Chapter 56
Elira
Why, in all the gods’ names, did she want to meet here?
The missive had been clear—my mother and Jasper were waiting at the Moon Gate.
It sounded poetic, almost romantic.
But what it was… was a platform.
A wide, open span of stone perched atop a towering cathedral. Like a viewing point carved for the stars.
The wind was colder up here. Sharper.
Before me, a crescent-shaped wall arched like a scythe, framing the southern sky. It pointed directly toward Mount Emberflame.
I could see it even now—its peak burning low and steady, a smear of orange fire beneath the morning haze.
We had a choice between an elevator and some stairs, and though I protested, the air was too cold for stairs. A winter chill had settled on the town of Duskfall. It filled me with foreboding.
Just before we went to step inside, Slade pulled me aside.
“Before I forget.” He said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out my dagger, so perfect, it was like he had polished it personally.
He slid it into the sheath at my hip.
“You kept it.” I said, my voice filled with delighted surprise.
“Of course. It saved me. You saved me.” He said. “Thank you Elle.”
I wrapped my arms around him and breathed him in. “I would have jumped with you if I could,”
“I’m glad you didn’t. I love you.”
“I love you more.” I whispered.
“Impossible,” he grinned.
Phoenix watched us with a softness in his face that warmed me. He held out his hand.
“Come on. It will all be over soon.”
Inside the lift I kept my eyes closed. Slade and Phoenix anchoring each side of me. Thorne stood in front like he would take any blow aimed at me with grace.
We made Caelen and Leo stay down the bottom with Lacey and Maddie, in case something was wrong. I had no reason to think this, after all, it was just my mother.
But still. Something was telling me to be cautious.
I would have asked Slade to stay down the base of the tower to protect the others, but he wouldn’t leave me alone with Thorne, even with Phoenix on hand to keep me safe.
Slade’s overprotective instincts were already bristling. That was a problem for another day.
When the doors opened at the top, I froze. Soldiers in a familiar umber tunic greeted us.
King Ivan’s men.
All of us pulled our swords immediately.
A slow clap echoed across the stone.
“Now, now. No need for that.” Ivan stepped forward, his cloak catching in the wind like a banner, the soft thud of his boots deliberate as a drumbeat.
He was smiling. Of course he was. Like this was all theatre—and he the star.
My mother stood beside him, trembling and cold. Her whole body was tense.
Jasper was nowhere to be seen.
That alone had me worried.
“What is this?” I demanded, stepping forward.
“Elira,” Syrena whispered. She held out her arms and I ran to her.
She wrapped her arms around me tightly. “I’m so sorry, baby.” She whispered.
“For what? What is going on?” I said. Her scent—pomegranate and rose—wrapped around me. A comfort I hadn’t realized I missed.
“Where’s Jasper?” Phoenix asked sharply behind me.
Syrena pulled back and offered a smile that didn’t touch her eyes. “I had to make an agreement, darling girl. With Ivan.”
I stiffened. “What kind of agreement?”
Slade’s growl vibrated low and dangerous. He moved up behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder, pulling me gently back into his protection.
Ivan stepped forward, positively gleaming with smug satisfaction.
“It’s nice to see you survived the night,” he said. “I hear poor Vael wasn’t so fortunate.”
“What do you want, Ivan?” I snapped.
“And why are we here?” Phoenix added coldly.
Ivan lifted his arms like he was revealing a kingdom. Behind him, the crescent wall of the Moon Gate framed the burning shadow of Mount Emberflame in the distance.
“I had a very enlightening night,” Ivan said. “There I was, minding my own business… and what do I see but a dragon soaring overhead.”
I felt my breath catch. My pulse quickened.
“And?” I asked, bracing.
Ivan smiled wider. “Well, I was under the impression that the dragons were extinct. Or, at the very least… sleeping.”
“So what if they aren’t?” I said through clenched teeth. “How does that concern you?”
He tutted. “Elira. You are still not seeing the full picture. Ashton survived, you know. He’s already rallying his forces—he’ll send his broken Shades, his warped magic, his armies. He will sweep across this world like plague.”
