Page 67 of A Court of Darkness and Dragons

“Ashlyn.” Veyna’s face—my sister’s face—stared back at me. Her smile was soft, eyes brimming with tears. “I love you. You know I would do anything for family.”

My breath stilled, rage tightening every bone in me. “You are Severeth, and you betrayed me.”

The apparition recoiled, her shock intense and unfeigned, like the words cut too close to a truth she hadn’t known. Her lips parted in confusion.

Strange, Kaelith murmured. It does not know what Severeth has done.

Why? I asked in my mind, glaring at the ghost that wore my sister’s face.

Because it is Veralin, Kaelith said. Severeth was revealed after she left the isle. He is not aware of current events in Warriath.

“Ashe!” Zander’s voice cut through the haze, and he came sprinting out of the shadows, Dark Fire glinting along his shoulders. Relief pierced me powerful enough to steal my breath. He skidded to a stop, his chest rising and falling quickly. “Where were you? I called for you⁠—”

I lifted a hand, still shaking from the illusions. “I was here. Alone. Something tried to⁠—”

He stepped closer, reaching for me, and Kaelith’s hiss rattled like iron chains inside my head. That is not Hein’s rider.

My pulse stumbled. How do you know?

Because my mate is beside me, and he is in contact with his rider. They are all experiencing these illusions. But this one… this one was intricate. I was fooled for a moment.

The shape before me faltered, his eyes burning too bright, his smile too extreme.

“You aren’t Zander.” My words came out low, cutting, and the face I loved stretched into a grin that chilled my blood.

“Well,” it said, the tone shifting from familiar to taunting. “It seems the Hall of Illusion will not work on you. Or the other riders.”

I curled my fingers around the dagger at my hip. My heart thundered, but clarity steadied me. “In all honesty, I thought those trials were to test us. To ensure our bond with our dragons was unbreakable.”

The false Zander chuckled, the sound echoing strangely in the vast chamber. “How sweet. But you’ve guessed the truth, haven’t you?”

I narrowed my gaze. “Those weren’t trials. You’ve been using these tricks on riders for generations. It wasn’t about proving ourselves—it was training. A way to prepare us for this.”

The thing wearing Zander’s face tilted its head, its smile widening as the shadows writhed behind it.

The false Zander’s eyes glowed like coals as I forced myself to meet them. My voice came out steady despite the cold dripping through my veins. “Tell me something, Grandfather. Are you afraid of us? Is that why you twist shadows into masks and hide behind illusions?”

He laughed, the sound wrong—mocking and hollow. “Afraid? No, child. Persistent. I had hoped you had finally come to join me. I’ve given you every opportunity. Every temptation. And still, you spit on the gifts I offer.”

My hands fisted at my sides. Stay calm, Ashe. Don’t give him what he wants. “Because I’d rather die than bend to your will.”

His grin widened, razor-sharp. “That can be arranged. But you should know…” he leaned closer, shadows lapping at his shoulders, “…your mother said the same thing. And we both know how that ended.”

My breath stuttered, but I locked my jaw. “I don’t know what happened to her. And nothing you, or Severeth, says is worth a grain of salt.”

The form wavered, the beloved lines of Zander’s face dissolving like mist. In its place, crimson eyes opened—inhuman, cruel, burning with something ancient and wrong. My grandfather’s true form stood before me, regal and monstrous all at once.

“She died horribly once I recaptured her,” Veralin said, his voice layered, echoing as if spoken from a thousand mouths. “That is all that matters.”

A blade of ice pressed into my lungs. “Because she wouldn’t bend to your will, either.”

“Precisely.” His lips peeled back in a smile devoid of warmth, his red gaze devouring me as though he were already planning my ruin.

The false Veralin’s red eyes glowed brighter, the heat of them searing into me as if he were trying to peel back my skin and crawl into my bones. But I refused to flinch. My voice came out as firm as steel.

“We’re wasting time. You know why we’re here. You know we won’t stop until you’re dead.”

His lips curved in that terrible, cruel smile. “Then walk to your death, Granddaughter. The symphony of your screams will fill my castle, and your blood will run in its halls.”