جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 60

Xander’s POVThey were already on us. I could hear them before I could see them, the sound of claws breaking branches and breath steaming in the cold, and when I turned my head to the north the trees were moving in a way that trees do not move unless something large is pushing through them. The Crescent wolves had closed in. I dropped the girl’s body gently to the ground, stood up and moved to Zeth’s side, and for once neither of us had anything clever to say. We just watched. To the left and to the right, the forest was snapping. Branches breaking. Shadows moving between the trunks that were too big to be men. And then they came out. Crescent wolves. But not in the form I remembered. These were not the sleek, disciplined soldiers we had fought at the border. These were bigger. Crooked. Their bones looked wrong, like something had twisted them from the inside out. Their fur was midnight black, and it did not shine in the moonlight. It swallowed it. Their eyes were red.

Ashton’s POVThe celebration had reached its peak and the hall was drowning in noise.Wine spilled across tables and men were shouting Xander’s name like he was untouchable. Songs clashed with laughter and the air smelled of smoke, sweat, and victory.Xander was drinking cup after cup and he had not looked at me once. Not the way he used to, where one glance said everything he could not say out loud.Zeth was on the other side of the room doing the same thing. He kept his eyes moving over the crowd like he was expecting an attack, and every time my gaze found him he looked away.So I sat alone at a side table with an empty cup in front of me and Brenda’s note burning a hole in my pocket. Watching. Pretending I was not part of any of it.That was when I saw them.Brenda and Lord Merrick were standing in the corner with their heads together. Their cups were full but neither of them was drinking. They were talking too low for anyone else to hear.“Those two are always scheming,” I though

Zeth’s POV“Xander,” I said, loud enough to cut through the noise. “It’s time you gave a toast to this victory, don’t you think?”The hall roared. “Toast! Toast! Toast!”I kept my grin in place and my hand on his shoulder, but my eyes were already past him. Ashton was standing by the side door, both hands locked over his stomach. I didn’t move my head. I just let my gaze hit his for half a second. "Go."Xander frowned and tried to look around me. “Later. I need to...”“Now,” I cut in. “They need it now. Before the wine runs out.”He hesitated, then lifted his cup. “To blood spilled and enemies broken,” he said, and his voice filled the hall like it always did. Deep. Certain. “To Noctaryn.”The wolves lost their minds. Cups clashed, loud. Noctaryn warriors hugged Aurion warriors and they cheered each other. Xander dragged a chair to the middle of the room and sat."Tonight we feast... Let's dance."The music was louder now. That was my window.I dropped my hand from his shoulder, clapp

Ashton’s POVI could not get caught.That was the only thought running through me as I dragged myself up on my elbows, the cold burning through my cloak and into my bones until I could not tell where the pain ended and the ice began.I could not get caught. Not like this. I forced my head up and the world tilted. Xander was already in the air, sword in his hand, he was about to land it on Zeth's neck.He was really going to kill the sun king. The sight tore something out of me, and before I knew what I was doing, I screamed.“Xander!” My voice cracked on his name and I tried to stand but my legs gave out and I fell back into the snow, so I lifted my hand instead, reaching for him even though I knew he would not see it.Zeth moved before the blade could hit him. He turned and ducked under it on instinct and his fist drove into Xander’s side with enough force to make the guards behind them flinch, but Xander did not move back.He swung again, and his voice was low and cutting.“I was be

Brenda’s POVThe glass hit the wall and shattered.I watched it fall. Watched the wine drip down the stone like blood and felt nothing.Nothing except the heat in my chest that would not go out. He shut me up in front of everyone, and then he carried him... That stupid Ashton like he was made of glass.That should have been me. Not that thing. Not that whore with his thing in his bloody belly.I picked up another glass from the table and threw it. It hit the floor and exploded into a hundred pieces. The sound was satisfying, but it was not enough.A soft knock cut my attention. Hell no.“Brenda?” My mother called out.“Leave me alone.”The door opened anyway. She stood there in her sleeping gown, face tired and old in the candlelight.“Stop this,” she said. “You’re going to cut yourself. You’re going to get blood on the carpets.”I laughed. “Then buy new carpets.”She stepped inside and closed the door behind her.“Give it up,” she said. “Come back to the estate. Stay here. You lost.