Chapter 41
Chapter forty-one
Gisela’s absence pressed on Thorne so deeply that he thought his ribs would cave in.
Aquamere spread out beneath Terranox’s wings, the shoreline quiet, Marina’s house dark and still. No movement outside. No figures waiting in the sand.
Terranox landed.
Thorne slid from the saddle, boots striking the ground hard. He stood there. Alone.
The door opened.
Marina stepped out, her posture rigid.
Silas followed, then Adrian and Eva.
None of them spoke. They didn’t rush forward. They only stared at him, as if bracing for the truth they already sensed—but didn’t want confirmed.
“Where is Gisela?” she asked.
Thorne’s shoulders slumped as he looked at the sand. “I was too late,” he said. “She was taken by the King’s guard. By my father.”
Eva gasped.
Adrian cursed.
Silas stepped forward. “But you came back here . . .?”
Thorne nodded, his expression pained. “Because rushing in blind could get her killed. I won’t be the reason that happens.”
Silas clasped Thorne’s shoulder. “Then we plan.”
Thorne lifted his head.
A plan meant restraint. It meant swallowing the fire clawing inside, the instinct screaming at him to burn everything down until she was safe in his arms again.
He was willing to choose her over his rage.
Maps and scrolls littered the kitchen table, borrowed from Aquamere’s Village Lord, like a puzzle waiting to be solved.
“So,” Adrian said, rubbing the back of his neck. “What do we do?”
Thorne didn’t answer right away. The castle rose in his mind as fragments—dark stone corridors from obligatory visits as a boy with his father. Too cold. Too large. Always echoing, no matter how low one spoke.
Eva’s hands moved slowly this time.
Adrian watched her sign, shaking his head.
“What is it?” Silas asked.
“She says there might be a way in,” Adrian said. “A Guardian Tree. Seraphina said there would be one beneath the castle.”
Thorne’s head snapped up. “No.”
Eva frowned.
Adrian raised his brows. “You don’t even want to hear—”
“I’ve seen what’s happening to them,” Thorne said. “At Frosthaven. The decay is advanced.”
Eva bit her lip. Her hands hovered mid-sign, then lowered to her sides.
Thorne looked at her, softening his features. “Whatever path you think might work . . . it’s not worth your lives.”
A small, traitorous part of him hated that he knew better. The tree would be faster. Hours instead of days. Minutes, if everything went right.
But speed would come at a cost he wasn’t willing to pay.
If the King threatened him, used him as leverage, as bait, if he pushed her far enough to make her reveal herself to save him . . .
Thorne closed his eyes and reached for her through his mind, knowing it was futile.
“Agreed,” Marina said.
“It’s too dangerous,” Silas said, looking at Eva. “For anyone.”
Eva didn’t sign. She looked down at the table instead, fingers curling slowly into her palms.
Adrian shifted his weight, glancing at her. “She understands.”
“We take Terranox. Get close. Get me inside,” Thorne said.
Silas studied him for a long moment, as if weighing whether to challenge him—then gave a single nod.
Thorne turned toward Adrian, whose attention was fixed on Eva’s pale face. “You stay,” Thorne said. “She needs you.”
Adrian’s jaw worked. “I don’t want to be a sitting duck.”
“You’re not,” Marina said, placing a reassuring hand on Adrian’s shoulder. “We’re going to get the Stones back, no matter what. But first, we need to get Gisela, and it’s best if you two stay here.” She lowered her voice so Eva wouldn’t overhear. “I don’t think she’s ready.”
Thorne started packing his bag, his movements swift and urgent. “We can’t delay anymore. Every moment we wait—”
“I know,” Silas said.
Thorne felt sick.
Gisela was in his father’s hands. No matter how hard he tried to escape the man, his shadow hovered over him like a recurring nightmare. It was his fault Gisela was in danger—his recklessness at Rockridge that had exposed him for who he truly was.
He’d dragged them into the open and handed his father the blade.
He wouldn’t make that mistake again.
Whatever the cost, it would be his, and his alone.