Archer’s question landed like a dropped blade.
Cassia's eyes snapped to Cade, just as his posture stiffened. His glowing irises sparked to life as he searched for Finn’s presence in his head. After a moment, his brows furrowed.
“I can’t find him,” Cade said slowly, like the words were unfamiliar in his mouth.
Cassia’s pulse quickened. That wasn’t possible. The energy in the throne room seemed to shift. She glanced at Bridget, who still looked lost in thought.
“Did anyone see him after he checked on Nylah?” Delphine asked, a nervous lilt in her voice.
Archer rubbed the back of his neck, eyes narrowed in thought. “Briefly. In the hallway. He passed me like I wasn’t there… He didn’t even react to the joke I told him.”
“I doubt it was funny,” Cade said, trying for lightness, but the tension in his voice betrayed him.
But then Bridget moved. Cassia saw it first on her shoulders. A flinch, a tremor, and then the widening of her eyes.
“That wasn’t Finn,” she said, voice low and broken.
The room stilled in an instant. Even the torches flickered low, as if the castle itself were holding its breath. A chill spidered up Cassia’s spine. She could tell by the rising panic on Bridget’s face that the next words out of her mouth were going to be bad.
Bridget swallowed hard. “It was Vega.”
All the air in the room vanished. Everyone in the room seemed to tremble at the name. Even her father, who rarely showed emotion, sat straighter on the throne. His shoulders squared. His eyes darkened as they locked on Bridget, as if he could interrogate the truth out of her with his gaze alone.
Confusion etched across Cade’s features. “What do you mean?”
“It was Vega. Finn was cut by Quinn, remember?” Bridget’s hoarse words came out in a rush, like she couldn’t get them out fast enough. “She’s possessing him. That was always one of her favorite tricks, but she couldnever hold it long. That was a long time ago though and…” She paused and inhaled a sharp breath. “Of course, that has to be what she did to Quinn. She must have written a new blood spell based on how she already knew how to get in my head, without anyone sensing it.”
The world tilted on its axis. Cassia didn’t need confirmation. Cade’s face said it all. Color drained from his skin, and when his eyes met hers across the room, she didn’t need to enter his mind to feel the rising panic brewing behind them. Not only had Vega taken Nylah, she also had the Bloodstone. Cassia glanced at Castor. Engrossed in a silent conversation with Cade, the lines of his throat had gone taunt.
Her father let out an exasperated breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Are we certain she didn’t just run off?” he asked, voice sharp with irritation. But Cassia caught it… a flicker of something beneath the frustration. Concern, she thought, before it vanished behind the practiced mask of a king.
“She wouldn’t do that,” Bridget shot back sharply. “Besides, she doesn’t know this land. She wouldn’t know where to go.”
Her father’s eyes cut to Alexia, who sat curled up in a corner, expressionless. “I assume you can’t track her because of the Andarrian rune,” he said.
A headache threatened to form in Cassia’s head. Earlier, she’d admired that Bridget had chosen to give her sister the necklace instead of wearing it herself. Now, a wave of frustration shot up her spine that she couldn’t have waited to give it away just a few hours later.
Cade’s neck heated. The frustration was clear on his face, even if she already hadn’t caught a glimpse of his thoughts. His gaze drifted from their father, then back to Bridget. “If she possessed Finn to take Nylah, then there’s only one place she’ll go.”
Cassia closed her eyes. She knew Bridget’s answer before she said it.
“Cavamyne.”
The last place her brother needed to be. The only place where Vega could finally get what she wanted: a way back into their world. Cassia’s chesttwisted. She wanted to scream at Cade and forbid him to go. But she knew him well enough to know that wasn’t an option. He was going. No matter what.
“We can’t let that happen. It’s too risky,” Castor whispered, as if reading her thoughts. His eyes hadn’t left her since Cade’s grim reply to their father.
“I don’t think we have much of a choice,” she choked out, fear seizing her. She had to go with them, just in case something happened. But the words to Cade wouldn’t escape her mouth.
Their father rose from the glittering throne, his footsteps echoing sharply off the marble as he crossed the room. When he stopped in front of Cade, the fury in his eyes was barely restrained. “You’re walking into a trap,” he said, voice low but seething.
Cade didn’t flinch. His jaw set with quiet resolve. “I know.”
Silence pierced the room as they stared at each other. Cassia half-expected an order. Some final act of power to stop Cade from doing what they all knew he would do anyway. But then—
“Then I’m coming too,” their father said. “Besides, I can’t miss another fight. Any more, and I may have to give up my title.”
Cassia froze. Her father’s words landed with the weight of finality, more jarring than any shout. The quiet authority in his voice shook something loose in her chest. Every breath caught like it no longer belonged to her. Around her, the room exploded into motion. Voices rose, orders barked, and plans unraveled faster than she could process. And still, she stood anchored in place, untouched by the whirlwind.
