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His gaze found Bryony over my shoulder.
Then his mouth curved into a satisfied smile. “There you are.”
30
BRYONY
The dagger looked longer in Adrian’s hand than it had in the vault memory.
Its silver point rested against the clear section of wall. Red light moved along the blade and spread across the damaged barrier.
Stellan shifted to cover me. I stepped beside him instead. Adrian had already spent too long treating me as a piece he could move around the court.
“You broke a wall to find us,” I said. “Congratulations.”
Adrian’s smile lost its warmth. “I made certain you could hear me. You’ve made yourself difficult to reach.”
“Murdering the people around me had that effect.”
The clear stone carried our voices without opening the barrier. Behind Adrian, his guards filled the passage in dark armour. None looked eager to test the thorns crossing the gate.
Stellan kept his body angled towards the dagger. His fangs had lowered, and the red restraints showed under the skin at his wrists.
“Say what you want and leave,” he said.
Adrian looked at him with open disgust. “You’ve had enough chances to die quietly.”
“You’ve had enough chances to kill me. We’re both disappointed.”
I touched Stellan’s arm. His muscles remained tight, but he let the exchange end there.
Adrian turned his attention back to me. “The barrier is failing, Bryony. Harrowmere recognises your blood, but you haven’t taken the Crown. The house can’t decide whether you’re its heir or another frightened human hiding in its rooms.”
“It decided clearly enough when it accepted the charge against you.”
A red mark appeared inside the clear stone. The witness seal was recording every word.
Adrian saw it and lifted one shoulder. “Keep the record. I’m offering the heir a way out.”
He raised the dagger until the blade caught the white light from Harrowmere’s wards.
“Wear the Crown willingly,” he said. “Command Stellan to hold still while I take his heartblood. Once the authority passes to me, the Crown will release you. You can walk out of Harrowmere alive and return to the life Edith stole from you.”
We’d expected the offer. Hearing it still made my skin crawl.
“What happens to Stellan after you take it?” I asked.
Adrian’s gaze slid towards him. “His sentence ends.”
“Because I’ll be dead,” Stellan said. “Heartblood doesn’t grow back.”
Adrian pressed the point harder against the barrier. “His life ended when Cecily fell. The court should’ve finished the execution Edith started.”
Stellan’s hand closed around mine. The contact kept me steady while his anger moved into my chest. I didn’t need Harrowmere to explain whose emotion it was.
“You want me to help you murder him,” I said. “Then I’m supposed to trust you to let me leave.”
“I don’t need your trust. I need you to cooperate.”
