Page 50 of Gua rdian of Blood and Shadow

“About thirty minutes.”

“All right.” Anxiety knotted my stomach, and I looked at those I was leaving behind—Bastian, Ash, and Thane. Through our bonds, I felt their love and concern, their anger, their willingness to follow me into danger.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, grabbing Javier’s arm and leaping into the open portal.

29

Ihatedportaltravel.

Reality twisted as the portal pulled us through space. That disorienting lurch in my stomach reminded me of passing through that first portal with Gavin, when I’d abandoned the careful, quiet life I’d built for myself. I told myself this was different. I wasn’t abandoning the Moon Sanctuary or the life waiting for me there; I was trying to preserve it.

For a moment, Javier and I existed in nothingness. There was only darkness and the sensation of falling, and then we crashed onto cold stone, the return to reality knocking the breath from my lungs. I landed on my hands and knees, coughing to capture some air.

Javier curved over me instantly, his arm banding around my waist as he landed in a defensive crouch. “Breathe, Luna,” he murmured against my ear, his voice pitched low.

Finally, the spasming in my lungs subsided, and I was able to take full, deep breaths. I raised my head and looked around. I’d been here before, when we rescued Javier, but then the portal chamber had been filled with a toxic smoke that made all who breathed it live out their worst nightmares. Now, there was nothing to block my view, and not a single shifter in sight.

Ancient stone walls surrounded us on all sides, inscribed with ward patterns that made my skin itch. But I wasn’t melting or combusting or screaming in pain, so Ren had been as good as her word. The air carried a trace of something dank and acrid, but maybe that was due to the Sun Keep’s underground nature.

My sense of Gavin was exponentially stronger, his pain echoing sharper with proximity, and I fought against the urge to run blindly toward him.

“Something isn’t right,” Javier said, straightening and helping me up to my feet, my legs still unsteady. “This chamber should be guarded, especially after your last incursion.” His dark eyes scanned the shadows, his head tilting as he listened closely. “Why would Veris leave the front door wide open?”

“Maybe he thought the wards would be enough?” I suggested, though doubt crept through me. Ren had been confident about breaching the Sun Keep’s defenses, but had it beentooeasy for her?

“Perhaps,” Javier murmured, his voice carrying careful neutrality that meant real concern. His hand found mine, his fingers intertwining with practiced familiarity.

The bizarre thing about this situation was that I wasn’t trying to avoid detection. I was here to deal with Veris directly, not to sneak around.

We moved forward cautiously, each step echoing against the ancient stone. The ward patterns pulsed, responding to our presence. Manganese veins ran through the stone walls, glinting pewter. I pulled Javier closer to the wall, sensing something disturbing, and traced my fingers along a grayish-silver vein of manganese.

I hissed in a breath and jerked my hand away. It was faint, but the foul taint of shadow corruption was there, like the metal’s magical properties had absorbed it.

“Can you feel it?” I whispered to Javier, my fingers digging into his forearm as ice crawled down my spine. “The shadow taint?”

He shook his head. “Luna…,” he warned, his body coiling tighter as footsteps echoed faintly from a corridor beyond the chamber. He placed his body between me and the broad arched doorway.

I held my breath as shifter warriors filed into the chamber, moving purposefully but not rushing. Within seconds, we were surrounded by at least twenty shifters, their eyes gleaming like wolves anticipating a kill.

“Well, well, well,” a cultured voice intoned from the corridor, smooth as silk and sharp as a blade. “What anunexpectedsurprise.” The guards parted as a figure stepped into the chamber, confident and lethal.

Veris. King of the shifters. Bastian’s father. Killer of my people.

He was shorter than I’d expected, not quite as tall as Bastian, but his frame was immensely powerful. His impeccably tailored charcoal suit somehow enhanced rather than diminished the sense of violence that hovered around him. His copper-bronze skin seemed to glow with internal fire.

His amber eyes held me frozen—like Bastian’s, but glacial, assessing me with dispassionate interest. The terrible symmetry of genetics had given father and son the same strong jaw and the same proud nose, but where Bastian’s features held warmth, his father’s seemed carved from stone. Beautiful but cold.

Standing before him, I felt small. A librarian who had spent twenty years hiding behind cardigans and careful smiles now faced the architect of my family’s destruction. I’d spent decades running from him, and now I’d walked straight into his waiting hands.

“Luna Sofia,” he said, my true name sounding like a violation on his lips. “Or do you prefer Sophie?” His smile never reached those cold eyes. “Such a mundane name for a High Queen.” His gaze traveled over me with invasive thoroughness. “The photos don’t do you justice. You’re much more vibrant in person.”

I stiffened, my stomach turning at the idea of him having pictures of me.

Javier’s body coiled with barely contained violence. I placed a steadying hand on his arm, silently urging him to stand down.Thiswas why I was here, after all.

“King Veris,” I said, forcing my voice to hold steady despite the hatred burning through my veins. This was the monster who had burned my mom’s body so thoroughly that her spirit couldn’t anchor to this world. The same king who now kept Gavin prisoner while corruption seeped through the stone beneath our feet.

“You have something that belongs to me,” I said, my head held high.

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