The cloaked figure stops walking, and his back is to me. “As you wish,” he says, and he lifts his hand, shadows curling around his fingers.
The next thing I know, I’m gasping, waking from the dream, and it takes me a moment to orient myself. “Wait. So it was just a dream?”
The moment I speak the words aloud, a pool of darkness gathers near my window, and the cloaked figure steps out intothe room. My heart hammers as I scream, but the figure only smiles.
“Well then,” he croaks, holding his hand out to me. “Let me take you to them.”
I gasp as the memory fades and my surroundings become clear again. My fingers had been starting to slip on the wall, but thankfully, my shadows had been helping to keep me in place.
“Shade,”Thane growls.“You need to focus and keep going.”
I shake my head, trying to clear the lingering images from my mind. A thousand questions fill my head, as I think about the cloaked figure in my dreams. I only make it another few feet up the wall before another memory pushes its way into my mind.
I stop moving again, and this time I recognize a familiar cell. One I remember seeing in the academy dungeon.“Shadowbone?”The word falls from my lips.
“What?”Thane asks, but I don’t answer as my mind focuses on another memory.
A barred door shuts behind me, and I swivel, my panic rising as the cloaked figure locks the cell. “Where have you taken me? Where’s Knox?”
The figure grins wickedly from outside the iron bars. “Knox has been called away, but rest assured you’ll see him again. Take some time to relax. I’ll be back in a short while.”
This time, one memory slides into the next. It’s hours later, and I’m kneeling on the cell floor, the freezing concrete punishing against my bare knees, because I’m still wearing my sleep shorts and shirt.
“You’ve got the wrong girl,” I rasp, my throat raw from screaming. My flushed cheeks are wet with tears, and my muscles convulse, spasming from the hours of torment I’ve already endured. Hours during which the cloaked figure has been trying to use his magic to burrow into my mind.
“Hmmm…” the cloaked figure says from outside my cell, tapping his chin as he paces. “How does it go again? Oh, that’s right. When the time comes to close the fold, four must stand against the bitter cold. Only one can make you break, beware the bond of your beloved mate.” He says the last part dramatically, but it makes no sense to me.
“So, what? You’re a poet? Or are they the lyrics of a song?” I say, not understanding.
The cloaked figure stops pacing and stares directly at me. “It’s a prophecy, and you my dear, are the missing piece we’ve been looking for.”
“What? No,” I say, shuffling backward like I’m trying to get even further away from the bars. Further away from him.
“Oh yes,” the figure drawls. “We have waited for you. For the one who will finally end this war. The one who can break them, and with it, the last shred of pathetic hope this realm has. And once you’ve fulfilled your destiny, the Xalgrith will finally grant us what we deserve. Of course, I couldn’t have found you if Knox hadn’t been so careless to make contact. He’s going to be devastated when he discovers what I’ve done with you.” His lips twist into a cruel smile.
I scramble to put the pieces together, my heart sinking with every passing second. I realize he believes I’m the mate from the prophecy, and he’s talking about me destroying Knox and Raith. But he said four, didn’t he? And what war is he talking about? I think of Knox’s last words. At how he’d said he was leaving to protect me. Is this who he was trying to protect me from?
Okay, so clearly I’ve been kidnapped by some evil villain, I think to myself. “Look, I don’t know who the Xalgrith are, or what the hell you want, but I’m not going to help you destroy anyone.”
The cloaked figure’s smile only grows bigger. “Oh yes. You are. Whether you like it or not. We’ve waited too long, and the Xalgrith will reward us handsomely. When I’m done with you, you’ll be the perfect spy able to take those four down. I’ll admit, I’m surprised I haven’t been able to take control of your mind yet, but perhaps, we should discover what power you wield first. I’m guessing it must be extraordinary if you’ve been fated to those four.”
“Power?” I rasp. “I don’t have any magic. I’m human.” Knox and Raith never told me what they were, but it was obvious they weren’t exactly human like I am.
“So were we all, once,” the figure replies dryly. “Tell me, what exactly did you think Professor Knox was?”
I struggle to swallow. “I don’t know. Some kind of dreamwalker. Maybe, the sandman, like in the stories? Or a dark angel of some kind?”
The figure laughs, and it’s a cruel sound that echoes around my cell. “No dear, we are shadow warriors, and the last defense between the Xalgrith and all the realms.”
I want to ask about the realms, but I’m too stuck on what else he’s told me. “Hold on, shadow warriors?” I ask. It’s at that point I’m aware I’ve been reading too many romance books. Specifically, ones with delicious shadow daddies I can’t seem to get enough of. “Okay, so you’re supposed to be the good guys?”
The figure regards me, his lips thinning. “Such is the lie the queen keeps spinning. But unlike them, we’ve opened our eyes.” He reaches into his pocket and tosses something through the bars. I see a glint of metal, as something small and shiny clangs to the stone near me and rolls until it hits my knees. The ring falls to the side, and I pick it up, noting the tiny skull forged into the metal.
“Put it on,” the figure commands. “Wearing this ring will allow you to access the magic of this realm more freely, thoughit has its limitations. But it will serve its purpose for now. It’s time to find out what I have to work with.”
My fingers shake as I study the ring. I’ve read enough stories with evil villains to know that putting on jewellery that has likely been enchanted with dark magic, is probably not the best idea.
Sensing my hesitation, shadows shoot from the figure, gripping me painfully, and the next time I look down, the ring is on my finger. A strange, uncomfortable feeling washes through me, and something burns on my back.
