Page 105 of Black Wing and Shadows
I was a survivor. I would not fall.
The courtyard went silent.
The Rider lay writhing, clutching at the ruin of his ankles, his cries sharp against the night. My dagger dripped steadily onto the stones. My shimmer burned too bright on my chest, refusing to dim no matter how I willed it, and the strange heaviness in the shadows at my feet made my stomach twist.
Whispers rippled.
The General’s daughter.
Savage.
Untouchable.
Zane moved again.
His wings unfurled fully, black and vast, blotting out torchlight until shadows swallowed the courtyard. His voice cut across the silence, low but carrying, edged with authority that brooked no refusal.
“Enough.” The word cracked like steel against stone.
Every cadet froze. Some dropped their eyes instantly, others stiffened like they wanted to challenge him—until his wings shifted, the air pressure forcing them half a step back.
Zane took another slow step forward, putting himself squarely between me and the crowd. His gaze swept the ring of cadets, unflinching, daring them to move. “You’ve all made your point. Now stand down. Before this turns into something none of you will crawl out of.”
For a long, tense beat, no one breathed. One by one, cadets lowered their stances. A few muttered curses, but no one stepped forward. The boy on the ground groaned, dragging himself back, blood smearing across the stones.
Zane kept his wings stretched wide until the noise faded into uneasy quiet. When he finally folded them, the courtyard still felt smaller, like his presence alone pressed every cadet into line. I could feel eyes lingering on me, my chest shimmer still too sharp, too alive. I tightened my grip on the dagger, willing the strange pressure at my feet to vanish. It didn’t.
Esme’s voice brushed faintly against my mind, sly and knowing.“It’s beginning.”
I shoved the thought aside, swallowing hard.
Next to me, Zane exhaled slowly, his sharp eyes remaining fixed on the determined cadets who refused to look away. He commanded them to stand down. He took charge effortlessly as the natural leader he was, though he might dislike hearing it. He was next in line to be the duke, yet he preferred to deny that fact.
And just like that, the balance of the courtyard shifted. Not only around me, but around him. Every cadet there saw it—Zane taking command, his wings dark banners over us both. The courtyard began to thin out, cadets peeling away in hushed clusters, their eyes still darting quickly and furtivelytoward us. Whispers tangled in the air—about me, about Zane, about the blood still smeared across the stones.
Zane’s hand closed firmly around mine, grounding me. His wings remained still exposed until the last of the crowd drifted away. Only then did he pull them back into himself, the air pressure easing.
“Come on,” he said, his voice low, roughened by the weight of command, “we should go.”
I let him guide me, sheathing my bloody dagger into my thigh sheath. My shimmer refused to fade, the faint glow a reminder that everyone had seen more than I wanted them to. We slipped through the quieter corridors, the sound of our boots echoing against the stone. He didn’t speak, and I didn’t ask him to. The silence stretched, heavy but safe, his presence cutting through the lingering dread that still clung to my skin.
At my door, he finally stopped. He didn’t let go of my hand, just turned enough to study me, his jaw set, his eyes darker than I’d ever seen them.
“You handled yourself,” he said, voice steady but tight. “But the next time someone comes for you like that—” His wings twitched, like they might snap open again. “—I’m not sure I’ll stop at just guarding.”
I swallowed, the weight of his words pressing against the frantic thrum of my heart. “Zane…”
He squeezed my hand once, hard, and then let go. “Rest, you’re safe now.”
“For now,” I murmured. I wanted to protest even more, but something in his gaze stopped me cold. The protective fury that wouldn't bend, not that night. My chest still shimmering faintly in the dark, and the door clicked shut behind him. Only when I leaned back against the wood did I let my breath tremble free. The shadows along the walls flickered strangely, as though they were following me inside.
Esme’s whisper brushed the back of my mind.“Closer now. Much closer.”
CHAPTER 37
ZANE
From the moment I watched her walk into the flight field toward Flugblatt forest, my stomach had been a knotted mess. I wouldn’t admit it to her. I didn’t know a lot about the Riders’ branch, but due to my friendship with Alex and Lili, I knew more than most of the cadets who weren't in that branch. I knew that the bonding day was one of the most profound days for the Riders.
