POV: Sera
The alarms stopped ringing, but the screaming didn't.
Sera stood frozen in the middle of the Grand Hall, her heart pounding so hard she could feel it in her throat. All around her, people were running, shoving, climbing over overturned tables. Silver platters and moon-shaped cakes littered the floor. The beautiful Moonfall Festival had become a nightmare.
And the King hadn't moved.
He still sat on the Silver Throne, high above the chaos. His guards had formed a tight circle around him, swords drawn, but he himself looked as still as a statue. His silver hair gleamed under the crystal chandeliers. His eyes were the color of storm clouds, and they showed nothing. No fear. No anger. Not even curiosity.
He was just… empty.
Sera couldn't look away. She'd heard the stories, of course. Everyone had. King Kadrin the Undying. The king who never smiled, never frowned, never showed any feeling at all. Some said he was wise because feelings didn't cloud his judgment. Others whispered he was more ghost than wolf.
Now, seeing him in person, Sera understood. He wasn't just calm. He was hollow. A shell of a person sitting on a throne.
A hand grabbed her arm hard.
"You're coming with me," Garrett snarled in her ear. His fingers dug into her skin like claws. "Now."
Sera tried to pull away, but he was too strong. He dragged her toward a side door where two of his green-eyed friends were waiting. They weren't running from the wave. They were smiling.
Panic shot through her like lightning. If he got her through that door, she'd never come out.
"Let go of me!" she shouted, twisting in his grip.
"You think you have a choice?" Garrett's voice was low and dangerous. "You're my mate. You belong to me. And you're going to help us finish what we started."
"You killed Lila!" Sera screamed, the words tearing out of her.
For a second, Garrett's mask slipped. His eyes glowed brighter green. "She was in the way. And so are you."
He yanked her so hard she stumbled. The side door was only ten feet away. The green-eyed men reached for her.
No. No. No.
This was it. If she went through that door, it was over. Lila's death would never be answered. Garrett would win.
Her eyes darted around the hall, searching for help, for an escape. They landed again on the Silver Throne. On the empty King.
And she remembered Lila's words, spoken on a lazy afternoon years ago: "If you're ever in real trouble, Sera, there's one law older than the mate bond. Sanctuary. If you can reach the High King's throne and claim it, he has to protect you. No one can override it. Not even a mate."
Back then, it had sounded like a fairy tale. A silly story from an old book.
Now, it was the only story she had left.
The throne was at least fifty feet away, through a sea of panicking people. Guards stood at the bottom of the steps. Garrett was pulling her the other way.
It was impossible.
But so was a wall of water rising from the ocean. So was a sister who could breathe underwater drowning. So was a mate with green eyes who wasn't really a wolf.
Impossible things were happening tonight. Maybe one more wouldn't hurt.
Sera took a deep breath, planted her feet, and did the only thing she could think of.
She stopped fighting Garrett.
Instead, she threw all her weight toward him, surprising him. As he staggered, she brought her heel down hard on his foot.
He grunted, his grip loosening for half a second.
Half a second was enough.
Sera ripped her arm free and ran.
Not toward the exit. Not toward the doors where everyone else was fleeing.
She ran toward the throne.
"SERA!" Garrett's roar of fury echoed behind her.
She didn't look back. She ducked under a man's arm, slid between two women holding onto each other, and jumped over a fallen chair. Her breath came in sharp gasps. Her dress tore on something sharp.
Almost there.
The guards at the base of the throne steps saw her coming. Their eyes widened. They moved to block her.
"Halt!" one of them shouted, raising a spear.
Sera didn't halt. She couldn't. If she stopped, Garrett would get her. She raised her hands, calling on the water in the room from overturned glasses, from a decorative fountain nearby. It wasn't much, but it was enough.
A spray of water shot from the fountain, splashing into the guards' faces. They flinched, stumbling back just enough.
Sera darted between them and charged up the steps.
The throne loomed above her, huge and silver and cold. And the King… he was watching her now. His storm-cloud eyes were fixed on her face. He showed no surprise. No alarm. He just… watched.
She reached the top of the platform. She was out of breath, shaking, terrified.
For a second, she froze. This was the High King. Touching him was a crime. Sitting on his throne was treason.
But below, she saw Garrett pushing through the crowd, his face twisted with rage, green light leaking from his hands.
There was no going back.
Sera turned and did the most unbelievable thing of her life.
She sat down.
Right on King Kadrin's lap.
The throne was hard and cold. The King's body beneath her was stiff. The entire hall seemed to gasp at once. The screaming stopped. The running stopped. Even the distant roar of the ocean seemed to fade.
Every eye in the room was on her.
Sera's voice, when it came, was clear and strong, ringing in the silence.
"I am Sera Blackwater of the Tidecaller line," she declared, the ancient words Lila taught her tumbling out. "And I claim sanctuary under the Old Laws! My mate has murdered my blood kin, and I demand the justice the moon has denied me!"
Silence.
Then, whispers.
King Kadrin didn't shove her off. He didn't shout. He just looked at her. Really looked at her. His silver eyes seemed to see right through her skin, into her bones, into the fear and fury and grief she carried there.
And then, something impossible happened.
His eyes… changed.
Just a little. A flicker. A spark of something that hadn't been there before. Surprise? Curiosity? Something alive.
He blinked.
It was the smallest movement, but in his frozen face, it was like watching a statue come to life.
He opened his mouth to speak.
But before he could, Garrett's voice cut through the quiet from the bottom of the steps.
"Your Majesty! Please! My mate is not well!"
Garrett stood there, his green eyes hidden again, his face a perfect mask of concern. He looked like a worried husband, not a killer.
"She's been grieving her sister for a year," he said, his voice full of fake sadness. "The anniversary has been too much for her. She's confused. She doesn't know what she's saying."
Sera wanted to scream. He was doing it again. Lying. Making her look crazy.
She turned to the King, desperate. "He's lying! He just admitted it! He said she was in the way!"
King Kadrin looked from her tear-streaked face to Garrett's calm, smiling one. His expression was unreadable again. The spark was gone, replaced by that empty stillness.
He was going to believe Garrett. He had to. Garrett was charming, convincing. She was a mess, sitting on his lap.
But then, the King did something no one expected.
He stood up, gently lifting Sera to her feet beside him. He kept one hand on her arm, holding her there.
He looked at Garrett, and when he spoke, his voice was like ice cracking.
"The claim has been made," the King said. "The Old Law is clear. Sanctuary is granted."
Gasps filled the room.
Garrett's smile vanished. "Your Majesty, you can't"
"I can," the King interrupted. "And I have. Sera Blackwater is under my protection for thirty days. The mate bond is suspended. We will investigate her claims. If you are innocent, you have nothing to fear."
He nodded to the Captain of the Guard, a big man with a scar on his cheek. "Take her to a guest room. Guard her door. She is not to be disturbed."
The Captain looked shocked but bowed. "Yes, Your Majesty."
As the Captain led her away, Sera looked back at the throne. King Kadrin was already sitting down again, his face empty once more. But for just a second, their eyes met.
And she saw it again. That flicker. That spark.
It was still there.
Sera followed the Captain through a golden doorway, away from the throne room. Her legs were weak with relief. She was safe. For now. But as she glanced back one last time, she saw Garrett still standing at the foot of the throne steps. He wasn't looking at the King. He was looking at her. And as their eyes met across the crowded room, he smiled a small, cold, promise of a smile. Then he lifted his hand and slowly drew one finger across his throat. The message was clear: Thirty days won't save you. I'll be waiting.