A darkening sky showed beyond the window. The sun inched closer toward the horizon, bringing an end to another day. Dark sky merged with the deep orange, gold, and purple hues of the sunset. Though faint, the moon could be seen in the distance.
My thoughts turned to Callum and the story he’d once told me about the sun and the moon. Lovers torn apart. No happily ever after.
“I always wished I could rewrite the ending,” he’d said.
“How would you change it?”
His brown irises had softened. “I’d have the two meet between day and night and embrace as lovers do, dancing in the twilight.”
My eyes watered. Callum and I had just made things official between us before all of this happened. Like maybe we were the sun and moon after all, destined for one beautiful moment together before having to part again.
I sighed. The exhale of breath tickled Lake’s hair. He frowned and shifted a bit before settling back into a deep sleep.
Pull yourself together, Evan. Moping around wouldn’t solve anything. It’d only send me into a downward spiral.
Cooking always helped clear my head and ground me. Unfortunately, the kitchen was the one room Fane hadn’t shown us on the grand tour earlier. It couldn’t be too hard to find, could it?
I brushed a kiss to the edge of Lake’s brow before tucking the blanket in around him and tiptoeing away from the bed and out of the room. I softly closed the door behind me and turned right. Kitchens were normally on the ground floor, so I just needed to remember which staircase to go down. And then remember all the twists and turns down the long, winding corridors. Piece of cake.
Wrong.
Finding the staircase was easy. The rest? Not so much. I reached the first floor but hadn’t made much progress since then. Unless you counted getting lost as progress. Pretty sure I’d been walking in circles for the past hour. Even worse, each corridor seemed to get darker and more twisty.
“I’m doomed,” I said under my breath as I hit another dead end. “Who designed this freaking place? H.H. Holmes?”
“My grandsire, actually.”
With a squeak, I whirled around and chopped the air.
Onyx caught my forearm inches from his chest. “Attacking me in my own home. How ill-mannered of you.”
“S-Sorry,” I stammered and pulled from his hold. “But you can’t sneak up on people like that. Nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“Afraid of the dark?” he asked with humor rich in his voice. Moonlight came through the tall window beside him, shining on half of his face and drawing my attention to the curve of his lips.
“More like what’s in the dark,” I said. “Flesh-eating ghosts and creepy ghouls. Giant spiders. Or Fane when he realizes I snuck out of my room.”
A musical laugh left him. The sound caused a strange tingle at the base of my sternum. “Fane can be quite stern, even with me.”
“Really? Even though you’re his lord?”
“Especially because I’m his lord.” Onyx reached out and waved his hand in the air. The sconces along the wall came to life one by one, lighting the corridor in a soft golden glow. “He takes his position as my attendant very seriously. Fussing over me to eat and scolding me when I forget to do so.”
“That’s one thing Fane and I have in common, I guess.” A sad knot formed in the pit of my stomach. “I scold some of my men for the same reason. Briar gets so focused on his work sometimes that he forgets basic self-care. Eating and sleeping. And Rowan would live off rum and spicy almonds if I let him.”
“Rowan is the shadow mage who brought you to the dark wood when you and I first met, yes?”
I nodded. “He was bringing me to you. Kind of ironic, considering where I am now.”
“He mistook you for Prince Sawyer and captured you.”
Another nod. “He hoped you’d agree to let him into the Shadow Realm and help him harness his magic. A prince in exchange for passage. He thought I was the key to getting in your good graces.”
“I see.” Onyx’s gaze raked over me. “You do bear a resemblance to the royal family. Though it’s been many years since I’ve seen them.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot.” The sudden spike of nerves made me release a shaky laugh. “Rowan had never met Sawyer before then. He only knew he was blond with green eyes. So I ended up Evan-napped.” The sad knot from earlier twisted more forcefully. “Best mistake ever. It’s what brought Ro and I together.”
“You love them dearly,” Onyx softly said. “All of your males.”
