Page 17

Chapter Eleven

I laid awake for hours, tossing and turning as I tried to let sleep claim me once more, but it simply refused. My mind was too awake, spiraling with questions about Caldrius.

Nothing about him made sense.

He was a Descendant of Zion, a former king of Zion’s line.

Now, in death, he served Hyrax, though—not just as a follower, but as his Supreme Lieutenant.

There was no one the God trusted more. I’d seen that clearly.

But how could a Descendant of Zion, born to oppose Hyrax, become his most devoted servant?

And then there was the mystery of his wife.

Not to mention, Caldrius wasn’t the only concern plaguing my mind.

I wasn’t going to be able to avoid Hyrax forever.

I’d already learned the hard way that avoiding sleep wasn’t a viable option and I couldn’t just outrun him in the Underworld and hide away in secret rooms, not when he could sense my presence in his land.

What I really needed was answers. I needed to figure out why this was happening to me? Was this some twisted extension of Hyrax’s power, or something more? Did this happen to all of his Descendants, or was it only me? And most importantly—what did he want with me?

“Ugh! ”

I threw off my quilt and reached for the velveteen robe hanging by my bedside, unable to stand my racing thoughts any longer. I tied the sash tightly around my waist and shoved my feet into slippers. It wasn’t the most dignified attire for a Council member, but no one would be awake at this hour.

At the last moment, I returned to my dressing chamber to grab my dagger and thigh sheath. Then I slipped out of the Hall of Hyrax, winding through the palace corridors until I reached the spiraling staircase with the golden dragon-scale banister.

I rolled my eyes as I ascended, my fingers brushing the cool metal. I hated that everything here screamed Dragons. Their egos were inescapable.

When I reached the door to Clay’s chambers, I hesitated, my hand hovering over the wood.

The time had come for me to be honest with him.

The weight of these secret visits with Hyrax was crushing me.

I couldn’t bear another sleepless night, dreading the inevitable pull of the Underworld.

Clay cared about me—or at least, I thought he did.

We’d moved past suspicion and mistrust. He would believe me when I said I didn’t want to be visiting Hyrax.

He would protect me.

Finally, I knocked softly, three times.

The door opened swiftly, and I frowned as I met the gaze of a small woman, exactly my height, who laughed at something inside the room before turning to me.

“Lady Moore,” she gasped. “What are you doing here? Is everything alright?”

For a moment, I thought I had made a mistake—that this wasn’t the Crown Prince’s chambers, but someone else’s. Then I saw her, really saw her .

Porcelain skin. High cheekbones. Full lips curved into a small smile. Her golden-chestnut hair spilled in loose curls around her face, and her silk robe clung to her frame, falling just off her shoulder.

And on her wrist was a silver bracelet that trailed into a ring on her fourth finger. A golden dragon carving glinted on the back of her hand.

My breath hitched as a piercing jolt shook through me.

“Who is it, Elaina?” Clay’s voice called from within.

The woman—Elaina—laughed lightly before turning to the room. “It’s Lady Moore.”

Clay appeared behind her, his gray eyes widening at the sight of me. His chest was bare, his hair damp, and his trousers hung low on his hips.

Dear Gods.

“Thea,” he said, his voice tight. A faint blush peppered his cheeks as his gaze darted between me and Elaina. He looked almost... guilty.

“I’m sorry,” I stammered, my voice barely audible. My legs were heavy, rooted to the spot, even as every instinct screamed at me to run. I couldn’t bring myself to look away from the bracelet locked on her wrist.

“Thea, this is…” His voice trailed off as he stared at me. I wondered if he could see my emotions written plainly on my face. From the odd way Elaina was looking at me, I suspected they both could.

“I’m Elaina,” she said, extending her hand toward me. Her smile was dazzling, her tone impossibly kind, as if her presence in his room wasn’t destroying my heart and leaving the broken mess of it lying on the floor at her feet. “Clayton’s fiancé.”

Fiancé.

The word echoed in my mind, but somehow didn’t make sense. It couldn’t.

I stared down at the hand she held between us. Even her nails were immaculate, perfect oval cylinders on top of her delicate fingers. She was absolutely the most stunning woman I had ever seen. Of course she was. Of course, Clay would be engaged to someone beautiful.

I stared at the bracelet again. The golden dragon carving.

Gods. He had proposed to her with that bracelet and she was holding it out to me like a beacon, waiting for me to grasp onto that hand in a friendly greeting.

“I should go,” I muttered, magic sparking beneath my fingertips.

“Thea, wait,” Clay said, his voice laced with concern.

The sour taste of bitterness filled my mouth.

Clay was concerned for me. Clay, who was standing half naked in his bedroom alone with his fiancé, had the audacity to show concern for my feelings.

He hadn’t been concerned enough to find a single moment to tell me he was already engaged or that his fiancé was here in the castle. He hadn’t been concerned that fact might bother me when he tangled his hands in my hair, swore he belonged by my side, and kissed me just yesterday.

Iris’s voice suddenly echoed in my memory. “You have no right to cry over her. You lost that right.”

She had known.

“Get out Clay. I don’t want you here and soon enough she won’t want you here either.”

