Page 26

Today, I breathed for Klaus. Having no right to feel my lungs expand and take my first breath of the day. But I was returning to that lake today, even if it might kill me. And Archer had callously saved my life—not knowing I’d risk it a day later.

I ate breakfast—cold oats and fruit as Malachi sat beside me, Myla across. She seemed shaken up from yesterday’s trial, fiddling with her fork. Cormac and Margaret joined us. I fidgeted with the glass pendant as Malachi twirled wind within her finger, playing off Myla’s snow.

The air was somber. A heaviness billowed in my chest as we all sat silently.

Bridger stopped as he passed us, resting his gaze on Myla, and I knew that stare, the longing in his eyes. Myla also noticed his stare, her snow falling onto her lap as her cheeks flushed. It was like a child seeing stars for the first time .

And I couldn’t stop that lust between them as Myla softly waved.

Malachi nudged her. “So, are you and Bridger seeing each other?”

Myla’s gaze lowered to the stone table, then onto me. “No,” she said in a whisper.

Margaret yelped, nicking her finger as she peeled the skin of an apple with her dagger.

Malachi strummed her fingers on the table. “Come on. Please give me something to gush over. I need details. Have you guys kissed? You both left together yesterday? His face when he thought you were dead was… heartbroken.”

Margaret flashed a grin. “Is it cold?” She raised a quick brow. “Summers are too warm for me. I prefer Night males.”

“ Who ?” Malachi asked. “Tell me it’s Alaric. Antonia stole my dagger in combat, and I’d do anything to get back at her.”

“Jace and I had a moment during combat,” said Margaret. “But… he’s in love with Antonia. I don’t blame him. The cutthroat, hot persona is one way to have men swoon you.”

I couldn’t believe we were talking about this.

I curled my fingers around the edge of the table. “I heard the Winter trails are opening today. Hopefully, those beasts won’t be escaping again.”

Myla dropped her fork with a loud clang. “Hopefully not. But I think we both know what happened.”

Malachi made a face. “I am so glad to be an Autumn. Severyn, you finally have a tan. You were nearly translucent for a few days.”

I shoved the dagger Charles gave me toward Myla. “You can have it back. You won it.” I tried to hide that anger in my eyes, but my voice betrayed me.

Myla didn’t reach for it. “It’s yours. You need it more than me. ”

I grinned. “Thanks. Tell Bridger I’ll be late for the Winter trails. I have something I need to do.”

Myla’s cheeks flushed again. “We’re not seeing each other, Sev. I—I know what happened to you. I know what Callum did. Bridger tried to stop him. He’s not the bad guy here. He’s… sweet.”

I wasn’t willing to tell the truth. And perhaps I should have mentioned that his scars were concealed. I was already a failure to my family. I couldn’t afford to lose a friend. And if Myla wanted to further her relationship with him, who was I to stop it?

Malachi raised a golden brow. “Now you two are keeping secrets?”

I shook my head. “I’ll tell you tonight, Mal. Right now, I need all the daggers I can get.”

Malachi didn’t hesitate as she pulled a dagger sheathed to her ribcage and stabbed the end into the table. “Severyn’s going for blood, and I support it!”

I met Callum’s stare as he waited outside the Winter fence. Ice glazed the pit of my stomach. The frosted wind blew his golden hair in every direction. Summer’s warmth tinged my fingers as I neared the humming barrier.

He’d seen me and was probably waiting to tell Bridger I’d broken the rules and stepped into the Summer trails. I didn’t care.

Past the bend, the zip line came into view. I gripped the cold metal handles, the weight of my body pulling against the line as I glided over the crashing waves below. The wind tore at my cloak, and for a fleeting moment, I felt untethered, suspended between earth and sky.

My boots hit the moist ground with a jolt, sinking slightly into the dew-speckled earth. The air was crisp, the scent of damp leaves mingling with the faint metallic tang of my unsheathed daggers. Ahead, the wicked forest loomed, its shadows stretching long and jagged in the morning light.

A low growl rumbled from the bushes, followed by the unmistakable glint of eyes watching from within.

My heart quickened, but I forced my legs to move, breaking into a run toward the lake.

Vines lashed out from the underbrush, curling around my ankles and calves, their grip tightening with every step.

Pain shot through me as they pulled taut, the coarse texture burning against my skin.

The forest was restless today, determined to either keep me away—or trap me within.

I slashed through the thicket, the blade of my dagger cutting cleanly into the tangled foliage. Gritting my teeth, I hauled myself forward toward where I thought the lake might be. Shadows closed in around me, disorienting and dense, until I spun in place, my breath coming in shallow gasps.

