Page 60 of Blood Marked

Now, Selene let her fingers trail the water’s edge. Her skin prickled with residual magic. Her veins still felt like they hummed. The aftershock of what she’d done—what she was—hadn’t faded.

She had walked the Veil.

Not metaphorically. Not symbolically.

She had stoodin it.

And Kael… Kael had seemed to see her as fire and salvation at once.

She swallowed hard. Then the door creaked open.

“Figured you’d soak until the water froze solid,” Nyra said, her voice light but sharp.

Selene didn’t lift her head. “Not a terrible way to go.”

“Don’t get dramatic.” Nyra crossed the room, boots scuffing the floor, and stopped just short of the tub. “I’ve got worse news.”

Selene lifted her gaze.

Nyra’s face had hardened.“My spy on the upper level just sent word. My brother’s been imprisoned.”

The words echoed like metal on stone.

“No,” Selene whispered.

“Yes,” Nyra said grimly. “Ruarc had him dragged out of the chamber like a traitor. No trial. No hearing. Just a cell.”

Selene surged out of the bath, water splashing over the sides. “Where?”

Nyra didn’t blink. “The Drowning Cells.”

Selene had never heard of them. But by the way Nyra said it, she knew they weren’t for prisoners the court intended to release.

Ruarc had made his move. Kael had tried to protect her, probably by delaying the ceremony or some other reason—and now he wasgone.

Selene didn’t pause. She grabbed the robe, fastened it at her waist, and turned toward Nyra.

“We’re getting him out.”

Nyra’s brow arched. “You sure about that, Princess?”

“You said you had spies. I know you’ve got keys and I know how good you are at sneaking around. And you’re not the type to sit still while your brother gets caged for standing up to your father.”

Nyra stared at her a moment longer. Then, slowly, she grinned before tossing some of her own clothes as Selene.

“Man, you make it hard not to like you. Now come on, help me pack some things up before we head down.”

They moved through the inner tunnels of the keep—narrow, torchlit arteries of the fortress only Nyra seemed to know. The air was damp and stale, each step closer to the Cells thickening the air with mildew and iron.

Selene’s heart was thunder in her ribs.

She didn’t speak. Didn’t breathe too deeply.

Kael’s face wouldn’t leave her mind. The way he’d kissed her when he had walked her to her door. The way his voice had cracked when he said he’d stall the ceremony. That steel in his eyes as he talked about confronting his father.

She hadn’t felt helpless in the bath. But she’d feltunready.

Now?

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