Page 91 of A Court of Wings and Shadows

Chapter

Twenty

The dragons landed hard, their wings folding with a rustle of exhaustion and lingering adrenaline. Kaelith’s scales shimmered with the intermittent moonlight, her side dipping slightly as I slid from the saddle. I touched her gently, gratitude and apology wrapped in a single gesture, before unfastening the final strap.

As soon as the saddle hit the ground, Kaelith surged upward with a beat of her wings and was gone, vanishing into the morning haze like a living shadow. Hein and the others followed, slipping back into the clouds one by one. The air felt emptier without them.

We moved toward the rails, arms heavy as we slung our saddles onto them. The failure of the mission still clogged my chest, dragging behind my ribs like a second skin. My fingers were still tingling from the magic I’d forced through them.

Then I saw him?—

A man in plain clothes, moving with the purposeful silence of someone who wasn’t meant to be seen. He stepped up to Zander and leaned in, whispering low enough that I couldn’t catch the words.

Zander’s brows tightened for only a breath before he nodded, and the man disappeared as quickly as he came.

But Zander turned sharply, eyes locking on Remy like a blade finding its target.

“Remy,” he said, his voice like ice. “Tell me how you got my father to approve you taking Ashlyn into the vault?”

Remy didn’t flinch. He simply finished securing the last strap of Katama’s saddle after placing it on the rail with deliberate care. “It’s none of your business.”

I froze mid-motion, a cold knot forming in my chest.

“The king knew you took me in?”

Remy’s gaze met mine then, unwavering.

“Yes,” he said simply. “Nobody enters the vault without permission.”

The knot twisted tighter.

“How did you get him to agree?” I asked, my voice barely louder than a breath.

His expression didn’t change, but there was a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes. “Easily,” he said. “He’s ordered me to watch you at all times.”

The world stilled.

Zander swore softly beside me.

And my stomach dropped straight into the stone beneath my feet.

I stared at him, the reality of his words sinking in like a stone dropped in deep water.

He’s ordered me to watch you at all times.

I folded my arms, grounding myself before my voice came out tight. “Why?” I asked. “Why does the king want me monitored so closely?”

Remy didn’t answer right away. His jaw worked like he was trying to find the least destructive version of the truth. In the end, he didn’t soften it.

“He needs the Virelith Crystal,” he said. “The future of the continent depends on it.”

“We’re already looking for it,” I snapped, stepping closer. “You think I don’t understand the stakes?”

“I know you do,” he said quickly, but his tone had that edge again, that buried urgency I’d always hated. “But the king believes you’re the key. That without you, no one will find it.”

“And what? You think I’m going to hand it over to the Blood Fae?”

His mouth parted, and for the first time in years, Remy actually looked shocked. Not angry. Not calculating. Shocked.