TWENTY-FIVE
THE SHAPE OF AIR
We have at least one spy among us. An attack of this scale could not have been carried out without help from within our own walls.
The more I think on it, the more convinced I become that the traitor is someone close to us.
Someone with our trust, our confidence, perhaps even our friendship.
That realization chills me more than the attack itself.
Yet it offers a sliver of comfort as well.
The closer the traitor stands to us, the fewer places they have left to hide.
—VALEN’S JOURNAL
AMARA
For a while, we simply lie there, our uneven breathing the only sound in the room.
His arm drapes over my waist, pulling me closer, anchoring me against him.
His fingers trace my tattoos slowly, absently.
I let my own fingers wander across the faint scars along his bicep, small remnants of old battles.
Silence settles between us, soft and heavy. Our hearts beat steadily beneath it.
Finally, he murmurs, “I want to stay like this. Just holding you.”
Emotion tightens painfully in my chest. Gratitude. Love. The deep, aching certainty that I belong here with him.
“I’d like that too,” I whisper, curling closer against him.
Maybe it’s selfish, but I need this right now. I need him.
His arms tighten around me as he presses a soft kiss to the top of my head. I settle against him, letting the quiet wrap around us for a few precious moments longer. Part of me wants to stay here forever, tucked safely inside this warmth, pretending the world beyond these walls no longer exists.
But the dread from tonight still gnaws at me. I’m about to ruin a perfect moment, but I need to know.
I lift my head from his shoulder. “Thane . . . how did they breach the wards?”
He exhales deeply, the sound heavy with exhaustion and frustration.
“They’ve been weakening for years,” he says quietly. “Not just here. Across the entire realm.”
His fingers flex once against my hip before settling there again.
“Valen told me about your lessons together. You already know the truth of it. The wards were strengthened by dragons. Their presence. Their magics. They held the darkness back. Without them . . . ” He shakes his head once. “Everything is starting to unravel.”
I nod, the significance of it settling over me all over again.
Everyone knew the wards had been weakening for decades. The rumors. The failing barriers. The fear creeping steadily through the realm. But knowing about the decline and understanding the true cost of it are very different things.
“No dragons have hatched in thirty years,” I whisper. “I heard the rumors growing up, but I never realized it had gotten to the point they could get this deep into the realm—especially Volcaris.”
“Without new dragons, the wards have been slowly unraveling,” he says, his voice laced with frustration.
“The Shadow Forces have been taking advantage of it for years. Tonight, they performed some kind of dark ritual. Valen and the other mages found traces of shadow magics in the main courtyard. It was enough to weaken the castle’s defenses. ”
A knot tightens in my stomach. “And they just walked right in.”
He nods, his jaw flexing, eyes dark with restrained fury. “Yes. But there’s more. Someone inside the castle, someone with access to the protective runes, tampered with them. By the time we realized the wards had been sabotaged, the Shadow Forces were already inside.”
His eyes close briefly, and his breathing remains even but the anger beneath it is unmistakable.
“We think whoever did it was coerced,” he says quietly. “Or worse.”
A bitter taste rises in my mouth.
“So the wards were weakened from both sides,” I murmur. “Sabotage from within. And the dragons’ absence beyond the walls.”
His expression darkens, something tightening in his eyes. “We suspect members of a spy network.” “They call themselves the Shadowed Hand. They’ve aligned with Selene. The Shadeheart.”
A shudder moves through me at the mention of her name. “So the infiltration goes deeper than we thought.”
“It does,” he confirms quietly.
Tension coils through his body beneath my touch, heavy with anger and guilt alike.
“Without dragons reinforcing the wards, every city across the realm could be vulnerable.”
We could lose everything.
The realization lands hard enough to hollow out my chest. But Thane’s heartbeat remains steady beneath my cheek, a small anchor in the middle of this nightmare.
I swallow hard. “The Shadowed Hand? I’ve never heard of them.”
“Most people haven’t,” Thane replies, his arm tightening protectively around my bare waist as our legs remain tangled beneath the blankets.
“We’ve known they existed in the shadows for years.
Maybe longer. Stirring unrest. Siphoning secrets.
But we only recently realized how far their reach extends.
Now we know they aren’t just informants.
They’re actively working with the Shadow Forces. ”
The warmth lingering beneath my skin cools abruptly at the revelation. Gooseflesh rises along my arms. Thane notices immediately. Without a word, he pulls the blankets higher around us and draws me closer against him.
