Chapter 31
In the morning, Flame and Kingsolver were sleeping in Yvonne’s stable—though it was more of an outhouse room with a small, attached shower where I assumed Blake had washed off the night before.
“Did you call for them?”
He shook his head. “Not consciously, but Kingsolver is very aware of my emotions.”
I snorted. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was Flame who’d run the moment they’d been unlocked, and Kingsolver who took off after her. Even now, he slept protectively around her.
My dear rider, she purred, before her large eyes flickered awake. She stretched and rumbled, effectively pushing a not-so-asleep Kingsolver off her body.
Thank you for coming, I said, waiting for her to approach. She sniffed around me, searching for injuries, before pressing her head to mine.
I moved my hand through her fur.
Things have changed? Between you and the Ambush Master?
A smile burst across my lips. I’ll tell you if you tell me. Kingsolver, hmm?
Blake stepped up behind, hoisting me up onto Flame, since we didn’t have tack. It reminded me in some way of that first night we’d met, though Blake wouldn’t ride behind me this time. And the pants his sister had lent me meant I showed a lot less leg.
Still, the lingering of his hands on my waist had my body alight again, cheeks pink as I looked over at him.
He was calm, the lines around his eyes hadn’t returned yet, and his body looked relaxed as he packed my things into his satchel so I wouldn’t have to carry anything apart from my ribbons and the dagger he’d given me. One of his own, just in case.
His face was bright, his expression alight with happiness, and his hair was a mess of bronze waves that showed how often my fingers had woven through them in the middle of the night and again as we kissed and pressed against one another this morning, the sun dappling in through the windows.
I soaked this image of him in, knowing the tightly disciplined Ambush Master and Twin Blade would return the second we stepped foot toward the castle.
And so he did.
Gone was the sweetness, the gentle steady hands that held me over him as I ground into the hard, solid length of him. Gone was the man who had caressed my back until I’d fallen asleep.
That Blake disappeared the second we entered the palace, one of his warriors calling for him the moment Kingsolver’s paw touched the interior of the gates. He only gave me one long lingering look before striding off.
I rushed to Edith’s rooms. I knew Flame would have warned me if anything was wrong, but I had to see for myself that she was safe.
After seeing the carnage wrought by the escaped demons last night, something in me had shifted.
It wasn’t just Blake who had changed. I still wanted to win the Culling and survive the Raveling—for the boon, for my lost memories—but now that wasn’t my main motivation anymore.
I needed to protect the people I loved against the demons I had seen.
I needed to protect this world and all the innocents in it, like Yvonne and Poppy.
Edith, Quinn, Calla, Nelly, Thyme, even Couscous—they were my everything.
“Oh, thank Kuan Yin,” Edith cried, sprinting to wrap me in a tight hold. My hands softened in her as I pulled her tightly against my chest.
“I know,” I whispered. “I’m so glad you’re all right, too.”
“Rubi, I was worried sick.”
“I’m fine,” I promised, though the weight of everything pressed against my ribs. “It was an attack by men posing as rebels combined with demons. They came out of nowhere.”
Her face drained of color. “Demons. In the middle of the square?”
“Yes.”
Her voice went tight as tears welled. “All of those poor people.”
I took her back into my arms, tightly holding her, as if comforting her would erase my own anger and fear.
We settled by the fire, and I told Edith what had happened, leaving out the part about Blake’s sister and his reveal as the Ravager.
But I did tell her Blake was there, that he’d saved me.
“He might not be as much of a monster as we thought.”
Edith stilled, her body going tense. She was no fool. She opened her mouth like she meant to say something, then closed it again, her lips pressed tight. The look on her face left a cold knot in my chest. “You must be careful, Rubi. You must not lose your heart to a man like that.”
I gave a hollow little laugh. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She gripped my arms tightly, her fingers digging into my skin. Her face was intense, her eyes burning into mine.
“Listen well, my love,” she said, her voice low and urgent. “There is no future for you with him. It will only lead to heartbreak.”
Frustration bit at my heels, but…wasn’t she right?
The Blake I’d had the night before might’ve been perfect for me.
And it might well have been the real him.
The man I’d seen last night—the one who fought for those he loved, who burned with lethal protectiveness, who met the world with both sharp intelligence and unexpected warmth—was dangerously and devastatingly irresistible to me.
My foolish, reckless heart was too fragile when it came to him.
I was already half in love with him.
But as long as he continued to play second to the king who hated me, who wanted my people dead, then what future did we have together? One perpetually in hiding, until he had to make a choice? How long would his ruse go on?
I wasn’t a Silver. I wasn’t powerful. I never would be.
Grief twisted low in my chest, a deep, raw ache. No matter how close he held me, no matter how much he made me feel like I belonged to him in those stolen hours, he was fundamentally a man of duty. He would sacrifice everything to do what he thought was right.
