Chapter 28

The air in the council hall was razor-thin, sharp enough to cut the lungs.

By the time Kael and I entered, the vampires were already assembled, their black and crimson attire gleaming under the chandeliers. The queen sat at the head of the crescent table, her posture regal, her gaze unreadable—but I knew that look. She was about to make her move.

Lucien was there too, lounging in his seat with that lazy, dangerous elegance that said he’d already predicted every word of today’s meeting.

“Lord Kael of the Western Pack,” the queen began, her voice carrying over the chamber like silk hiding a blade. “You stand accused of failing to protect the eastern border, of harboring enemy agents, and of instigating hostilities between wolf and vampire territories.”

I felt the muscles in Kael’s arm tense beside me. He didn’t speak.

“You’ve had your chance to explain yourself,” she went on, “and yet attacks continue. Bodies pile up. Trust erodes. Therefore…” She paused, letting the silence stretch. “The council will vote to strip you of your command.”

Before Kael could respond, Lucien’s voice cut through the room like cold steel.

“Convenient,” he said lazily, “that the moment you have an uncontrollable threat at the borders, you decide to remove the one person actually keeping it from getting worse.”

The queen’s smile didn’t falter. “You seem very protective of your… ally.”

Lucien didn’t glance at me, but I felt the weight of his words when he said, “Some of us know the value of loyalty.”

The room stirred. Eyes slid toward Kael. Toward me.

I stood. “If this council removes him, you’ll regret it. That thing that attacked last week wasn’t wolf. It wasn’t vampire. If you take away the only commander who’s fought it and survived, you’re handing the borders to whoever sent it.”

A few murmurs of agreement rippled through the chamber, but the queen didn’t look swayed.

“You speak as though you know more than you’ve told us,” she said softly.

“Maybe I do,” I replied.

Kael’s hand found mine under the table. Not gripping—just there. Steady. Warm.

The vote was delayed, but not canceled. We had days, maybe less, before the queen tried again.

Back in the hall, Kael walked beside me in silence until we reached the far end, away from the ears of the court.

“You shouldn’t have put yourself between me and them,” he said finally.

“Too bad,” I answered. “I wasn’t going to let them take you apart without a fight.”

His mouth curved—just barely—but his eyes stayed serious. “Astrid… when this breaks, it’s going to break hard. If I can’t stop it—”

“Then I will,” I cut in.

He looked at me for a long, quiet moment, then reached up and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. It was the lightest touch, but it sent heat through me all the same.

“You make dangerous promises,” he murmured.

“So do you.”

That night, we didn’t go to our own rooms. Instead, Kael led me to one of the old watchtowers on the north side of the castle, the highest point before the mountains.

The wind was cold enough to sting, but the view stretched for miles—forests painted in silver moonlight, the faint glow of distant villages, the dark scars where the border lay.

“This is where I come when I need to think,” Kael said quietly. “When I need to remember what I’m fighting for.”

I didn’t ask if I was part of that. I was afraid of the answer—afraid it might be yes.

We talked until the moon had climbed high. Or rather, we talked in pieces—pauses heavy with things unsaid, words edged with something more than strategy.

At one point, the wind caught my cloak and nearly pulled it from my shoulders. Kael stepped closer, hands steadying the fabric—and me.

“You’re freezing,” he said.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re stubborn.”

He didn’t step back, and I didn’t move away. The air between us felt like a thread pulled tight, ready to snap or knot.

When he finally did lean in, it wasn’t to kiss me—though my pulse betrayed me by hoping for it—it was to say, low and rough, “If this gets worse, you stay with me. Always.”

I swallowed. “You make that sound like an order.”

“It is.”

The next day, the castle trembled with new rumors. Scouts had gone missing in the forest. Strange, guttural howls had been heard at the edge of both territories.

Kael and I went to investigate before the council could send their own. The snow was fresh, our footprints the only marks—until they weren’t.

The trail we found wasn’t wolf or vampire. The claw marks were too deep, the stride too long.

“Same as before,” Kael murmured, crouching beside one of the prints. “But bigger.”

The forest grew quieter the deeper we went, until even the sound of wind seemed to fade. Then—

Movement.

A shadow darted between the trees. Then another.

We were surrounded.

They came fast—three of them, pale and skeletal, their eyes burning with an unnatural light. Kael moved before I could draw my blade, intercepting the first with a brutal strike that shattered bone.

I caught the second, my dagger sliding between its ribs. It didn’t bleed—not properly. Black ichor oozed from the wound, hissing where it touched the snow.

The third went for me from behind. Kael yanked me out of the way, spinning us both so that his back took the hit instead. The impact drove him to one knee, but he didn’t let go of me.

“Run?” I asked.

“Fight,” he said, already rising.

When it was over, the snow around us was littered with broken bodies. Kael’s arm was bleeding where the claws had caught him, but he barely seemed to notice.

“These aren’t just weapons,” he said, staring down at the creatures. “They’re messages.”

“From who?”

He met my gaze. “Someone who wants the war to happen.”

We burned the bodies before heading back, the acrid smoke curling into the night.

Halfway to the castle, Kael slowed his pace. “Astrid.”

“Hmm?”

His voice was quieter now. “When this ends—if it ends—I need you to know something.”

I turned to look at him, and for a moment I thought he might actually say it. The thing neither of us had put into words yet.

But he just shook his head slightly. “Never mind. Not here.”

Which meant there would be a here for us later. And for now, that was enough.

We returned to find the queen waiting in the courtyard, flanked by guards. Her gaze flicked to the black blood staining our clothes.

“Lovely,” she said. “Hunting pets now?”

Kael stepped forward, but I caught his arm before he could speak.

“They’re not wolves,” I said. “And if you keep pretending they are, you’re going to lose more than your borders.”

Her smile sharpened. “Careful, Astrid. You’re starting to sound like one of them.”

As we walked past her, Kael’s hand brushed mine—brief, hidden, but enough to steady me.

That night, I couldn’t sleep again. And when I finally rose, Kael was waiting outside my door.

“Couldn’t sleep?” I asked.

“Didn’t want to,” he said simply.

We didn’t speak as we walked the halls. We didn’t need to. Whatever storm was coming, it would break soon.

And when it did… we’d face it together.

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