Hyran opened a portal with a sharp twist of his wrist, and they moved through it without a single word. He sealed it behind them at once.
Nova's stomach tightened. The warnings still rang through her mind. She was putting entire dominions at risk merely by existing in the same space.
The portal deposited them in the Redmoon infirmary, where Alejandro stood waiting, already assessing the blood, the wounds, the exhaustion radiating off all of them.
As though answering her unspoken fears, Hyran said, "The entirety of Redmoon Palace is cloaked. It is a standing ward—our number of mages makes it possible. No dark magic, no foreign portals, no intruders will breach it."
Nova exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
Aeron and Hyron guided Fin into one of the large recovery rooms—a chamber built for royalty and warlords—its stone walls warm with the glow of twin fireplaces, a broad bed in the center, couches arranged around thick furs. The others followed.
The air hummed with tension, but no one spoke. Everyone understood the gravity of the warnings
Rex was far more battered than Nova had realized. His ribs were a wash of deep bruising, purpling beneath his skin, and one along his back bled steadily. She blinked, suddenly questioning whether she should allow any of them to accompany her tomorrow. If she was destined to die, why drag them with her? She could always open a portal in the final chamber and throw the artifact through before death claimed her.
"Hyran and I must report to my father. We will return shortly," Rex said. His voice was steady despite the damage, his torso still bare, blood streaked across his skin. He left with Hyran at his side.
Her mind was calculating in silence, eyes fixed on the floor rather than on any of them. She weighed every path, every consequence, every threat the spirits had named. She needed to save Marra—that much was fixed and immovable. Her gaze flickered to Aeron, a brief but unmistakable signal. He inclined his head once, understanding exactly what she meant.
Aeron opened a portal leaving for Fin's private study. He was putting extra security measures in play so Ashbane could not portal anywhere near there.
Alejandro entered with two assistants, already moving with brisk efficiency toward Fin, Jax, and Nova. Fin was in no condition to return to Shadowclaw—not even with a portal. He lay on the bed, jaw clenched, eyes glazed with pain.
Nova reached him instantly. Her eyes were red, torn open with guilt as she knelt beside him. When Alejandro unzipped Fin's training armor and exposed the punctures—deep, ragged, venomous—her hand flew to her mouth. She stared, horrified, blinking rapidly to keep tears from spilling. The marks looked worse now in the firelight, and the knowledge that she was the reason he bore them carved through her.
She would not let him go anywhere tomorrow. She would not let any of them go. This was her burden. Her fight.
And both Jax and Fin looked like death had already taken a bite out of them.
After one minute—one excruciating minute—Nova snapped. She could not watch it any longer.
Without a word, she drew a dagger across her palm and squeezed her blood into Fin's wounds. Silver blood sizzled against his skin, sealing every puncture and venom track instantly. His breath eased. The pain drained out of his expression like water.
She moved to Jax next, repeating the act with the same grim resolve. Alejandro and both assistants stared—half horrified, half reverent—but Nova paid none of them the slightest attention. She didn't even blink.
"Nova, we're fine. No one died. It isn't your fault," Fin said as he pushed himself to standing. Two massive bruises had already replaced the puncture wounds.
Nova hadn't even unzipped her own training suit—too focused on Jax and Fin to think of herself.
Fin reached for her, intending to pull her into his arms, but she flinched the moment his hand brushed her side. Her training suit was damp—soaked—and when Fin lifted his hand, it came away drenched in red. He said something—sharp, urgent—but it sounded distant, muffled, meaningless.
Because in that instant, a vision slammed into Nova's mind.
Ashbane, entering the cavern they had just escaped, roaring with a rage that shook stone. Her heart lurched violently. He felt her watching him.
His head snapped toward his own reflection, eyes glowing with murderous satisfaction.
"Hello, Nova."
Nova's entire body locked. His voice sounded as though he stood beside her, whispering against her skin.
Her eyes squeezed shut; she dragged in a breath that barely made it into her lungs.
She coughed—hard—blood hitting the floor.
A bolt of agony tore through her skull so sharply that Fin and Jax both winced, hands shooting to their temples, and somewhere across the palace Rex staggered with the same pain.
