Page 183 of Prince of Secrets and Shadows
And though Rydian didn’t pale—not exactly—something shifted in his expression.
“Keres,” he said quietly. “Everyone—arms down.”
Callan looked offended. “I assure you, I do not take orders from?—”
Rydian lifted a hand.
Callan shut up.
Everyone waited.
Rydian swallowed.
Then he read aloud:
To Aurelia Valeen of Summer and Callan Ashfall of Autumn. Queen Cadira of the Midnight Court requests your presence.
Rydian closed the scroll, voice steady but strained. “It’s from my mother.”
Callan frowned, looking from Rydian to me. “The Midnight queen wants to meet us. What’s so bad about that?”
“Requests?” I echoed. “Or commands?”
Rydian’s jaw tightened.
Daegel crossed his arms. “What does she want with Aurelia?”
“She doesn’t say,” Rydian replied, but there was something in his voice—something guarded—that made every nerve in my body spark.
Callan frowned. “Is she… safe?”
Rydian stared at him. “For you? No.”
Callan blinked.
Rydian shoved the scroll into his pocket and dragged a hand through his hair. “She wants an audience. That’s all I know.”
“You think we shouldn’t go,” I said quietly.
Rydian’s shadows wrapped around my wrist—not pulling, not restraining, but grounding. A touch. A promise.
“She will not harm you,” he assured me.
I nodded.
But inside?
My heart pounded.
Because the Midnight queen saw me as a threat to her son. And if she knew Rydian and I had bound ourselves to each other last night, there might be Hel to pay. Then again, the prince of Midnight wasn’t the only one who could keep a secret.
