The moments shuddered by, my heartbeat loud in my ears. At long last, she stilled. Ash flecked off her body.
I looked at the dagger, at the weapon that had been with me for so long. The gemstone in its center was still intact, but that shouldn’t be possible. Any time I’d ever used the blade before, the power of the weapon ate up the gemstone like some kind of hungry shark, desperate for its next meal.
I didn’t understand it, but it hardly mattered right now. If Orion and Andromeda weren’t on their way to stop me, they would be soon. Just as I turned to go, I noticed two crimson gemstones sitting in the pile of Callisto’s ash. Before I could talk myself out of it, I grabbed them and added them to my pouch.
After stashing the dagger in my belt, I ran for the gates. Windows opened as I rushed past. Several shouts followed, encouraging me onward. The sound of their voices kept the speed in my limbs, though I hated leaving them behind.
“I will come back for you,” I whispered, knowing they wouldn’t believe me if they heard me. I was running—fleeing from certain doom. I couldn’t use my power against the gods. And I was only one person against a sea of storm fae who had chosen to side with the immortal enemy.
Why would anyone believe I’d return?
But I would.
I would find a way to defeat these gods, and I would free the people of Malroch.
I would free the world.
Fourteen
Tessa
When I reached the front gates of the city, the guards did nothing to stop me. They stepped aside and watched me charge into the field beyond the wall. Outside, hundreds of shadowfiends lurked beneath a long stretch of mist.
I pushed my wings from my back to launch into the sky, expecting the beasts to charge. But they merely stood there and stared. A lone creature galloped from the mist. Its familiar eyes were as black as night—intelligent eyes. Eyes that saw far more than I’d ever realized.
“Silver,” I said when he reached me and nuzzled my hand. For once, I knew he understood my every word. He blinked, as if in acknowledgment.
I looked back at the shadowfiends. They’d yet to advance, though they all watched us. Their bulbous yellow eyes gleamed through the mist. It was as if they’d been commanded to stand back.
“Is this your doing?” I asked.
He whinnied and shook his head, lightly stomping the dirt.
“No?” I frowned. “Then how?”
I wished he’d speak to me, the way Midnight had. But he’d been in his joint eater form that day—his true form. Perhaps that was the only way he could communicate with me.
Silver pressed his wet snout against my arm, then nickered. I blinked and stepped back.
“Me?I’m doing this? But how?”
He huffed and shifted to the side to show me his back. I frowned. Either he didn’t know the answer or he didn’t know how to tell me—ifhe wanted to tell me.
A part of me wanted to demand answers, but I couldn’t waste any more time. The gods likely expected the shadowfiends to stop me when I left the city. As soon as they realized the beasts were docile now—a fact I’d never thought possible—they’d find another way to capture me. I could not spend another day trapped inside that castle. I needed to find Kalen.
Grabbing Silver’s reins, I launched onto his back. He charged forward, cutting a path through the gathered beasts. Wind gusted the thickening mist into my face, drowning the world in shadows. I breathed it in, finding a strange comfort in the sudden darkness. I’d only spent a few days back in the light, but I’d missed this. The scent of it, the cool breath of it against my skin. The mists felt like Kalen somehow.
Kalen, who must believe I was lost to him.
I leaned forward, urging Silver onward. “To Dubnos.”
* * *
The mists vanished not long after I left the field of shadowfiends. The sunset streaked the sky behind me. Hours passed, and night came. When I finally reached Dubnos, the first scent to hit me was rot. The city gates hung open. The wood was bent and broken, like someone had taken a battering ram to the fortifications.
Dread sliced down my spine. I dismounted and approached slowly, listening and searching for any sign of an enemy. Or even a friend. But the silence was as thick as the mists that had once plagued this city. There was no sign of them here, either.
My heart clenched as I shoved the wood aside and strode into the empty streets. Well,emptywasn’t quite right. Tables and chairs and stores of food were scattered everywhere in broken, smashed piles. Flies buzzed around the brown flesh of apples and moldy heels of bread.
