Page 150 of Fallen Nocturne

Thormein glances between Rhianelle and Svenn, then sighs. “It must have been difficult, watching her choose another male again and again. I suppose switching sides seems only sensible.”

“Exactly.” Lilith wraps her arms around Svenn and rests her head upon his shoulder. “You belong with me.”

Svenn stands motionless in her embrace. Ruthven’s face darkens, his jealousy so fierce that I expect him to strike his brother where he stands.

The Fae King and Bas remain at the table, silent and unmoving, awaiting Lilith’s next command.

A roar rises above the fighting.

The guards restraining Rainer are hurled aside. He surges forward before they can recover, his sword aimed directly at the Fae King.

Lilith watches him come and smiles. With a flick of her fingers, the enchantment holding Eirik still loosens.

The Fae King rises and draws his sword in time to meet Rainer’s strike. Steel crashes against steel, the sound ringing through the throne room. Rainer attacks with all the brutal strength of a servant of Kvatosh, but Eirik meets every blow. He turns aside a thrust meant for his heart and answers with a strike that Rainer barely blocks.

They drive each other across the chamber, neither able to gain ground.

A slow smile spreads across Eirik’s face. It is the first true emotion I have seen from him. There is something wild in it, almost joyful.

“Finally,” he says. “An opponent worthy of me.”

Shade and I hold the guards back. My arms burn from the force of every strike.

Across the chamber, Rhianelle tears the final stake free. Landon’s body falls forward, and she catches him before he strikes the ground.

She lowers him as carefully as she can. Then she drags him away from the tree while the wolf stands over them, snapping at every guard who comes near.

Lilith’s smile falters. We are outnumbered and trapped, yet the battle is slipping beyond her control.

She raises one hand and speaks a word that makes the air shudder. A bolt of sickly green light tears across the chamber toward Rhianelle.

Rhianelle twists, throwing up a shield. The spell strikes its edge and fractures into several burning strands. Most dissolve against her light. One slips past.

It strikes the wolf.

The creature is thrown sideways. Rhianelle stumbles with him, one hand still clutching Landon’s ruined coat.

The wolf convulses. His body twists beneath his fur, bones shifting as the spell tears through whatever enchantment binds him. His shape stretches and changes until the animal is gone and a naked elf lies in its place.

I stop breathing.

I know that face.

Dark hair falls across sharp, familiar features. Old scars mark the body I remember far too well.

He is the Grimsbane my father hired to protect me, the assassin who remained at my side until the moment his contract ended and left without looking back.

Wolf.

It was him all along.

Lilith is not finished. Darkness gathers around her fingers and takes the shape of a serpent, its body made of smoke and green fire. She sends it across the chamber.

The spell coils around Rainer’s sword arm and sinks its fangs into him.

Rainer staggers and drops to one knee. His sword lowers several inches, and Eirik could take his head.

Instead, the Fae King turns on Lilith.