I went still.
Arjan’s words seemed to echo in the cold, suspended in the air like a blade about to fall. The girl. He meant me.
Why? Why would these wolves want me?
When Diaval first informed Rion of the Arthien rogues, I imagined a skirmish, maybe an old rivalry, but not this.
My stomach twisted as I was reminded that Arthien wasn’t a pack bound by loyalty or law. They were people who sold their teeth to whoever had enough gold or had valuables they could trade.
And if they were here, demanding me, then someone had bought them.
Someone like Finn.
My chest burned as his name crashed into me like a curse.
That goddamn Finn.
He had done this. He’d paid them to drag me back like stolen property.
The thought made bile rise in my throat.
"Are you truly certain you have the Millow Shade?"
Rion’s voice cut through the silence, deceptively calm. But I could sense the intrigue lacing his tone.
I turned to him, narrowing my eyes. There it was—that glint of interest in his gaze, unmistakable. Interest for the relic.
The Millow Shade.
The name was famiiar, and I remembered some details of it.
I had read about it in the pages of old tomes, half-convinced it was legend. A relic shaped like a golden leaf, with a mirrored heart at its center, capable of holding a hidden place within itself. A place no one could enter unless the wielder willed it. A sanctuary, a prison, folded into the palm of a hand.
But it was supposed to be gone. Lost for over a century.
Arjan’s scarred face twisted into a grin, teeth flashing white against the ruin of flesh.
"How could I lie to you, Rion? We both know I wouldn’t make it three steps out of your borders if I dared because of your wards. The earth itself would spit my bones before I could run to the end of it."
Then, slowly, he raised his hand.
And I saw it.
The Millow Shade gleamed in his palm, no larger than a man’s hand, its surface shimmering with a faint golden light.
The edges curled like a leaf caught in perpetual autumn, but the center... the center rippled, like molten glass or a mirror caught between reflections. It seemed to pull the light toward it, as though swallowing the world.
My breath faltered.
Even from this distance, I could feel its strangeness, like it wasn’t merely an object but a living thing, watching.
Rion’s eyes flickered, shadows dancing around him.
"How did you find it?" His voice was too sharp, too intent.
I searched his face, desperate to read him, but Rion was a fortress.
Was he truly considering trading me away for that... thing?
No. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t.
He had risked so much to bring me here. He had stood against Finn, had torn me from the North, crossed miles of hostile lands, broken through borders.
Would he really surrender me now after what he’d done?
Or had I been wrong all along?
What if he hadn’t done it for me? What if it was never about me at all?
What if I had only been a pawn in rivalry with Finn, a stolen piece moved across the board to wound his rival’s pride? Maybe he only meant to spite him.
The cold pressed harder into my skin, burrowing beneath my ribs.
Arjan laughed, rough and guttural.
"I’ve got connections. You know Arthien never stays in one place. We travel, we hear whispers, we see things others don’t. A little persistence, a little luck, and this beauty fell into my hands. At first, I thought I’d sell it to the highest bidder." He tilted his head, scar creasing with his grin. "But then I remembered you, Rion. Your... fondness for collecting rare things."
"Collecting?" Rion’s mouth twitched, though not quite a smile. "You make me sound like some petty merchant."
"Obsession, then?" Arjan countered, the words heavy with mockery.
The snow seemed to hold its breath. Even the wolves pacing behind him stilled, their golden eyes fixed upward.
"When the Levian pack reached out," Arjan went on smoothly, "I realized I could make better use of it. They offered us gold, a great amount someone like me won’t dare refuse, and they told us about a girl. A girl worth retrieving."
His eyes cut to me, humorous and cruel. "Turns out someone important wants her back."
My chest clenched so tightly I thought I might choke on the air.
This was Finn’s hand at work, reaching across miles of frozen land, trying to drag me back into his cage.
I forced myself not to flinch under Arjan’s gaze.
Rion tilted his head, eyes unreadable as they flicked toward me.
"Amazing," he murmured finally, almost thoughtful. "You never fail to impress, Arjan. Always so resourceful. Always so... enterprising."
The scarred wolf bowed his head slightly, mock humility. "You flatter me."
"I don’t flatter," Rion replied. His voice was soft, but the warmth in it sent a shiver down my spine.
The air thickened. Their words were simple, almost polite, but beneath them ran a river of violence and calculation.
I felt like I stood at the edge of something vast and terrible, the world about to tip into ruin.
Arjan’s grin widened. "Still, you understand what I’m offering. You know the worth of this." He held up the Millow Shade again, its surface rippling faintly. "And you know the worth of her."
His chin jerked toward me. "But I’m not greedy. I know a fair trade when I see one."
I could feel the tension coil around me like a noose. My heart hammered, each beat a desperate plea that Rion would refuse. That he would laugh in Arjan’s face, tear the artifact from his hand, and rip the rogues apart for daring.
I wished that to happen not because Rion was the better man between him and Finn, but because I had my own plans. And I couldn’t afford to return to Finn’s chains.
But Rion’s expression was unreadable. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, as though weighing invisible scales.
My pulse thundered in my ears.
And then he spoke.
"It’s a deal, then."
The world seemed to drop out from under me.
"Give me the relic..." He paused, and then his gaze slid to me. Ocean eyes caught mine, holding me like shackles. His mouth curved into a smile—dark, dangerous, merciless.
"...and she is all yours."