Page 18

“You’re shivering, Sev,” Myla said as she wrapped her arm around my shoulder.

I leaned into her, like I had during my first night at the academy. “I forgot how cold it was here,” I said.

We had made it halfway across the lake, the townhomes and cabins near the decayed dock coming into view. White hills rolled on for miles, until at last I saw the red brick estate I had grown up in, half-hidden behind the trees.

And expectantly, Archer pounded on our bond. “Naraic told Ciaran what happened. Hell, Sev. You scared me.”

“I’m fine. Care to explain why Kian and Antonia feel indebted to protect me?”

“You almost drowned.”

“Answer the damn question.”

“Any Night civilian will unknowingly feel the need to protect you. It’s an unconscious gesture. Consider it a ward, consider it a deterrent against treason and killing the leaders or heirs.”

I glanced at Kian. He’d seen my serpent mark, yet his first instinct was to offer me his jacket. “Well, that’s nice of them,” I said through the bond.

“Why didn’t you tell me what they were doing to you in Malvoria? Rok put his hands on you. ”

“I don’t plan on returning. But once I know my father is safe, who knows where I’ll go.”

He groaned. “You will come back here, and we will announce your titling. But I’ve already explained the reality of that, Severyn.”

“Ah, you make me seem like some untamed beast desperate to mount you at any given time. I can control myself. We can be friends, Archer,” I hissed. “That’s what you wanted all along, isn’t it?”

“You know damn well how I feel about you, Blanche.”

I slammed the bond shut, knowing full well he could tear through the cindered shield I threw up if he wanted to.

Naraic shot me a side-eye, his massive white tail sweeping a curtain of ice dust across my boots.

“You know, I really hate it when you listen in,” I muttered.

He huffed, steam curling from his nostrils. “Your heart is as cold as the ice beneath me. He means well. He’s at a puzzle fork.”

“A what?”

“A puzzle fork.”

I blinked. “You mean a crossroads?”

“Yes. A fork. A puzzle. Human dramatics. Same thing.”

I shook my head. “I’m only here because his father stole back his sunlight.”

Naraic’s eyes narrowed. “And if he hadn’t offered it… where would North Colindale be now? North Colindale would have fallen years before, and you would be a barren civilian.”

The sunlight barter between my father and Victor had only bought time. And time had run out.

“Clearly his father is conniving,” I said. “He wanted me to marry his heir.”

Naraic rumbled low in his throat. “Damien knew who you were. Archer kept that from you. That is all I will say. ”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better? Knowing Archer knew and lied more?”

“It was a puzzle fork. If Damien took the heirship, you were bound to marry him. Archer broke a serious law keeping that lindworm hidden—for you.”

“We will discuss this later.” I had too much on my mind and worrying about a non-existent marriage wasn’t my top priority.

I scanned the empty streets of my village and dread knotted in my chest within an instant. “Cully, where is everyone? Why are there no civilians?”

He rubbed his arms, eyes tracking the barren storefronts. “I don’t think much grew this year, Sev. No footprints, no weeds. I’d say people left weeks ago. Maybe months.”

Fraser pointed skyward, where the clouds shimmered faintly with northern light. “There’s no shield.”

My knees nearly buckled. “What does that mean?”

He drew his sword with a hiss of steel. “It means we’re not protected here.”

A wild flock of griffins cawed in the distance, their silver and golden wings stretching wide across the ridge. I couldn’t handle the weight of failure pressing down on my spine. I hadn’t become my father’s heir. I had failed my realm.

Myla stepped beside me, her hand landing softly on my shoulder. “It’s okay, Sev,” she murmured. “The land can be saved. We’ll figure it out.”

I leaned into her touch. “How do I save a land I’m melting just by being here?”

Her eyes softened. “A Serpent must be crowned. A Winter one. I know you hate Bridger for what he did to you, but... he might be North Colindale’s best chance.”

“This is Bridger’s fault. If he hadn’t sent you away, if you had stayed, you might’ve been named heir. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened. ”

She reeled back. “You’re blaming him for a country starving?”

“He ruined your chances.”

“I didn’t want to leave my mother. I thought if I survived Malvoria, I could come home on my own terms.”

Cully’s head snapped up. “Who is Bridger? What did he do to you?”

My voice sharpened. “What he did to me? He sent you away, Myla. He got you expelled from the Academy.”

“I asked him to,” she said quietly, lifting her chin. “I knew I wouldn’t be accepted here. I wasn’t ready to rule. But if I served in Malvoria, I could earn my way back. It was the only path I had.”

“You wanted to become a Serpent.”

“I wanted to stay Summer more.” Her eyes searched mine. “But you never asked, Severyn. You just assumed… and cut me off.”

My throat tightened. “I didn’t know.”

