Kaelen's POV.
The first assassin lunged from behind aiming at Fenrir's spine. I moved before I could think and shoved Fenrir to the side.
"Assassins!" I shouted.
The other three dropped from the rafters.
They were fast, moving with the unnatural fluidity of Blue Moon's elite strike teams.
Fenrir regained his footing instantly.
He caught the second attacker mid-air, swinging his sword in defence.
"They're inside the inner sanctum!" Fenrir roared. "Where are the guards?"
"Dead or bribed," I said.
One of the men in blue leather circled me.
He didn't look at Fenrir, his gaze was locked on me.
I love when people underestimate me.
I stepped into his guard, my hand dipping into the hidden sheath at my thigh. I drove the small, jagged blade upward, through the soft tissue beneath his chin and into his head. He gasped, his eyes rolling back as I twisted the steel.
What a waste of strength.
"One," I muttered, kicking his corpse off my blade.
Fenrir was fighting the remaining two.
One of them slid under Fenrir's heavy swing and drove a thin needle-dagger into the gap in his side armor.
Fenrir let out a guttural growl and backhanded the man with enough force to shatter his skull against the stone wall. But the damage was already done. Fenrir stumbled, his hand flying to the wound in his ribs.
"Fenrir!"
The last assassin saw his opening. He ignored me and sprinted toward the wounded Emperor. I didn't have time to reach them. I grabbed the heavy silver candle-stand from the side table and hurled it. It caught the assassin in the back of the head, staggering him.
I was on him a second later, grabbing his head and slamming it repeatedly into the edge of the stone hearth until he stopped moving.
"Are you hit?" I asked, rushing to his side.
"Just a sting," he gasped. He pulled his hand away from his side.
"Poison," I hissed. "The same toxin they used on Aris. Silas and my father... they didn't just coordinate. Hecate and the Blue Moon are the same hand now."
"Help me to the bed," Fenrir commanded. His face was losing color fast.
I hauled his massive arm over my shoulder, my Omega body straining under his weight. I managed to get him to the mattress.
He collapsed, his breath hitching.
"I'll call the medic," I said, turning to the door.
"No!" Fenrir grabbed my wrist. His grip was still strong, but his hand was trembling. "The medics... Hecate owns them. You said it yourself, Aris told you she has the council. If you call them, they'll finish what the assassins started."
"I can't treat manticore bile with a wet rag, Fenrir."
"The apothecary chest," he pointed to a heavy iron box in the corner. "It has the antidote."
I ran to the chest, smashed the lock with the hilt of my dagger, and found a small vial of clear blue liquid. I rushed back and forced it down his throat. He choked, coughing up a spray of dark blood.
I spent the next four hours sitting on the edge of the bed. I stripped his armor off, piece by piece, and cleaned the wound.
By midnight, the fever hit him. He was tossing, his skin burning. I sat there, wiping his forehead with a cold cloth.
"Linus," he whispered, his eyes fluttering open.
"I'm here. Stay still."
"You killed that man... with your bare hands." He let out a weak, dry laugh. "I don't think i have seen anyone do that."
"I told you, I'm not ordinary."
"I know." He reached out, his fingers brushing my cheek. "Hecate thinks I'm the threat. She's wrong. You're the one who's going to burn her world down, aren't you?"
"I'm going to burn everyone who touched you," I said.
Fenrir watched me for a long time. "Rule with me, Linus. Not as a consort or an advisor. Rule as my equal. The Iron Fang needs a King who isn't afraid of the dark."
"Focus on breathing," I said. "We can talk about crowns in the morning."
"I'm serious," he wheezed. "The generals... they saw you tonight. They saw you lead the council. They're afraid of you and that's better than loyalty. Fear keeps them from stabbing you. Respect keeps them from leaving."
"I'm not going anywhere," I said. "Now sleep."
I realized then that my father had made a fatal mistake. He thought threatening the Iron Fang would bring me home. Instead, he had given me a reason to destroy the Blue Moon entirely.
As the first light of dawn hit the window, Fenrir's fever finally broke. He looked pale, but the green tint was gone from his veins.
He tried to sit up.
"Stay down," I commanded.
"I have a war council," he grunted.
"The council can wait. You almost died."
He looked at me, a smirk tugging at his mouth. "You're very bossy for a rabbit."
"And you're very fragile for a wolf," I shot back.
He reached for my hand, pulling me closer. "Thank you for staying."
"Don't thank me yet. We still have to find where Hecate is hiding the fleet."
Fenrir started to say something, but his eyes suddenly went wide. He clutched his chest, his back arching off the bed. A terrifying sound came from his mouth.
"Fenrir?"
He didn't answer. His eyes rolled back and his body went limp. The blue antidote hadn't worked. Or rather, it had only delayed the inevitable.
I looked at the vial. There was a faint, almost invisible residue at the bottom.
"A double-blind poison," I whispered, my heart dropping into my stomach.
I grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Fenrir! Wake up! That's an order!"
He didn't move.
I looked at the door, I could hear many footsteps. The council was coming. I stood up, drawing both of my blades. My Indigo silks were ruined, covered in the Emperor's blood.
"If you die on me, Fenrir," I said to his unconscious body, "I'll kill you again in the next life."
The door burst open. The High Priest and the newly appointed Master of Coin stood there, with twenty guards behind them.
"The Emperor has passed," the High Priest announced. "Prince Linus, you will surrender your weapons and prepare for deportation."
"The Emperor is resting," I said, my voice low. "And anyone who takes another step into this room will be joining their ancestors before they can hit the floor."
"He is dead, boy!" the Master of Coin shouted.
"He is the Iron Fang," I said, stepping between them and the bed. "And I am his voice. Leave! Now!"