I spin around, reaching for Opal and shoving her behind me in the same motion. She grasps my free hand. I tuck Nightfall into my pocket.
Moros is here.
“Something like that,” Adrian drawls, his voice far more relaxed than I expect it to be. “It seems you are as well, Uncle.”
There’s nowhere for me and Opal to run to—nowhere to hide, for that matter.
“Graylen,”I shout through our connection.“Moros is here—in the library. I have Nightfall. Hurry.”
I wait for his response, but silence follows.
Shit.
What if Moros is blocking our connection somehow?
“Though it’s a little late for some of your age to be about at this hour,” Adrian says smoothly.
My mouth parts in surprise, the scared boy from when we first arrived gone. I almost forgot Adrian is the king now—but that doesn’t change the fact that the majority of the guards seem to turn to Moros for directions.
Moros chuckles. “We have much to discuss, Adrian. Perhaps we both need a good night of rest so we can be refreshed in the morning.”
“I’d prefer to get my mind warmed up prior to that.” Adrian’s voice is slightly muffled through the door, but I can hear the calmness in his tone tighten just a little. “You can find me inmythrone room in the morning, just after sunrise,” he says dismissively.
Opal shuffles closer to me. We both hold our breath, waiting for Moros’s response.
“Of course,” Moros relents. My shoulders relax just as the door whooshes open, revealing him standing on the other side, Adrian wide-eyed behind him. “I’d just like to collect my wife first.”
Moros looks to Opal, and my hand finds the regular dagger sheathed on my thigh as his beady gaze locks on hers.
“Sweetheart,” Moros coos, stepping into the small room. “Why don’t we get you to bed. Was it another nightmare?”
Opal begins to shake, and I instantly grab her hand to pull her to my side. She doesn’t move, still positioned behind me.
“She can stay with me tonight,” I say evenly. “We have a lot of catching up to do.”
Moros’s answering grin turns my stomach sour.
Nightfall pulses warmth in my pocket, along with the shard in my vest. They’re begging to be reunited, begging me to use them.
“Of course,” he says with a slimy smile. “I’ll arrange a meeting for you two tomorrow in the manor.”
Over my dead body.
Moros steps forward—hand outstretched for Opal—but I shift so that I’m fully in front of her. She’s taller than me, her eyes likely peering over the top of my head, but I don’t care. I’ll cover as much of her as I can.
“No,” I snap, fury rising in my chest as I spit the word out.
He frowns, his gaze narrowed on me now. It’s too late to keep the ruse up, not when he knows how deeply I care for Opal and with his past threats of harming her. Moros knows I’d never let her go with him now.
“I’ll go,” Opal whimpers as she tries to step around me. “Just don’t hurt Lu.”
The sound of her voice—weak and timid—is so unlike the strong woman I trained with growing up that I pause, my heart twisting.
But it only takes a second for that pain to morph into something else. Something stronger. Fire erupts beneath the surface of my skin, itching and clawing to be set free.
She moves to step past me, and my arm flies out, stopping her from going to him.
“You’re staying with me,” I growl over my shoulder before turning back to Moros.
