Page 149 of Fallen Nocturne

We’re surrounded. Rhianelle flinches, and I see Svenn’s jaw tighten.

I look at my companions. Rainer and Shade stand back-to-back, tense and ready. The wolf lowers itself beside them, a growl vibrating deep in its throat. I count the guards filling the chamber, then watch the doors close behind them. There are too many, and there is no clear path of escape.

The guards descend upon us all at once.

I move on instinct, my blade meeting the first guard’s strike with a shower of sparks. Beside me, the wolf leaps at another guard. Shade materializes behind three fae sentinels, and they fall without a sound, throats cut clean.

I catch glimpses of the others fighting. Svenn’s shadow, Coinneach, lashes across the chamber, dragging two guards into darkness. Rhianelle moves between enemies with deadly grace, ducking beneath one strike and turning the attacker’s momentum against him.

She is trying to reach Landon. Each time she gains a few steps, more soldiers close around her and force her back. Still, she keeps trying. The wolf stays beside her, tearing through guards twice its size whenever they block her path.

I know those moves. I feel like I’ve seen them before.

The wolf twists beneath a descending blade and drives its shoulder into the guard’s knees before lunging for his throat. Its movements are precise, familiar, and far too disciplined for an animal.

Every guard we bring down is replaced by two more. My arms begin to burn with the effort of blocking strike after strike. Shade disappears beneath a crush of bodies before erupting from the shadows several feet away. Rainer is bleeding from his temple. Even Svenn’s darkness is being forced back by the green enchantments woven through the chamber.

He is staring at his brother and at Lilith with an expression I can’t read. Pain, yes. Horror. But also something else that makes me uneasy.

“Arescaine,” Shade says quietly. “What do we do?”

Svenn doesn’t answer immediately. He’s still staring at Lilith, at the enchantress who made him into a monster. I see his hands tremble.

“We need a plan,” I hiss, driving my blade through another guard before he can reach Rhianelle.

“Yes,” Svenn says softly. “Yes, we do.”

Then he does something that makes my heart stop.

He lets the darkness fall away, lowers his hands, and walks through the fighting without striking another blow. The guards part for him as though they have been waiting for this moment.

Svenn crosses the throne room and takes his place beside Lilith.

Rhianelle is still fighting her way toward Landon, the wolf clearing a path beside her. She does not look toward Svenn. She has not seen him cross the throne room or take his place beside Lilith. I cannot get to her to warn her because I am still cutting down guards of my own. Even if I could, the words will not come.

What would I even say?

Svenn is a fucking traitor.

I barely catch the silent exchange between him and his brothers. The one named Bas remains seated, his body rigid beneath Lilith’s control, but Ruthven watches Svenn with open suspicion.

“Chain him,” Ruthven orders.

Two guards approach with iron restraints. Svenn does not resist as they lock the chains around his wrists.

Lilith frowns. “There is no need for that.”

“He betrayed you once,” Ruthven says. His gaze never leaves Svenn. “I will not give him the opportunity to do it again.”

“He has returned to me.” Lilith touches Svenn’s face with unmistakable affection. “You should welcome your brother home.”

Jealousy burns in the look Ruthven gives them.

“What changed your mind, brother?” he asks.

Svenn tips his head toward the far side of the chamber. Rhianelle has reached the dead tree and is trying to tear the stakes from Landon’s hands while the wolf holds back the guards closing around her.

“The Herald is her true mate,” Svenn says. “It became tiresome fighting against what she had already chosen.”