Now—before it attacks.
I could feel my blade’s power. It thrummed underneath my hands, waiting to be used.Pleadingto be used. I knew what it was capable of, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Because the demon looked sosad. Fearful and uncertain, just as I was. It continued to shiver, glancing between the sword in my hands and my stricken face.
When it sensed I was no longer a threat, the thing sank to its belly, crawling into a nearby hole, and gave a small warbling cry before falling silent. My sword hung limply from my fingers, scraping against the rocks.
What was Idoing?
Tears sprang to my eyes, unbidden and unwanted. I stumbled back to the Nocturne. I could feel the Shadow Bringer’s darkness—the shadows that lingered, even now. Shadows that trailed behind him as he sank deeper, deeper,deeperinto the water until I couldn’t see him anymore. And through that swell of darkness, I could feel his pain. The deep,aching sorrow at seeing his tragic past lived out again. The indignation—theanger—at fighting himself. The pain of drowning. The fear of being lost to the Nocturne’s dreams.
And there was something else, too. A longing for someone.
A longing forme.
I fell to my knees, numb to the demons dropping from the sky and crawling from the water. The Shadow Bringer was lost to the Nocturne. And if he was ever to come back,Ihad to save him.Ihad to fight for him—now—before he fell deeper. This felt real. Thiswasreal.
I sank my hands into the water, reaching for his threads of shadow. For the trail of darkness that lingered behind him like unraveling strings. I wrapped them around my arms. Willed them toward me with everything I had. And then I pulled. Mentally and physically. I pulledhard. Even as the demons screamed. Even as they rushed toward Evernight. I ignored them all, shut out what I couldn’t understand, and focused on the Shadow Bringer.
Erebus was there, too. I could feel him as I called to the Shadow Bringer. Erebus was falling fast, lost between the Nocturne’s dreams and the demons breaking free from it. Again I saw that boy back in the woods, fearing for his life. Despite his rank, despite his power, he was just a boy. A boy doubting his purpose and his worth as they crumbled between his fingers.
So I called for them both. Summoned the shadows that spun from each of them.
And when I saw a body emerging from the deep, I lunged for it.
“Hang on!” I screamed, grabbing for his arms, his shoulders,anything. Miraculously, I found his hands. And he held on.
But just as I pulled him up, I slipped on the rocks, falling sideways. Something grabbed for my foot, dragging me down. Pain lanced up my leg, red-hot and searing. Whatever tore at my foot was moving up my skin, climbing its claw up my leg as I fought to swim back to thesurface. But the thing on my leg was stronger. It viciously pulled me down, down,down.
Faintly, I began to hear a song. A whisper of a memory, calling me deeper.
Elliot’s arms, wrapping me in a hug.
Mother’s hands, tying a ribbon through my hair.
Father’s eyes, bright with approval—with joy. Atme.
Eden’s voice, begging me to play.
Esmer! Esmer, come here. Come see.
Eden, begging me to stay.
Esmer, please. I miss you.
I wanted to follow the Nocturne’s call. Ached to follow those voices—those memories—down, down, down. But before I could, the Bringer heaved me out of the sea and into his arms. A curtain of shadow followed behind, twisting around us like a blanket.
“They were just dreams,” he spoke into my hair, easing me to the ground and into his lap. “Just dreams.”
The Shadow Bringer was cold and wet, but I didn’t care. I clung to him with all the strength I had left, almost shattering at the contact. I wanted more than anything to bury my face in his chest and cry. But when I tilted my head up, expecting to see the man I had grown to cherish, my mouth fell open.
He was the Shadow Bringer—but he was also Erebus.
His eyes were the same, a brilliant silver with shadows melting from their edges. But his moon-white hair was black as night. His skin was darker, too. It spoke of a life lived away from dreams. A life lived in the sun. Most shocking of all, though, was that his face was bare. His mask was gone, lost to the Nocturne. He was so beautiful, so utterlyalive, that it made me ache at every pulse point.
“What have I become?” he asked, noticing the shift in my expression and the black, tousled strands that fell to his shoulders. “Who am I, Esmer?”
I cupped his face, marveling at every perfect feature. Who was he? I considered the question seriously.
“You’re a prince of darkness,” I began, tracing his cheek with my right hand as he leaned into my left. “A fearless warrior, a talented dreamer, a brilliant mind,” I continued, moving from his temple to his hair. He listened wordlessly, completely enraptured by my voice and my touch. “A beautiful soul whose shadows mingle with my own. A man who is, despite everything he’s endured,good. A man my soul had been yearning for.”
