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Chapter One

R eign

“No!” The howl tore from my lungs, the soul-shattering wail echoing over the rush of wind as Phantom sailed toward the border of the Wilds.

“Faster,” I growled at my dragon.

If I go any faster, I’ll run us both into the field below when I land.

I don’t care what you must do, get us on the ground now ! Terror laced my words, even through the silence of the bond.

We’re almost there .

We’re going to be too late. Icy fear coated my veins at just the thought.

Beside us, Solanthus’s agonizing roar reflected my sentiments. Those massive wings flapped, propelling him a few yards ahead of us in his desperation to reach his bonded rider. His enormous maw unhinged, and a wave of dragonfire lit up the night sky revealing the Demon army below. The remaining air caught in my throat as the creatures of nightmares surged to life. The riders, clad in armor as black as night, sat astride beasts that resembled enormous, smoke-like serpents as they soared over the rolling hills that separated Feywood from the Wilds beyond.

Phantom…

I know .

Does your dragonfire repel those monsters?

It did fifty years ago .

Good. Drop me off below, then they’re all yours .

Phantom’s wings tilted, slowing our descent, and my panicked gaze immediately fixed onto the Demon King. The towering male, with hair a striking silver and skin the hue of midnight, had Aelia in his grasp. His head turned at our approach, and his eyes, deep set and fiery, met mine, burning with the intense rage of smoldering crimson coals. He easily held her a foot off the ground. She struggled and kicked, but with his thick fingers around her throat, she was at his utter mercy.

Fury pulsed through my veins as the ground grew closer, Aelia’s panicked eyes rising and meeting mine over the king’s broad shoulders.

“Reign…” Her whimper impaled my heart to my ribs.

Another tormented cry tore free, yanked from the furthest depths of my soul. “ NO !”

King Helroth’s silver hair—just moments ago gleaming above ground—began to sink beneath the earth, and I stood frozen, heart lodged in my throat, as he and Aelia vanished. Her terrified gaze was the last thing I saw. “Aelia!” I roared, agony crushing my insides. My skyrider’s talons hit the earth, and I leapt off her back and raced toward the enormous fissure ahead. Already, the ten-foot fracture along the soil was beginning to stitch itself back together.

How was any of this happening?

How in all the realms had the extinct Court of Infernal Night appeared from the bowels of the underworld?

The pounding of my feet across the grass mimicked the wild beating of my heart. My shadows whirled into a frenzy, gathering across my shoulders and propelling me off the ground as my wings coalesced. The crack in the earth lay only a few yards away now and already the devastating reality swept its way into my mind. Too late. Only a faint trace remained of the bottomless pit in which the Night King had leapt into with my cuoré only seconds ago.

Still, I slid to the earth, the sounds of the ensuing battle over the hill blurring in the distance as I traced the fracture along the soil, determined to change what I already knew to be true. I was too damned late . “No,” I growled. This could not be. I would not lose Aelia. Down on my hands and knees, I clawed at the earth, attempting to re-open the fissure with the strength of sheer will alone. Shadows spilled from my pores, joining me, dark tendrils stabbing at the crevice in a futile attempt to pry it open.

“Reign!” A familiar voice shouted at a distance, but I ignored the sound along with the pounding of approaching wings.

I dug deeper, tearing at the sandy soil with both hands until a wretched hole only a foot deep emerged. From over the ridge, I could barely discern the sudden silence. But I was too consumed with the task at hand to truly care. I had to find Aelia. I had to bring her back .

“Reign, stop!” A hand clutched my shoulder, jerking me back.

“Let go of me,” I snarled, whirling on the invader, still on my knees.

My brother stared down at me, a wild look in his eyes I could only imagine mirrored my own. “It’s not going to work. The pocket realm has been closed.”

A slew of curses stood poised on the tip of my tongue. Nightmare realms… gods , how was any of this possible? The damned Night Fae and their cursed abilities should no longer be. Or at least, that was what we had all been led to believe…

My mind flickered through their litany of abilities: nightmare realms, soul-draining, cursed illusions, blood rituals, astral possession… the list went on and on.

Glancing across the murky hills toward the Wilds, nothing but darkness remained. The army of Night had vanished, along with the fearsome creatures they rode. I was barely aware of others nearby, of the steady flapping of wings from overhead. But none of that mattered right now.

I couldn’t think about the other students on the ridge, or even my own skyrider’s safety. Not when Aelia was gone. Crushing weight pummeled my chest, the pain suffocating. The cuorem pulsed, volatile and angry, as if it could feel the growing distance between us.

“How is the gods’ damned King of the Court of Infernal Night alive, Ruhl?” I growled, as if somehow this nightmare were of his doing.

