“He’ll never let me go.” My voice is hoarse and scratchy.
“Soon we’ll be together. I’ll hunt you to the ends of Arin to claim you.”
“He won’t stop. He never will.” I can feel Eraldon’s resolve, his lust for domination.
“My lord, we need to move. They’ll be coming for us. We have to make it to the border.”
“I won’t let him take you.” Solano kisses my forehead. “Never again.”
“He’s already here. In my blood. He made me drink from him again and again. He made me. He’ll never stop hunting me.”
“Then let him come, Emma. Let him try. I swear to you on the magic that I will never let him take you again.”
My vision is still blurred as he lifts me onto his horse. We take off, Solano’s arms wrapped tightly around me as we ride for our lives.
What was once an aching thorn under my ribs is gone, filled with the light and heat of my connection to Solano. But underneath it, deep in my bones, I can still feel Eraldon. His touch, his will.
“If you refuse to do as I bid, then there will be consequences, my pet. You must be taught a lesson.”
“Solano.” I say his name. Or do I? I can’t seem to make a sound. My eyelids grow heavy again, and I can’t breathe.
“Emma?” Solano grips me tighter. “Emma?”
“It’s Eraldon, he’s still…” Everything goes black, then comes into sharp focus.
Eraldon has me by the throat. His face is still blackened, his jawbone showing through his charred skin. I cringe away from him, but he only squeezes my throat tighter.
“Flee to the day. Try and hide behind the sun king. I’ll find you, Emma. I always will.” He leans closer. “I’ll be there soon to finish what we started.” He grins, his scorched skin cracking. “Now sleep, little nightling, and wait for me in the dark.”
27
Solano
She’s gone quiet and still in my arms.
“We have to stop.” I slow my pace. “Something’s wrong.”
“They’re coming. We can’t stay another moment.” Charen scans the trees behind us as the barrier between night and day casts a glow around us.
“They can still enter our realm. We have to be on our guard even after we cross.”
“After we cross, they won’t stand a chance.” I glance at Emma. She still draws breath even though her mind is eerily quiet.
Behind us, a hum arises, like the swoop of wings and the rush of wind through the trees. Seekers. I destroyed many at the Nightkeep, but that was only a fraction of the troops Eraldon has amassed.
“We must hurry.” Charen’s dark power is spent, and all my warriors are battle-worn.
Charen’s right. We can’t stop. Not now. Once we’re in day, I can defend her far better. I have what’s left of the ember stone, but I spent its power at the Nightkeep.
“Faster!” I spur my horse down the narrow path toward Nightsbane, the village that separates night from day. Emma is warded. I saw Grimelda ward her when I first brought her from the Nightlands. I thought that would keep her safe for our return trip. But now that the barrier is getting closer, I wonder if it will be enough now that she’s changed. Doubt and fear coil inside me. I need more time to figure this out.
“Behind us!” Tristano fires off a volley of arrows as seekers burst from the trees at our backs. They’re like a roiling mass, climbing over each other, crushing their comrades as they seek our blood.
We can’t turn back. My cohort of soldiers lies just beyond Nightsbane. If we can beat back the seekers from our borders, we’ll be able to return to the Shard of Day and prepare for what comes next. Staying here would be a death sentence for all of us and leave Emma in the hands of Eraldon.
Whatever power I have, I turn it toward her, toward keeping her safe as we charge to the barrier between the realms. The moon at my back, I thunder onward, up to the cobblestone path, hurtling into the magical glow.
As soon as we pass through, I can feel my power returning, my senses sharpening. The townspeople of Nightsbane scatter in the streets as Charen yells for them to seek shelter.
