I sighed, my eyes heavy and warm. Or maybe I didn’t thank him. I couldn’t remember.
“You’re all that I have left,” I admitted quietly. “Do you know that?”
The Shadow Bringer leaned over me, exposed lips a breath from my own. “That isn’t true.”
“But it is,” I breathed. Tears ran down my face, bubbling up from where I had suppressed them earlier. “And it is heartbreaking.”
“I heard you scream for ‘Elliot.’”
“He’s my little brother,” I whispered. “The Light Bringer took him.”
I felt a hand—is it a hand or his shadows?—slide around the nape of my neck, threading my hair with long, cool fingers. I shivered, leaning into him as he held me, and marveled at the new shade of darkness spinning around us. I reached out to touch it, to see what it felt like—and realized it was rippling from my own skin.
What is this?I thought I asked.What is this coming from my body?
But my eyes were heavy again, and the stone so soft and welcoming.
Something brushed my temple, my cheek.
And then I felt no more.
Dreamer, dreamer—wake up.”
I sighed, burrowing into the silky depths of my bed. “Go away.”
“How long do you intend to keep us waiting?”
“Us? Is Mother there, too?” I nestled deeper into the bedding, tugging a particularly fine blanket up to my nose. It smelled of juniper, night, and the brush of rain on fallen leaves. “I’m not ready yet.”
“We have not the time as you do,” the voice said irritably, as if I were a petulant child.
“We wait.Hewaits,” said a second voice, its tone more gravelly than the first.
“But I’ve waited longer,” the first voice snapped.
A groan crept out before I could stop it. Why were Elliot and Mother so insistent? Didn’t they know how exhausted I was? My bones were stone, my skin a sheath of molasses. I couldn’t possibly do what they asked.
“Wake up,” the first voice urged.
“Wake up,” the second echoed.
“Wake up,” they commanded together.
“Fine—I will,” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes and giving the room a bleary once-over. Everything was so dark, so formless; had they not thought to light a lamp? “Where are you?”
“We’re here,” the voices said as one.
Ice gripped my spine, spiraling up toward my neck. The Shadow Bringer’s room hit me with all its force—its every shadow, its colors and smell. I threw back the covers, mortified that part of me still yearned to curl up in his blankets, to breathe deep the scent of night and rain on his pillows, and sleep.
Where did those voices come from?
A quick scan of the Shadow Bringer’s chamber told me I was alone, but there were too many places to hide, too many corners that could cloak or conceal. And what was that dragging noise coming from the hall? I squeezed my elbows, wishing that I were wearing the Shadow Bringer’s menacing armor instead of the full-length dress that manifested on my body whenever I dreamed. I’d have felt much safer under a sheath of metal.
Maybe that was why he wore all those layers.
“Come to me, shadows,” I said, attempting to sound strong and confident. I waited, expectant, trying to quiet my breathing. My heart was panicking, clawing at my throat, which made it difficult to hear the demons in the hall. Were they watching, waiting? Did they know I was here, alone? “Shadows, come forward,” I hissed again, feeling ridiculous.Why aren’t they listening?
“Let us out!” a demon suddenly shrieked, slamming its weight into the door. The walls trembled at the force of it, letting loose a few books and a lot of dust.
