I caught the door behind him. “Dedalus. Who was right?”
He yelled back without breaking his stride or turning to look at me. “Your wife.”
Chapter 15: Auria
Itwisted the hooked lock pick around the smaller straight one and wedged the locking mechanism while I stared at the nearest torch burning in a sconce on the stone wall. The torch was not consumed, so the fire must have been magic.
So much magic in this place.
I lifted the pin inside the lock and smiled when it clicked open. Dedalus’s door was mine. I opened it slowly, hoping it would not creak, and then slipped inside. I left it cracked so Rat could warn me if anyone came down the hall.
I didn’t know how long the fae nobles usually reveled in their dinner, but Brielle and her friends made it sound like a long and horribly boring event every night. If I wanted to look through Dedalus’s room for signs of subterfuge, this would be my best chance.
Darkness would have made it impossible to see, but moonlight from a big, open window splashed across the entire room. I blinked for a few seconds, letting my eyes adjust to the dimmer light, and turned around the room. At a glance, it was tidy and unassuming. Just what I’d expect a guest room to look like in a castle like this. The furniture was simple, but appropriate for a wealthy fae: a bed, a dresser, a small table with a chair, and a settee large enough to hold three people. A dooron the far side of the room probably led to another water closet like the one in my room.
A water closet. Visitors would not go in there, so that would be the perfect place to start.
I opened the door and froze. The little room was completely black. My heartbeat lunged for the ceiling, and my breath caught. I could not go into that dark space. The blackness would suffocate me.
Besides, if a visitor needed to relieve himself, he would visit this terrifying corner. And light it up with magic.
I closed the door and turned around. Not because it was dark. No. Because I wouldn’t find any secrets in the water closet.
But where would Dedalus hide incriminating evidence?
I’d tucked all of my little treasures under the mattress in my room. Maybe he’d done the same?
I slid my hand under the mattress as far as I could reach and dragged my arm along the side of the bed. I reached a corner and pivoted, starting to check the next side—
But then the shadows moved.
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t scream. Couldn’t run.
Magic shadows gathered and swirled around me, surrounding me in a layer of terror. I couldn’t see anything now—shadows blocked the moonlight. They didn’t touch me, but they walled me off from the rest of the room like a cage.
Memories flashed through my mind, filling the darkness with pain and screams and cruel laughter.
And magic, burning through my chest like a fire poker.
Not real. No fear. I am not captive.I tried to ground myself in my current reality, but… Iwascaptive. Shadows surrounded me as thoroughly as prison walls.
No.I ripped my arm out from under the mattress.Not prison.My lungs jumped from not working to panting over time.
I’d seen these shadows before. And Bylur had saved me from them.
I screamed his name, but my trembling body made it come out as a hoarse whisper. “Bylur!”
“You would call for me?” He was here already. But his voice was not the gentle, cautious tone I remembered speaking to me in the dungeon. It was harsh and angry.
But it was here. My mind latched onto that fact, and cried out in a broken, halting struggle. “Bylur. The shadows. I— Help—” I squeezed my eyes closed and covered them with my hands. “I won’t look at you.”
Seconds passed by—moments that felt like eternities—while I hid in my own self-induced darkness. Was he chasing away the shadows? Using some fae magic to counter their dark fury?
Finally, he sighed and said, “You can open your eyes.”
I ripped my hands away from my eyes. The dim moonlight shone so bright and cheerful, bringing so much relief to my heart, that I had to swallow back tears.
Bylur stood at the window, facing outside, his hands gripping the stones on the sides of the window. He looked like a king. Moonlight rimmed his body, making his back more imposing than ever. “Why are you in Dedalus’s room?” He growled the words with an undercurrent of fury that reminded me of his bear voice.