“I don’t know.” His dark brows knitted as he regarded me. “But I told you I saw things in the Mirror of Illusions. My mirror image said it was the Court of Infernal Night that would bring about our downfall—and low and behold, it was right.” A sickly pallor coated the already naturally pale skin he inherited from our father.

My thoughts whirled back to the night I’d skulked across the river to speak to him for fear he’d learned the truth of Aelia’s blood. Instead, I’d found him clueless and terrified. During the Umbral Trial, his mirror-self had predicted his own downfall.

“It also said I would die at their hands before I became king.”

“I remember,” I gritted out, refusing to admit to him, or myself, how disconcerting that was.

“So, Aelia is gone, and I’m as good as dead.” His dark gaze searched the horizon. “What a night…”

“She’s not gone,” I hissed. “I will tear apart every inch of the Wilds with my bare hands if I must to find her.”

“Do you remember nothing of our studies, brother?” He glared down at me, dark eyes admonishing, appearing for all intents and purposes the older brother in that moment. “Those damned Night Fae can create pocket realms wherever they please. Aelia could be hundreds of yards underground, or she could be across the continent in Lunaris for all we know.”

“No.” Gods, I couldn’t seem to formulate any other word but that of denial. My head swung back and forth, refusing to face the alarming truth.

“Or worse, she could be dead.”

I lunged, instantly on my feet, his words awakening a darkness inside me I couldn’t contain. My fingers wrapped around his throat before I hauled him off the ground. “ Never say that,” I snarled.

“I don’t…wish it upon her, Reign. I am only…speaking the truth. In case…you missed it, gods’ damned King…Helroth himself…took her. He rose from the…ashes and ruin of his court…and came for… her . Why do you think…that is?”

I froze, icy cold realization frosting my veins at his strained explanation.

“I know…the truth…about her, Reign,” he whispered in ragged spurts. “How stupid…do you think…I am?”

“What truth?” I barked, hauling him higher so his feet continued to dangle, his breaths becoming more labored.

“All. Of. It.” He paused, piercing irises lancing into me as he gasped for air. “I know who she is…and more importantly…I know who she is…to you.”

“Whatever you think you know, you’re wrong .”

“I’m not. I know…she’s the child of the…prophecy…and…your cuoré…and that Aelia…knows it…too.”

Bloody hells. “That’s what you wanted to talk to her about at the ball?”

He nodded.

Every fear I’d ever known met the piercing light of day in that very moment. Aelia was gone, and Ruhl knew she was the child of twilight. “Did you tell Father?” I blurted.

I’d just spent the last hour with our sire in the bowels of the Citadel after being summoned by one of his shadows. I hated leaving Aelia with Ruhl, but I’d had no choice. Gods’ damn it, if I hadn’t let her out of my sight, perhaps none of this would have happened… A surge of guilt bloated my chest, invisible bonds constricting my lungs despite knowing very well I couldn’t have denied my father. It had been the first time in over four years he’d made any sort of contact. I’d been certain my treachery had been discovered, but instead, he only questioned me about King Elian and his whereabouts in the past few weeks. I’d been shocked, pleasantly so. But perhaps he was only toying with me. This was all my father’s fault. If he hadn’t summoned me, Aelia never would have been taken.

“I haven’t…told him…anything,” Ruhl gritted out, and I reluctantly lowered him to the ground.

“Why not?”

He drew in a breath before a sharp laugh expelled from his lips. “I wish I had the answer to that, brother, but I’m afraid it has something to do with this damned cuorem bond of yours. Apparently, your desire to protect Aelia has somehow bled into my veins.”

Good gods. Could this day possibly get any worse?

“You feel something for her?” I ground out.

“Oh, is that what this bothersome ache in my chest is? Feelings?” A wry grin curled his lips, and every muscle in my body ached to wipe it off with my fist. The smile withered away, his gaze dipping to the cracked earth. “When do you suppose they will go away?”

“Never,” I barked. “In my case anyway.”

“Because you love her?” he spat.

“I’m not discussing this with you.” I trailed his gaze to the ground at our feet, and it was all I could do not to drown in despair. How in the realms would I find her now? “None of that matters right now. I must find her.”

Ruhl shrugged, kicking at the dirt between us. “I suppose I could help you.”

A dark chuckle tumbled out, vibrating my hollow chest. “I don’t need or want your help, Ruhl.”

“Well, I do.” A female voice emanated from over my shoulder, the familiar timbre similar yet laced with a new jagged edge. I spun around and found Rue and the remainder of Aelia’s rag-tag crew of friends. “If we are up against that , we’ll need all the help we can get to save her.”