Page 129 of Song of the Heart Scale
What was left of them.
The barricade had been blown apart by Garrick’s warlocks, and smoke bellowed from its shattered arch. Bodies littered the steps. Blood soaked the marble.
The palace loomed above us like a sleeping beast, its towers scorched, its banners torn and flapping.
I didn’t hesitate.
Sword in hand, I stormed across the threshold with Uncle Bai and Lord Mercer behind me.
The grand hall had turned into a warzone. Servants, guards, even nobles—everyone had picked a side. And no one was safe.
Klaus’s glamour illusions flickered over the battlefield, creating doubles and shadows that confused the enemy long enough for us to strike.
We moved with a singular goal: To find Thorne.
And then—I felt it.
The pull.
My heart burned. My mark ignited.
She was near.
“Cat.”
I followed the sensation like a hound on a scent, pushing past hallways soaked in blood until I found her in a ruined parlor filled with cracked mirrors and torn tapestries, standing over Maeve’s body.
She didn’t cry.
She didn’t need to.
The fury in her eyes was louder than any scream.
I crossed the room and caught her just before she collapsed.
“You're late,” she whispered, barely standing.
“You're alive,” I murmured, holding her against me.
Her fingers curled around the front of my armor. “Thorne—killed her… last night.”
I looked down at Maeve’s still body. Though my throat tightened, we didn’t have time for grief.
“He’ll pay.”
Cat looked up at me with golden eyes burning with a vengeance that mirrored my own.
“Then let’s finish this.”
Thorne was waitingfor us in the throne room.
Of course he was.
He sat upon the golden throne like it had been forged for his ruin, the scales of his armor glinting. “Brother,” he greeted. “You’ve brought the circus.”
I stepped forward. “This ends now.”
He rose, and the room darkened.
