Page 138 of A Court of Wings and Shadows

Her eyes sharpened. “Was he hurt?”

“Badly. I… he’s healed now though.”

Riven swore under her breath as the others began to stir. Naia blinked awake, Jax grumbled something about too much drama before breakfast, and Cordelle rubbed at his eyes as I recounted what had happened.

“He didn’t see who it was?” Naia asked, already pulling on her flight leathers.

“No,” I said. “They wore a mask. But they were inside the castle. And they knew how to knock him out without a trace.”

The mood was grim as we dressed and headed for the dining hall.

We sat together, silent as we ate, the tension coiling around us like a second skin.

Then the door opened.

Zander entered with Crownwatch beside him, his posture strong but careful, like he wasn’t quite back to full strength. He looked… good. Too good for someone who’d nearly died, if I was being honest. His hair was still damp from washing, and the dark tunic he wore clung in just the right places.

I didn’t dare look too long.

Good morning, beautiful,his voice slid into my mind like warm smoke.

I coughed into my cup, choking slightly on my cider.Have you been getting tips from Siergen?

Does that dragon actually flirt with you?Zander asked, amusement curling through the bond.

A little,I admitted.He once told me my hair looked like moonlight caught in a storm.

Zander’s mental voice went dry.Remind me to snip his tail if he does that again.

I hid a smile behind my mug, pretending not to notice how Cade, ever-watchful, was looking between me and Zander with that calculating expression he wore when things didn’t add up.

Zander returned to eating, chatting casually with his squad, but every so often, his gaze would flick toward me, lingering for just a moment too long.

You should eat,he sent softly.

You should rest,I fired back.

Not when you’re sitting across the room and I can’t get the sight of you in that tunic and nothing else, out of my mind.

I nearly choked again.

He chuckled in my mind, smug and satisfied.

And despite everything, the assassination attempt, the whispers of rebellion, I felt something warm in my chest.

Danger was coming.

But for now?

I let myself flirt back.

We were halfway through breakfast when Tae set down his cup, wiped his hands on his pants, and quietly excused himself.

“I’ll be right back.”

I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he crossed the dining hall and approached a tall woman with auburn hair braided tight against her scalp, Kateria. Iron Fang, by the dark-red on her sleeve and the cocky slant to her shoulders.

They spoke in hushed tones, standing close enough that their words didn’t carry, but not so close that it felt intimate. Still, I caught the subtle scowl twisting Perin’s face from across the room. His jaw flexed, lips thin, but he said nothing as Tae offered Kateria a nod and returned to us a few minutes later.