As soon as the portal snapped shut, Rex and Jax were there. Jax just arrived under the Redmoon library after getting a mindlink that Fin and Redmoon jumped into the portal after her.
"Nova—" Rex choked out. His jaw ticked seeing her limp in Fin's arms, silver blood smeared across her jaw, the Ascendant Key clenched weakly in her fist.
Jax ran to her, his hand hovered over her face before settling on her cheek. She was ice cold. Too cold.
Rex's eyes flashed when he saw the Ascendant Key clutched in her hand.
Alejandro began checking Redmoon for wounds.
"I am fine, please Alejandro. She needs treatment immediately," Redmoon said.
All three felt her pain through the matebond. Which meant she was conscious to a certain degree. It was raw, sharp, and radiating like a furnace.
Fin didn't waste time. He dropped to his knees and unzipped the back of her thermal weave suit.
And froze.
Three long, obsidian-black spikes were lodged deep in her side and across her ribs. Spikes he'd somehow missed while dragging her out of the lake, while doing CPR, while carrying her.
"Fuck—how did I not—" Fin's voice cracked, horror slicing through him.
Alejandro was already beside him, gloves on, eyes grim.
"Hold her steady."
He gripped the first spike and pulled.
Nova let out a whimper. Her green eyes flickered open, tears falling sideways.
Rex staggered, falling on his knees as the pain blasted down the matebond.
"Gods…" he rasped, breath shaking.
He had always felt her pain and emotions. Was it always to that degree?
His wolf didn't comment.
Fin and Jax also felt a shadow of it through the matebond, and they shuddered at the exact same time.
Fin swallowed hard."I'm sorry, baby."
Alejandro gripped the second spike and pulled.
Nova groaned, broken. Her breath came in short pants. Her body curled instinctively toward Fin.
"Easy—easy," Jax murmured, his voice trembling as he brushed her hair back with shaking fingers.
Alejandro took hold of the third spike. He pulled.
Nova's eyes rolled back immediately.
No scream this time.
No sound at all.
Just her going limp.
Which was worse.
Hyran stepped in, face pale and set with grim focus.
"Dark magic is in her leg. I can feel it poisoning upward."
Without waiting, he pressed his hand just above her hip and dragged a mass of roiling black energy out of her body like smoke being yanked from the air. Nova twitched, her breathing hitching sharply.
"It needs to come out before we can heal her," he said.
Fin didn't wait another second. He scooped her into his arms like she weighed nothing—her head falling limp against his shoulder.
"We are not doing this here," he said, voice low and dangerous. "Make a portal to the room she's staying in."
Hyran nodded once. A portal tore open immediately—golden light swirling with his red magic.
Fin stepped through with Nova held tight to him, Jax, and Rex at his sides, all fueled by fear, fury, and love.
Redmoon followed behind them. His posture remained controlled, his stride steady, but the color had drained from his face. The calm he was known for had not broken. It had hardened.
After hearing what the ancestors revealed, he understood now who Nova was. Or rather, what.
She was what he had been sworn to protect since childhood.
Not just him, but every royal and dragon-rider of Redmoon. The oath had been woven into them early, taught before they were old enough to question it. A blood vow taken, passed through generations. Spoken rarely. Explained vaguely. Believed by most to be ceremonial. A myth wrapped in tradition.
But it was real. And Nova was the reason it existed.
Her bond with Rex and with Onyx alone would have marked her as sacred to Redmoon. One of only two beings he had ever known to share that depth of connection with a single dragon. That alone would have been enough to place her under his protection.
Rex mentioned the whispers from ancestors yesterday calling her the Incarnate of the First Dragon Queen. But what confirmed it today, was when she opened the Vault of the First Flame.
As the prophecies had foretold the Queen would, someday. He then heard ancestors repeat that today with his own ears. There was no denying.
Rex was the Incarnate of the First Dragon King, a truth foretold by prophecy before his birth. That revelation, at least, had never been shocking. It had been expected. Prepared for.
What followed was what made everything else fall into place.
If Rex was the First Dragon King reborn, then it was only logical that his true fated mate would be the Incarnate of the First Dragon Queen.
When the fire from the basin exploded to the ceiling two days prior under their library, that proved she was his true mate. He hadn't addressed it yet with Rex. But that meant their bond was pure. Blessed by fate, lasting over multiple life times and chosen by their ancestors.
And she was his true fated mate.
She had saved Rex's life after a vampire's bite. If his hunch was correct, that would require her blood and her venom. He'd need to fact check that part and he planned on it.
She had saved Redmoon's armies from annihilation during the War Summit, turning the tide of invasion with precision no strategist could have matched.
There were too many golden threads of fate snapping together to deny it.
Taken together, it meant only one thing. She was essentially the equivalent of a daughter to him now. Whether Rex ever claimed her publicly was irrelevant.
House Redmoon would still be claiming her. She was part of Redmoon, bound by oaths older than any crown.
It placed her in the line of succession. If Rex were to perish, she would stand behind him. Not as a courtesy. Not as a symbol. But by right.
