"Did you identify anyone else not here?" Rex asked.
Nova lifted her hand and held up seven fingers.
Redmoon inclined his head. "Seven others not in the room."
Nova confirmed it with a single nod.
"The Redmoon armed forces are lined up outside," Rex said, clearly mid-mindlink with his father. "Can you do this again out there?"
Nova didn't hesitate.
Rex glanced toward the doors. "My father will take you."
She followed Alpha Redmoon out of the throne room and down a sweeping marble staircase, Jax matching her pace on the opposite side.
Their steps echoed—quick, purposeful, unhesitating.
Redmoon spoke without looking back. "The passage you used to reach the throne room… no one knows of it. Not even my son."
Jax's jaw tightened. He wasn't sure if there was an implication there or just an observation. But the tone of it came across like a warning, cold and unsettling.
The palace unfolded around them in vast corridors and towering archways—Redmoon was easily ten times the size of Shadowclaw, a labyrinth of ancient stone and silent halls that smelled of cedar and old magic.
They reached a wide set of doors—not the main entrance, but one Nova knew instinctively. A memory in her bones. This was the southern exit, the one that opened onto the training grounds.
Redmoon pushed the doors aside, and the night air swept in.
Beyond them stretched a massive field, broad enough to hold ten thousand soldiers and for a fleet of dragons to land without crowding.
They stepped outside, the doors sweeping open into sunlight so bright it made her blink. Jax exhaled a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.
They descended a broad marble staircase that unfurled in generous tiers, each platform adorned with carved fountains and overflowing basins of flowers. Vines draped the railings in deliberate patterns, their blooms arranged with almost ceremonial precision.
The grass below was impossibly green—lush, trimmed, untouched by drought or battle. Even the air itself seemed charmed, the temperature a perfect balance of warmth and breeze, as though the weather bent its knee to Redmoon's palace grounds.
Jax noticed every detail the moment they stepped out. Redmoon made Shadowclaw look like a half-lit cave by comparison, and he didn't bother hiding the fact he was impressed. Still, he kept his focus where it belonged—his magic. He let it flow into Nova in a steady, controlled current, ensuring she used none of her own.
There were too many scents outside—steel, leather, sweat, pine.
The moment her boots touched the grass, she didn't wait for Redmoon's command. She stepped forward and shot across the field at Alpha speed. Her cloak snapped behind her like a banner.
Her eyes scanned as she ran, but it was their scents she was identifying. Every target she hunted burned into her memory—specific and unmistakable.
Thousands of Redmoon soldiers stood in perfect formation. Their eyes followed her, unable to look away, but they were disciplined and none turned their heads.
She wasn't aware of this because her mind was focused on her mission and nothing else.
Redmoon watched from the stairs, posture rigid. Jax remained beside him, jaw tight, his magic still flowing into her in a steady, quiet pulse.
She identified seven of seven, but did a final sweep while running back at Alpha speed.
When she reached the front again, she locked eyes with Redmoon.
He gave a single nod.
Her eyes flared gold.
Seven shields rose instantly—circles of shimmering force erupting around each target. The ground beneath them vibrated with the impact.
Redmoon immediately mindlinked his warriors, the command silent but absolute.
The ranks broke formation with flawless precision, dispersing outward until only the seven shielded figures remained trapped in their glowing cages.
"Is there anyone else we have not identified?" Redmoon asked, voice low, controlled.
Nova shook her head once.
No.
These were all of them.
"Let's get you inside," Redmoon said quietly.
Nova nodded, breath still unsteady, and turned toward the palace.
Jax on one side, and Redmoon on the other.
Together, they reentered the palace and made their way back toward the throne room.
Jax noticed she was not blushing, which meant she hadn't thought about the fact she was wearing pajamas and a cloak in the Redmoon Palace. He tried not to grin. When she was focused, she was so damn adorable and nothing could get in her way.
They stepped into the throne room, and Jax stopped dead.
All twenty golden shields were still standing—bright, flawless, humming with pressure like caged thunder. He was channeling power into her, but Nova was the one commanding it. Holding twenty shields at once without so much as a tremor, along with seven outside.
