Page 249 of Feralheart

The hole his dying hope left behind pinched tight.

Fen’s face went carefully blank. Years of training held him upright when a part of his soul had shattered past repair.

His hand found mine, and I squeezed.

Lady Chambers stepped forward, the silk of her ornate gown shimmering in the Oracle’s light. Her gaze cut like a blade, peeling back the layers of my skin until she found the parts of me that shouldn’t exist. She lifted a gold-headed cane and, before I could move, she hooked the cold curve of the handle under my chin, forcing my head up. I ground my teeth to keep from snapping at the wood.

“Look at this,” she murmured. She used the tip of the cane to nudge aside the hem of my sleeve, exposing the red lines. “It’s an infection. A feral stain on the sacred stone.”

Lord Andra leaned in, his goatee twitching. “We’ll have to cleanse her before she enters the Ascension Chamber. We can’t have the Oracle tainted by the contamination of a commons’ blood.”

Fenian’s body went rigid, and the temperature around us dropped.

“Gabriella.” Fen’s voice was a low, predatory rasp that stopped the councilor’s breathing. Blue sparks crackled across his knuckles. “If you touch her with that cane again, or if any of you so much as whisper the word cleanse again, you won’t live to see the next day. I will burn the tongues from your mouths and the life from your veins before the sun clears the ridge. Do you understand?”

Lady Chambers jerked the cane back, her face turning the color of the bone dust scattered across the plateau.

“Your Highness,” Lord Holmen stammered, his hands fluttering at his robes, “we only meant to preserve the protocol⁠—”

“I am the only protocol that matters now.” Fen’s grip on my waist tightened, and he pulled me against his side. “She is mine. Touch her again, and I’ll kill you.”

He turned his gaze toward the ancient doors, dismissing them.

“The Ascension Chamber is waiting,” he said, his voice echoing through the living stone.

Lady Chambers forced a smile. “Enter, and the Oracle will grant your wishes. All three of you. Together. United, as you’ve proven yourselves to be.”

Too easy. The thought flashed through my bond with Selira.

Magic prickled under my skin. Selira’s unease bleeding through the bond. This court didn’t reward harmony. It rewarded dominance. So why were they welcoming us like honored guests?

Lyndie’s gaze met mine, and she tightened her grip on her blade.

We’d come too far and lost too much to turn back now.

“Lead the way,” Fen said, his voice carefully neutral.

Lady Chambers grunted. “Of course, Your Highness.”

We followed the council members, the queen’s projection keeping pace overhead.

The floor had been polished mirror-bright, and it reflected our bloodstained, exhausted faces back at us. My eyes had sunken into my face. Fen had locked his jaw so tight I could see the muscle jumping. Lyndie’s expression remained blank.

We looked like we’d lost instead of won.

Each step took more than the last one had. My legs had stopped feeling like mine. The magic that had been burning through my arms all day had left channels behind, paths that ached when I moved.

But I couldn’t hold myself back.

Tolross…

Fen kept his arm around my waist, supporting me. Lyndie walked on my other side, the blade still dripping. Vella’s blood hit the marble with soft plinks.

Lyndie kept her voice low. “I tried to pick the least terrible way.”

“What does that mean?” I hissed back.

She just nudged her chin, urging me forward.