POV: Mason
Blood.
That was the first thing I saw when the Shadow King vanished.
Not just on the stone.
On my hands.
On my boots.
On the edges of Alex’s silver cloak where Riley had dragged her from the blast zone.
The palace was chaos—guards shouting, healers rushing in, magic crackling through the air as the wards struggled to reknit themselves. But all I could see was Alex on her knees, shaking, her hand pressed to her stomach like instinct had taken over her body.
Something inside me snapped.
I crossed the courtyard in three strides and dropped beside her, pushing guards aside without a word.
“Alex,” I said, gripping her shoulders gently but firmly. “Look at me.”
Her eyes lifted slowly. They were glassy. Shocked. But alive.
“Are you hurt?” I asked.
She shook her head.
Rile
