“How so?”

She sighed, subconsciously pressing a hand over her heart, where the pool of power resided. “I struggle focusing it, especially with things such as my hearing or sight.”

Taeral chuckled, clanking her fork onto her plate. “You expect us to believe you’re powerful enough to connect to our power source all the way from Aleron, but you can’t enhance your sight? Vesstan, this is ridiculous. The only power she possesses is the ability to lie through her teeth just like her mother.”

Jaren snarled, causing every head to whip his way. Dedryn muttered his name and leaned toward him, ready to intervene if necessary, but Jaren waved him off.

“Veralie contains more power than you could ever dream of. I have not only seen it with my own eyes, but I’ve felt it. It is not her fault if you’re incapable of acknowledging her superiority to you.”

A single breath. That’s all it took for the night to take a drastic turn. Jaren hadn’t even finished the last word of his rant before Taeral erupted.

A feral sound ripped from her throat as she launched up and hurled her dinner knife across the table at him like an arrow releasing from its bow.

The world seemed to stop, everything around Vera moving in slow motion as she watched it fly. She felt her chest explode, fire shooting down her limbs as she watched the blade aim straight for her mate’s heart.

One second a scream was threatening to spill from her lips, and the next she was whipping out her arm, wrapping her fingers around the knife and snatching it midair.

The entire room seemed to hold their breath, the pressure around her building until she thought it’d smash her into the floor. She sensed each one of them dip into their own power, as she lowered her bleeding hand and tossed the knife to the floor, seething.

But it wasn’t until she met Taeral’s wide eyes that she realized her body was pulsing with light, her skin itchy as it began to stitch itself shut without her even trying.

Beside her, Jaren reclined back in his chair, all but oozing satisfaction and grinning from ear to ear, even as his father stood beside him, staring at her in horror with his hand over his sheath.

Jaren hadn’t even flinched at Taeral’s attempt to stab him in the heart. He’d known. He’d trusted that she would react, had bet on it and antagonized Taeral to prove his point.

Vera growled, hoping he could sense just how much she was going to kick his fucking ass. The flare of anticipation confirmed he very much could.

“Did that make you feel better?” he asked, flinging the question over the table.

Taeral’s lip curled, her hand hovering over her own weapon, but her eyes stayed pinned on Vera. “If you think—”

“That’s enough,” Vesstan snapped, slamming his hands on the table and causing several empty glasses to tip over, clattering onto other dishes. “Taeral, you’re dismissed.”