Page 76 of A Court of Wings and Shadows

Zander’s voice cracked across the courtyard like a whip, and the raw panic beneath it struck deeper than any anger could.

Remy didn’t flinch. He reached into his coat, pulled out a scroll sealed with crimson wax, and broke it cleanly in two with a flick of his fingers.

The royal crest shimmered in the torchlight.

“A signed order,” Remy said flatly. “From the king himself.”

Zander’s jaw clenched. His eyes burned like lavender fire in the dark.

“This is reckless. You’re forcing her into enemy airspace, unanchored, and untested.”

“She volunteered.”

“She doesn’t understand what she’s walking into.”

“I do!” I snapped, stepping forward. “This isn’t your call, Zander.”

Zander didn’t look at me. His eyes stayed on Remy, burning, until finally he turned on his heel and walked away, his cloak snapping behind him like a second storm.

The silence left in his wake was heavier than the air before it.

Remy exhaled and turned to me. “You ready?”

I glanced toward the stars creeping over the horizon. The sky was full dark now. No turning back.

“I’m ready.”

He called softly to Katama, and the massive light-green Catalan descended from the cliffs in silence, his emerald eyes glowing faintly in the night. The wind stirred as he landed, wings folding like silk curtains.

Remy looped a thick rope around the base of Katama’s neck, not because he needed it, but because I did. Then he mounted and reached a hand down.

I let him pull me up, settling in front of him as his arms closed around me to secure the strap. It felt like a ghost of another life, one I’d buried long ago.

I didn’t reach for Kaelith, not when I knew she wasn’t coming.

The ache in my chest deepened, but I shoved it down as Katama launched into the sky with a graceful, powerful leap.

Wind lashed against my face. We flew fast and low, the kingdom melting away behind us.

“Hold onto the rope,” Remy said, his breath hot against my ear. “The Phantom Step will feel… disorienting. Just for a moment. The landscape will blur.”

I didn’t even have time to reply.

The world shattered.

It wasn’t light or sound or heat. It was everything at once, twisting through my body like I’d been snapped out of place and shoved sideways through a slit in the sky. My stomach flipped, my ears rang, and for a heartbeat it felt like I wasn’t anywhere.

Then the air stilled.

The wind returned.

And the jagged rocks of the outcropping loomed ahead, rising from the sea like fangs in moonlight.

Katama descended in a slow, careful spiral and touched down on the narrow shelf of stone.

I barely managed to hold my composure as he landed, but the second we were still, I pressed a hand to my mouth.

The dizziness crawled up my throat, but I forced it down.