CHAPTER 40 - BLAKE

During the ball, Blake dances with Medra (Pendragon), torn between desire and restraint as she refuses to leave Florence. He pulls her to a terrace, kisses her, and—while hiding his unstable scales and Rodriguez’s scheme—asks her to summon Nyxaris to the Dragon Court at midnight. Medra reluctantly agrees.

Theo interrupts, summoning Blake to Viktor. In his chambers, Viktor announces Aenia has gone missing after being moved from Blake’s secure site so her former castle could be gifted to Regan as dowry. Enraged, Blake defies Viktor, who counters by ordering Blake to bring Medra to the Black Keep after the ball, clearly intending to bind her.

As Blake’s scales surface, Viktor uses thrallweave to inspect him and goads him. Blake deduces the trigger: rider blood mingled with blightborn heritage via his halfborn mother, mirroring his father’s secret transformation and death. Viktor admits he engineered this outcome to forge a weapon for House Drakharrow, taunting that Blake may die like his father.

The pain crests into metamorphosis. Blake collapses and transforms—wings tearing free as guards rush in. One panicked guard slashes Blake’s face; Viktor kills the guard to preserve his “experiment” and orders the rest to stand down, then to attack when Blake grows larger and more formidable.

Now fully dragon, Blake effortlessly but savagely kills the guards. Viktor, terrified, tries bargaining—promising power, heirship, even Medra—yet Blake advances, realizing thrallweave cannot control a dragon. With embers spilling from his maw, Blake prepares to unleash fire on a cowering Viktor, decisively overturning Viktor’s dominion.