“So they’re the ones who tampered with the runes?”
“Likely. And we suspect it wasn’t just one traitor, but multiple agents working together.” His voice hardens. “They would know how the wards function. Which runes to distort. Exactly when to strike. It explains how the Shadow Forces slipped inside so easily tonight.”
He pulls back just enough to look at me directly, his gaze sharpening.
“And they probably knew you were here because of the Shadowed Hand.”
My thoughts race immediately. The breach. The chaos. The sickening realization that we had been completely unprepared for it. It all fits.
“That means this conspiracy runs far deeper than any of us imagined,” I murmur, the realization turning my blood cold.
Thane’s gaze gentles, but his tone remains grim. “It does. And with the wards failing across the realm, with no new dragons to strengthen them, our enemies have found their opening. The Shadowed Hand is exploiting every weakness.”
“Is there a plan now?” I whisper. Then even quieter, “How do we fight a threat we can’t see?”
His voice softens, but the determination beneath it never wavers.
“We will rebuild the wards if we can. We figure out what’s happening with the dragons.
We strengthen the protections that still remain.
” In his eyes, there’s an unspoken resolve.
“But more than anything, we root out every member of the Shadowed Hand. No matter who they are. No matter where they hide.”
“We will find them,” I say quietly, the certainty in my voice surprising even me. “Whatever it takes.”
Thane’s arms tighten around me.
When he speaks again, his voice is rough with quiet conviction. “Good.” He gives a small nod. “We’ll hunt down every last one of them. Burn them out if we have to.”
And somewhere beneath the lingering fear, beneath the grief and exhaustion still clinging to this night, a new certainty begins to take shape inside me. No matter how dark the shadows become, we will stand against them. Together.
I lie draped across Thane’s chest, my fingers moving absently over the scar beneath my fingertips. I press a soft kiss against it.
“He still doesn’t realize how much I need this. Need him.”
Thane’s hand slides up my back, then he murmurs softly, “I need you, too.”
He presses a kiss to the top of my head.
I freeze.
My heart stumbles hard against my ribs because I did not say that out loud.
I lift my head, eyes narrowing. “What did you just say?”
He studies me carefully.
“You . . . ” He hesitates, confusion flickering across his expression. “You said you needed me. Right?”
My brow furrows. “No,” I say slowly. “I didn’t . . . ”
The words die in my throat as the pieces click into place. But I thought it. A sharp pulse of realization moves through me.
“You heard that?” I whisper.
Thane nods once, his expression shifting with the same disbelief tightening inside me. “Yeah,” he says quietly. “I did.”
For one suspended heartbeat, neither of us breathes.
I push myself up slightly, propping onto one elbow. “Well,” I say, trying to ignore the wobble in my voice, “maybe it’s just you. Maybe something about your magics—”
Before I can finish, another thought slips loose.
“Is he just as panicked as I am right now?”
I don’t say the words aloud. Barely even register thinking them before Thane’s eyes widen.
“Amara,” he breathes, his voice barely above a whisper. “I just heard that.”
Cold realization floods through me. “Heard what?”
“You . . . ” He exhales sharply, disbelief flickering across his face. “You wondered if I’m as panicked as you are.”
Heat rushes into my face. I definitely did not say that out loud.
“What the hell?” I whisper.
He places a hand to my cheek, his fingers brushing gently across my skin like he’s still reassuring himself I’m really here.
“I think I can hear your thoughts,” he says quietly. “The same way we speak with the dragons. Mind to mind.”
A stunned silence hangs between us.
Everything suddenly feels different. Closer. More intimate than anything I’ve ever experienced before.
A shaky laugh slips from me as I try to hide the uncertainty creeping into my voice.
“Well . . . that’s new.” I wet my lips, still trying to process it all. “The bond keeps evolving.”
“It does.”
Silence settles between us again for several moments as we both absorb the weight of it.
“How much further do you think it will go?” I murmur, wondering out loud.
“I don’t know.” His gaze holds mine steadily. “But whatever happens next . . . ” He exhales softly. “We’ll figure it out.”
His hand slides along my back, drawing me closer.
“Together.”
The quiet certainty in his voice settles deep inside me.
“Go to sleep.”
Softly, he presses a kiss to my nose.