Behind me, the bark of a gnarled tree creaked and groaned, twisting unnaturally. Limbs sprouted from its trunk, snapping toward my calf with roots.

Then came the guttural growls. I turned to find three black, sinewy beasts stepping from the bushes, their yellowed eyes glowing like embers in the dim light. Their claws raked through the sand, carving jagged furrows as they crept towards me.

I couldn’t take them all at once—hell, I wasn’t sure I could handle even one.

Veined hearts pumped behind translucent, ashen flesh. Engorged canines dripped as they caught the scent of my sweat and fear.

I bolted toward the water concealed behind the trees, but three more creatures picked up on my presence, drawn by the sound of my hurried breath as I hacked through the dense undergrowth. A vine lunged at my leg, its barbs digging into my ankle .

Reacting swiftly, I sliced through the sinewy appendage, causing a corrosive yellowish slime to ooze out.

It burned through my thick socks as I kicked away the coiled-like tentacles.

Two more assailants closed in, their forms almost wrapping around my throat and threatening to drag me deeper before I managed to regain my footing.

Flesh met rotted wood. The death dweller spread its bat-like wings, crawling on all fours, snapping its jaw at my face. I fell to my knees, my fingers dipping into the cool bath below as the rotted bridge groaned under my weight.

I was doing this for Klaus, to silence the voice in my mind. My only choice was to slide into the murky lake. Their hot breath lingered. Dried blood clung to their wiry fur as their snapping jaws approached me.

“Swim. Now”

I slammed into the lake spine-first.

Brown sludge lined the surface as I dove down, tucking the daggers into the hem of my waistband.

Yesterday, I begged for the sun to graze my cheeks and for fresh oxygen to fill my lungs, and today, I was sinking deeper, swimming further into the depth of shadows.

My left ear popped as I searched the still, algae-laced waters. My arms beat faster as my lungs began to groan. I’d gone mad. No other word could explain why I furiously skimmed my fingers along the rocky bottom.

My elbow slid against a clump of weeds. I couldn’t see beyond the plains of shadows, beyond the debris that floated, suffocating any sunlight. My foot slid across something leathery. I swam back, feeling along the grooves and curves of what felt like enlarged ribs.

It was a creature. I slid across the torso of what I thought was a dragon and was met with a gutted skull where a rider’s eyes should have been.

Wispy algae clung around the bones. That ring, still golden and shining, looped around the right index finger of the slate-grey skeleton—identical to the Serpent ring my father had gifted Klaus before he left for the academy.

There he was. Only bone and gold were left, his clothes mere particles floating around me as the months turned into years. Perhaps this was how it should have gone, with me resting with him as our lungs gave out in the same depth of water.

His dragon was beautiful. Pearlescent scales dressed the creature’s frame with a midnight ink underbelly, fading into the murky waters. I grazed my hand against its spine, feeling… warmth… which was odd.

Even light itself held no wrath over the glory of what this beast was. I could almost hear Klaus’s laughter as he rode in the sky.

“ Come back to me .” I mouthed—not daring to touch his fragile bones, afraid to disrupt whatever quiet world he’d entered. That was my last bout of air before I clawed my way back to the surface.

Klaus was only gold and bone .

My fingers were the first to slice through into the air. My lungs were next as a dozen fanged, winged creatures snapped at the water’s edge. I found what I needed to see: that even the bravest could wear glass concealed as a diamond.

That voice in my mind was as silent as the moon on a sunny day. It did not laugh nor mock my feeble attempt at hope. It wanted this to happen. Lured me here for some reason—

“I did what you asked!” I screamed, feeling the rip of claws slash the water around me. I stared directly into their beady eyes as I waved a dagger violently, my chin dripping with sludgy lake water. “Stay back!” I hissed over and over.

I threw Damien’s dagger, striking the beast’s shoulder with a growl. The others hissed, stepping back on their hind legs as drool dripped from their snarled teeth. “Get back!” I yelled again, my voice hoarse, still struggling to breathe .

I gripped Malachi’s dagger, feeling the wind within my throw as it struck another beast. Only one dagger remained, yet four creatures lurked within the bushes. Their yellow eyes stalked me, pissed I killed one of them—

A silver-tipped arrow shot through the trees, striking a beast down. The bushes shuffled, and Archer’s wild eyes met mine. He looked like he might shoot an arrow right at me from how he aimed his bow along the woods.