At the window, he pauses, the cords of his neck rippling with tension. “Remember when I said the curse extends beyond Amriel? It extends to me, too. He’s not the only one who suffers. I just do it in a different way than he does, and only during the day.”
I hesitate. “What does that mean?”
He plants a foot on the window’s bench seat, his frame tensing as he leans out into the dawn. Anticipatory restlessness pours off him, as if the rising light means he can no longer stand to be confined inside. “It means that if you see me during the day—if you ever see this form, this body, when the sun is up—forget everything I told you. Run far, and run fast, and whatever you do, donotlet me catch you. I don’t care whatyou have to do. Kill me, if that’s what it takes. Because when the sun is up, I have no control at all.”
The strain in his voice drives a shiver through me. “All…all right.”
He climbs higher, planting a boot on the sill. Outside, the sky shifts from deep purple to soft pink.
I wait, my insides quivering. I have no desire to keep him here, but the idea of being left alone in this strange castle intimidates me more than I care to admit.
I reach for my pendant, bolstering myself with the feel of smooth metal between my fingertips. “When…” I falter, then clear my throat. “When will I see you again?”
He regards me over his shoulder, his eyes gleaming in the growing light. “After the sun goes down again. Until then, stay out of the Wildwood. Please.”
“All right,” I hear myself say.
“And go talk to Amriel, while I’m gone. Have him tell you more.”
My stomach drops. “I don’t want to go anywhere near him.”
“I know.” Pain slices across his face. “But if you’d just spend time with him, if?—”
“No.”
The word hangs between us. The Shadow’s jaw works, but he doesn’t argue. Just nods once and tenses to spring.
But…he can’t truly mean to jump, can he?
A protest crowds my throat, a warning I can’t hold back. Because for all that he terrifies me, for all that I’m safest when he’s far away, the idea of him plummeting to his death makes me want to scream. Some buried instinct writhes in my belly, a command to cross this room and haul him away from that drop, no matter what it costs.
My expression must betray me, because the Shadow pauses, his mouth flicking upward.
“What’s that look for?” He turns to face me fully, his back to the window. “You aren’t worried about me, are you?”
“No,” I snap. If he plummets to his doom, that’s a whole handful of problems solved for me at once.
But that doesn’t explain why I’m moving now, reaching for him, my fingers straining to stop this monsterfrom losing his balance.
The Shadow grins. It’s full of fangs and triumph, and it’s the last thing I see before he lets go of the frame and tips backward out the window.
A shriek rips out of me, too late.
I rush to the sill and peer over. The Shadow plummets away, a star streaking into the abyss. His hair whips in the wind, his smile so broad I still see it.
A scream carves its way up my throat, one that feels like it will keep pouring out of me forever. But pink-gold rays spill over the horizon, and the moment the light hits the Shadow, he…vanishes.
Into thin air.
My throat closes up, my teeth clicking together. Is he…gone? Dead? What on Ishanna’s green earth just happened?
A surly bellow shatters the morning, pulling my attention to the island that harbors the hourglass. I blink in disbelief. The Shadow istherenow, atop that tiny oasis, hunched on all fours like an animal. He roars again, then charges across the land bridge toward the forest, growling and snarling the whole way. He disappears over the lip of the cliff, the echoes of his rage still ringing from the chasm’s walls.
I stare after him, sick with relief, even as I recall what he said just moments ago.
The forest will send things to hunt you. Some worse than others. Muchworse.
As I watch my mate disappear into the Wildwood, I can’t help but wonder what, exactly, stalks the forest.
