose, heated from the inside.

“You can do whatever you want with those seats. I don’t give a shit about any of that. All I want is her head. She’s still breathing, and that’s a problem. I’m not leaving a single Veylor alive.”

Judge Marquette’s eyes snapped to me with steel in them.

“Konflict, you’re going to calm the fuck down. And you’re going to do it now. We are not here to entertain your rage. Both your families dragged each other into hell. And regardless of how much you hate her name, her bloodline earned its place at this table decades ago. We aren’t throwing that history into a ditch because you’re angry.”

Pulling breath into my chest, I was ready to spit fire right back at Judge Marquette, but he shut me down with one hard stare that froze every word behind my teeth.

“Whether it burns your throat or not, you’re the head of a founding family now. You don’t get to stand here acting reckless, barking and snapping because your blood’s still hot from last night.”

My jaw throbbed. “Her bloodline earned nothing but a bullet.”

“Enough,” he snapped, hand slamming the table making the wood shake. “Both of your families chose war over sense, and you nearly burned this city to the ground in the process. We’re not letting that cycle start again. We refuse to sit back and watch the same disaster repeat itself. Veylor may have fallen, but we are not killing the last surviving heir because you want to finish swinging your father’s grief. Serenity stands. She remains Veylorblood. And whether you like her or not, her survival prevents something worse.”

I stared at him, heat rising up my spine. “What’s worse than a Veylor breathing?”

“The Veylor’s have cousins scattered across three provinces and territories across Canada. They hear Serenity’s been executed, they’ll come back for blood—yours and ours. We won’t let this city drown again because you’re too stubborn to let this go. The war ends.Permanently.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “So your solution is what? Chain me and her in a room until one of us stops breathing?”