It wasn’t just Iris, though.

This was why he’d been fighting with Rankor. This was what Kent and Rankor had been silently communicating about. They had known.

They had all known.

And none of them told me.

I was going to be sick.

The world spun around me as Clay stepped closer, and Elaina put a warning touch on his hand. By the Gods, she was touching the hand that had brushed back my hair so recently that I could almost feel it caressing me now.

I turned sharply and retreated down the hall without another word.

“Thea, please!” His footsteps followed me, his voice desperate, but I didn’t stop.

I couldn’t.

If I stopped, I might break.

M y skin burned as magic coursed through me, fueled by the raging storm of my emotions.

It wasn’t as though I had any right to be upset. Clay wasn’t mine. He had never been mine, and he never could be. I had been the one to remind him of that time and time again. I had no claim to him—his heart or his body.

And yet, the sight of him with another woman was a blow that struck deeper than anything I had endured before.

I burst through the palace doors into the icy chill of the gardens.

Frigid winds swept down from the mountains, carrying tiny white flakes that danced against my skin.

Their icy touch did nothing to soothe the fire raging inside me though.

My magic surged, wild and untamed, as uncontrollable as it had been that first night I’d used it.

That night, Clay had coached me through it. He’d handed me a single rose, his voice steady as he guided me. That memory had seared itself into my mind, vivid and sharp, alongside a hundred others of tender, stolen moments. Moments that felt like nothing now .

Moments that had never meant anything.

I should have known. I’d spent so much time dreading my own marriage, but it had been foolish not to realize that Clay’s was inevitable, too. He was the Crown Prince, bound by the same duty and tradition that I was. I should have prepared myself for this.

Knowing something and seeing it unfold before your eyes were entirely different things, though.

This storm inside me wasn’t just about his engagement—it was about the lies.

He hadn’t told me. Had they been engaged the entire time I’d known him?

How long has she been walking the same hallways in the castle with me?

How could he have left me to stumble upon Elaina in his bedchamber, extending a hand of friendship as if my world hadn’t just fallen apart?

I didn’t even know her and I hated her for the simple fact that she could have him and I couldn’t.

Sprinting, I pushed through the gardens, my feet carrying me toward the valleys between the castle and the mountain.

I was losing control. Months of learning to bend magic to my whim were meaningless now, when my emotions were so volatile, which meant I needed to get as far from the castle as I could before it erupted from me and tore down everything it touched.

I tried to steady my breathing, to calm myself, but every inhale brought fresh torment.

I saw his hands in her hair. His body moving against hers.

I saw him making those unbreakable vows to her .

Their future together—her perfect, beautiful hand in his, their children laughing as they walked the palace halls right in front of me.

I was going to spend the rest of my life watching him love her.

The thought broke something inside me, and my control finally snapped. Magic coiled under my skin, building until it tore free from my body in a violent rush, so strong it knocked me off my feet. Pain lanced through me as I hit the frozen grass, gasping and trying to steady myself.

And then I froze.

Floating where I had stood moments before was a thread of brilliant golden light. It pulsed faintly, radiating power so familiar it sent shivers down my spine.

It felt like… me.

“What in all of creation did I just do?”

My voice was barely a whisper as I stood and stared down at my hand, as though it belonged to someone else. After everything—after all this time—there were still pieces of myself that I didn’t understand.

The question wasn’t just who I was. It was what I was.

A shrill, piercing screech tore me from my thoughts. My gaze snapped to the thread as it pulsed, growing brighter.

And then, clawing its way through the light, came a hand.

A milky white, decaying hand.

An arm emerged, then a leg followed it, until a creature tumbled from the thread and collapsed in a heap before me.

The stench hit me first—foul and rotting, so strong it made my stomach turn. The creature looked human, or like it had once been, but now it was nothing more than a grotesque mass of decayed flesh and exposed muscle, its reptilian eyes wide as it seemed to take in its new surroundings.

And then it turned to me.

It roared, revealing rows of jagged, pointed teeth, before lunging forward with unnatural speed. I barely had time to react before it slammed me to the ground, its claws raking down my arm. Pain flared, hot and sharp, and I screamed, blasting it back with a surge of magic.

I scrambled to my feet, wrestling my dagger from its sheath as the creature charged again, its jaw hanging grotesquely as spit flew into the air.

I darted forward, driving my blade into the underside of its jaw until the hilt met its flesh. The creature froze, its reptilian eyes glazing over before it collapsed, lifeless, at my feet .

Ripping the blade free, I panted, grimacing as its blood dripped onto the grass at my feet. My arm throbbed, the torn skin slick and wet beneath my robe.

Suddenly, the body twitched, and I squealed, instinctually wrapping my magic around it and throwing it back into the light.

The glowing thread of golden light vanished a moment later, leaving no trace of the magic—or the horror—that had emerged from it.

Trembling, I tucked my blood-soaked arm into the sleeve of my robe to hide it from any eyes I might pass on my way back to my rooms.

By the time I ran back through the palace halls and slammed the door shut behind me, all I could do was slide heavily to the floor, shocked by the undeniable truth of the past few hours.

Tonight hadn’t just broken my heart. It had left me with yet another secret to keep.