Page 52 of Crown of Ashes and Desire

He slipped out ahead of me, no doubt to set things in motion.

I left the chamber without looking back at what remained of the assassin. He would live—technically—but what I’d taken from him would never regenerate. A fitting warning for when Midas eventually discovered his fate.

The corridors of the palace showed only essential staff—guards at their posts, a few brave servants who pressed themselves against walls when I passed. Word of my mood had spread quickly. Good. I had no patience for cowering courtiers today.

An hour later, I found Sarp approaching from the opposite corridor, his expression grim as he fell into step beside me.

“The spies are mobilized,” he reported tersely. “One shadow-wraith for tracking—we need stealth, not overwhelming force. Two human operatives were positioned near his estate for close surveillance.” He paused outside Ada’s healing chamber. “Now—are you going in, or do you need me to drag you through that door?”

“How bad?” I asked, and ignored his prodding.

“The poor assassin? Well, you made his eyeballs explode, Hakan. I’d say that’s plenty bad.”

I glared at him. “You know what I’m asking.”

Sarp’s expression softened slightly. “Ada is stable. The shadow-poison has been neutralized. She’ll recover fully, given time.” He hesitated, then added more gently, “She’s been asking for you.”

“We have nothing to talk about.” The words were flat, not a question.

“She’s not stupid, Hakan. She knows this attack wasn’t random.” Sarp moved to stand directly in my path. “She deserves answers.”

“She deserves to be kept safe,” I countered, my decision already crystallizing. “Double the guards on her chambers, but more importantly—screen every servant, every healer, everyone who breathes near her. Someone with access helped him—this wasn’t a failure of numbers, it was a failure of trust.”

Sarp’s eyes narrowed. “You’re asking me to enforce this? To lock her up? After what she just survived?”

“I’m going to protect what’s mine.”

“She’s not a possession to be locked away,” Sarp said, his voice dropping to that dangerous quiet that meant I’d pushed too far. “You want to protect her? Then stop making the same mistakes that drove her away the first time.”

His words carved through my defenses. Sarp never wasted energy on emotional appeals—when he spoke like this, it was because he saw something I was blind to. The same instinct that had made him my most trusted advisor was now telling him I was about to destroy what mattered most.

“I know who she is,” I said quietly.

“Then stop treating her like a prize to be locked away.” Sarp’s tone was unusually firm. “Tell her the truth, Hakan. About the war you’re fighting, about the Crown of Ashes Ritual, about why she’s really here. Give her the chance to choose her side with full knowledge.”

I laughed bitterly. “And you think she’d choose me? After what I did to her five years ago? After I tore her world apart to protect her from precisely this fate?”

“I think,” Sarp said carefully, “that you’re more afraid of her rejecting you than you are of Midas or your father.”

The truth of his words hit with devastating accuracy. I turned away, unable to face the understanding in my friend’s eyes. Sarp could probably sense that I fucking still wanted her, despite my actions and words.

“Implement the security measures for Ada,” I ordered. “Screen everyone. I’ll speak with her when I’m ready.”

“And if she fights the restrictions? If she tries to leave?”

“Then stop her. She will listen to you.” I started walking away. I had to distance myself from this fucking conversation. I hated that the two of them were close, even after everything that had happened, that she could laugh with him but hate me. “Gently, but firmly. Remind her that she’s my wife, and in this realm, that means something.”

“It means prisoner,” Sarp called after me, and I refused to let me have the last word, as usual. “Just admit it. You’re locking her up because you can’t stand the thought of losing her again, but you’re too much of a coward to actually face her.”

I whirled around, shadows erupting around me in response to my fury. Sarp didn’t even flinch.

“She nearly died today,” I snarled. “Because of her connection to me. I won’t risk that happening again.”

“So your solution is to make her a prisoner? To treat her exactly like your father treated your mother?” Sarp shook his head in disgust. “You’re better than this, Hakan. You used to be better than this.”

I paused but didn’t turn. “It means she’s under my protection. It means she’s mine. And I protect what belongs to me, Sarp, whether it wants that protection or not.”

Behind the healing chamber door lay Ada, recovering from wounds meant to manipulate me through my feelings for her. Wounds that proved Midas right—I was compromised, dangerously so.

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