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Chapter Twenty Six

T o her credit, Elaina didn’t ask any of the questions that were clearly burning in her mind when we burst into Hyrax Manor and I pointed her towards Camilla’s slumped body in the parlour. She simply grabbed her bag of medical tools and set to work.

“You’re lucky you came to me when you did,” she muttered, inspecting the angry gash along Camilla’s ribs. Her brow furrowed as she leaned in closer, the firelight casting sharp shadows across her face. “The infection has already spread too much.”

“But you can help her, can’t you?” My voice barely rose above a whisper, tinged with desperation I couldn’t hide.

Elaina glanced over her shoulder, her expression grim as she sliced a blade cleanly across the scabbed wound, blood welling up instantly.

She quickly packed the open wound with clean cloth, her movements precise.

“It would be easier with a healer’s magic,” she admitted, her tone clipped, “but I’ll do what I can. ”

I hovered nearby, watching her work with a mix of awe and dread.

My magic simmered just beneath my skin, itching to help but unsure how to direct itself without making things worse.

The room felt stifling, too hot despite the cold air outside.

Clay’s gaze burned into my back, his silence far louder than any words could have been .

He hadn’t spoken since I told him what I’d done—how I’d snuck into the dungeons, taken Camilla, and brought her here.

He hadn’t chastised me or yelled, not yet.

Silently,he’d simply thrown on a cotton shirt, led us to the stables, and set a punishing pace to Hyrax Manor.

Now, though, his quiet fury radiated off him like the heat of his dragonfire, simmering, dangerous.

He wouldn’t be able to keep quiet for much longer.

Even without looking at him, I could feel the weight of his judgment, the questions he didn’t need to voice.

When I did chance a glance his way, his eyes blazed with restrained anger and something else—unease, perhaps, or the careful calculation of someone trying to solve a puzzle they didn’t want the answer to.

It left me on edge, my already frayed nerves stretched thin.

Elaina wiped sweat from her brow and glanced over her shoulder, her tone clipped. “I need you out.”

The words stung, but I couldn’t blame her. I nodded and turned to leave, only to pause when she spoke again.

“No, I need both of you out,” she clarified. She didn’t even glance up, her hands steady as she packed more cloth into Camilla’s wound. “The tension in here is unbearable—I don’t know if it’s Clay’s temper or whatever energy is buzzing off of you, Thea, but it’s suffocating me.”

Oh.

Clay’s gaze snapped to mine, and for a moment, we just stared at each other.

I expected him to argue, to push back, but he gestured toward the door with a sharp tilt of his head, silently ordering me to lead the way.

He lingered for just a moment longer, watching me, before following me out into the dim halls.

The air outside the room was cooler, but it did little to soothe the tension coiling in my chest. I led him through the twisting corridors of Hyrax Manor, the familiar stone walls pressing in on all sides.

The faint light of dawn seeped through arched windows, casting the halls in a muted glow.

The shadows seemed longer here, heavier.

I led him to the room I’d claimed as my own during the nights I’d spent here, away from the castle.

Shadows cloaked the space, even in the early morning light.

Tall, arched windows lined one wall, casting twisted patterns onto the stone floor as thin beams of light slipped through the ironwork.

Heavy velvet drapes in deep crimson and navy hung beside them, thick enough to keep most of the daylight out, leaving the room in a cool, muted glow.

At the center of the room stood a four-poster bed, its dark wood carved with twisting vines and mythical creatures. Layers of heavy fabrics draped from the canopy over plush pillows and blankets, left in a careless mess from sleepless nights.

I barely had time to close the door before Clay’s voice cut through the silence like a blade.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

So, we were jumping straight to the argument. No pleasantries, no easing into it.

I sank onto the edge of the bed, curling my legs beneath me as I forced myself to meet his gaze. “I know I should have talked to you first—”

“Talked to me?” His voice was sharp, slicing through the space between us as he spun away, running a hand through his already messy hair. He paced to the far side of the room, his movements agitated, restless. “Thea, you think your only mistake was not mentioning this reckless little plan to me?”

Frustration bubbled up, and I gritted my teeth.

Magic crackled at my fingertips, slipping free and knocking over a candlestick on the nearby desk.