Alejandro spoke—ordering something, calling her name—but his voice was fading, distant, like it came through water. Nova blinked against the black spots eating at her vision. She didn't notice Fin unzipping her training suit. She didn't hear Alejandro speaking.
Another flash struck—Ashbane again, moving through swirling smoke, traveling with impossible speed, his aura coiled around something she could not see.
Nova spoke inwardly, reaching for her wolf.
Nova:Seraphine… can you see this too?
Seraphine:Yes. I do not know what it is.
Nova:Am I losing my mind?
Seraphine:No. He has his grimy claws around you, and I do not yet know how to free us.
The room tilted. Her pulse thundered. The vision clawed deeper.
And Nova realized—She wasn't just seeing Ashbane.
He was seeing her.
"My queen?" Alejandro's voice cut through the haze. Nova did not register the question at all.
"I asked if it hurts to breathe," he repeated, firmer now.
"No. I'm all right, thank you, Alejandro," Nova answered calmly—too calmly. Her voice did not match the panic roaring inside her bones.
And then it happened.
A vision slammed into Fin's mind—violent, intrusive. The exact one tearing through Nova. Ashbane traveling through smoke, stepping out of it as though it were a doorway. Fin saw him standing inches away. Ashbane lifted a hand and waved, mocking, deliberate.
It was so real Fin actually reached out to see if the bastard was physically there.
Xeon's voice tore through his mind, cold and controlled.
Xeon:I asked Seraphine to show us what Nova is seeing. He is tormenting her.
Fin:Gods… this is what she's been seeing? How long?
Xeon:It started last night. He grows stronger. She fears he can see through her eyes as she sees through his.
Fin's heart dropped like a stone.
Fin:Why didn't she say something?
Xeon:I don't think it was intentional. There's many moving parts at play. Seraphine didn't say anything to me either until just now.
Fin didn't hesitate. He surged warmth and love through the matebond until it glowed gold between them and reached for Nova's hand, anchoring her before the vision could drag her any deeper into Ashbane's shadow.
Her fingers tightened around his.
Aeron returned a minute later. Nova mindlinked him immediately, Alejandro still focused on Jax. She didn't realize her mindlink wasn't private — as usual, Fin and Jax both heard every word.
Her mind was racing. No one could read her thoughts directly, but both men felt that familiar sinking sensation. Nova was about to do something reckless, self-sacrificing, and catastrophically stupid.
Nova:Aeron, I need to speak with you in private. Now.
Aeron:Yes, but—
She cut him off sharply — a tone that was not her.
Nova:I'll be quick.
Aeron:You do realize you're bleeding from your ribs and look like you've just seen a ghost, right?
Aeron tried to be playful. Nova had been seeing ghosts — and worse.
She swallowed once.
Nova:Your concern is noted, Aeron. But it doesn't matter. My death is already in motion. Hallway. Now.
"Nova—" Fin said, voice strained, pain threaded through it. He didn't care that he'd given away that he could hear her mindlink. He only cared that she kept saying she was going to die.
But the moment he said her name, she bolted — disappearing out the door in a blur of alpha speed.
Fin tried to stand but coughed hard, nearly collapsing. Alejandro's assistant pushed him back down.
"King Shadowclaw, your ribs are cracked. Let us align them before you cause more damage."
Jax was mid–rib wrapping and already looked furious.
"One second," he told the assistant.
He ran after Nova at full alpha speed.
But when he reached the hallway—She was gone.
"Nova?" Jax called into the empty corridor. No answer. He mindlinked her, leaving the channel wide open so Fin and Aeron would hear every word.
Jax:Nova, where are you?
Silence.
Cold, absolute silence.
Jax stepped back into the room where Fin was still being patched up.
Fin mindlinked immediately, the edge in his voice unmistakable.
Fin:Nova, where are you going?
No answer.
Fin:I need to speak with you. Come back. Now.
Nothing.
Fin:Nova?
Still nothing. Jax's jaw flexed.
Jax:Aeron, are you with Nova?
Silence.
Not even Aeron answered.