“She’s not wrong.”
“Neither is the danger,” Kael counters. “We cannot let Idris breach any of the kingdoms.”
“Then we find a way to keep you from being separated,” I say. “Or at least, not in the way he expects. He’s counting on you to react. To run to every fire he sets.”
I feel Dagan looking at me. Really looking.
“Then what do you propose, Oona?” he asks softly.
My pulse jumps at the nickname, but I don’t look away.
“Stop playing by his rules,” I say. “You’re the Lords of Nightfall. Start acting like a team instead of four separate emergency responses. Maybe the Crown isn’t silent because it’s broken. Maybe it’s waiting for you four to stop trying to be Prime alone.”
That lands like a thrown stone in a still pond.
The shockwaves ripple across their faces—doubt, annoyance, curiosity.
The roots beneath my feet vibrate faintly, like they’re listening, too.
“Well, great,” I mutter under my breath. “At least the castle is agreeing with me.”
“What was that?” Delia asks.
“Nothing,” I lie because I don’t want to explain that stone talks to me now.
Dagan’s hand slides from my shoulder to the back of my neck, his thumb stroking once, slow and grounding.
“We will consider your words,” he says, gaze moving from me to the others. “All of them. For now, we shore up defenses, call in what allies we can, and prepare for Idris’ next move.”
“And in the meantime,” Jules says, voice steady even as her hand rubs soothing circles over her belly, “we stay together. No secrets. No trying to carry this alone.”
She looks at Alaric.
He nods immediately.
Delia looks up at Thorne.
His jaw flexes. “You will know everything,” he rumbles. “Even when I do not want you to.”
Phoebe bumps her shoulder lightly against Kael’s. “You hear that, Mermaid Man? No more stealth brooding.”
“I do not brood,” he mutters. “I contemplate.”
“Sure,” she says dryly. “Contemplate out loud from now on.”
Dagan leans down, his lips brushing my temple.
The contact sends a shiver down my spine.
“No more solitude,” he murmurs, so low I think only I can hear. “Not for me. Not for you.”
Outside, the Glowworm Moon hangs heavy over The Barrow, making the roots glow brighter and the cliffs hum deeper.
Fairytales always have a warning.
This one feels like a biggie.
Like it’s saying, “Take care. Everything is about to burn. Stand where you choose to stand.”
