King of Battle and Blood

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, death, and sexual content.

Isolde spends the morning in her mother’s garden. (Her mother died when Isolde was born.) Nadia finds Isolde and tells her that Adrian wants Isolde to leave with him the next day. Nadia thinks that Adrian wants to isolate Isolde from Lara, but Isolde reflects that such controlling behavior would be more typical of Killian. Nadia takes Isolde to her mother’s rooms to get ready for the wedding, as Isolde’s rooms are being packed for her departure.

Nadia puts Isolde in a black and gold dress and styles her hair. She urges Isolde to kill the Blood King to prevent Lara from being conquered by the vampires, but Isolde feels conflicted because of her lust for Adrian. Suddenly, Adrian arrives and tells Isolde that he is even more determined to marry her. She trembles and claims to be afraid, but Adrian informs her that he can sense her arousal. They kiss passionately, and Isolde wonders how sex with Adrian would feel. He can read her thoughts and begs her to say those words aloud, but she is too startled by his mind-reading abilities. He tells her that her mind is wide open to him.