Chapter 13 Thirteen
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Mira POV
Night fell heavily over the rebel camp, the kind of darkness that felt alive. Torches lined the perimeter, their flames flickering against the thick fog rolling in from the Shadowlands. My rebels moved with quiet purpose, sharpening blades, whispering commands, preparing for the next stage of our plan.
I stood at the map table with Jason beside me. Our shoulders brushed occasionally, but he did not shift away. I did not either. The air between us felt different now, heavier, charged with something neither of us wanted to acknowledge aloud.
We studied the layout of the Queen’s fortress, a structure buried deep in the capital. A maze of wards, guards, and deadly magic. The Queen had always been untouchable. That was about to change.
Riven approached with a stack of reports. He placed them between us and looked directly at me. “We tracked the mage,” he said. “He retreated to the royal compound. The Queen is gathering her personal guard. They expect an attack.”
“Good,” I said. “Let them expect it.”
Jason’s hand rested lightly on the edge of the table. His voice was steady. “She will be prepared for you in particular. She will use the bloodline trap again.”
“I know,” I said.
Jason hesitated. “Then we need a counter plan.”
I turned to look at him. His eyes held mine, intense and determined, and something in my chest twisted. Not painfully. Just sharply, as if reminding me that the kiss from earlier had changed something I had spent years refusing to admit.
Riven cleared his throat loudly, dragging my gaze away. “We have another problem,” he said. “There is movement near the outer forest. Someone approaches.”
A scout ran toward us before I could respond. His voice was breathless. “A messenger from the Queen. Alone.”
Jason stiffened. My shadows rose instantly.
“Bring him forward,” I said.
The rebels dragged a hooded figure into the clearing. He wore the colors of the Queen’s personal guard. He trembled slightly under the weight of dozens of hostile stares.
“Mira of the Shadowlands,” he said, bowing. “I bring a message from the Queen.”
I stepped closer. “Speak.”
“The Queen offers a bargain,” he said nervously. “She wishes to meet you under a peace banner. Alone. At the ruins of the moon temple.”
A harsh laugh escaped Riven. “A trap. Obviously.”
Jason’s eyes flashed with anger. “She expects Mira to walk into that alone and unprotected. Absolutely not.”
The messenger swallowed. “She said the same. She said Mira will refuse unless she hears this next part.”
My shadows tightened around my feet. Jason stepped closer, alert.
“What part?” I asked.
The messenger lifted his chin. “She wants to speak to you about your birthright.”
My chest froze.
Jason turned to me sharply. “Your what?”
The messenger continued, voice trembling. “She claims to know the truth about your power. About why the Council hunted you. About your parents. About the bloodline she fears above all.”
Silence fell thick over the camp.
I looked at Jason. His eyes were wide, a storm of shock and fear swirling inside them.
“Mira,” he said quietly. “Do not listen to her. She lies.”
“She does not lie about this,” I said, though my voice was barely above a whisper.
Jason stiffened. “Mira. You cannot go.”
I glanced at my rebels. They watched me with tense, fearful expressions.
“Mira,” Riven said quietly. “This is what she wants. She wants to isolate you.”
“I know,” I said.
Jason stepped directly in front of me. He was close enough that I could feel his breath. “Then do not consider it. I will not let you walk into a trap alone.”
I lifted my eyes to his. “You do not get to decide that.”
His jaw clenched. “I do not want you to die.”
I inhaled slowly. “I will not die.”
He stepped even closer, voice low. “You could. And I cannot lose you again. Not to her.”
There it was. The truth he had been swallowing for days.
I felt it hit me harder than any spell had ever done.
But I pulled back slightly, letting cold logic settle over my anger and the warmth his proximity stirred.
“I will not go alone,” I said. “But I will go.”
Jason exhaled sharply, frustration and fear blending in his eyes. “Then I go with you.”
Riven nodded. “I will take a small unit and scout the area.”
I shook my head. “No. This is not a mission for a unit. This is a conversation. And the Queen must not feel threatened by numbers.”
Jason frowned. “She will always feel threatened by you.”
“I want her to feel controlled threat,” I said. “Not rebellion.”
