Bianca blinked repeatedly, trying to clear the distorted world around her, but it refused to disappear. Strangely, the sensation felt eerily familiar.
It was the same heaviness she had felt in the lake when she was eighteen. The sinking feeling. The crushing pressure in her chest.
And, then came the voice.
Let go... Do not resist...
It was the same voice she had heard last night, in the strange darkness before she somehow found herself standing in the pond.
Bianca looked around, her heart tightening.
Is the serpent back?
Fear mingled with resistance as the oppressive presence seemed to settle even deeper inside her. Then something shifted beneath her.
The earth gripping her legs began to tremble... And it let go.
Bianca stared down in disbelief. Her legs were free.
Around her, everyone seemed to be struggling against the same invisible weight. Men who had been standing moments ago were now bent beneath it, while familiars lowered their heads as though they had instinctively recognized the presence of something far more powerful than themselves.
Bianca could barely breathe.
Then the distortion around her flickered.
For one strange second, it looked as though the air itself had become a sheet of glass. A sharp line appeared through it, widening like a blade cutting through silk.
The distortion tore open.
Bianca blinked as the world snapped back into focus. The familiars were still bowing.
And then, through the tear, came a blinding light.
Bianca raised a hand against it, squinting through the brightness. Someone was floating above the ground... Above the Rogue.
Peregrine.
His coat billowed wildly around him as though he were standing in the middle of a storm. One knee was raised, his body suspended several feet above the earth, yet he moved with the effortless certainty of a man walking across solid ground.
His sword was in his right hand. The blade glowed almost white-hot.
Volcanic Extinction.
Bianca’s breath caught.
The primordial dragon had fused with his weapon. It was the closest anyone had ever come to actually seeing the terrifying creature that lived within Peregrine’s power.
Peregrine swung the sword.
The blade tore through the Rogue.
With each step, he descended, and by the time his boots touched the ground, the enormous creature had been split cleanly in two.
The Rogue crashed down on either side of him.
Silence followed.
Bianca stared.
So... that oppressive aura I felt... was it Peregrine’s?
It should have been the only question in her mind. But something inside her refused to settle. Because she had felt something else, too. Something that had been inside her.
Around her, the crushing pressure began to lift. Summoners straightened one by one, and familiars slowly returned to their dormant forms.
Bianca tried to push herself upright.
She barely managed to move before Peregrine was already in front of her. His sword was sheathed.
He dropped to one knee before her, bringing himself to her level and covering her with his coat.
"Are you hurt?"
Bianca froze.
She had expected anger. Questions. Perhaps that cold, unreadable expression she had become so accustomed to. Or even the mocking words he used to give her when they were young.
Instead, there was something different in his voice.
Something low and urgent... Something dangerously close to concern.
Her throat tightened. She swallowed and looked at him.
Is that... care I hear in his voice?
For one bewildering moment, Bianca could not understand why he wasn’t angry with her.
Or why he was looking at her as though the only thing in the world that mattered was whether she was hurt.
Peregrine, seemingly oblivious to the bewilderment on her face, reached for her.
He cupped her cheeks, turning her face gently from side to side as though searching for injuries. His hand moved over her shoulders and down her arms, his fingers trembling when they passed over the cuts in her torn clothes.
There it was again. The same darkness he had sensed around her last night. Peregrine still couldn’t identify it, but he knew one thing: whatever had touched Bianca had not left her alone.
And these Rogues were no ordinary beasts. They hated sunlight and rarely surfaced unless something disturbed them... or summoned them.
Two attacks. The darkness. Bianca’s strange reaction.
None of it was a coincidence.
Then his gaze dropped to her legs. He caught her ankle and pulled it closer.
"You’re bleeding."
His amber eyes lifted to hers.
"Where else are you hurting?" he asked.
Bianca could only stare at him. His voice was shaking. So were his hands.
Peregrine clenched his jaw and forced himself to lower his trembling hands
If I had been here, she wouldn’t have gotten hurt.
"I’m..." Bianca barely managed to get the word out.
Reaching into his pocket, Peregrine pulled out a small velvet box. "You shouldn’t have been without it," he said quietly.
Before Bianca could understand what he meant, he slipped a ring onto her finger. She blinked.
Wasn’t he the one who asked for it back?
She looked down. It wasn’t her old wedding ring.
Her breath caught.
The amber jewel at its center gleamed beneath the sunlight, surrounded by black coral and diamonds that caught the light like tiny bumblebee wings.
Wait...
"You can summon Fenrir with this ring," Peregrine said. "He’s more sensible than Fenrath."
Bianca’s mouth fell open. For several seconds, she could not find a single word.
Did he ask for my ring... just to replace it?
She stared at the ring.
So he’d asked for the old one because he was giving her this?
Then why hadn’t he told her?
She looked around. Every eye seemed to be fixed on them. Genevieve was staring at the ring in disbelief. Isolde had turned her face away, one hand covering it.
Bianca’s confusion only deepened.
So... everyone can see Peregrine is caring for me?
She looked back at him.
What is wrong with him?
Peregrine seemed entirely unaware of the audience. He pulled out his handkerchief and gently brushed the dirt from one of the cuts on her arm.
Then he blew softly over it. "Does it hurt?"
His eyes were red. Bianca stared.
Is he crying?
She had seen Peregrine angry. She had seen him terrifying enough to make an entire hall kneel. But she had never seen him look like this.
"It’s just some scratches. I’m fine."
She gently pushed his hand away and tried to stand. Her ankles protested immediately. She ignored them. She didn’t want to stay here any longer.
Especially not with Genevieve already trying to make her way toward them.
Bianca knew exactly what her sister would say. She would bring up Julian Pembroke, and Bianca had no intention of discussing him. Not now. Not when she was still trying to understand what was happening with Peregrine.
She hadn’t even taken a step when Peregrine caught her arm.
His fingers paused. A thin strand of spider silk was caught in the torn fabric of her dress. His eyes narrowed. He pulled it free.
"Was he here?"
Bianca frowned. Peregrine’s gaze hardened.
"Julian Pembroke?"
Bianca stared at him.
Is he mad?