I knew she’d done something.
The hoarse whisper makes all three of us fall silent. “What’s wrong with him?”
I left the door to her cell open.
And Darianflinches.
My erevas breaks free without effort. They slam into the witch, forcing her back against the wall as I turn. “Tell me what you did.”
“Don’t hurt her!” Eres tries to rise, his hands still holding on to Darian.
Ignoring him, I push my face into hers. I know she did something. “Tell me, or I will snap your neck right now.”
That fire glints in her eyes, and she begins to struggle. I add more erevas, pinning her in place. Her wrists, her legs, her poisonous fucking neck. “Talk.”
I’m so focused on her that the shift in the air doesn’t register fast enough. The body slams into me from the side, knocking me aside. The cold stone floor smashes into my face. Twisting with barely a second’s pause, I lift my hands—
Darian has the witch caged. His arms bracket either side of her head, his face buried in her neck and his shoulders curved inward.
It takes me a moment to understand. Longer. I stare at him until the words register.
“Don’t touch her.”
Lyra
He feels so warm.
Darian’s body trembles against mine as I look over his shoulder, locking eyes with Eres. His gaze is wide, as confused as mine must be.
“I didn’t do anything,” I repeat. My head aches from meeting the wall as I turn it to look at Duskbane. “I don’t know what this is.”
“She’s right.” The words brush against the skin of my neck. Darian pulls back, enough for me to see his face. “It’s not her fault, Kaelen. Don’t touch her.”
I don’t understand.“What happened?”
But Darian only stares at me. His eyes scan my face, and then lower. They dip to my throat, taking in the bare expanse of skin exposed by the neckline of my shirt. My body flinches as his hand raises, still caught in the panic I felt on waking to a roaringDarkwielder in my face, and he stops. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Instead, he pushes aside the shirt, exposing my collarbone. And I inhale sharply, looking down as his hand covers me. His fingers spread out over the riftlines left by the Binding.
“Your skin is so soft,” Darian murmurs, and I jerk my head up. “It didn’t leave a scar.”
I stop breathing. My heart begins to beat faster. “Get off me.”
But his voice only deepens. “Hebrandedyou here.”
My whole body begins to shake. “That’s none of your business.”
But now I know. Anger surges, tightening my throat, constricting my ribs until I’m struggling to breathe. “You hadno rightto enter my dreams.”
“They weren’t dreams,” Darian says quietly. His hand still presses across my skin, warming it. “Those were nightmares.”
His eyes glimmer as he pulls his hand back. I wait for him to step back, but he doesn’t. He reaches for my arm without letting any distance come between us, not looking away as his finger traces a pattern that I recognize all too well. Nausea surges. “Your nightmares reveal far more than your memories, little Lightbringer. He carved you here too.”
“What’s going on?” Tightly controlled fury underscores Duskbane’s words as he pulls himself to his feet.
“Stop it.” My eyes begin to burn. “They were just dreams.”
“I can tell the difference.” His fingers drop to trace over my hip, above the material that covers them. “He used a hammer here. The first time, at least.”
