Page 46 of Crown of Ashes and Desire

The first attacker moved with deadly precision, his curved dagger aimed not at my throat but at my shoulder—a disabling strike, not a killing blow. Years of diplomatic training kicked in, but these weren't ordinary assassins. As I sidestepped, he adjusted smoothly, the blade scoring along my arm instead of missing entirely. When I drove my makeshift weapon toward his armor gap, he caught my wrist with his free hand, applying just enough pressure to make me drop the letter opener. His movements were controlled, professional—this was about capture, not execution.

These weren’t ordinary killers.

Melo launched herself at another, her guardian magic flaring as her fox form expanded to the size of a wolf—an ability she rarely used except in dire circumstances, teeth bared and glowing with ancient power. She tore into him, but the man seemed to dissolve around her attack, reforming a few feet away.

Shadow magic. But not Hakan’s refined power. This was cruder, more elemental. How were they using shadow magic in Hakan’s domain without his knowledge? Something was interfering with his connection to the shadows here.

“Light-bearer,” one of them hissed, his tone distorted and hollow. “Your time ends now.”

My power erupted beyond my usual careful control, weeks of suppressed rage and desperation overwhelming the disciplined techniques I'd spent years perfecting. The emotional intensity amplified my magic beyond anything I'd achieved before—light lashed out in every direction, shattering glass cases, toppling bookshelves, scattering papers that ignited mid-air.

Golden tendrils extended from my fingertips, and I lashed out, catching one assassin across the chest. Where my light touched, his shadow armor sizzled and smoked.

He screamed, the sound inhuman.

But there were too many, and I was still recovering from whatever Hakan had done to bind my powers. One broke through my guard, blade slicing along my forearm. Pain flared, hot and immediate, but I pushed through it, driving my elbow into his masked face.

“Ada, behind you!” Melo warned.

I spun, but too slowly. Something slammed into my back—not a blade, but a spell that burned like ice where it struck. My legs buckled when numbness spread outward from the impact. I couldn’t breathe, and the pain paralyzed me from head to toe. Shadow magic, corrupting my light from within.

“Melo!” I called, my words already weakening.

My guardian fought viciously, but they had prepared for her, too. A net of shadow-stuff enveloped her, constricting around her thrashing form. Her fox-fire flickered against its bindings, but the shadows only tightened in response.

A booted foot pressed to my shoulder, rolling me onto my back. Above me, one of the masked figures loomed, taller than the others, silver eyes gleaming through the eyeholes of his mask.

“Nothing personal,” he said, response distorted but somehow familiar. “Just business.”

The dagger in his hand was black as night, its blade drinking in what little light reached us. But instead of raising it for a killing blow, he angled it carefully—not for my heart or throat, but for my side, just below the ribs. A precise strike meant to incapacitate, not kill. "Orders are orders," he muttered, almost apologetically. I felt the sudden, terrible pressure as the blade sank into my abdomen, deliberately missing vital organs. The shadow poison on the blade would weaken me, make me compliant, but it wasn't meant to be fatal. Not yet.

Something about his stance, the way he held the weapon, tugged at my memory. Had I seen this assassin before? The thought flickered and died while pain overwhelmed everything else.

The light burst from my palm in a concentrated beam, catching him in the chest. He staggered back, cursing, his armor smoking where my power had connected. But the effort cost me what little strength remained. My vision tunneled, darkness creeping in from the edges.

I didn’t see him recover. Didn’t see the moment he drove forward. I felt only the sudden, terrible pressure as the blade sank into my abdomen, sliding between my ribs with precision.

Cold. So cold it burned. Shadow magic coursing into me through the wound, corrupting my light from within. The pain came a heartbeat later, so intense I couldn’t even scream, my mouth opening in a silent cry.

He twisted the blade before withdrawing it, ensuring maximum damage.

"Some bridges must be burned before others can be built," he whispered, leaning close. "You'll understand soon enough."

Then he was gone, moving to help his companions with Melo. Her howls of fury and pain echoed through the gardenwhile I lay there, blood pooling beneath me, soaking into the dark soil.

Move, I commanded myself.Get up. FIGHT.

But my body refused to obey. The shadow magic from the blade spread through me as poison would, leaving numbness in its wake. I could only watch while Melo’s struggles weakened, her fox-fire dimming against the shadow bindings.

When my vision blurred, I reached desperately for the one connection that might save me. The bond Hakan had forged between us during our marriage ritual—the link I’d been trying to ignore since my arrival. I’d felt it resembling a silver thread in my mind, tying me to him no matter how I resisted.

The minutes crawled by with the pace of hours as I fought to stay conscious. My vision tunneled, night closing in around me, but I clung to that silver thread connecting us. How long would it take him to reach me? How long did I have left?

Now, I grasped that thread with desperate mental fingers.

Hakan, I projected, not knowing if it would work, if he would hear.Garden. Assassins.

For a terrible moment, nothing. Then?—

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