The Wraith scoffed. "It wasn't a question."
"No. Darke can't just take her. Merrily's magic is very particular. If he abducts her, she'll suffer even more than she already does."
"Grayson doesn't care about the semantics right now. He learned the truth yesterday, and he's handling some problems on our side of the city today. He'll take her as soon as he can. She'll have to figure out how to deal with him when he does."
"Fine. If she goes to the Shadow District, I go too," Dare said bluntly.
The Wraith's shadows grew thicker, darker, and more substantial. "This isn't anegotiation, Scorch."
Darius opened his mouth to disagree, but her shadows engulfed her entirely, hiding her from our sight.
When the shadows dissipated, she was gone.
I gaped at the empty place where she had been standing.
Darius and Merrily stared too.
"Did she just transport through shadows?" My voice came out far more strangled than I intended it to.
"Of course not." Merrily's voice was strained. "That's not possible."
"She did, though." Dare's grimace was deep.
"If she wants to kill us, we're fucked," I said bluntly.
Merrily let out a quiet breath. "She still needs us alive to power the city's wards. It would be too dangerous to tie them to a demon. Technically, she was doing us a favor by warning us."
"What do you want us to do here, Mer?" Darius asked.
"I don't know." She leaned back against the couch a little more, her gaze focusing on something above my shoulder.
Hewasher fated mate. He could give her peace, and I obviously understood the draw of that.
Considering her magic was literal death, he was also the only person who would ever be able to touch her intimately without risking their life.
"If you're going to let him abduct you, you've got to figure out a way to convince the Wraith to bargain with me while you're there," Darius told Mer.
He was trying to lighten the mood, and I'd play along.
"Why? She's fucking terrifying," I said, gesturing to the place she had been.
"She's the first interesting thing I've seen in this city in decades."
"He's also turned on by things that scare him," Merrily said with a sigh.
"Go ahead. Talk about me like I'm not here." Darius kicked back on the couch, his arms behind his head as he rested against the cushions.
I let out a long breath and stood up. "I have to do a handstand again. Fuck my magic."
"Amen." Darius lifted a fist toward me. I lifted mine back, for a feigned fist bump. Merrily did too.
I went over to the nearest wall and kicked my legs up in a handstand.
"We're going to have to try to come up with a plan as far as what to do about Darke," Darius said. "We'll think of something good."
"We could abduct him before he gets the chance to come for Mer," I pointed out.
Both of them suddenly looked very intrigued.
