"Alpha requests the second row of shields in the throne room lowered, along with the weapon that is contained. Hyran will handle its removal," Alejandro said.
Nova gave a short nod.
"Please sit," he added.
Nova sank into the large chair beside the fireplace, cloak pooling around her. Jax remained standing at her back—solid, silent, watchful.
"I hear you survived Lycura's Kiss twice," Alejandro said as he stepped toward her. "And lived to speak of it."
Alejandro's fingers brushed lightly across her throat, then along the fading shadows on her neck. His brows dipped, lines of concentration tightening around his eyes.
Before he could comment, his attention flicked to the side—someone mindlinking him.
"Prince Rex," he murmured. "First row. Outside."
Nova didn't even bother nodding this time. Her eyes simply flickered silver for half a second. Alejandro barely caught it. He crossed the room, opened a tall cabinet built into the stone wall, and retrieved a small frost-covered jar. Cold air rolled out in a plume. Nova watched, curious despite herself.
Shadowclaw had cold-storage chambers enchanted by mages. Redmoon's looked similar yet older. Carved into the castle itself.
"You, my dear, are profoundly dehydrated," Alejandro said, voice cool and clinical.
He reached into the chilled cabinet and drew out a large white jar sealed with a cork. He set it on the table beside her, the surface frosted over, a faint curl of cold air drifting from it.
"Drink as much of this as you are able. There is additional medicine I must retrieve personally."
He paused, then added. "Third row, throne room. Second row, exterior."
He didn't bother waiting for her confirmation. He simply turned and strode out, already trusting she'd done it.
When he left, Jax reached for the glass to uncork it before Nova could. Truthfully, her hands were shaking as were her legs. She was just now becoming aware of it.
She mindlinked him, her voice faint but sincere.
Nova: Thank you.
"Of course." He said softly. He handed it to her, but noticed her hand shaking.
"Let me help Nova." He said, sitting on the ottoman across from her. He brought it to her lips and she drank—slowly at first, then faster as the cold liquid hit her system.
There was tension. He felt it. He wondered if she remembered they kissed or if she'd forgotten.
"Goddess I've never seen you so thirsty." He said with a laugh.
Nova had already finished it.
There was a knock on the door.
A woman swept into the room and bowed deeply.
"Queen Shadowclaw. Gamma Thorne. Forgive the interruption. I am to relay the message: fourth row, throne room; third row, exterior."
"Understood. Thank you," Jax said.
She vanished as swiftly as she came.
When the door shut, he turned back to Nova, a low laugh slipping out.
"The field we were on… that was not their front courtyard, was it?"
Nova shook her head, smiling. She mindlinked to answer.
Nova: They use that for training dragons.
Jax huffed a laugh. "You missed a few things while you were unconscious, Nova."
She couldn't help mirroring his grin. He always did this—always managed to pull her mood upward with almost no effort. It felt like having him back… truly back. Not the cold, formal version of him she'd endured these past two weeks.
A pang hit her chest at that—sharp, quick—but she buried it.
Nova: What did I miss?
Jax felt the flicker of her sadness through their connection. He wanted to ask. He wanted to fix it. He wanted to press his forehead to hers and promise he'd never be distant again. But this wasn't the moment. So he didn't address it. He just smiled back—soft, warm, familiar—and answered her instead.
"Elle unlocked an ability she didn't know she had… she wields magic now," Jax said.
To his surprise, Nova didn't look shocked—just smiled, warm and knowing.
Nova:I always told her she wasn't just a shifter.
"Well, part two," Jax continued, "she bonded with a dragon. A wild one."
Nova smiled again softly.
Nova: Marra said she dreamed Elle was riding a dragon. I didn't believe her at the time.
She gave Jax a knowing look and cracked up laughing, which turned into a cough.
Nova:Remember that one time I took you flying on Onyx?
Jax huffed a laugh.
"You mean last week?" Then, dry as bone—"Vividly."
A knock sounded. The same woman entered again, bowing deeply.
"Queen Shadowclaw. Gamma Thorne. Forgive my second interruption. I am to relay the message: fifth row, throne room; fourth row, exterior."
She crossed to the cold cabinet, opened it, and retrieved two more large jars—white liquid, frost clinging to the glass.
"Master Clawson asks that you drink both. He will arrive shortly. He is still preparing a medicine only he is authorized to make."
She set the jars on the table and bowed again before slipping out.
Jax uncorked the first and helped Nova drink—steadying the jar as she tilted it back. Then the second. Her breathing eased almost immediately, color returning faintly to her cheeks. The tension around her eyes softened.
She could feel it—Jax was still channeling magic into her, a steady current humming beneath everything, holding her up while her body caught up.
And gods, it helped.
Alejandro returned minutes later, carrying a steaming clay cup and a small satchel of supplies.
"You finished all three? Excellent," he said, approving. "This will help immediately. It counters the lingering effects of Lycura's Kiss better than anything I've seen."
He held out the tonic.
"It's brewed from vaelthorn root—a plant that grows only in Redmoon's forests. Nowhere else in the continents. A rare blessing."
Nova drank.
Gods.
It was the best tonic she'd ever tasted—warm, smooth, sweet with a cool finish. Her throat soothed instantly. The pounding in her temples eased. The ache in her limbs dissolved. Heat spread through her chest like comfort made liquid.
Alejandro smiled faintly at her expression. "It works quickly."
He set a small porcelain jar in her hands, sealed with a cork.
"Take this with you. A concentrated form of the same medicine, wrapped in dried selvine leaves to preserve the compound. Add one spoonful to whatever you drink—twice a day. Even once you feel fully recovered, finish the jar."
Nova nodded, already feeling like herself.
"Thank you," Nova said. Her voice was rough, but she could speak—and it didn't hurt this time.
"You are most welcome," Alejandro replied. "Ah—Alpha requests: all the outdoors, and the sixth and seventh rows of the throne room."
Nova lowered the corresponding shields without needing to be asked twice.
Alejandro stepped closer, checking her the way only a lifelong healer could. He pressed two fingers lightly to her throat, then her temples. He checked her pulse, lifted her wrist to inspect the veins, and pressed the backs of his fingers to her forearm. Carefully, he tilted her chin to examine the skin where the bruising had once been.
"Prince Rex mentioned severe bruising," he said thoughtfully. "I see none. Do you feel any pain?"
"No," Nova rasped. "I feel much better."
"Good," Alejandro murmured, genuinely relieved. "A shame your first waking day here is spent in crisis. I assure you, Redmoon is not typically this… eventful."
He straightened and listened to something through a mindlink. A second later, he nodded.
"Alpha requests that I escort you to the training field," he said. "Both of you."
Nova and Jax followed Alejandro through the labyrinth of tunnels, the torchlight flickering against stone walls that had stood for centuries.
But Nova didn't need the guidance.
Every turn, every curve in the corridor, every hidden stairwell—they lived in her bones.
Her feet knew where to go before Alejandro pointed. Her chest tightened with that strange, burning ache again.
There was one place in this palace she wanted—needed—to see. She wondered if Rex would let her…
Probably not today.
He had, after all, just discovered twenty-seven traitors in his ranks.
Maybe save the existential palace tour for a calmer morning, she told herself as they stepped into the next corridor.
"Alpha requests row eight, throne room," Alejandro said, entirely casual now. He didn't even glance at Nova to confirm. He already trusted she'd drop the correct shield without thinking.
They stepped out onto the wide marble staircase leading to the massive training field.
And that's when she saw him.