A horn blared. Another rider’s dragon roared in warning as the mist gathered into a thick veil that hovered mid-air. Sparks of violet and silver laced through it—beautiful in the most terrible way.
I took a step forward, pulse thrumming like a war drum. “What is that?” I asked again, my voice louder this time.
No one answered.
Even the dragons had gone still.
And then Kaelith murmured again, her voice lower this time.
Severeth.
Chapter
Thirty
Severeth stood like a specter conjured from nightmares, her crimson eyes fixed on me as I descended the steps with Zander at my side. She hovered just above the stone of the Ascension Grounds, her midnight cloak rippling around her like smoke, her feet not touching the ground. The air bent around her with an unnatural stillness—as though the world itself held its breath.
Zander and I rushed down to the grounds.
Kaelith landed beside me, but I waved her back. She was tense, but silent. This was my battle.
“How did you evade the wards?” I asked, stopping several paces away from the Blood Fae.
Her lips curled, slow and deliberate. “It’s one of my many secrets,” she purred, her voice soft and taunting. “But I didn’t come for your questions, Ashlyn. I came for your blood.”
I tilted my head, power coiling low in my gut. “Then I’m happy to give you a fight.”
Zander moved closer, the heat of his magic rising like a second sun beside me, but Severeth’s eyes flicked toward him and she lifted her hand with languid grace. A crackling sound ignited before the silver and red circular barrier formed aroundus with a hollow thrum, cutting Zander off with a jarring pulse of magic. He slammed his fist into it. “Ashlyn!”
“I didn’t come for you, prince,” Severeth sneered. “Stay out of it.”
The moment the words left her mouth, she struck. Shadows surged from her hands and raced toward me like vipers. I dodged, sliding low across the ground as lightning crackled around my fingers. I twisted my wrist, released a bolt, but she was already moving—too fast, always too fast.
We danced.
Power flared between us. Her shadow struck, I countered with light. Her windstorm met my lightning. Every step was muscle memory now, every dodge a whisper of something primal, raw, and furious.
But something was wrong.
I felt it after the third exchange. Her strikes were slower, sloppier—not wild, just restrained. Her attacks hit with half the weight they used to. Was she testing me?
Not trying to kill?
“What are you doing?” I asked
I met her gaze as I ducked under a slash of electricity. She smirked—just enough to confirm it.
She was holding back.
Kaelith’s voice curled like thunder.She tests your limits, not your strength. She wants to see if you’re ready.
Ready for what?
I feinted left, rolled right, and drove my fist, lit with sparks, into her ribs. She let the hit land, grunting—but no blood. No counter.
My chest heaved as I took two steps back, breathing hard. She floated upright, fixing her cloak with an infuriating calm.
Then she smiled. “Better. But still so full of mercy.”