Myla blinked fast, as if holding something back. “When you’re weak, Sev, it’s the only time I’m seen.”

“I don’t want to fight over this,” I whispered. “But I thought you chose him over me.”

“I did,” she said. “Because I couldn’t unsee your privilege.”

I swallowed. “What am I now?”

She softened. “My friend. If you’ll let me be.”

“Can we start over?”

Myla gave a breathy laugh. “We don’t need to. Just don’t shut me out again.”

Antonia slung an arm around her shoulder. “I’m freezing my tits off. Can we move this heart-to-heart somewhere less frozen?”

Fraser cleared his throat. “Toni’s right. We should get to the Blanche estate before nightfall. If anything’s hunting, we’re a grand buffet on legs. I don’t have tits, but cold has found places it doesn’t belong.”

The climb to the estate was quiet. The boulders that once served as childhood trail markers still lined the slope. My home waited at the peak, just as I’d left it so many months ago.

Naraic curled beneath the trees, camouflaged in the snow. Only his glowing violet eyes betrayed him.

Cully stepped forward, fumbling with the house key he always kept on him. The door creaked open, and warmth spilled into the cold.

Home.

The scent of old soup clung to the air—faint, laced with mildew and a hint of ash. I ran my hand along the banister, grounding myself in the quiet. It had never been this quiet.

“There are spare rooms upstairs,” I said. “Make yourselves comfortable.”

Fraser was already rooting through the cupboards for a kettle. “Hey, Severyn,” he called, wiggling his fingers like a child casting spells. “Mind lending a spark?”

I sighed, rolled my eyes, then summoned a flicker of flame. The stove crackled to life with a grudging spark. Antonia, ever the traditionalist, insisted on her old method, by rubbing sticks together and sacrificing a few battered issues of the Serpent Press for kindling.

Cully rested a hand on my shoulder. “Father will find a way to fix this,” he said.

“But how?” I whispered. “No sun. No food.”

“I don’t know. But he’d die for this country. He’ll find a way.”

Silence settled deep. Across the hall, Kian murmured a soft goodnight before retreating to bed. Tomorrow, I would speak to him. I had to. When I heard the first creak of a door upstairs, I knew he had chosen Klaus’s room .

Antonia hadn’t moved. She sat by the fireplace, shoulders tight. “I’m sorry,” she said at last, her voice quiet. “About your home.”

“Neither of us expected this,” I murmured. “And… thanks for saving me at the lake.”

Antonia moved to the kitchen and grabbed a mug from Fraser’s hand. “Don’t expect it to become a habit.”

“For someone who allegedly hates me,” I said, “you’ve saved me twice now.”

Steam flushed her cheeks. “You’re a walking disaster. But… I never hated you.”

I hesitated. Then let the truth burn its way free. “Toni, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

She arched a brow. “Finally realized how dramatic you are?”

I huffed a laugh, but it caught in my throat. “Alaric’s last words were for you. He said… if he had the chance, he’d choose you. That he loved you.”

For a heartbeat, her expression cracked, just enough to show the wound time hadn’t managed to close. Fraser noticed. He leaned back against the counter, saying nothing.

“I thought you killed him,” she whispered.

“I didn’t. He saved me. Took a dagger straight to the chest during Skyfall. By the time I understood what had happened, he’d already severed his bond with his dragon.”

From the kitchen, Fraser wiped his eyes with a sniff. “Next time, a little warning before the emotional ambush.” He clapped Cully on the shoulder and started guiding him upstairs. “You’re on comfort duty.”

Cully raised both hands. “I wanted to hear the rest.”

“Let them have their moment,” Fraser said over his shoulder. “Looks like it’s feelings time.”

I turned back to Toni and Myla. “So... who’s sharing what bed tonight? Apparently, Cully and Fraser are. ”

Her glare could’ve incinerated the kettle. “I’d rather spoon a snow beast than sleep beside Kian.”

Myla snorted. “Before Toni found out her forced bond was with Kian, they—”

Antonia jabbed her in the ribs. “Don’t you dare finish that sentence. It was a moment of weakness.”

I raised a brow. “What did you do?”

She slapped a hand over her mouth, groaning. “Dirty talk.”

I blinked. “What?”

“I dirty talked him, okay?” she hissed. “The night the bond was placed. He sounded kind of hot. And then I did it again—to figure out who it was. I didn’t expect him to get a godsdamned boner during combat.”

“You dirty talked Kian before you knew who he was?” I choked. “What if it was, like, a middle-aged guard?”

“Well, then a middle-aged guard has heard me moan,” she said flatly. “It’s been months since Alaric died, and I was feeling reckless.”

“What happened to Jace?” Myla asked, still laughing. “Seemed like he was your little shadow.”