Page 121 of The Reckoning of Starlight

Forced through by Bhreena.

Gone.

Jassyn shoved to his feet, cold sawing through every ragged pull of air.

The ground lay ripped open where Blossom had resisted. Severed roots convulsed in the furrows, curling inward as their fibers blackened and died. His ears rang from the rupture of her sending until shouted orders cut through.

At the cavern entrance, the wraith had forced those stranded when Bhreena’s portal closed to their knees in a tight knot. Lykor stood over them, rending cinched around each body, while Vesryn—bootless and bare-chested, water from the pool still tracking down his ribs—searched their faces.

Druids sealed the perimeter with drawn blades and fire kindled in their palms. One of Daeryn’s soldiers lay crumpled among the others, blood bubbling from a slash in his throat as he choked.

Blossom’s lingering terror raked through Jassyn as he strode forward. His wings unfurled behind him, talons flexing. One by one, the kneeling captives resolved into prey.

Fenn and Serenna spilled from the portal Lykor had left open, half-dressed and still fastening their clothes into place.

“Find Daeryn.” Jassyn cast the order across the stone shelf outside the caverns. “Bhreena didn’t take the Heart of Stars alone. Get Kaedryn up here. Now.”

Fenn yanked his trousers into place and tore open another rift. Serenna crossed through beside him, one hand tying her tunic as they disappeared.

“Where did Bhreena take Blossom?” Jassyn demanded as he approached those bound in shadows.

No one answered.

Lykor closed his fist, driving rending through muscles and spines. The captives thrashed against it, screams ripping through the night.

“Answer him,” Lykor snarled. “Or I’ll flay you alive.”

Wind scoured the mountain, hissing between the rocks.

Essence whirled around Lykor, but a male’s resolve broke before the shadows struck.

“Bhreena promised us our lives,” he said, his voice cracking.

Jassyn held his face still despite his beastblood twisting toward violence. “That’s not what I asked.”

“Do you truly expect us to stand a chance against the king?” a female challenged, defiance ragged with desperation.

Lykor bared his fangs, shadows billowing around him. Jassyn raised one hand, and the darkness stalled.

Another portal tore open. Serenna stumbled through beside Velinya, Kaedryn sagging between them. Blood sheeted down the druid’s neck, its copper tang fouling the cold. Vesryn broke from the prisoners and took Serenna’s place at Kaedryn’s side, bearing her weight as Serenna stepped back. Velinya kept one arm firm around Kaedryn’s waist.

“Cinderax is with the hatchlings,” Serenna said. “They’re safe.”

Fenn appeared through the rift, carrying a body.

Jassyn knew who it would be before the head rolled back and dark curls—the same waves as his—spilled over Fenn’s arm. Before the wound at the throat opened like a second mouth, too late for mending to matter now.

His mind cataloged the losses—Blossom taken with the Heart of Stars, Daeryn’s force compromised, loyalty split along faultlines he’d failed to map in time. He needed to determine how far the betrayal reached, who among them could still be trusted, whether the caverns would…

The thought unraveled when Fenn lowered Daeryn to the earth. The male Jassyn had scarcely managed to look in the eye, much less acknowledge. His son.

He kept reaching for the next step, the calculation that might reduce this to a problem he could solve. All he found were hazel eyes gone sightless, the memory of rain in a jungle where Daeryn had stood with more courage than Jassyn had ever managed and called him sire.

The ledger closed. There was no category for this.

“I’m sorry.” Kaedryn’s voice rasped through the mended ruin of her neck. “They took the Heart and slit our throats. Velinya reached me before I bled out.”

“How many?” Lykor demanded, shadows writhing around the kneeling soldiers. “How many joined Bhreena?”