You left him.
A tug at my ankles jerked me awake from my nightmare. Sweat beaded on my brow, and my brown short-sleeved tunic stuck to my skin.
The room remained pitch dark, the moon hidden behind clouds, suffocating any light that should’ve entered through the window.
Andras’s words from my youth twisted in my dreams. Instead of being in the dungeon, I stood watching Ian burnandKade get swallowed up by Thames’s evil shadows. All the while hearing Andras’s vitriol about how useless I was as a princess.
The sensation of calming, cool peace swirled around my legs before I jumped at the tug. Sitting up in bed, I glanced down toward my feet and gasped.
Twirling around my ankles in a familiar inky pattern were Kade’s shadows. A sob escaped my lips as I brought my hand to my throat. I was still dreaming. I had to be.
“Hurry.”
I froze.
“Hurry, mate.”
The light in my chest sparked, flaring to life, flowing out of me, intertwining with the shadows. They swirled together in what I could only describe as bliss. With what little I knew of my magic, it felt at home.
“He needs you.”
Without a second thought, I jumped from the bed and grabbed the closest pair of pants I could find. As they had done in Mysthaven, the shadows swirled around me, leading me on an unknown path. I tiptoed barefoot to the door and cracked it open. The shadows muffled the creak of the old inn. A cursory glance over the hall assured me everyone remained behind their doors, unaware of my actions. No one heard me.
I slipped into the hall. The black tendrils of Kade’s shadows shimmered as my light followed its trail, guiding me through the night. My body trembled with anticipation. Was Kade really here? He had to be if his shadows were, but something must be wrong if they called me instead of him coming himself.
I crept down the stairs, my hands shaking on the railing, praying to the Fates I didn’t make any noise. I wanted to run. To bolt through the door and find him.
“Patience. You must not be caught.”
I twisted the doorknob to the front of the inn and slipped out into the night. A slight chill hung in the air, as a tentative feeling of dread crawled up my spine. Kade was nowhere to be seen, but his shadows trailed forward.
They swirled around the outskirts of the camp. All the tents remained dark, with the only light coming from the dying embers of their fires. Our army slept, but the shadows hid me from the watchful eyes of those standing guard. Theshadows would never betray our position, but I couldn’t help the discomfort of deceiving those around me by sneaking out.
Still, I followed.
The wind brushed at my skin, delicate but steady. The sounds of nature surrounded me as I followed Kade’s shadows. They stopped a few times as we made our way into the woods, as if straining and pulling taut, but it only lasted a few seconds.
“Help him.”
My body tensed with the urgency of the words his shadows poured into me. I ran my hand along the dagger at my thigh that I’d taken to sleeping with, just in case.
Please let him be all right, I begged the Fates.
The shadows led me into the woods, eerie in the faint moonlight. Sensing my unease, they reassured me to follow every few steps. My light flared among the shadows when we entered the tree line, allowing me to see a short path in front of me.
Now you decide to come out?I thought, frustrated my magic refused to show itself for all the times I'd recently worked with Storm.
“Kade?” I called out in a half whisper, straining my voice with the choked rasp as the ache in my chest grew until it burned. “Kade?”
I trailed the shadows farther into the forest, and the dread I felt earlier doubled. Beyond my own steps, the forest was silent. Not a rustle of an animal skittering about or an insect buzzing in the night. Even the wind halted this far in, refusing to follow me any deeper. The stagnant air thickened around us.
In a single breath, the shadows stopped. Instead of remaining in their trail-like shape, they tightened around me, pooling at my feet.
“Kade?” I called out louder.
A low, throaty laugh echoed around me. “You shouldn’t have come here alone, Little Rebel.”
He was here.
