Page 138 of Embers of Ruin

My hands tighten against the shattered table until splintered wood bites into my palms. Onyx’s words cut deep because he is right. Death is simple. Death can be avenged. This…this is something far crueler.

Whoever took Lyra wants her alive.

The realization coils around my ribs like iron and the mark flares without warning. Pain lances through my wrist, but it’s the sudden connection that locks every muscle in my body. For a single heartbeat, I feel her. Fear crashes into me first, followed by confusion so profound it steals the air from my lungs. Beneath both lies something far worse—a loneliness so complete it hollows me from the inside. Then she’s gone.

The room explodes.

Glass fractures.

Windows shatter inward beneath the force of my magic.

Shadows erupt from every corner of the chamber, swallowing the walls, ceiling, and floor until the room drowns in my fury. Several guards stumble backward, hands flying to their weapons on instinct before realizing there is no enemy to face. Only the king they have sworn to serve.

I register their fear. It means nothing.

All I can think about is that for one heartbeat… she was there. Alive. Afraid. And alone. And someone is making her believe I cannot reach her.

A terrible calm settles over me, colder than rage. But this is far more dangerous. I was not given the name Shadow King without reason, and the rebels are about to learn why.

I straighten slowly and look at the guards gathered before me.

“Search again.”

Mazelle hesitates. “We’ve covered every⁠—”

“I DID NOT ASK WHAT YOU HAVE ALREADY DONE!” My voice cracks through the chamber like thunder. “Find her.”

Every person in the room hears the promise buried beneath it.

“You will search every ruin, every tunnel, every abandoned fortress, every cave, every forgotten shrine, and every rebel stronghold on this continent. If you reach the edge of Solaris, you will begin again.”

The shadows coil around my boots like living smoke.

“If anyone stands between me and my queen…”

I let the silence finish the sentence before I do.

“... they will discover why the gods cursed my bloodline instead of letting it die.”

No one argues.

No one questions the order. They know better.

They bow, gather what remains of the ruined maps, and leave without another word, as though lingering another heartbeat might earn them the same fate as the shattered glass.

I remain alone beside the shattered table, staring toward the eastern horizon. Somewhere beyond those mountains, Lyra is waiting. She believes she is alone. She is wrong. I will tear this continent apart, stone by stone, if I must.

No wall will shelter those who took her from me.

And no god will save them.

CHAPTER 31

Sleep has become my enemy. Every time exhaustion finally drags me under, the memories return. They never stay long enough to make sense of them, only long enough to leave me gasping when I wake. My mother’s scream. Blinding light. The cottage shaking apart beneath power I couldn’t control. My father’s hand reaching toward me before everything disappears into darkness. I always wake before I remember what happened next.

I open my eyes to the familiar white walls surrounding me and let out a slow breath. The glass hums softly, a sound I’ve heard often enough that it no longer startles me. That realization should bother me more than it does. I shouldn't be growing accustomed to captivity, yet that seems to be the direction my life keeps pulling me. Honestly, why does everyone keep kidnapping me?

The rebels extinguish the lights more often now. At first, I assumed it was another way to punish me, but I’ve begun to suspect they’re watching instead, waiting to see what darkness does to me—how long it takes before I finally break. I’m starting to think that’s exactly what they want.