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She needed to e, hers Because she refused to accept that this was a ery and her sisters—they didn’t know the truth of things between Cleo and Khaled She could have ive hi had already been planned and paid for It would have been the easiest thing in the world to siies, but she hadn’t done it

She’d wanted more She’d wanted better She’d wanted the damned fairy tale everyone told her didn’t exist, and she’d found it She’d found Khaled

She could fight for him, too

Cleo waited until it was late She sneaked down the back hall over to the sultan’s private wing of the palace, then in through the antechamber where—she’d learned in her history lessons—ancient Jhuratan sultans had held court with their s It was ly evocative than the photographs and , too But she forced herself forward despite the trickle of unease thatdoor that led to Khaled’s bedroom and crept inside

Walked inside, she corrected herself, and lifted her head up high while she did it

She had every right to be here This was her e, too

The room looked exactly like a sultan’s inner sanctulory of the bedchamber as it soared all around her It was vast and lush as befitted a desert ruler with an ancient title Dark crimsons and black woods, heavilyback centuries, all coether with a h up on a raised dais

That here she waited for her husband Because she was fearless and intrepid, damn it, and this was her happy ever after

But she was naked when she slipped between his whisper-soft sheets Just to make sure

“What are you doing here?”

Khaled’s voice was low, but the dark thunder in it jolted Cleo awake

For a moment she didn’t knohere she was, and then it came back to her: she was in Khaled’s bedroom In his bed