The air changed before the attack came.
Ivy felt it first.
A cold pressure pressing against her ribs. A distant pull inside her chest, like someone was tugging on the broken thread of her bond with Rowan.
She froze in the castle corridor.
Rowan turned to her instantly. “What is it?”
Her eyes flickered silver.
“He’s here.”
The words had barely left her mouth when the ground shook.
A deep, violent tremor.
War horns sounded from the outer walls.
Not one.
Not two.
All of them.
Rowan’s face hardened. “Battle positions!”
Guards rushed past them.
Ivy didn’t move.
The bond in her chest burned.
Not sharp.
Not fractured.
Burning.
“He’s not attacking the gates,” she whispered.
Rowan frowned. “What do you mean?”
She looked toward the north tower.
“He’s inside.”
The next explosi
