Page 136 of A Trial of the Heart

“If you don’t release Skylar Cathal to us, the high prince and people of Silver Meadows will pay for their ruler’s actions here and now—with blood,” Seamus added. “Release her to us, and together, we can unlock the riddle to the third trial.”

“No…” Even with the gag of shadows, Daxton managed to fight through its hold. “Skylar, no!”

Minaeve almost looked shocked. “Silence,” the queen commanded her magic, extracting my mate’s silent scream of heart-wrenching agony. The sounds of his bones cracking shattered the threads of my sanity. “The victory of the trials will not belong to Silver Meadows.”

I couldn’t take this anymore. The city was burning. People were dying, and my mate’s life was in danger… all because of me.Screw this. I was not hiding from a fight. I wouldn’t stand for this. Not when I could do something to change it all.

“No!” I screamed as I reached for my dagger and sliced through Gunnar’s arm to the bone, forcing him to release me.

I couldn’t allow this to happen. I sprinted around Castor, whose eyes had turned black. A vision overtook him, allowing me to escape past the safety of the wards.

“Release him,” I commanded, angling my bloodied weapon at the high queen.

My animal rose within me, fueling me with power. The warriors surrounding her drew their weapons at my threat, but I did not back down. I simply stared at her, my eyes glowing with pure fire and a promise to drive the weapon through her blackened heart if she didn’t follow my command.

“Release the people of Silver Meadows. Call off your warriors or—”

“Or what?” Minaeve answered. Her eyes narrowed, meeting my challenge, and she waved a hand at her guard to wait. In this state, with her siphoned magic from all three high princes, I knew I wouldn’t be strong enough to stop her. Not right now.

I raised my dagger to my throat. “You’ll no longer have a champion to compete in your trials.” Blood dripped from my neck as I pressed the blade into my flesh. “You think I won’t do it?” I challenged. “Well, think again.” I stared her down, noticing her eyes flicker behind me to Castor, realizing the cause of his blackened vision. “That is mymateyou have chained and bloodied on the ground. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to protect him and the people of this land.”

“She’ll do it!” Castor screamed, his eyes returning to their normal state.

I dropped my barrier and allowed my scent to fill the space. Anjani’s magic blinded Daxton to his surroundings, but he managed to pivot his head on the stone and still find me.

“No, Skylar.” He was broken and chained, but still he tried to crawl toward me.

“We all know the Inner Kingdom won’t last another hundred years against the wilt.” A piece of me believed they might survive despite the odds, but not if Daxton wasn’t in the picture. I had to be careful and play their games to win this. “I’m the only hope you have fora future. If I die, so do you.” I stared down at the queen with a savagery that rivaled the fires threatening to burn Silver Meadows to the ground.

“What are your terms?” Minaeve asked, spewing hatred in every syllable.

“What?” Seamus started, but Minaeve’s stare silenced his questions.

“Call off your warriors. Release the people of Silver Meadows.” I knew Daxton would have wanted to ensure their safety first.

“Done.” She waved her hands, and her black smoke flew out in all directions, dousing the flames and signaling a retreat for their troops through the portals she created. “Now, show me the key.” I reached into my pocket and withdrew the basilisk’s yellow eye, the eight-pointed ebony star gleaming in the pupil. The queen’s smile twisted like the black tendrils of mist at her command.

“Rhett,” Minaeve commanded, and he slowly stalked forward with the scroll in his oddly steady hands.

“Do you recall what you need to do?” Rhett asked me as he unrolled the ancient scroll. His eyes turned downward, cast away from mine, almost like he was ashamed to even look at me.

I nodded and silently brushed the orb over the second star of the scroll, leading to the third and final trial of the Heart of Valdor. The ink instantly formed on the page, but there were only two lines of text, followed by an illustration of what I needed to achieve next.

“What does it say?” Seamus asked.

Rhett finally looked at me with more than a mere question lingering amongst the abyss of his deep-set blue eyes. I re-read the two inked lines and gave him a shallow nod to read them aloud to the others. His midnight-black hair fell below his brow as he turned hischin down to read aloud. I knew exactly what I needed to do.

The trial of the soul … Gods above. This would be the most challenging task yet.

“Retrieve the blade guarded by the alphas of old. Once the cut is made and the trials are complete, the heart will be unleashed,” Rhett read aloud.

“What does that mean?” Seamus asked. “Show us!”

Rhett obeyed and held up the magical parchment. Without glancing at the scroll, Queen Minaeve’s gaze turned to me. She knew. She knew the identity of the blade without even looking at it, and she also understood that I knew it, too.

How could a shifternotknow the blade guarded by the alphas of old? The ancient dagger carried by each alpha of the Solace pack. The blade that never dulled and could cut through anything in its path.

“I’ve never seen this weapon,” Seamus began.

---