The clang echoed sharply, cutting through the charged silence.

Clay’s jaw tightened, his eyes darting to the fallen candlestick before locking back on me .

“I was doing what I thought was right,” I said, my voice low but steady. “Camilla might be the only one who understands what’s happening to the Veil—what’s happening to me.”

“Right.” He let out a harsh laugh, turning to face me, his expression twisted with anger.

“And the Gods know you want an explanation for that more than you care about anything else. So you thought it was a brilliant idea to sneak behind my back, into the dungeons, and free a prisoner—a woman who has tried to kill you multiple times.”

“I’m aware of what she’s done.”

“She’s the reason Lorelai is dead!” His voice rose, raw with anger, and the words hit me like a blow.

“I know that!” I snapped, the words harsher than I intended. Of course I knew that.

He scoffed, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Do you ever stop to think what your actions mean—not just for you, but for the rest of us who actually have to deal with the consequences?”

“Look,” I said, forcing my tone to soften as I stood. “Once she tells us what we need to know, we’ll put her back in her cell.”

“Put her back in her cell,” he repeated, his tone dripping with disbelief. “You really think it’s that simple?”

I threw up my hands, exasperated. “Well, it was easy enough to get her out—”

“That’s not the point!” He walked to me until he was towering over me, his heat pressing in like a physical force.

“You think you can just do whatever you want, like the rules don’t apply to you.

You’ve always thought that and you’ve always failed to see the world around you!

She’s been missing for hours, Thea. I guarantee someone has already noticed her absence so it’s only a matter of time before they realize you were the last person to see her. ”

“And what would you have had me do, Clay?” I demanded. “Let her die?”

“Not lie to me!” he roared, his voice cracking under the weight of his fury. “You looked me in the eye and told me you were going to bed.”

“I couldn’t just let her die,” I argued, my voice quieter now, trembling.

“And is her life worth yours?” he shot back, his tone raw. He took a deep breath, jaw working as the veins in his neck momentarily darkened. “Do you have any idea what my father will do when he finds out? He’ll kill you, Thea. He’ll kill you, and there’s nothing I can do to stop him this time.”

The words cut deeper than I expected, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe. I needed space, needed air between us.

“He can try,” I snarled, turning my back to him as I walked towards the window and stared out.

There would be consequences for this. I knew that. I couldn’t deny it even if I wanted to. After all this time, though, after everything I’d been through and done, the Dragon didn’t scare me anymore. He shouldn’t scare Clay, either.

We could fight him. Together.

Clay’s voice dropped to a low growl. “You’ll start a war.”

“Isn’t that what you’ve been planning all this time, anyway?” I spat, the venom in my voice surprising even me as I glared at him over my shoulder.

His face hardened. “I have been preparing to remove my father from power for years, and you’ve thrown all of that into chaos with one reckless decision. One you’re not even sorry for.”

I could have denied it, asked for forgiveness, pretended to regret my choices.

But he was right. I wasn’t sorry—not for seeking out the one person who might hold the answers I needed.

Even if that decision forced him to move up his timetable.

Even if it forced him into a position neither of us had been willing to accept .

Silence stretched between us, thick and charged. Our harsh, unsteady breathing filled the air for a moment, as the reality of my actions—and his loyalty—settled heavily upon us.

I walked towards him, stopping when there was merely feet between us.

This was the moment we’d been building toward since the day we met.

It was me or his kingdom.

He had a decision to make.

“So what are you going to do about it, Your Grace?” I whispered.

He watched as a tear rolled down my cheek, his jaw clenching, his fists tightening before he looked away, beginning to pace as he weighed his options. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he turned to me.

There was no princely mask on his face now, only resignation. “I’ll send for my allies in Tenebris and Inanis. It’ll take time for them to arrive, but there are soldiers that are loyal to me. I’ll have Rankor send the orders. You’ll need to stay here until we're sure its safe for you.”

“I’m not hiding!”

“You’ll do what I tell you to,” he barked. That darkness was stretching up his arms, climbing higher by the minute.

Fury surged through me as I stormed forward, grabbing his arm to make him face me. “It has never worked like that between us, and you know it.”

“Because you think you’re above the rules that the rest of us have to follow!”