I picked at the food in front of me, something glazed and far too delicate, but couldn’t eat. Every time I lifted my fork, Theron’s voice smothered the room again. I’d hoped to speak with the others. To ask questions. To investigate.
But Theron never gave us a chance.
When the final toast was made, he stood and smiled again. “You may all go.”
Just like that. No mingling. No conversations. No diplomacy.
Just his voice. His stage. His control.
We left with the others, filing into the corridor where the chill air kissed my bare shoulders like relief.
I turned to Zander as we walked. “What the hell was that?”
He exhaled. “I don’t know. But it was deliberate. He didn’t want us to mingle.”
My jaw clenched. “He didn’t expect me to attend.”
Zander glanced at me sideways, something unreadable flickering behind his eyes. “You make it sound like he’s afraid of you.”
I held his gaze.
And for a moment, even he looked unsure.
“I’m beginning to wonder that myself.”
Cordelle caught up to us as we left the hall, his steps quick and eyes brighter than usual.
“Where were you?” I asked, falling into step beside him. “I thought you had to attend the function.”
“I did,” he replied, brushing a hand through his strawberry-blond hair. “But lorekeepers record. We don’t interact with royal guests. I was behind the velvet curtain, taking notes.”
I grunted, still feeling Theron’s performative monologue on my shoulders. “Convenient.”
Zander gave a faint smirk as we reached his room. I turned to Cordelle. “Wait for me.”
He nodded, leaning against the cool stone of the corridor while I stepped inside. I peeled out of the gown carefully, fingers trembling from more than the corset. Something in the air still felt off. Zander’s hands brushed mine as he helped with the final ties, warm and steady. I quickly donned my armor.
“I’ll see you soon,” I whispered against his mouth, pressing a kiss to his lips before slipping out the door.
Cordelle and I exited the castle quietly, boots clicking across the darkened stone of the Ascension Grounds. The wind had picked up, cool and laced with ash from the earlier fire.
“So what did you hear behind that curtain?” I asked.
He opened his mouth to answer?—
And a low, gutturalgrowltore through the night.
We stopped cold.
I turned and froze.
A Blood Fae stood behind us, tall and impossibly still, its eyes gleaming like molten pitch. The skin around its jaw was dark and cracked like cooled obsidian; its claws curved and wet with something I didn’t want to think about.
“How did it get past the wards?” Cordelle whispered, voice trembling.
“They’re failing,” I answered, ice sliding through my veins.
“What?”