Jason opened his mouth to argue again, but Riven stepped in.
“She is right,” he said reluctantly. “The Queen is paranoid. If she sees too many rebels, she will shut the meeting down or turn it deadly before it begins.”
Jason looked back at me. I met his gaze squarely.
“You can come,” I said. “But you follow my lead.”
He nodded once, slowly.
Riven gestured to the messenger. “What happens if she betrays the peace banner?”
The messenger hesitated. “She said the same thing would happen regardless of Mira’s answer.”
My blood chilled.
Jason reached for his sword. “Explain.”
The messenger swallowed. “The Queen has already begun the ritual.”
Jason’s face whitened.
Riven swore under his breath.
I felt the shadows rise instinctively. “What ritual?”
The messenger whispered the next words.
“She is summoning a bloodbound creature. Something tied to your lineage. Something that requires a sacrifice.”
My pulse quickened. “Whose sacrifice?”
He looked at Jason.
“The King’s.”
Jason went still.
I felt the world tilt.
The Queen wanted to kill him to fuel a ritual tied to my bloodline.
Jason exhaled, voice steady but shaken. “She wants to kill me to control Mira.”
“Yes,” the messenger whispered.
Silence rippled outward.
Jason’s eyes found mine again. The fear there was raw, unguarded.
“Mira,” he said softly. “She wants me dead so she can own you.”
“No one owns me,” I said coldly.
But fear pulsed through my veins, unfamiliar and sharp.
I turned to the messenger. “Leave before I change my mind.”
He fled instantly.
The camp remained silent.
Riven stepped close. “You cannot go to her. She wants to break you.”
Jason’s voice was low. “She wants to break both of us.”
I faced him fully. “Then we let her try.”
His eyes burned into mine. “Mira. If you go, and she kills me, she will take everything from you again. Your power. Your control. Your freedom.”
“She will not kill you,” I said.
“How can you know that?”
“Because I will not allow it.”
He swallowed hard.
The air thickened.
He stepped closer. My shadows wrapped around my ankles but did not rise.
“Mira,” he whispered.
I felt his breath. I felt his fear. I felt his strength.
I hated how much I wanted him to touch me again.
He reached out, fingers brushing my cheek. I did not pull away.
His voice dropped lower. “If I die, she wins.”
“I will not let you die,” I said. My voice shook. I despised it.
His thumb brushed my lower lip, barely a touch, but enough to send heat rushing through me.
“You kissed me,” he whispered.
“You kissed me first,” I said.
“You kissed me back,” he said softly.
I closed my eyes for one moment.
He leaned in, his forehead touching mine, gentle and unbearably intimate.
“Mira,” he whispered. “Let me fight for you.”
I inhaled sharply. “You already are.”
When I opened my eyes, his face was impossibly close. His lips hovered near mine, almost touching.
My voice broke the moment.
“We meet the Queen at nightfall.”
He nodded, but he did not step back.
“You need rest,” he said.
“So do you,” I whispered.
He hesitated, then turned away before either of us lost control again.
Riven approached me slowly.
“You are letting him in,” he said quietly.
“I am letting him survive,” I replied.
Riven shook his head. “Your heart is showing.”
I glared at him. “My heart is dead.”
Riven smirked faintly. “Tell that to your shadows.”
I looked down.
My shadows were circling my feet in slow, spiraling patterns I did not recognize.
Patterns of longing.
Patterns of instinct.
Patterns my wolf knew too well.
I stepped away from them.
“We move at nightfall,” I said.
Riven bowed his head. “As you command.”
I walked away into my tent, but as soon as the flap closed behind me, I pressed a hand over my racing heart.
The Queen wanted Jason’s blood.
The Queen wanted my power.
The Queen wanted to end us both.
And yet all I could think about was the way Jason had looked at me.
As if I was still his.
As if the kiss meant something.
As if we could survive this together.
Dangerous thoughts.
Unwelcome thoughts.
But I could not silence them.
Not after the kiss.
Not after the truth.
Not after the Queen’s message.
Nightfall was coming.
And everything was about to change.