Chapter 49

Crown Prince Callan

The cold floor of the East Wing corridor felt like the floor of a place where people were killed.

Every breath I took smelled of blood, wet stone, and iron. It had been twenty-four hours since the disaster at the Equinox Gala. Twenty-four hours since the sweet scent of wild honey and rain had driven me out of my mind before disappearing into the fog.

My thoughts were a mess, and my Alpha instincts wouldn’t calm down. They kept roaring inside me like a wild animal trapped in a cage.

I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t sit through council meetings, and I couldn’t stand watching my mother’s guards move around the palace like frightened birds.

Every step I took down the long, torch-lit hallway was heavy and filled with anger. Before dawn, I had dragged three commanders into the interrogation cells. When they gave me nothing but useless reports, I had broken their ribs with my own hands.

The Second Prince had disappeared from his bedroom, yet the palace guards swore that nobody had passed through the main gates.

She was here. My mate was somewhere inside this massive palace, hiding in the body of my weak, fragile little brother. Every second I couldn’t find her felt like a knife twisting deeper into my stomach.

I turned toward the royal quarters, my heavy velvet cape brushing against my boots.

Then I saw him.

Commander Jace Corowa stood outside Elian’s bedroom, blocking the heavy oak door. He looked like a wall of solid iron.

He was no longer wearing his black Vanguard uniform. Instead, he wore the silver-and-blue uniform of the Imperial Royal Guard. For the supreme commander of the outer armies, this was a humiliating demotion. The entire court had been talking about it since sunrise.

Jace stood with his feet firmly planted apart, his back straight against the door. One of his gloved hands rested on the handle of his longsword.

He looked like an executioner guarding something sacred.

Anger rose inside me, cold and bitter.

I slowed down as my heavy boots echoed through the long hallway.

“Commander Corowa,” I said roughly. My voice was hoarse after a night of shouting orders.

Jace didn’t bow or kneel. He simply turned his head and looked at me with his hazel eyes. His expression was cold and completely uninterested in showing me any respect.

“Your Highness,” he replied in his deep, rough voice.

There was no warmth or fear in his tone.

I stopped just three steps away from him, moving close enough to challenge him. I released the full force of my royal Alpha presence, hoping to make him feel the pressure of my power.

Usually, even the most powerful lords became uncomfortable under the Crown Prince’s aura.

But Jace didn’t move an inch.

He stood firm like an ancient tree in the middle of a violent storm, completely unaffected by my presence.

“What are you doing here, Corowa?” I growled, stepping closer until the silver badge on my chest almost touched his shoulder. “The Vanguard is searching the lower city for traitors, yet their supreme commander is standing outside the bedroom of a sick prince who couldn’t even finish a dance without collapsing?”

Jace clenched his jaw. A muscle twitched in his cheek, but his eyes remained cold as he stared straight ahead.

“My orders came from Her Majesty, Crown Prince,” he replied calmly. “I’ve been assigned to protect the Second Prince personally.”

“Protect him?” I laughed harshly, the sound echoing through the empty hallway. “You were once the most dangerous man in the outer colonies. You trained sixteen-year-old cadets to become killers. And now you’re acting like a servant to a weak prince who spends half his life coughing up blood?”

The air between us grew tense. It felt heavy, as if the slightest movement could make everything explode.

Jace didn’t answer immediately, but I noticed the small changes in his body. His broad shoulders lowered slightly, and he shifted his weight forward. His gloved hand tightened around his sword until the leather began to creak.

A sudden warning shot through me.

That wasn’t the posture of a commander calmly accepting an insult from his prince. Jace looked like a dangerous animal protecting something precious to him.

My eyes narrowed. I moved half a step closer, my hand instinctively reaching for the handle of my own sword.

“Look at me, Corowa,” I ordered, my voice dropping into a deep growl that echoed against the stone walls.

Jace slowly turned his head toward me.

For one frightening moment, the cold look in his hazel eyes disappeared. Beneath his calm expression, I saw something dark and terrifying.

Possessiveness.

It was the same wild, murderous anger I’d felt in the gardens when I held my mate in my arms.

My breath caught in my throat.

No. That’s impossible.

“You’re standing too close to the door, Crown Prince,” Jace whispered.

His words weren’t a simple warning. He was making it clear that he wouldn’t let me come any closer.

“Are you threatening me, Commander?” I asked, a dangerous smile spreading across my face.

I pulled my broadsword three inches out of its sheath. The sharp sound of metal echoed through the quiet hallway.

“Do you think wearing the Vanguard’s uniform gives you the right to stand between me and my family?”

“I don’t think, Your Highness,” Jace replied roughly as he slowly drew his sword. The dark blade reflected the orange light from the torches on the walls. “I know.”

He didn’t hold his sword in a relaxed position. Instead, he pointed it straight at my throat, standing firmly in front of the door without showing any sign of backing down.

He was ready to commit treason. He was willing to fight the Crown Prince of New Avalon right there in the hallway just to stop me from opening that door.

My blood rushed through my ears, and anger clouded my vision.

He knew something. He knew where she was hiding. Or worse, he knew her true identity.

Before I could drive my sword into his chest, I heard a terrible sound coming from the bedroom behind him.

It wasn’t a scream. It was a weak, choking whimper filled with fear. The sound sent chills down my spine and made the hairs on my arms stand up.

Jace’s eyes widened in panic. He immediately looked away from me and turned toward the door. His usual calm and discipline disappeared in an instant.

“Elouera!” he shouted.

He had completely forgotten to call her by her fake name. He slammed his large hand against the door latch.

The heavy oak door swung open.

And my heart seemed to stop.

Standing in the middle of the dark room, under the faint morning light, was my little brother, Prince Elian.

But his high collar had been torn open, revealing a glowing golden mark on his throat. The mark was pulsing brightly against his skin.

Standing directly behind him was Archduke Holden.

He pressed a long, sharp silver dagger against my brother’s bare neck so hard that a drop of blood ran down his skin toward his collarbone.

Holden pulled my trembling brother tightly against his chest and smiled. His dark eyes shone with a frightening, twisted excitement.

“Step back, gentlemen,” he said softly. “Or the true Queen of New Avalon will die before she ever gets the chance to sit on her throne.”