There was indeed no future. Not for us, anyway.
As if she could tell the painful place my thoughts had led me, Edith pulled me close, wrapping her arms around me.
And I finally let myself cry. For everything that had been building since the night Flame came to our hut.
Edith didn’t say a word, just held me, steady and loving until the storm inside me started to quiet. My hands shook as I wiped at my eyes, forcing myself to stand tall, to remember who I was and what had to come next.
“I’m all right,” I said quietly as I straightened, locking my spine even though the ache inside me hadn’t faded.
She looked at me, grief deep in her eyes, but she didn’t waver. Her face was set with a quiet, unshakable strength as she whispered, “I know you are.”
—
The entire dominion was in an uproar. News of the so-called rebel ambush and demon attack had spread like wildfire, igniting fear in every corner of the city.
People were afraid to leave their homes.
Nelly reported that markets stood half empty; doors were bolted and windows shuttered. No one wanted to be caught in the open.
And because of that, our last day of training before the Culling began at noon.
Jace stood at the front, his expression unreadable as he surveyed us. Several warriors and trainees had died the night before.
Malissa was cool and composed as ever, her green eyes sharp as a blade. Ire lingered at the edges, arms crossed, saying nothing. But it was Quinn and Calla standing among a group of Azures who surprised me the most.
Quinn caught sight of me first, and before I could react, he ran to me and pulled me into a tight embrace.
“Thank the creator goddess Nuwa, ribbon girl,” he murmured against my hair, his grip warm, familiar. “I was afraid you—” He cut himself off, exhaling as he pulled back, scanning me as if reassuring himself that I was whole.
“I’m sorry I frightened you,” I whispered, holding him tightly, burying my face in his familiar scent. “Thank you for getting Edith back safely.”
My skin prickled with awareness, and I turned.
Despite the easy stance he took beside Jace, I could feel the heat of Blake’s gaze, his eyes locked onto Quinn’s arms still around me.
His look was possessive.
With a groaning shriek of metal, one of the giant iron sparring frames—the heavy ones they used for full tyger drills—twisted in on itself with a deafening crunch, the iron beams bending and snapping like twigs. Dust and gravel sprayed into the air as it slammed into the ground, a ruined heap.
Every head turned. Warriors went still, hands tightening on their weapons, instinct and fear flashing in their eyes. No one dared to speak. Even Blake looked surprised at himself.
Quinn froze. Then he gingerly took his hands off me. He cleared his throat and took a step away.
Next to him, I heard Calla stifle a giggle. Ire studied us, his expression calculating.
But Malissa’s eyes locked on mine, sharp and full of fury. She glanced at Blake, then the broken metal frame that lay crumpled on the ground.
She knew.
Her posture didn’t change, but a frigid cold pulsed off her in waves. She stepped closer, stopping just short of touching me. Her voice was venomous.
“Foolish Azure. You have no idea what you’ve brought upon yourself.” Then she turned and stalked away.
Calla stepped closer to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“We stand here with fewer than we did yesterday.” Blake’s voice carried over the courtyard, cutting through the heavy silence. He was the calm, controlled Ambush Master once more, the weight of command settling over him like a mantle. Every warrior there straightened, drawn toward him.
“Some of the best among us fell—to humans, to demons, to betrayal we never saw coming.”
A long, raw silence followed. Heads bowed. Hands clenched at sides. I could feel grief move through the crowd like a living thing.
Blake stood unmoving, his expression carved from stone.
“We honor them by slaughtering every last demon that escapes its realm. Tomorrow we honor them by entering the Culling. We honor them by completing the Raveling. We honor them by refusing to fall.”
Then he turned back to the others. He was not just a warrior. He was a blade forged for this moment. And we all felt it.
“We are at war,” he said, his voice low but fierce. “Last night proved how vulnerable we are. How much we have to lose. The Demon Realm must be sealed. If we fail, we die.”
The warriors’ breathing was rough in the morning air, but no one moved.
“Whether we are chosen in the Culling or not, it doesn’t matter,” Blake said. “Every one of us must train harder. Fight harder. Be stronger than ever before. No matter the cost.”
His gaze found mine for the briefest second. I felt the burn of it in my chest.
No matter the cost.
That afternoon, we practiced coordinated attacks with our tygers, using their weight and speed to crush through defenses. We trained in leaping onto high ground, ambushing from above before the enemy could react, drilling in silence, without a single shouted command.
Blake rode close by, Kingsolver at Flame’s side, flanking her almost always.
He didn’t approach me, even after training was over, watching me from a distance as I followed a tired Calla and Quinn to the dining halls, yearning tight in his ice blue stare.
Whatever had ignited between us was a smoldering flame, just beneath the surface.
But the Culling came first. And it would take place tomorrow.