Chapter 12

Raeve follows Utris through a sealed breach into a dark stairway, where Utris reforms the wall. Descending under the Citadel’s nullifying arches, Raeve discovers her iron ring shields her from overwhelming Creator voices; removing it floods her with pain, hinting she is immune to the arches’ suppression. She hides this, wary of drawing lethal attention.

They reach an immense cavern with an underground lake, bell-lines to detect movement, and a dragon-maw pier with white boats—an execution site. Preparing Rekk’s corpse as bait for the anthe, Utris explains the creature’s behavior and warns never to meet its eyes. Raeve decapitates Rekk to prevent any lingering threat, and together they slide his remains into the water.

White-robed figures appear, escorting a bloodied, bound fae to a boat and pushing him toward open water. Fearing it might be Pyrok, Raeve studies the prisoner and confirms he is not—though he seems undeserving of the fate awaiting him. The prisoner spots Raeve and silently urges her to flee as the warning bells begin to jingle.

With danger rising, Raeve chooses action over escape. She incapacitates Utris—guessing correctly he has orders from his king to keep her alive—leaves him a lark with payment details, and sprints back to the cove to attempt a risky intervention.

A second boat surges in with two figures: a familiar red-haired male at the prow, whom Raeve recognizes as Pyrok, and a powerful rower whose bearing freezes her—Kaan. Realizing the prisoner and Pyrok are kin, Raeve locks eyes with Kaan as time seems to halt, signaling a collision of agendas beneath the Citadel.