Novels by Blacktides

Zeth's POVThe council room was already full when I walked in.They all stood. Criff, Drago, Sisil, Ahmor, Mark. I didn't tell them to sit. I walked to my chair and sat first. Then they sat. Criff straight as a stick, Drago already sweating through his linen, Sisil with her papers neat, Ahmor with his fists on the table like he wanted to fight someone, Mark holding his ledger and not looking at anyone.Sisil had grain numbers laid out. Same papers she brings every week."My King," she said, calm. "We were waiting. Sera village reports...""I know about Sera village," I said.I kept my voice flat. My hands were on the table. I made them stay still.Drago wiped his forehead with his sleeve. Criff watched me with those thin eyes.Sisil paused. Just a second. Then she went on like I had told her to continue."Then you have seen my report. They lost another three bags last night. No footprints. People are talking about...""People are talking about a lot of things," I said. "Let's talk ab

Ashton's POVXander didn't waste time. He picked up the wooden box with the orb inside and tucked it under his arm. Then he gently tapped Noah awake and lifted him against his chest. "Come," he said to me.I picked up Akim. He wrapped his little arms around my neck and rested his head on my shoulder. We slipped out the back door of our chambers and took the narrow path behind the kitchens like Zeth said. The air smelled like smoke and fresh bread and oil from the kitchen fires. Servants were moving around carrying pots, but no one stopped us. The Aurion mages lived in the old temple at the edge of the palace grounds, half hidden by overgrown trees. It wasn't as big as the Noctaryn temple. It was small, with stone walls, no windows, and a heavy wooden door that looked like it had been there for a hundred years. The stone around it was covered in moss.Xander knocked three times, hard. For a while nothing happened. Then the door creaked open.Three mages stood inside. Old, all of the

Ashton's POVXander was pulling his shirt on when we heard the knock.We were about to leave. Akim and Noah were still asleep on the big bed."Who is that," Xander whispered.The door opened before I could answer. Zeth.He didn't wait to be let in. He pushed the door with his shoulder and walked in with a small wooden box under his arm and his face blank. Xander pulled his shirt down fast. "What did you find out?"Zeth looked at the children first, then at me. His eyes stayed on me a second longer."Mara," he said.He put the box on the table and opened it. Letters. A map. And in the middle, wrapped in cloth, something that glowed faint.I moved closer. Xander did too."She was writing to me," Zeth said, voice low. "Ten letters. Sisil stopped them. She told the riders not to carry anything from Aurion while I was in Noctaryn."Xander frowned. "All ten?""All ten," Zeth said. "The last one was three days before she died. She said she found where it lives and she was going that night."

Zeth's POVI stood outside Mara's door with Alaric beside me. My hand was on the wood and I didn't push it right away because once I push it, there's no pretending anymore.Alaric let me stand there. He just breathed next to me, old and loud through his nose. His staff made a small mark in the dust on the floor."You have to open it, my King," he said."I know, I know..." I told him.I pushed.The room smelled like her. Dust and that lemon oil Hana used to put in her hair when she was little. Her bed was made neatly with yellow sheets tucked tight. For a second it was like no one ever died here. Like she just went somewhere and would be back.I almost called her name. The thought came so naturally that it hurt when I remembered she would never answer.Then I remembered how we jumped on this same bed when we were kids. Father came in shouting about how a future king and a lady should not act like village rats. She fell off laughing and chipped her front tooth. She had that little chip

Ashton's POVThe room Zeth gave us was too big and too quiet.Noah was asleep on the low bed, curled on his side with his hand tucked under his cheek. Akim was asleep beside him, his little chest rising and falling fast. I had put Zeth's cloak over them both because the room was warm but they were shivering a little after the long ride.I couldn't sleep. I went to the balcony.Aurion is beautiful. I didn't expect it to be. From Noctaryn, where everything is snow and pine that never changes color, Aurion looks like another world. The houses are yellow stone, all low and flat roofs, with white cloth hanging over the windows to keep the sun out. The streets are wide and dusty gold, lined with those tall thin trees that have small leaves, and in the distance I could see fields of that pale grain that grows even in heat. Beyond that, far far out, the Aurion woods, dark green against the gold. Where we came from.It's a warm city. The kind of city that should be loud, with children runnin

Xander's POVNo one else spoke. The council went quiet. I saw Sisil's face go tight. Lord Criff stared at the stone floor. Lord Drago wiped his neck again.Alaric turned his staff once and hit it against the ground. The sound was loud in the heat."We need to understand what attacked us and what this new threat means," he said, looking at Zeth, then at me. "But first we have to investigate Mara's death. The villages can wait a day. She cannot."Zeth's jaw tightened. I saw his hand curl at his side. He hadn't said Mara's name since we rode in. He looked at me then. "I'd like you to join in," he said, low. "Since both of us fought that thing in the woods. Both of us fought monsters in Noctaryn."Lord Ahmor scoffed before anyone else could. "The Noctaryn King in Aurion's royal tomb? That's for Aurion wolves only. That's law.""Law didn't stop whatever killed her," Zeth said without looking at him. His voice was even, but I know that even voice. "He comes."Lady Sisil opened her mouth. "Z

