The crown burned.
Not with pain. Not with weight. But with truth. A low, steady pulse beneath my brow, like a second heartbeat synced to the rhythm of the land, the people, the bond. It wasn’t gold. It wasn’t stone. It was fire—living, breathing, alive—and it had chosen me. Not because I was the strongest. Not because I was the most powerful. But because I had faced the Hollow Throne and said no. No to fear. No to doubt. No to the shadows that had raised me.
I had claimed it.
And now—
I wore it.
The war room was silent, but not still. The new Council stood frozen, their storm-gray eyes wide, their breaths caught in their throats. Even Lirien, the Fae representative with eyes like frozen lakes, didn’t move. Just stared at the fire above my brow, her lips slightly parted, her fingers curled around the edge of the table like she was holding herself back from reaching out.
And Cassian—
He didn’t flinch. Didn’t step back. Didn’t bow.
He stepped forward.
Slow. Deliberate. Like every step mattered.
His hand rose—not to the crown. Not to my face.
To my heart.
His palm pressed over the Mark, his fingers splaying wide, his thumb brushing the edge of the spiral. His crimson eyes locked onto mine, burning with something deeper than pride. Something raw. Something real.
“You did it,” he murmured.
“We did,” I said.
He didn’t smile. Just pulled me close, his arms wrapping around me, his breath warm against my neck. The bond hummed between us—no longer a war cry, no longer a scream. A lullaby. Soft. Steady. Ours.
And then—
The door burst open.
Not with force. Not with magic.
With blood.
Kaelen stood in the threshold, his storm-gray eyes wild, his coat torn at the shoulder, a gash across his cheek weeping dark red. In his arms—
Lysara.
Not moving. Not breathing. Her silver eyes wide, unseeing. Her cloak of shadow pooled around her like spilled ink. Blood—thick, black, wrong—oozed from a wound in her side, staining the stone where Kaelen knelt.
“She’s alive,” he said, his voice raw. “But barely. She was attacked. At the edge of the wards. They used Fae magic. Dark. Ancient. Not from the Summer Court. Something… older.”
Mira was at her side in an instant, her fingers pressing to Lysara’s throat, her storm-gray eyes scanning the wound. “It’s poisoned,” she said, her voice low, sharp. “Not just blood. Magic. A binding curse. It’s trying to silence her. To erase her.”
“Who did this?” Cassian asked, his voice like steel.
Kaelen didn’t look up. “She said… one name before she fell.”
“Who?”
“Vexis.”
My breath stalled.
Not from fear.
From rage.
Vexis. The Fae noble who had offered me power in exchange for betrayal. The one I’d imprisoned in a mirror for eternity. The one who had whispered lies in the dark, who had tried to make me doubt my love, my magic, my truth.
And now—
He was free.
“The mirror,” I said, turning to Cassian. “It’s broken.”
He didn’t hesitate. “I’ll check it.”
“No,” Mira said, not looking up. “You stay. She needs you. I’ll go.”
And then—
She was gone.
Not with a spell. Not with a whisper.
With silence.
Like a shadow slipping through stone.
I knelt beside Lysara, my fingers brushing her cold skin. She had been my enemy once. My rival. The one who had fought me in the Vault, who had tried to claim Cassian, who had whispered that I was unworthy. But she had also stood with us. Fought with us. Chosen to stay when she could have fled.
And now—
She was dying.
“Why her?” I asked, my voice low. “Why now?”
Kaelen didn’t answer. Just held her tighter, his jaw tight, his storm-gray eyes burning with something I’d never seen before—grief. And guilt.
“You knew her,” I said, realizing. “Before. You knew her before the Vault.”
He didn’t look at me. Just nodded once. “She was my mate.”
My breath caught.
“What?”
“Not by bond. Not by claim. But by choice. Long ago. Before the war. Before the Council twisted everything. We were young. Foolish. In love.” His voice cracked. “And then the Council found out. They said a vampire and a werewolf couldn’t be mated. That it was unnatural. Dangerous. They took her. Erased her memories. Bound her to the Vault as a guardian. And I—” his voice broke—“I let them.”
I didn’t speak. Just reached for his hand, my fingers closing around his. He didn’t pull away. Just held on like I was the only thing keeping him from drowning.
And then—
Mira returned.
Not with silence. Not with stillness.
With fire.
She stepped into the war room, her storm-gray cloak swirling, her eyes blazing. In her hand—
A shard.
Not glass. Not stone.
Smoking. Black. Alive.
“The mirror is shattered,” she said, her voice like thunder. “Not broken. Destroyed. And this—” she held up the shard—“is all that remains. Vexis is free. And he’s not alone.”
“Who’s with him?” Cassian asked.
“The old Council,” she said. “Not all of them. But enough. The ones who refused to accept the new laws. The ones who still believe in chains. In blood. In lies.”
“And Lysara?” I asked.
“He used her as a message,” Mira said. “A warning. He wants you to know—he’s not finished. And he’ll destroy anyone you love to prove it.”
My hands fisted at my sides.
Not from fear.
From fury.
“Then we’ll destroy him first,” I said.
“No,” Cassian said, stepping in front of me. “You’re not going after him. Not yet. Lysara needs you. The bond—”
“The bond is strong,” I said. “But so am I. And if Vexis thinks he can hurt us by hurting those we love, then he doesn’t know who he’s dealing with.”
