Page 30 of A Court of Darkness and Dragons

Severeth smiled, a slow, wicked curve of my lips stretched over something inhuman.

“As much as I’d love to take you up on that challenge,” she said, eyes glittering with cruel delight, “this is not the time.”

She took a step closer, slow and confident, as if she had all the power and all the time in the world. The air around her shimmered, mist curling like tendrils from her fingertips.

“But I assure you,” she murmured, her voice slipping like silk over a blade’s edge, “I’ll be back for you soon. I just have a couple of things to take care of first.”

And then⁠—

Mist surged.

It swallowed her in a gust of wind and smoke, shadows rising and folding around her like a cloak, and in a blink⁠—

She was gone.

“Shit,” Jax cursed, spinning. “Where the hell did she go?”

Zander’s jaw locked. “We need to move. Now. We search for her—and Inderia. Severeth won’t exit the wards. She can’t get back in if she does.”

Ferrula drew a dagger, her expression hard. “You think she’s still in the castle?”

“We know she is,” Zander said grimly. “Severeth arrived with Ashe. She got inside using her and Kaelith. And Inderia was her contact here. That means she’s the spellcaster.”

His words landed like a hammer on my chest.

I staggered back a step, breath shallow as the betrayal cut deep—brutal.

I let her in.

I believed her eyes, her words, her tremble when she touched a blade.

I trusted her.

My stomach churned. I was no better than Remy.

Kaelith? I whispered, voice shaking.

Her presence wrapped around my heart like a steady flame. Her glamour was strong, she said quietly. Too strong. Even I couldn’t see through it.

Her rage bled through our bond like smoke from a burning world. But I promise you this, Ashe… I will burn that Blood Fae traitor to ash. There will be no mercy.

I swallowed the pain, forcing it down into something sharper.

Because now I knew.

This wasn’t just war.

It was personal.

Riven’s hand found my arm, her touch steady but gentle—grounding. I hadn’t even realized I was shaking until she spoke.

“Don’t let this destroy you,” she said softly, her voice firm with that quiet fire only Riven ever mastered. “She fooled all of us. But you don’t let her take more than she already has.”

I nodded, swallowing the knot in my throat. “I won’t,” I said, but my voice was low, cracked. “But she’ll pay. Her and Inderia.”

Riven exhaled, her brow furrowing. “Why would Inderia do this? She was a princess. She was engaged to Theron. She could’ve been queen.”

Remy grunted from where he leaned against the edge of the barracks wall, arms crossed, eyes dark. “Her position at court was always precarious. She wasn’t born in Warriath. She came here through marriage negotiations. Her status was conditional—built on shifting alliances. That was… until Emlem agreed to a match between her and Zander.”