Chapter 62 | Lord Frost's Counterattack | Kael
Lord Frost strikes on the night of the full moon.
The attack is coordinated, well-planned, and brutal. Three targets hit at once—the Council Hall, the academy's main building, and the Owlspire itself. This time he's using mercenaries, not House Frost soldiers. If things go wrong, he can deny everything. These people are disposable.
I'm in the Owlspire when it happens. The protective crystals explode first—someone's using a specialized jammer, totally illegal but damn effective. Then come the explosions. Three of them, shaking the whole tower.
"Leah!" I call out through our mental link, already drawing my sword and heading for the safe room.
"I'm okay. I'm safe." Her voice in my head is steady and calm. She's in the safe room with the shields up, and the protective circle around the baby is glowing bright. "Kael, they're everywhere. At least twenty of them."
"I'm coming."
The hallway is full of smoke and fighting. My security team is going head-to-head with the mercenaries in close combat. I use Shadow-glide to slip past them, heading straight for Leah, cutting down anyone who gets in my way.
The safe room door is holding—it's reinforced, magically protected, built to survive a siege. But the mercenaries have brought a battering ram, some kind of mechanical device powered by blood-energy. The door won't last forever.
I hit them from behind. No warning, no holding back. These are mercenaries, not soldiers—they fight for money, not loyalty, and they fall apart fast when facing a Prince's rage.
The last mercenary drops. I open the safe room door.
Leah stands in the middle, her shield still up, silver lines glowing all over her body. She looks like some kind of warrior angel, beautiful and terrifying. Then she sees me, and the shield drops, and she's in my arms, trembling but unhurt.
"What about the other attacks?" she asks.
"Under control." I hold her tight, feeling her heartbeat against my chest. "Kieran's people handled the Council Hall. The academy's defense team held off the attack on the main building. We won."
"Did we catch any of them?"
"Two. Still alive. They're being questioned right now."
She pulls back and looks at me. "We need to end this, Kael. Lord Frost won't stop. Ever. Not until one of us is dead."
"I know."
"Then let's end it."
I look at her. At the determination in her eyes, the set of her jaw, the protective hand on her belly. She's right. We've been playing defense for too long. Just reacting to his attacks, trying to survive. It's time to go after him.
"One condition," I say.
"What?"
"You stay here. Safe. While I take a strike team to deal with Frost."
"Kael—"
"Not up for discussion." My voice is firm. "You're six months pregnant. The baby—"
"The baby is protected." She cuts me off, but her voice softens. "But I get it. I'll stay. I'll coordinate things from here."
"Thank you."
"Just come back." Her eyes lock with mine. "Promise me."
"I promise."
I kiss her, quick and intense. Then I turn and walk out into the night, sword in hand, ready to kill.
Lord Frost just made his final mistake.