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“Why did my grandparents send you?” I hissed, letting the shadow tighten around him like a snake suffocating its prey.

His eyes widened for a split second at my question before his thrashing became frantic.

He hadn’t known who I was.

“No mercy will be given to those who defy the Gods,” he repeated back to me, the words stumbling from his lips.

“Answer the question,” I spat, leaning closer to his face. “Why did they send you?”

“The Fallen Ones,” he gasped. “It is forbidden to wake them. They will show no mercy if you go against them.” I stared back at him for a long moment, my gaze burning into his face as I felt a tug on my shadows. I snapped my head to the clearing’s ledge.

They were close to the top of the mountain.

The decision was made before I had even realized there was one.

I would not let them find him.

I needed him to send a message for me now, and they would kill him.

“What is your name?” I asked, turning back to him as my blade held steady against his throat.

“Saniel,” he breathed as I lowered my lips to his ear.

“Run back to yourmastersand deliver this message for me, Saniel. ‘No mercy will be given to those who defy the Gods,’” I whispered, letting each word roll off my tongue like the threat it was.

I stood slowly, lifting my body from the ground as my shadows pulled him to his feet.

“Oh, and tell my grandparents I said hello. I’ve been dying to meet them,” I sang, grinning at him and tilting my head as he looked back at me in pure horror, unmoving, though my shadows were no longer holding him in place.

“If you want to live, I suggest you go.Now,” I said, raising a brow in his direction. Saniel vanished before my eyes as Landers pushed himself over the ledge, Wren and Dukovich following close behind him.

I sprinted toward the three of them, reaching out for Landers and planting my hands firmly on each side of his face as he stood.

“Are you hurt?” I probed, my voice shaking as my eyes scanned his body for any signs of damage.

“I am fine, Hyacinth,” he said as I nodded, pulling myself against his chest and holding as tight as I could. He buried his nose into the top of my head, sucking in a deep breath and taking in my scent as the tension in his chest began to uncoil.

This could have gone a million different ways.

“What happened?” Landers asked, pulling away only enough to tug my chin up to meet his gaze. His eyes searched mine as his brows furrowed.

“W-what do you mean?” I stammered, tucking a curl behind my ear as my eyes flickered to the ground.

“You look . . .haunted.” There was heaviness in his tone, concern that tore at the muscle pumping ferociously in my chest.

I didn’t want to lie to him, I didn’t want to keep this from him, but if I told him of the warning—of Saniel—he may try to stop me. He may not give me the dragon fire I needed to finish this.

I stared back at him for a long moment, grappling with the choice I had already made.

“I was just scared,” I whispered, burying my face into his chest so he wouldn’t see the guilt staring back at him.

It was a lie—the first one I had ever told him.

My throat constricted at the kiss he placed on the top of my head to comfort me and I willed myself not to recoil in shame.

Ruin was never far behind a secret kept.

I pulled away from him, my eyes still cast to the ground as I tried to swallow the guilt. Night was quickly coming, and we needed to get out of view—needed to find a safe place to regain our strength for whatever would unfold tomorrow.