I leaned heavily on the wall, and stone swallowed me. I stumbled into an interior chamber, Thane on my heels. The wall sealed shut behind us, swallowing sound the moment we crossed the threshold, leaving no sign of our entrance.
And no sign of an exit.
The interior chamber was bare. No tapestries. No furniture. No sigils carved into the walls. Pale stone curved inward in a clean, deliberate circle, the floor worn smooth by feet that had not walked it in a long time. The air was cool and still, untouched by smoke or sweat or life.
Stairs spiraled upward at the far side of the room.
That was all.
No guards. No weapon. No altar.
I turned slowly, mapping the space, listening for breath that was not ours. The chamber answered with silence so complete it pressed against my ears.
Thane’s attention never left the stairs.
“This is wrong,” he said.
“Yes.”
Not because it felt hostile. Because it didn’t.
If the king had hidden a weapon here, it wouldn't have been left undefended. If this tower held something dangerous, it wouldn't have welcomed us so readily. The absence gnawed at me more than any threat.
“We could turn back,” Thane said.
The words were hesitant, as if he didn’t believe them either. He didn't expect me to take them. And with no visible means of escape, we had only one recourse.
I moved toward the stairs.
The stone under my boots was warmer there, faintly, as if the tower kept its heat close to its core. My hand closed around the hilt of my sword as I held it in front of me. The blade caught the low light, steady and familiar.
Thane mirrored me, steel whispering from its sheath as he took position just behind my shoulder.
“Stay close,” I said.
He gave a curt nod.
The first step held. The second. The third.
With each upward turn, the air shifted, growing subtly warmer, threaded with a presence that pressed outward the higher we climbed. Not aggressive. Aware. The walls bore faint marks where hands might once have brushed them, smoothed places that suggested habit rather than struggle.
Someone had lived here.
I kept my pace measured, senses stretched tight, the bond between Thane and me drawn taut as a wire. His magic rolled beneath my awareness, restless, testing the space ahead. The tower answered him differently than it answered me, its attention sliding toward him and then away again, as though weighing something unseen.
As we climbed, a hint of a scent tickled my nose. Warm honey. Sweet spice. Silver blossom. It grew stronger as we climbed, arrowing straight to my alpha that I kept locked tight.
Mine.
The stairs curved out of sight above us.
Whatever waited higher in the tower was no longer hidden.
And we were already inside its reach.
Chapter Three
AVELINE
