Chapter 7 · The Nobles’ Sky Arena

The maintenance tunnel ended in a wall of white light.

Nora stopped so abruptly that Kane collided with her shoulder. His hand caught her waist before she could stumble, and the contact sent a hot wire of pain through the half-healed wound beneath her ribs.

She shoved his hand away.

Kane’s fingers closed around empty air. For once, he did not argue.

Beyond the light, something vast roared.

Not thunder. Not machinery. A crowd.

Beckett leaned around them, one palm pressed against the tunnel wall. Dust trembled from the ceiling with every distant cheer. “That,” he said, breathing hard, “is the sound of rich people discovering blood is more entertaining than opera.”

Nora looked down at the black box strapped to his belt. Its dead display still showed the final symbol it had broadcast through the city: a crown split by lightning.

NEWLYWEDS CONFIRMED.

THE THUNDER HEIR HAS ENTERED THE SUCCESSION TRIALS.

THE VEY BLOODLINE STANDS AS CONSORT.

Her father’s name had been carried into every district in Asterfall. Her crime, whatever the city decided it was, had already become public property.

Kane’s shoulder brushed hers. The air around him smelled of rain trapped inside metal.