The Shadow’s roar rips through the morning as he tears past my hiding place, clinging to the rock like an impossible spider.
I shrink when he passes, but he doesn’t so much as look at me. Doesn’t turn his head. Just scrambles after the dress, bellowing in mindless rage.
I don’t waste a second. I swing out from under the ledge and scramble upward, muscles and tendons pulling in sync. I have minutes, maybe moments. My vision narrows, locked on the clifftop. The world shrinks to the bite of rock against my fingers, the flood of adrenaline propelling me upward.
Sounds erupt from below—snarling, then the tearing of fabric, but the Shadow’s fury only fuels my ascent. I go hand over hand, foot over foot. I’ll make it. Up the cliff and across the land bridge, all the way to the hourglass. Iwill.
An enraged bellow darkens the air. The Shadow realizing my deception, probably, but I’m already gripping the last rock, dragging myself up and over the edge.
But a downward glance has my stomach plummeting, because the Shadow is fast. Faster than I want him to be, a blur of purple and blue as he abandons the shredded dress and comes barreling up the cliff face. I spinaway and surge to my feet, making for the land bridge stretching before me. On the far side, the hourglass awaits, sparkling in the morning sun. So little sand remains, but I dig my soles in and?—
Go flying backward, my spine slamming into cold ground, my scalp burning as the Shadow yanks me backward by my braid.
Somehow, I flip to my front as I skid to the lip of the cliff. I end up hanging over the edge, staring down into glazed yellow eyes. The Shadow clings to the rocks, my braid wrapped around his fist.
A choked sob bursts from my throat. One hard pull, and he’ll send me flying over. Plummeting to my doom.
Goddess, no. I’m so close.So close.
He bares his teeth and I brace for him to yank. Only he doesn’t. His whole body trembles, his fangs glinting as he stares up. A growled rasp emerges, one that sounds as if it’s been pried from his chest by force. “Kill…”
I lean down, straining to hear his twisted words.
“Kill…” My braid pulls tighter, his claws tangling with brown strands. “Me…”
Kill me?
His meaning filters through my panic. Somehow, in defiance of the curse, in defiance of everything Alanna has burdened him with, he’s battled for control and won. At least for the moment.
“Kill me,” he spits, clearer this time. “Dagger. Now.”
The tension on my braid mounts, the pressure bringing tears to my eyes. Without thinking, I find my weapon, the blade sliding free. I raise it overhead, my shoulder trembling.
The Shadow’s gaze follows its path, shudders wracking his body. Rage still swims in his eyes, but beneath it, satisfaction glints, like a star piercing through mist.
“Do it,” he manages. “Be… Before…”
The moment crystallizes. Purpose flowers inside me, coursing toward my center, feeding the blaze gathering there. The realization spinning within me.
All my life, I’ve played things safe. I’ve obeyed and hoped, begged and pleaded. Tried to be enough. Followed the rules, believing it would make me worthy.
But I don’t need a goddess to tell me I matter. I can forge my own path.
And make my own fucking rules.
“No.” I bring the blade whistling downward, hooking the edge beneath my braid and sawing upward. Strands burst apart, snapping one by one, the sound of my future solidifying.
My hair parts like butter, the knife pulling free. Chin-length strands whip around my face as I scramble away from the cliff.
The Shadow tips backward, thrown off-balance, my braid dangling from his fist.
I pause and stare down, waiting for him to correct. To sink his claws into the cliff.
But he doesn’t. He tilts backward, then backward some more. He does nothing at all to save himself.
A wave of cold panic rushes up my throat, my vocal cords turning to ice. I would scream, but I can’t. My whole body freezes over as the Shadow gives me a regretful smile and lets himself fall.
It’s the longest moment of life. The shortest eternity I’ve ever lived through.