“He knows,” Mira said. “That’s why he chose her. Not because she’s weak. Because she’s strong. Because she chose you. Because she defied him.”
And then—
Lysara gasped.
Not loud. Not deep.
But real.
Her body arched, her silver eyes flickering, her fingers twitching. Kaelen caught her, holding her close, his voice low, urgent. “Lysara? Can you hear me?”
She didn’t speak. Just turned her head, her gaze locking onto mine.
And then—
She whispered.
Not in words.
In magic.
A single image—flashing behind my eyes like a brand.
A forest. Dark. Twisted. Trees with bark like bone, leaves like ash. And in the center—
A mirror.
Not shattered. Not broken.
Whole.
And inside it—
Vexis.
Smiling.
“He’s not free,” I said, my voice low. “He’s still trapped. But the mirror is different. Stronger. Hidden. And he’s using it to reach out. To poison. To manipulate.”
“Then we find it,” Cassian said. “Break it. End this.”
“Not without a cost,” Mira said. “The magic he’s using—it’s not just Fae. It’s older. Darker. It feeds on betrayal. On pain. On love.”
“Then we use it against him,” I said. “He thinks love is weakness. But it’s our strength. And if he wants to play with fire—” I placed my hand over the crown, feeling the heat, the truth—“then I’ll burn him to ash.”
And then—
The bond screamed.
Not in pain. Not in warning.
In recognition.
I gasped, my back arching, my fingers fisting in Cassian’s coat. The crown flared—white-hot, blinding—and the image in my mind shifted.
Not the forest.
Not the mirror.
A name.
Anyas Hollow.
Not a place I knew. Not a name I’d heard.
But I knew it.
Like it had always been there. Like it was part of me.
“That’s where he is,” I said, my voice rough. “Where the mirror is. Anyas Hollow. It’s not on any map. Not in any record. But it’s real. And it’s calling to me.”
“Then we go,” Cassian said.
“No,” I said. “I go. Alone.”
“Helena—”
“He’s using love as a weapon,” I said. “If you come, he’ll use you against me. If Kaelen comes, he’ll use Lysara. If Mira comes—” I turned to her—“he’ll use you. He’ll twist it. Corrupt it. And I can’t let that happen.”
“You don’t have to,” Mira said. “But you don’t go alone. Not truly. You carry us with you. In your blood. In your magic. In your heart.”
I didn’t argue. Just stepped forward, my boots silent on stone.
And then—
I kissed Cassian.
Not soft. Not slow.
Deep. Claiming. Fierce.
His mouth moved against mine, patient, thorough, like he was learning me all over again. The bond flared—white-hot, electric—but this time, it didn’t feel like a war cry. It felt like a promise. My hands fisted in his coat, pulling him closer, my body arching into his. He groaned, low and deep, his hands sliding up my spine, stopping just above the curve of my ass.
“Come back to me,” he murmured.
“Always,” I whispered.
And then—
I stepped into the shadows.
—
Anyas Hollow was not a forest.
It was a memory.
I stepped into it—and the world vanished.
No stone. No sky. No sound.
Just green.
Endless. Thick. alive.
Trees with bark like bone. Leaves like ash. Vines that moved like serpents. The air was thick with perfume—jasmine, honey, something darker, something sweet. And beneath it—
Fear.
Not mine.
The land’s.
It remembered. It hurt. It waited.
And then—
I felt it.
Not an attack. Not a spell.
A presence.
Subtle. Cold. Familiar.
“You came,” Vexis said, stepping from the shadows.
Not whole. Not solid.
A reflection.
Trapped in a mirror that stood tall and black in the center of the Hollow, its surface swirling like oil. He smiled—beautiful. Terrible. Like a blade wrapped in silk.
“I knew you would,” he said. “You can’t resist a broken thing. A lost soul. A traitor.”
“You’re not a soul,” I said, drawing the bloodsteel blade. “You’re a lie. And I’m here to unmake you.”
He laughed—low, rich, dangerous. “You think you can destroy me? You, who carries two names? Who wears two faces? Who claims to be queen but still trembles in the dark?”
“I don’t tremble,” I said. “I burn.”
And then—
The mirror cracked.
Not from within.
From outside.
A hand—pale, delicate, familiar—reached through.
And then—
She stepped out.
Not a glamour. Not a lie.
Real.
“You didn’t trap me,” she said, her voice soft. “You freed me.”
My breath stalled.
“Who are you?”
She smiled—small, sad, real. “I’m the one they erased. The one who *chose* the vampire. The one who *loved* him. And you—” she touched the Mark on her chest—“you’re not just my heir.
You’re my *daughter*.”
And I knew.
The fight wasn’t over.
But I wasn’t alone.
And then—
Vexis screamed.
Not in pain.
In fear.
Because the mirror—
It was shattering.
And this time—
He wouldn’t survive it.
—
Later, in the dark, I woke with his scent on my skin, my thighs trembling, and a single drop of his blood on my lip.
I didn’t remember how it got there.
And Cassian, watching from the shadows, whispered, “You were always mine. You just didn’t know it yet.”
But someone wants the contract used, not broken. And they’ll destroy Helena to keep it alive.