Rex's mother died when Rex was young. But in truth, he always wanted a daughter. Maybe this was fate giving him that wish.
Redmoon made eye contact with Hyran who understood, they needed a word in private.
Jax stepped between Alejandro and the bed, voice steady but vibrating with tension.
"We need a minute with her."
Alejandro froze, glanced at Fin, then nodded and stepped out with Rex and Redmoon.
The door shut.
Fin and Jax stood on either side of her, both breathing like they'd run miles, both terrified of what they were about to see. Together, silently, they peeled the shredded thermal weave suit away from her skin.
And both of them went still.
There were stab wounds.
Not from spikes.
Not from monsters.
Not accidental.
Multiple stab wounds—layered over older bruises, half-healed scratches, and the newest punctures. Some were shallow slashes. Some were deep. All were hidden by the fabric and water until now.
"Fuck," Fin whispered, rubbing his face.
Jax's hands shook, jaw clenched so tightly a vein pulsed along his neck.
Then they saw it.
A fourth spike—buried deep in her leg.
Right above the calf.
Blackened at the edges.
Nova didn't move. Didn't moan. Didn't twitch.
She remained limp, breathing faint and uneven.
Fin refused to strip her more than necessary. He left her bra and thong on and immediately grabbed a towel from the shelf, draping it gently over her so she wasn't exposed.
He kept one hand braced on her shoulder like she might disappear if he let go.
Then he called out, voice low. "Bring Alejandro back."
Moments later, Alejandro reentered, eyes widening the instant he saw the damage they hadn't uncovered earlier.
Fin stepped back only enough to give him access to the leg, still keeping one hand on her.
Alejandro pulled on gloves.
"Hold her steady."
Alejandro gripped the spike.
One sharp, clean pull.
The spike slid free—longer than any of them expected.
Nova let out a sob, eyes opening. Her breathing was ragged.
"Easy... that was the last one," Jax said soothingly, wiping her tears with his thumb.
Fin's body reacted. A low, guttural sound ripped from his chest as his magic surged outward—gold blazing through every vein. The moment his hands touched Nova's skin, dark magic boiled out of her, wrenched free as if dragged by force.
It hit Fin's golden magic and disintegrated on contact, burning away into nothing.
Alejandro's brows lifted slightly—but otherwise, he showed no surprise. He stepped closer, observing with clinical focus.
Nova let out another whimper and her eyes fluttered close.
Fin kept going—jaw tight, breathing ragged—as he pressed both palms to her ribs, then her abdomen, then her leg. Golden light poured from him like a second pulse, flooding every wound and knitting the torn flesh closed until only deep bruises remained behind.
Jax watched in silence.
When Fin finally sagged forward, panting, Alejandro moved in—hands gentle, expression unreadable. He checked her pulse, her breathing, her pupils, her temperature. His fingers examined each bruise with the care of someone handling something priceless and fragile.
He exhaled slowly. Her lips were still blue.
Rex knocked, almost not caring and was about to enter regardless of what they said.
Jax put a thick blanket over Nova.
"You can come in", he called.
Rex entered eyes were on Nova.
"She's stabilized," Alejandro confirmed.
"But her core temperature hasn't fully recovered. Even after your warming earlier, she's still hypothermic."
He glanced at the bruises again, the shape of them unmistakable.
"You are aware those are stab wounds," Alejandro said quietly. "A lot of them."
Fin and Jax both nodded. Both were familiar with what stab wounds look like. Fin was now aware it'd been forty-eight hours for Nova and Rex.
Rex however wasn't aware of that and his hands curled into fists.
Alejandro continued calmly, efficient despite the gravity in the room.
"We need to bring her temperature up slowly," he instructed. "Blankets. Warmth. Skin contact will help. She should be alright."
Jax tightened the blanket around Nova.
Alejandro moved to the small cooling cabinet built into the wall—normally used for potions, salves, and medical elixirs—and pulled it open with a soft click.
He placed two glass vials inside, their contents swirling faintly—one pale gold, one deep blue.
"These need to stay chilled," he said, voice low but firm. "When she wakes, have her drink both."
Fin looked up sharply and nodded. "What are they?"
Alejandro closed the cabinet, locking it with a gentle tap of his finger.
"The gold one will restore her internal balance," he explained. "Shock, blood loss, magical exertion… her system is fried. That tonic will stabilize it."
He tapped the second vial through the glass—blue liquid shimmering like captured moonlight.
"And this one," he continued, "will help flush the lingering venom and dark magic residue. It will taste terrible. She'll hate it. But she needs it."
Jax nodded once. "We'll get them in her."
Alejandro gave all three men the kind of look healers usually reserved for warriors who hovered too close to the edge of panic.
"She is not dying," he said plainly. "None of you need to pace the floor like caged animals. Not today."
Fin didn't breathe.
Jax stared at Nova like he might lose her if he blinked.
Rex was still frozen.
Alejandro sighed. "The three of you are in equal if not worse shape. You do realize that, right?"