A spark surged through my fingertips.
I threw my hand against his chest and let the storm speak.
Lightning exploded from my palm—blue-white and seething. The assassin convulsed with a strangled cry, smoke curling from his mouth as the current rattled through him.
He crumpled to the floor, twitching once before going still.
And then I heard her.
A quiet inhale from the corner of the room.
I turned, chest heaving, and locked eyes with Inderia.
She stood in the shadows, perfectly calm, her arms crossed, lips just barely curved.
“You set me up,” I hissed, the magic still crackling at my fingertips.
She backed up, slowly, one hand pressing against the wall as I advanced on her.
“I didn’t know he would attack you,” she said smoothly. “Notso soon.”
Liar.
I raised my hand, magic coiling again, ready to let it loose, when the door creaked open behind me.
“Enough.”
Theron.
He stepped inside, his expression unreadable, but the satisfaction didn’t hide in his eyes.
And in that moment, I knew this wasn’t a simple assassination attempt.
Inderia straightened the moment Theron stepped fully into the room, and closed the door, her voice as smooth as silk laced with poison.
“She attacked me,” she said, brushing ash from her gown like it offended her more than the corpse on the floor. “I asked her here to speak with Zander. I thought it might ease the tension between us. Buthe—” she gestured toward the smoking body of the assassin, “—tried to kill me. Ashe must have brought him.”
“You liar!” I snapped, stepping forward. “You set me up, Inderia. You watched him try to kill me!”
Theron turned to me slowly, face as composed as marble, but his eyes burned with cold calculation.
“Treason,” he said, each syllable landing like a death sentence. “Attacking a royal, bringing an assassin into the castle, lying to cover your tracks. You’ve finally shown your true colors.”
My magic surged in my blood, ready to burn through the room, but?—
The door burst open with acrashof boots.
Zander strode in, his cloak trailing ash and his eyes blazing with fury.
“You betternotaccept this foolishness,” he snapped at Theron, coming to stand beside me. “Because if you do, Inderia’s family willpayfor this travesty.”
Inderia’s eyes widened slightly, just for a heartbeat. Then?—
Ascreampierced the castle air from outside. Distant. Shrill. Frantic.
“What is it?” Theron barked, turning toward the open doorway.
Zander didn’t look away from him as he spoke.