Semi finals Jace’s POVI pulled up in front of the penthouse and killed the engine.Kale sat in the passenger seat with his bag between his feet, staring out the window like he was already somewhere else. The city lights moved across his face in broken lines. He had been quiet the entire drive.“You did well today,” I said.He gave a short nod. “I didn’t have much of a choice. I’ve been missing lectures just to keep up with the sessions.”I turned toward him. “Then stop worrying about lectures. I’m here to handle everything.” My hand settled on his thigh. “Just like I love handling your body.”He didn’t smile. He didn’t lean in the way he usually did when I said things like that. Instead he sat still, eyes fixed somewhere past the windshield.I reached over, cupped the side of his face, and leaned in to kiss him.He paused.His mouth didn’t meet mine right away. There was a half-second of resistance, small but clear, before he let the kiss happen. It was short and not the kind he usua

Kale’s POVThe studio was quieter than usual when I walked in.There were assistants rushing around. No music leaking from the booths. Just the low hum of the air conditioning and the soft glow of the monitors left on overnight. I had come early on purpose. I needed space to think without Jace’s hands or Noah’s threats or another fucking message lighting up my phone.I pushed open the door to the main control room and stopped.Jace was already there.He sat in his usual chair, black shirt sleeves rolled up, coffee in one hand, scrolling through something on the large screen. He looked like he’d been there for hours.“You’re early,” I said.He didn’t look surprised to see me. “So are you.”I dropped my bag by the couch and tried to keep my voice casual. “Didn’t think anyone would be here yet.”“I could say the same.” He finally turned to face me. His eyes moved over my face, then down to the clothes I was wearing. “You didn’t come back to the penthouse last night.”My stomach tightened

Kale’s POV“Kale.”The voice came from the far end of the alley. It was low and steady. Like it already knew I would stop walking the second I heard it.I froze.The single security light above the dumpster flickered, throwing broken shadows across the brick walls. My phone was still in my hand, Red’s last text glowing on the screen. “You’re right on top of it.”I didn’t answer. My throat felt tight.The figure stepped forward into the weak light.He was taller than I expected, broad through the shoulders and solid enough to make the narrow alley feel smaller. Dark skin, short dark hair, and a black polo stretched across his muscular frame. He looked around twenty-eight, maybe a little older. Then I saw the scars.A thin one cut through his left eyebrow. Another ran along the side of his neck and disappeared under the collar of the polo. Smaller marks marked his knuckles when he flexed his hands at his sides.He stopped a few feet away and looked at me like he had been waiting longer

Kale’s POVI couldn’t keep ignoring it.The messages kept coming, always at the worst times, always knowing too much. After the sticky note in my dorm I stopped pretending it was just some random creep. Someone was watching me. Someone knew about Nuel. Someone was inside my life far enough to walk into my room and leave a warning on my laptop.I needed answers.I sat on the edge of my bed with the lights off and scrolled to a name I hadn’t called in months.Red.He picked up on the second ring.“Yo,” he said. Loud music thumped in the background. “If this is about money I already spent it.”“It’s not about money.”The music got quieter. “Okay. You sound weird as fuck. What’s wrong?”I stared at the wall. “I need a favor. A real one.”“Speak.”“I’ve been getting messages from an unknown number. They know shit they shouldn’t know. About a studio I work with. About me. About someone who used to be signed here. I need to find out who’s behind it.”Red went quiet for a second. Then he laug

Kale’s POVCampus smelled the same. Coffee, old textbooks, cheap cologne, and that chemical cleaner they used on the floors every morning. It should’ve felt normal, but nope… it didn’t.I walked into the lecture hall ten minutes late wearing a black shirt that cost more than my monthly rent. Jace’s shirt. The fabric sat soft against my skin and felt wrong under the fluorescent lights. Every step made it shift, reminding me of the studio, the leather sofa, the desk, Noah’s hands, and the guilt that still sat thick in my stomach like I’d swallowed something rotten.I kept my head down and slid into the seat next to Molly. I didn’t want anyone looking at me long enough to notice something was wrong. I wasn’t sure what they would see first, the exhaustion, the guilt, or the faint marks on my wrist.She didn’t look up from her notebook at first. Then she did. Her pen stopped moving.She stared at the shirt. Then at my face. Then back at the shirt. “What the actual fuck are you wearing?” sh

Kale’s POV beThe hot water from the bathroom sink was running over my hands but it wasn’t helping.I kept scrubbing with rough paper towels until my skin felt raw, like if I went hard enough I could take whatever was sitting under it off too. It didn’t work. The mess was gone but the guilt stayed, thick and sour in my stomach, sitting there like I’d swallowed something I couldn’t digest.I pulled my sweatpants up with shaking fingers. Fixed my shirt and looked up at the mirror because I had to see what I looked like.My bloodshot eyes, flushed cheeks, and faint red marks on my wrists that hadn’t been there this morning.If Molly saw me like this she’d know immediately. She’d call me a mess, a fuck-up, maybe worse. And she wouldn’t be wrong to. The thought of her face twisting in disgust made my throat close up.I bit down on the inside of my cheek and forced the tears back. Breathed in, out, until my hands stopped shaking so much. Then I unlocked the door and stepped into the hall.E