My feet stay planted for a second longer as I examine the broken people left in the room, the friends Blaise has betrayed time and time again.

Bitterness leeches any affection in their expressions as they watch her.

As they watch Blaise ruin herself for me.

Again.

But then something Blaise whispered to me right before we departed Bezzie’s runs through my mind.

I know you love me, Nox. But can you trust me?

I’d promised her I did, and though my promise might not count for much as a vampire, it counts because it comes from me.

As long as it’s you, I whisper back to her in my mind, and then I follow my wife out into the hall.

We’re halfway through the palace, mere and guards parting for us at Az’s silent command, before Blaise turns the corner, then drags me into a small alcove.

“Did you really betray them?” I whisper, the words escaping my tongue, let loose by the irritation and anger swelling up within me.

She looks up at me with those big brown eyes of hers, her body pressed up to me in this small alcove, and breathes, “Yes.”

My heart stumbles, and the world spins around me.

“Blaise—”

“No. I betrayed them, but not like they think.”

My ears perk at that, my heart and my hopes lagging, but slowly catching up.

“Blaise, what did you do?”

She lets out a steady exhale, leaning her head back against the stone alcove, exposing her long neck, the blood at her jaw thrumming.

The sight has my heart racing. I blink my attention away and back to her.

“I might have taken a risk—I’ll explain in a bit—but something must have gone wrong. I had to improvise, figure out a way for us to get away from Az so we could find Asha. I got lucky, Az thinking I meant for him to intercept the message I sent her.”

I frown. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I needed you to look shocked in case things went wrong.” She blinks away what looks to be tears and shrugs. “So far, it’s worked beautifully.”

Guilt instantly stabs me in the chest for doubting Blaise, but then she teasingly jabs me in the shoulder. “Nah, I deserve a healthy dose of skepticism, even from you. You don’t just come back from betraying the entire world without having the people closest to you question you every once in a while.”

“Blaise, what did you—”

There’s a scuffle in the hallway, shouts echoing through the chamber. Soldiers sound out alerts of an invasion.

Blaise and I exchange confused looks, both craning to listen.

“Alert the emperor. The King of Dwellen’s army approaches. They’re readying for an attack.”

I glance down at my wife, whose eyes have gone wide with a series of emotions I can’t seem to decipher at the moment.

“Evander,” she whispers, her voice dripping with horror. “No.”

“They’re not prepared,” she starts muttering to herself. “The mere, they’re too strong. And the wyverns…their venom…”

I take Blaise by the shoulders, cupping her chin up to look at me.

“Just tell me how we help him,” I say.

Her eyes clear, a plan formulating in that crafty mind of hers.

She looks as if she’s about to tell me that very plan when the roof collapses, spraying morning’s sunlight down upon me in a flurry of excruciating flames.

Everything is burning.

I’m burning.

I’m back on the island, drowning in the fervor of the waves, saltwater soaking my lungs, except this time it’s not water.

It’s fire. Scorching, blazing fire, ripping me apart from the inside out.

I’m dying, and for some cruel reason, it’s Farin’s voice I hear, rattling unwanted in my skull. Don’t be frightened of death. It’s dark and lonely for beings like you and me, but you’re a fool if you believe the Fates forget about us. Stay interesting enough, and they might just weave you back into the story.

Faintly above, I hear the echo of a roar, a scream, and then my name, over and over again.

“Nox, Nox, no. Not again not again not again. No. No, I can’t lose you. Nox, please.”

Blaise is begging me not to go, but the fire is feeding on me like the withering wick of a candle. I want to scream at her that I’d like to stay, that I wish we had more time, but my throat is burning.

Arms wrap around me, dragging me across the slick floor, out of the heavy rays.

Immediately, my skin starts knitting itself back together, a pain altogether worse than the burning itself. I force open my eyes and find the source of the hole in the ceiling that almost ended me.

Above us perches a wyvern, its silver scales glistening in the heat of the Naenden sun. Around us is light, reflecting off its shimmering scales, off the stark white marble of the palace.

It’s beautiful, and also deadly.

“You need to run,” I tell Blaise, my throat still dry despite the fact that it’s healing.

“No, no. I can’t leave you like this.” She’s shaking, grabbing onto me and pulling my back into her chest.

“I’m already healing,” I say, but it’s no use. It’s not as if I’m going to fool Blaise into thinking I’m not defenseless should more of the ceiling cave in, exposing me to the sunlight even in the alcove she’s dragged me into.

Blaise ignores me, so I try again. “You’re the one wearing paldihv. You can still help your friends.”

Blaise stills at that, and I know I’ve got her.