Chapter 15
Hannah
The sheer satisfaction of repeating back to Kai the words he’d said to me before he left for Silver City and then shutting the door in his face was pure, unfiltered bliss. I leaned my forehead against the wood for a moment, letting myself enjoy it, and heard Ashren laugh.
Behind me came a delighted gasp, followed by a low giggle. “Did you—did you just use his own words against him?”
I turned. Thea was standing in the bathroom doorway, her porcelain skin practically glowing and her long ginger hair swaying as she bounced on her toes and clasped her hands as if she’d just witnessed something sacred.
“I did.” I couldn’t stop the grin that spread across my face.
“His exact words. Same tone. I offered to talk while he packed, and he just… shut me down.” I exhaled, my humor fading at the edges as I tried not to vent about what had happened.
She’d been there, after all, and had witnessed my humiliation.
Then she'd offered to steal something of his, and that had made me realize I'd found a friend. “And after…”
I cut myself off before I told her about the cabin. His hands on me. The way he’d held me like I mattered. Like I was something he didn’t want to let go of.
That had been—
Yeah. Not touching that right now. I didn’t need more emotions flooding me unless they involved anger.
“Oh, that is wonderful.” Thea’s eyes sparkled as she turned and headed back toward the bathing chamber.
“Absolutely wonderful. I knew I liked you. That was a perfect strike.” She glanced over her shoulder at me with a wicked little smile.
“Better than stealing anything to make a point. Mark my words, he’s pacing somewhere right now, trying to decide whether to break down the door or pretend he has restraint. ”
I huffed and limped to the violet upholstered chair near the window by the desk. Sitting down pulled at the cut along my thigh, and I winced.
The bedroom was the same one I’d been given when I first arrived at the Dusk Court. Simple, but comfortable. Pale violet linens draped over the bed, dark wood furniture worn smooth with use, and a small sitting area near the window where I’d spent most of my time here.
I’d tried to make it mine in small ways, with a few borrowed books stacked on the table, my hairbrush resting beside them. Little things that reminded me I still existed outside of everything happening here. But talking to Thea had done more to make this place feel like mine than anything else.
I’d briefly filled her in on almost everything—the kidnapping, Keldren, the wolves, and the mountain.
Just not the part that mattered most… Kai.
“Pacing the halls?” I repeated, watching her move around the bathing chamber as she turned on the water, the soft sound echoing through the stone and the scent of something warm and clean filling the air.
Floral with a citrus hint that made me even more eager to climb inside.
I finished untying the scarves I had used to bind the boots around my legs.
My feet were cramping as if the promise of relief made them hurt all the worse.
“Like a man possessed.” Her voice echoed off the walls.
“I only saw him from a distance when he realized you’d been taken, but I’ve never seen him like that.
Not once.” She reappeared in the doorway, her expression softening, the humor giving way to something more serious.
“He looked as if someone had carved his heart out of his chest and left the space hollow.”
Something in my stomach twisted hard.
“He would’ve burned down everything between here and the edge of the realm if it meant getting to you,” she continued more quietly. “If Olen hadn’t seen you being taken, he might’ve had to.”
Olen.
A memory tugged at my brain, but it was foggy. I frowned. “Olen was there? I don’t remember him.” Everything from that moment was blurred. Shapes. Movement. Pain. Fear. Nothing solid enough to hold on to.
“Not when they kidnapped you. He saw them carrying you off and gave chase. One of them struck him in the back of the head, but he heard them mention the Blood Basin. That was enough.” She gestured toward the mountains beyond.
“I won’t pretend it wasn’t close, Hannah.
We almost lost you.” Her voice softened. “Fate was kind this time.”
The weight of that settled deep in my chest.
“Is Olen okay?” I untied the wool socks around my calves that had helped the boots stay on, and my legs stung as pins and needles shot through them with the increased blood flow.
“He had a nasty knot and some bruising, but he’ll recover.
” Thea crossed her arms. “The fear for you did more damage than the blow.” A knowing smile tugged at her lips.
“Though I imagine Kai will have thoughts about him being anywhere near you going forward. He does have a tendency to be… territorial.”
