The king’s gaze slid to me. “And doyouthink I’ve ever needed willingness to make something mine?”
“She’s not a pet,” Leo said quietly, stepping into the light with hands clasped behind his back. “She’s a weapon, if we handle her right. But we can’t rush it.”
Ashton tilted his head, assessing Leo like he might a painting he wasn’t sure he liked. “And you all agree with this little delay, do you? You bring me a shadowmancer—a living relic—and instead of delivering her to my feet, you ask forpatience?”
“No,” Thorne said finally, voice like flint. “We ask for time. Just enough to ensure she doesn’t blow herself—and half the court—into ash the moment she wakes up afraid.”
That seemed to give Ashton pause.
He licked his lips, thinking. “And if I say no? If I say bring her now?”
“We don’t know enough about her yet. She could kill us all or hurt herself.” Thorne said simply. “And then there goes your prize.”
The room grew still.
Ashton stared at Thorne for a long, long time—his smile gone now, replaced with something colder. Calculating.
Finally, he leaned back and laughed. A short bark of sound, humourless and sharp. “Fine. A few days. But not a moment more.” He wagged a finger. “If you’re lying to me, Thorne…”
“I’m not.”
“Good,” the king said, suddenly jovial again. “Because if she’s as rare as you say, I’ll want to…seeher magic for myself.”
He gestured lazily to the door. “Now go. All of you. Before I change my mind.”
We turned to leave, tension still coiled tight in our spines.
As we stepped into the hall, Leo muttered under his breath, “That’s the first time I’ve seen you flinch, Thorne.”
Thorne didn’t look at him.
I followed Thorne down the corridor, the steady footfalls of my brothers echoing behind me. We moved in practiced formation, instinctual after years of working together. Our destination was the top floor of the Shade Tower—our shared quarters, a place that functioned as home, war room, and sanctuary depending on the day.
The apartment was vast, five bedrooms branching off from a wide, open living space with polished concrete floors and deep leather furnishings. Floor-to-ceiling windows wrapped around the outer walls, offering a sweeping view of the castle’s silhouette against the night sky. The lights of the city below blinked like a warning.
We collapsed into the worn leather dining chairs around the long, dark table—the same one we’d planned dozens of raids and half as many cleanups around. Everything felt heavier tonight.
Thorne pulled the tablet from his jacket, setting it down in the centre of the table with care. The screen flickered to life, displaying a live feed of the girl—Elira—curled up beneath the blanket in her cell. She looked impossibly small. Fragile.
I broke the silence. “What do we do when she wakes?”
Leo leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table, eyes fixed on the screen with open admiration. “You know... she’s kind of hot. That hair? Those eyes? Total gorgeous ghost vibes. I mean, if she wasn’t literally a walking magical anomaly—”
Thorne snatched the tablet from under his hands with a sharp growl, glaring at him.
“Keep it in your goddamn pants for one minute,” he snapped.
Leo held his hands up, grinning. “Just saying.”
Slade said nothing. He was watching Thorne, not the screen. And I noticed it too—the tightness in Thorne’s jaw, the storm behind his eyes. He wasn’t just worried. He wasinvested.
That was dangerous.
And we all knew it.
“She needs training,” Slade grunted, the gravel of his voice slicing through the quiet. “And food. Girl’s skin and bones.”
I nodded slightly, but my mind was still on the blast. “What about the explosion earlier? Do we know what triggered it?”
