Chapter 31

In the plague-ravaged refectory, Viktor restrains Pendragon and taunts Blake about Cade’s infection while Blake reels from blood loss after saving Pendragon earlier. Viktor boasts he has “purged” Bloodwing and parades Professor Allenvale as a traitor funding an Orphos-backed uprising. Cade’s eyes cloud and veins blacken as he begins to turn.

Blake pleads for reason, urging Viktor to take Allenvale to Lysander and postpone judgment. Viktor instead stages a coercive choice: feed the turning Cade with either Allenvale or Pendragon to prove Blake’s loyalty. When Blake refuses to yield, Viktor orders Quinn to shove Allenvale toward Cade.

Cade lunges and bites Allenvale, savaging her as Blake, Pendragon, and Theo cry out. Viktor escalates, demanding Blake transform and fly to Veilmar to burn the city, revealing a plan to obliterate rival Avari and highblood lines under cover of the outbreak. He threatens everyone Blake loves if Blake disobeys.

As Allenvale screams and Cade feeds, Blake feels Vorago, the dragon he believed gone, surge back and seize control. Scales ripple across Blake’s body; he transforms despite resisting. Viktor grips Pendragon as witnesses recoil in fear. Blake’s pity briefly guides Vorago to grant a mercy: a torrent of flame incinerates Allenvale and Cade together.

Vorago rejects Blake’s pleas to spare Veilmar, arguing cities can fall while their rider—Pendragon—must live. With Viktor still holding Pendragon and using her as leverage, Vorago spreads his wings, smashes through the refectory wall, and launches into the night, intent on the ruthless calculus that will keep Pendragon alive, regardless of the city’s fate.