Page 15

The Traitor

J osef

I always knew it would come to this. Not war ... but revolution. Not with swords and banners, but with blood. Quiet, deliberate, and necessary.

They’ve all been so blinded by her—by the light, the prophecy, and the crown promised in whispers. Cassandra of Alluvium. A witch who should have burned, now cradled in our halls like she’s divine.

But I’ve seen divinity. It’s merciless.

I light the final rune, and it glows crimson on the underside of the High Council table, hidden beneath centuries of dust and misdirection. Seven others pulse in rhythm with it, each one a key. Together, they form a ward-breaker. Enough to unravel Runic’s palace protections from the inside.

The gate will open before dawn and the palace will be overrun.

Quietus is ready for what is coming. All I have to do now is remove the queen before she becomes untouchable. She is the only thing keeping Nyx from ruling all.

I draw the ceremonial dagger from my belt. It is made of centuries-old Fae iron and sharpened with intention. It has been etched with Quietus spell work. One cut would sever a soul-thread. Permanently.

My last message from Nyx was clear. If she merges, we lose the realms. If she dies before the bond is sealed, the prophecy collapses.

She sleeps in the eastern wing now. Guarded, yes. But that’s not enough. Because she trusts me. Niko still sees me as a thorn, not a dagger, and that will be his final mistake.

I press the rune on my wrist disguised as a council sigil. The palace shadows shift around me, cloaking me in silence.

Tonight, Cassandra dies.

****

N iko

I’ve trusted too many people for too long. That thought echoes through my skull as I pace the council’s inner sanctum, the torchlight flickering off gold-etched walls and old stone.

The palace is still recovering from the Quietus infiltration, and our enemies are quieter now but not gone. And something gnaws at the edges of my thoughts. A whisper of unease. I almost have it figured out when footsteps approach.

Hayden walks in, his aura dark and his brow furrowed. When he reaches me, he places a leather-bound ledger in front of me.

“It was hidden behind a false panel in Josef’s quarters,” he says grimly, pushing the thick, rune-sealed book closer to me. “Only blooded council can access it.”

I press my hand to the binding rune in the center of the cover and feel it unlock. The rune pulses warm beneath the skin of my palm. Inside, the pages crawl with coded entries—dates, names, notes. But one sheet is different. A letter. Scrawled in Josef’s unmistakable handwriting:

To Nyx, Lady of Shadows, Architect of Truth

You were right. The girl has them all fooled. She wears power like a veil, and they worship her for it. Niko sees only her smile, not the storm underneath. He thinks she brings unity. But I see the truth ... she brings dissolution.

When the realms merge, Runic will become weak while Alluvium gains power. And Quietus will be all but forgotten. But your chaos is holy, and our plan will not fail.

I have placed the runes. The wards will fall. And when they do, I will be the blade in her back.

All hail the fall of the false queen.

— J.

My hand trembles, rage crawling up my throat like wildfire. This wasn’t just a simple betrayal. This was premeditated, precise, and chilling.

He called Nyx “holy.” He was never one of us. But now I know.

“Bring him to me,” I command my second and best friend.

“There’s a problem,” Hayden says with a frown. “I’ve searched high and low, even used a tracking spell. He’s vanished. He’s not even in Runic.”

Fuck. How am I supposed to protect my Consort, my queen, if I can’t find the person posing the biggest damn threat? My head pounds and I know it will become a migraine soon enough.

“Make sure the wards around the palace are reinforced,” I say, my hands folded across the damn letter. “And don’t stop looking for him. Get as many people on this as you need.”

Hayden nods before he stands and leaves. Ready to do what I command. And I’m left here stressing, praying to any and all deities to watch over Cassandra just long enough for us to complete the merge.