Page 30 of Savage Crown

"One last thing," she calls over her shoulder.

I don’t turn. I don’t trust myself to.

She hums, thoughtful. "You should ask Rylan about the last woman he ‘protected.’"

14

RYLAN

Loyalty isn’t given. It’s tested.

And Seraphina still has something to prove.

I don’t trust her, not yet. There’s too much about her that doesn’t add up—her boldness, her defiance, the way she watches me like she’s trying to figure out how to dismantle me piece by piece.

So I set the terms. A mission. A test.

She doesn’t hesitate.

Not when I send her into Lord Varash’s estate, where humans don’t leave unscathed. Not when I tell her to extract a name, a single thread of information tied to Nhilian’s growing influence.

Not even when she realizes she might not come back alive.

She simply nods and disappears into the night.

And I should be satisfied.

Except I’m not.

Because hours pass. Then more. And she doesn’t return.

By the time I hear the heavy doors of the Midnight Den swing open, I’m already standing, already bracing myself for what I know is coming.

The stench of blood is thick before I even see her.

Then Seraphina stumbles inside.

Her tunic is torn, fabric clinging wetly to her ribs where blood seeps through in sluggish, uneven patterns. Her lip is split. Bruises bloom along her arms, deep and vicious.

But it’s not the wounds that stop me.

It’s her eyes.

Not broken. Not afraid.

Burning.

She sways slightly, one hand gripping the doorframe, the other clutching a crumpled scrap of parchment.

I don’t move.

Neither does she.

The silence thickens.

She tosses the paper onto my desk. The name I wanted.

"Maereth."

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