I didn’t know what to do with that, so I tucked it away with everything else that didn’t fit into the box I was trying to build around my emotions. Because if I started unpacking that, I’d have to unpack everything else from that time in the cabin. The way he’d looked at me. The way he hadn’t.
The way he left.
That sting of rejection lingered under my skin, alongside the memory of his warmth, which didn’t match it.
I cleared my throat, focusing on something safer as I tugged the boots free and set them aside. “What’s in the bath?”
“Healing herbs. Moonpetal and silverroot, mostly, with a touch of frost lily for the inflammation.” She moved to my side to help me stand.
Her delicate hands were surprisingly strong as she guided me toward the bathing chamber.
“It’ll help with that leg of yours and any other scrapes you’ve collected.
The water’s enchanted to stay at the perfect temperature. ”
The bathing chamber was warm and inviting, steam rising from the deep tub built into the alcove. Glowing luminary orbs cast soft lilac light across the stone, and the scent of the herbs deepened as I stepped closer.
“I’ll give you privacy, of course,” Thea said, helping me onto a small bench beside the tub. “But I wanted to tell you—even though everything is chaotic and likely to become more so in the coming days, I have a surprise for you.”
I paused halfway through undoing my belt. “A surprise?”
Thea’s smile widened, excitement lighting her eyes.
“There’s to be a ball. During the frost moon, eight days from now.
The court hasn’t held one in ages, and Ashren has been working to arrange it.
He thought it might help lift everyone’s spirits, given…
” She gestured around, encompassing everything.
“Not that things were this bad when we planned it. But since Kai became ruler, we haven’t held a ball with the other cities of the Dusk Court, other than the coronation ball. ”
“A ball?” I stared at her with fingers frozen on my belt buckle. “Thea, there’s a hole in the sun. An actual hole. And the Night Court tried to sacrifice me. I don’t know if it’s related, but it feels like it should be. Aren’t you worried about… I don’t know… the world ending?”
Something flickered across her face. Old fear. Deep and familiar. Gone just as quickly as it had come.
She lowered herself onto the edge of the tub. “Hannah, there has been a constant fear of this world collapsing ever since the Aurora Court fell dormant and the Day Fae were…” She hesitated like she was choosing her words. “Removed.”
Her voice thinned for a breath before she steadied it.
“We’ve lived with the executioner’s blade hanging above our necks for decades.
One more threat does not change that.” She folded her hands in her lap, fingers threading together.
“So long as the ball does not put us in greater danger, it gives us something to look forward to and a way to keep the bonds between us strong. The wards are stronger now, and the spy network is watching. They won’t catch us unaware again. ”
She tilted her head as she looked at me.
“And more than that… if we stopped living every time something threatened our existence, we would have stopped truly surviving a long time ago. The ball is not about pretending everything is fine. It’s about remembering why we fight to survive in the first place. ”
I exhaled slowly, letting the weight of her statement sink into my bones… alongside the exhaustion. These people had been living on the edge of collapse for longer than I’d been alive. The hole in the sun was just the newest nightmare in a long list they’d already survived.
And part of me got it.
If everything might end anyway, you might as well wear the dress and smile.
“Besides.” Thea pushed to her feet, her tone brightening as if a serious conversation hadn’t happened, reminding me of Aunt Maureen all over again. “The best part is, you’ll need a proper gown. Something that will make a certain king regret every cold word he’s ever spoken to you.”
I snorted despite myself.
“And truly,” she continued, already halfway to the door, “it would do both of you good. Imagine it. You at the top of the grand staircase, dressed in flowing, layered silks, every eye on you, driving Kai mad.” She tilted her head and smirked.
“Violet and lavender with silver. Something soft. Dreamlike. We’ll discuss it later, after you’ve soaked, healed, and rested. ”
She paused at the threshold, glancing back with a knowing smile. “And, Hannah? He’s absolutely pacing the halls right now. I’d wager my best earrings on it.”
Then she slipped out, leaving me alone with the steam, the scent of herbs, and the slightly unhinged reality that in eight days I’d be attending a ball in a realm where the sun was dying, people were trying to sacrifice me, and the man who might actually tear the world apart to get to me couldn’t decide if he wanted me close or far away.
Sounded about par for the course.