I blinked. “Who is it?”
The rider turned, slowly, deliberately.
And my heart slammed to a stop.
Cade.
He didn’t flinch as our eyes met.
Didn’t look ashamed.
Didn’t look conflicted.
He looked calm.
Like hebelongedwith them.
Like he always had.
Chapter
Seventeen
Zander stepped out of the castle, the golden light catching in his freshly changed tunic, the crests of his house pressed crisp at his shoulders. He looked stronger, more rested—until his eyes landed on the squad lines.
More specifically… onIron Fang.
OnCade.
Cade stood shoulder to shoulder with Perin, calm, proud—like he belonged. Perin, of course, wore the expression of a predator who had just secured a meal he didn’t deserve. He clapped Cade on the back, a smug smile curling at the edges of his mouth as if he knew this would hurt Zander most.
Zander’s eyes turned black.
Not in rage.
In magic.
Dark Fire stirred beneath his skin, and I stepped toward him, grounding myself in front of him like I could hold him back if it came to that.
“What happened?” I asked, barely keeping my voice from shaking as I glanced between him and his best friend now standing with the enemy.
Zander’s jaw worked before he spoke. “Cade requested a transfer. Said he believes Theron should be the next king… since Dorian refuses to return.”
I sucked in a breath. “But how can he do that to you?”
Zander didn’t answer right away. His hands clenched at his sides, the telltale shimmer of his magic flickering along his knuckles.
“Theron got to him,” he finally said. “I don’t know how. I don’t know what he promised, but Cade wouldn’t do this without a reason.”
I turned to him, heart aching at the raw betrayal in his voice, but before I could say anything, Ferrula’s voice cracked across the grounds like a whip.
“You will regret this,” she shouted.
We both turned.
Ferrula’s voice rose through the rising tension.
“I will kill him if he betrays us.”
