He looked between us, his expression even.
“We have to get inside Evernight. We have to take back the Crown. And we have to move fast. That is the only way to end this and survive.”
A sharp, biting laugh escaped Ryland.
“What you’re suggesting is suicide. The castle is impenetrable, we couldn’t get inside those walls, even with a hundred Dreadwatch soldiers at our sides. I agree with Lyrae.”
He nodded.
“We take the two artifacts across the border and into Tempeste.”
“You’d never make it past the ice,” Rooke said flatly. “The only way to kill him is to possess all three; otherwise, we’re just prolonging the inevitable.”
Rooke’s gaze flicked to mine, and for the first time, I saw a flicker of something other than his usual confidence—a shadow of regret, lingering there.
“I’ve had decades to plan this out, Ryland. This is the only way. Without the Crown, we have nothing. Everybody loses.”
32
VARIAN
“See? I was right,” I muttered to Ryland. “Fucking impenetrable, my ass.”
Here we were, a stone’s throw distance of the Butcher’s cursed black castle, and not one of those Fae soldiers so much as noticed.
“Guess I’m better than you thought.”
Yes, I knew I sounded peevish, but I could get us inside. I just needed time to figure the shift schedule of the patrols, to map out their routes and find an opening. I’d done this a thousand times before, and everyone had their weakness, even Lord Butcher.
I just had to find his.
Ryland nudged past me to get a better view.
But…even I had to admit…at the moment, things did not look promising.
Those enhanced Fae fucks patrolled every inch of the grounds, moved in waves over the battlements, magic sparking from their fingertips, a few wreathed in shadow. Some sort of dark, protective shield closed ranks around the structure itself, trapping everything inside. Even from here, that ward made my skin tingle, as if my body anticipated the pain if I so much as touched that foul magic.
“Nothing’s impenetrable. Let’s try a different view.”Ryland scanned the desolate terrain, then nodded to a far-off ridge.
“Over there, higher ground. Maybe we can see over the wall, into the bailey. Get a better idea of what we’re facing once you get us inside.”
“Glad you’re finally giving me some fucking credit.”
“Well, despite Rooke’s reservations…and admittedly, mine,” Ryland slid me a sideways grin, “youdoalways manage to get us inside, Varian.”
“And I will this time, too,” I insisted, gathering my magic before I ghosted us over to the opposite ridge. I bit my tongue nearly in half, to stop myself from reminding Ryland we were in this mess because he’d lost the Crown, even when I knew I was being incredibly unfair.
But we couldn’t afford to fail.
The picture Rooke painted in my head stuck with me, like a splinter under my skin—of Gravelock marching across Valarian, the Crown on his head, villages and cities burning before him, innocent Fae turned to ash. After enduring a hundred years of war, with only three brief years of peace, that vision couldn’t come to fruition. I refused to let this asshole ruin what so many good Fae had sacrificed for, especially Lyrae.
We had to get inside Evernight Castle.
If we really only had a day…
Gravelock had to be stopped and we were the only ones close enough.
The mages at the Citadelle, the Valarian army, even the dragon and wyvern shifters in Mysthaven were too far away. An invasion would take too long to organize, and I believed Rooke when he said we wouldn’t make it out of the Shadowlands alive with the relics.
