Why did we purposely enter a kingdom allied with our enemy? Well, that was simple. We needed to assess their defenses, identify their weaknesses, and test their strength. Every fortress had a flaw, and if peace failed, we needed to know where to strike.
We anticipated this as a trap.
But we hadn’t expectedherto warn us.
Minaeve never experienced the full extent of my abilities. At the first flicker of danger, I could teleport us from this marble tomb and back to the deck of theOpal. The ship was already gliding far from Zircon’s shores.
That was the plan, at least.
Skylar’s eyes met mine. Beneath her calm mask, I saw the truth, the fire coiling under her skin and the flicker of gold deep in her irises. She was holding the phoenix at bay, holding herself steady, for now.
“Réalta,” Skylar said softly. “You know the truth… Don’t you?”
“Bold of you to ask that.”
“She’s warning us, Daxton.”
The princess’s throat worked as she nodded. “She lied to us.” Her voice broke on the words. “All of it—my father, the court, everyone believed her. Believed that shifters killed my aunt, but now I see that it’s not true. This war with the shifters was all based on false facts from the start.”
Her gaze dropped to the bite mark on my mate’s neck.
“My aunt was claimed,” Réalta whispered, her tone half awe, half horror. “By a shifter. Not killed.”
A pulse of heat rolled through the room. The phoenix stirring beneath Skylar’s skin was on the verge of breaking free. I reached my magic out to calm her flames, allowing the ice to trickle along her flesh to cool her wrath at the past accusations against her kind.
“She was claimed as a mate by my father, Emery Cathal, the alpha of the Solace pack.”
Réalta’s lips parted, a thousand questions caught behind her eyes. But before she could speak, the rhythm of boots echoed down the corridor.
Skylar turned her head slightly toward the sound, her expression sharpening.
“Someone’s coming,” Rhea said, her voice lacking its usual confidence.
Réalta’s face went pale. “You have to leave. Minaeve means to make an example of you both and kill you to incite war.”
I felt my pulse pound, rage building in my chest—an example.The words seared through me like a blade. No one threatened my mate. Not in front of me. Not ever.
Castor shifted, stepping closer to us. “TheOpalis ready. Just say the word.”
Skylar exhaled, eyes still on the doors ahead. Heat shimmered around her, the faint scent of smoke rising from her skin. “Not yet.”
“Skylar,” I said, the growl in my voice vicious, but her gaze snapped to mine—unwavering and commanding.
“Not. Yet,” she said aloud, then separately to only me,“We’ll make a stand together, Daxton.”
“We’re with you, Skylar,” Talon said.
Rhea nodded in agreement.
Trusting my mate’s judgment on this matter, I said, “Lead the way to the throne room, Princess Réalta.”
The doors at the end of the hall slammed open, and the air itself felt heavier, thick with the scent of incense and polished stone. Soldiers poured in like a tide of steel and fury on all sides, weapons at the ready if called into action. I took note of every blade, every arrow, every warrior.
Castor’s eyes darted across the room, likely analyzing the different escape routes and the strength of their forces gathered. Talon and Rhea flanked their alpha, instinctively protecting her in case any threat dared to sneak past my steel.
My boots echoed against the polished stone until I reached the scarlet carpet, the red so rich it almost seemed to pulse beneath my feet. The walls were draped in tapestries of ruby fire, golden threads catching the light as if the legends stitched into them were alive. Each flickering torch along the walls marked with gold accents shimmered, and I felt a strange mix of awe and tension settle in my chest.
At the end of the hall, on the raised dais, stood the human king.