“Then we’ll stop him.” I raised my chin. “We took on Vael and Ashton’s men last night and every one of us walked away.”
Ivan chuckled. “Bravado. But you’re tired. Wounded. Fractured. You think you have time to recover? You don’t.”
Phoenix stepped forward then—quiet, deliberate. His shadow merged with mine as he stood at my side.
“Cut to the point,” he said, voice like embers under ice. “Or we walk.”
Ivan’s eyes glinted. “We form an alliance. My army. Your power. Together, we crush Ashton before he rises.”
“You seem to pick and choose your allies fast,” I said coolly.
Ivan shrugged. “Aligning with Vael was a mistake. He never saw past his own obsessions—short-sighted, emotional. Weak.”
He stepped closer, voice dropping into something silkier. “Me? I’m after something far greater.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Total world domination.”
Beside me, Thorne shifted. His hand settled on my shoulder—calm and steady.
Slade growled at him, but Thorne held his ground. I touched Slade to still him.
But Phoenix didn’t move. He just watched Ivan with that patient, dangerous stillness he wore so well.
Ivan’s gaze slid toward him. “Seems all allies are up for grabs these days.”
“I don’t switch sides,” Thorne said, voice low and cold. “I choose them.”
Ivan scoffed. “Is that what you call it? Choice?” Then, to me— “How quaint. Loyalty born from guilt. I wonder how long that lasts, Elira. Until the next hard decision?”
At that, Phoenix finally moved.
One slow step forward. A quiet inhale. Fire flickered faintly at his fingertips.
“You think guilt is what drives us to fight people like you?” he said, the threat in his voice wrapped in calm. “You don’t know us, Ivan. You don’t know what any of us are willing to do to keep Elle safe.”
I felt my shadows stir in response. Smoke curled at my feet, echoing the tension under my skin.
As much as I appreciated his protection, I didn’t need it.
“I think you’ve misjudged us,” I said. “We don’t serve any one king. And we don’t need your army.”
Ivan’s smile didn’t falter. “Everyone needs something, darling. Even you. And I think when you consider my offer, it will be more than fair.”
“And what will it cost us?” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
He didn’t have to.
Syrena did.
“I have agreed to marry him,” she said quietly.
The silence cracked like lightning.
I staggered back a step. “What?”
She reached for me. I pulled away.
“You didn’t,” I whispered. “You wouldn’t.”
“We need his army,” she said, voice shaking. “It was the only way to secure Virell. To stand a chance against Ashton. We can rebuild! I did this for us, Elira. For you.”
“So you gave yourself to him?” My voice cracked. “You gave us to him.”
“Elira—” Phoenix tried to reach for me.
I shook him off. “Don’t.”
“You don’t understand,” Syrena insisted, but her eyes were full of regret. “I did it to buy us time. We need a shield, Elira. This is our chance to get one.”
Phoenix’s voice cut in, quieter now. But lethal. “And Jasper?”
Syrena flinched. “He… he understands the value of a strong alliance.”
“Then where is he?” Phoenix pressed.
Syrena’s mouth opened—but no words came. She blinked hard. Looked away.
“He’s… gone,” she said at last. “He opposed the marriage. I gave him a choice—step aside, or…”
Her voice broke.
“He chose exile.”
A beat of silence fell, thick and unforgiving.
And just like that, Jasper—loyal, loving and kind Jasper—was nowhere. Not dead. She had discarded him.
My fury crested like a wave. “So what now? Line us all up like offerings? See what sticks?”
Ivan smiled.
“That’s where you come in, my dear. This is where you shine.”
“Me?” My hands curled into fists. “What the hell makes you think I would do anything for you?”
“Because of who you are,” he said. “And who your father was.”
Ivan stepped forward again, that oily smile returning.
“You, my sweet girl, are going to bring me the dragons.”
Will Elira and her Shades find the dragons?
Find out in the next book A Storm of Shadows and Starlight, to be released late 2025