The creature screamed violently.
Keegan’s claws tore through its chest before it dissolved into shadow and dust beneath him.
He landed hard on the broken balcony.
Relief crossed his face so quickly it almost hurt to see, but tension settled right back into his expression as another scream echoed somewhere beneath the compound.
He shifted back into human form, chest heaving slightly as he pushed his hair away from his face.
“You shouldn’t be this close to the tower,” he called upward.
“I’m not leaving without Celeste and my mom.”
His gaze held mine for half a second longer before he nodded once.
Of course, he understood.
The blue fire from the upper windows cast uneven light across his face while the compound groaned again beneath us.
“You found signs of Celeste?” I asked quickly.
“Yes.” He stepped toward the balcony railing and glanced briefly toward the lower courtyards before looking back at me. “She’s been moving through the northern wing.”
Relief and panic tangled together so tightly inside me that I could barely separate them.
“She’s alive,” I whispered.
“She’s fighting the Priestess’ intentions.”
That sounded like my daughter.
A burst of magic lit the eastern cliffs as Nova drove back another wave of shadow creatures near the lower walls. Ardetia stood near her with both hands raised, silver threads of Fae magic stretching outward through the compound like glowing roots searching for cracks in the shadow magic.
The structure shuddered violently again.
Keegan’s expression darkened immediately.
“It’s changing faster now.”
“What is?”
“The compound.”
As if answering him, the upper tower behind him groaned loudly enough that pieces of stone broke loose from the walls and crashed into the courtyard below.
The balcony beneath Keegan shifted.
The entire structure seemed to rearrange itself beneath the shadow magic threading through the walls.
I stared at it in horror.
“The hallways,” I whispered.
Keegan nodded sharply. “They’re shifting every few minutes. Rooms are moving with them.”
The broom dipped toward the balcony again.
Twobble tightened his grip immediately. “Maeve.”