Unbelievable.
Rex stood near the dais, expression carved out of stone. No reaction, no shift, not even the flicker of an eyelash.
But Jax could feel it—he'd been in constant mindlink with his father. He already knew.
Twenty traitors. All exposed. All contained.
And Rex didn't flinch. He was going to be a great Alpha like his father, no question.
Another man stood near the dais—dark-haired, robed in deep crimson, healer's sigils gleaming in silver thread. Nova didn't recognize him.
"This is Master Alejandro Clawson," Redmoon said, tone crisp and kingly. "He is the High Healer of Redmoon. With your permission, he will attend to you."
"Yes, thank you." Her voice rasped, thin. She coughed again, and swallowed. Gods—she'd drink ten of Elias's tonics if it meant her lungs stopped burning.
Alejandro stepped forward, posture flawless as he bowed deeply.
"Queen Shadowclaw. Gamma Thorne," he greeted, voice warm, measured. "A pleasure and an honor to stand before you both."
Redmoon mindlinked something to Alejandro. Nova could tell from the brief eye contact.
The High Healer's expression tightened with focus, acknowledging whatever the Alpha had told him.
"Are you able to lower one at a time from a different room?" Redmoon asked.
Nova gave one nod.
From behind her, Jax saw Hyran's lip twitch. He didn't speak, but Jax understood. What Nova was doing required precision. Control. A level of discipline most fully trained mages didn't have in calm circumstances—let alone in the middle of a damned coup.
One shield on someone else was impressive.
Several at the same time was rare.
Twenty-seven in separate rooms, held without sight?
Gods, she was extraordinary.
He fought the urge to smile. The situation didn't call for it. But the pride hit him anyway, sharp and unshakable.
And of course, Nova didn't seem to notice. This was just a Tuesday for her.
"Please follow me," Alejandro said.
Nova and Jax trailed him out of the throne room, slipping through a narrow door tucked to the right of the dais. A spiral staircase wound upward, stone cool beneath their hands as they climbed.
At the top, they walked a long corridor lined with ancient Redmoon history. On the right hung a massive portrait—old, cracked at the edges—depicting a dragon uncannily similar to Onyx.
"Much faster this way," Alejandro said, pushing the portrait open like a hidden door.
They stepped inside and the panel swung shut behind them. Alejandro flicked his hand and every torch in the narrow stone passage flared to life.
They reached a crossroads of eight branching tunnels.
"Alpha Redmoon requests the first row of throne room shields lowered," Alejandro said.
Nova nodded once.
He tilted his head, unable to hide a small grin. "If you were to guess… which direction?"
Nova pointed without hesitation, eyes flashing silver.
"You are correct, Queen Shadowclaw," Alejandro said, sounding genuinely delighted as they continued forward.
They reached another junction. Before he could ask, the torches along one tunnel blazed to life on their own.
Alejandro let out a soft, incredulous laugh. "You would be correct again."
They continued down that corridor, passing intersection after intersection without hesitation, until they reached a heavy oak door. Alejandro pushed it open, and the three of them stepped into a vast infirmary wing—bright, immaculate, lined with rows of private rooms.
Nova knew this place like someone who had walked these halls a thousand times.
The third floor is chronic care, her mind whispered.
Second floor is check-ups, routine spell diagnostics.
Ground level—emergencies.
The corridor they'd taken bypassed all the wrong paths. She knew it as intimately as she knew her own steps.
Alejandro guided them into a spacious treatment chamber—fireplace crackling, couch along the wall, shelves of healing supplies, a bed larger than the one she'd just left in Shadowclaw. This was no ordinary patient's room—this was a private chamber meant for royalty or command.
Jax lingered in the entryway for a moment, taking it all in. He'd been here once, as a boy—seven summers old, running behind Fin, his father, and the Alpha. Back then he'd remembered it as big.
Now? It was spectacular. A castle built like a labyrinth, with hidden wings and training grounds larger than Shadowclaw's entire castle. A palace with dragons, sky courts, towers that vanished into cloud. It was—he had to admit it—awesome.
There was simply no denying it.