3
Devora
“Well, at least you bothered to knock this time,” I said, barely glancing up at the tall frame in the doorway.
I felt those navy-blue eyes on me, saw those broad shoulders tightening as he bristled. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him run a hand clad in glittering rings through his wavy, dirty-blond hair, then he crossed his arms over his chest to glare at me.
I thought it got on his nerves how little I seemed to acknowledge him, which was difficult, considering he took upso muchspace. I felt him in every inch of this tower; his presence was relentless, all-consuming, like a wave of heat beating at my skin.
But I ignored it.
Nox Duma was the kind of man used to commanding a room simply by entering it. He was all magnetic swagger and charm, with a hint of danger lying beneath the surface that intrigued youjustenough to try and crack it.
I’d seen that side of him, once. Before he decided to hate me. Before he’d taken me to serve my punishment.
Before I’d ruined everything.
The first time I saw Nox was three months ago back inMysthelm, sitting next to Empress Clarissa at a campfire. The flames blazed in his dark eyes, accentuating that sinful smirk and catching the rings littering his fingers. He would toss a well-timed joke around the campfire when he knew the attention was on him. He had given his laughter so freely back then.
Suffice it to say, I didn’t get that version of Nox. I didn’t get the man who was all wit and charisma and handsome smirks.
I got the dragon with hatred in his eyes. The one whose claws itched to sink into me, whose teeth begged to draw blood.
I found my gaze straying to him, to the cloak draped across his shoulders, the tight pants tucked into sturdy black boots. I flicked my eyes back down to my book. “Going somewhere?”
He ignored my question. “It happened again.”
I leaned back in the chair and propped my legs on the windowsill. “I hear it happens to a lot of men. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
A small growl rumbled from his chest, and I stifled a smirk.Devora - 1, Dragon - 0.
“Your shadows,” he said, the words slow and deliberate. “The maids saw them again.”
My grin slipped. I brought my legs back to the floor. “Again? I…I didn’t feel anything.”
“You were probably sleeping.” He ran a finger along his bottom lip. “Magic can be triggered by strong emotions, like in dreams.”
Or nightmares. I looked away from him and stared out the window, onto the rocky waves below. In the setting sun, the white foam could almost be mistaken for smoke. I saw it rising up a tall stake, eating away at flesh and fur?—
“I’m not doing it on purpose,” I said abruptly, shaking away the vision.
I knew what he suspected. That I was practicing my magic, preparing for some sort of escape or attack, maybe to finish the job I’d started with Empress Clarissa. About a month ago, the maids reported thick swells of shadows creeping beneath my door atnight. Nox had instantly barged in to interrogate me, but it was useless. I couldn’t control it.
My shadows hadn’t shown themselves in months. Not consciously, anyway. I hadn’t felt them since Nox and I crossed the border into the Veridian Empire. Magic didn’t exist outside these borders, which was why I’d never known what I was while growing up in the powerless land of Mysthelm. I didn’t find out until I was exposed to Veridian magic for the first time.
I had noideahow the shadows kept coming back. Sometimes, I would close my eyes and try to summon that same fleeting feeling, when the unfamiliar magic slammed into me and lit every inch of my body with this swell of intense energy. I remembered the shadows bursting from a hidden well in my chest, rolling down my legs in waves, and gathering in dark pools at my feet. I remembered howrightit felt. Even while being so foreign, so terrifying, it still felt likeme. A part of myself that had been unlocked after twenty-three years of dormancy.
It was one step closer to discovering who I was. Where I came from. What my family had been.
But just as quickly as it came, the sensation faded. And I had never been able to get it back, no matter how hard I concentrated.
In my sleep, however…my shadows reappeared. When the shame clawed its way to the surface, when the sorrow and bone-deep loneliness had nowhere to go, no snarky comeback to hide behind…that was when they showed themselves.
Little brats. Couldn’t just come when called.
I cleared my throat. “Tell the maids I’m sorry if it scared them. I don’t exactly know what I’m doing. If someone couldhelpme?—”
“We’ve had this conversation, Devora,” he cut in.
