I glance to the window, where blue shadows darken the sky. The sun will set within moments. “What do you need to see him for?”
“I’m going to deal with him,” Amriel says. His voice is a dead, dark thing, as if he’s speaking to me from across miles, across years.
I take an instinctive step closer. “But what does that mean? What’re you going to do, exactly?”
A dead laugh falls from his lips. “Hurt him, Princess. I’m going to hurt him very badly.”
Then he’s gone, sailing into the corridor without a backward glance.
I scramble to follow. I know I should stay away, just let things lie, but guilt and frustration surge through my veins. What if Amriel hurts his twin? What if hekillshim? The Shadow who’s about to show up here isnotthe same Shadow who attacked me in the labyrinth, and he shouldn’t suffer for the sake of his cursed alter ego. No, nighttime Shadow saved my life. He carried me while I slept, tried to warn me away from the Wildwood.
I can’t just let his brother hurt him.
By the time I make it to the hallway, Amriel has already turned a corner. I hurry to follow, my skin so tight it feels like I might burst. “Wait!” I shout.
“What?” Amriel calls, not slowing, not even turning his head.
“Just stop. Leave the Shadow alone. Why’re you even bothering? I thought you didn’t care.”
His laugh is acidic. “Idon’t. Not about you. But Idocare that my Shadow almost made our curse permanent. If he’d killed you, then I would’ve had to live the rest of my life like this.”
My stride fumbles. It’s the first time I’ve heard him refer to the curse that way—not as his, but as a punishment shared with his brother. Briefly, I wonder why Alanna would’ve woven her spell to include them both, but the thought vanishes as quickly as it forms. Amriel stomps away, the threat of violence written across every line of his body.
I limp after him as quickly as my injured leg will allow. Fresh wetness trickles toward my ankle, but I pay it no mind.
“Stop!” I shout.
He ignores me.
I hobble faster, not knowing why I care. I shouldn’t. Idon’t—neither of us does—yet harsh emotions crackle in the corridor, an invisible storm brewing in the span between us.
Amriel soon outpaces me. He vanishes down a stairwell, his angry strides leaving indents in the moss.
I catch up a few minutes later, stopping atop a broad staircase that descends to the cavernous great hall. Overhead, the leafy ceiling shivers in the evening breeze. A cloud of teal fireflies wheels past, but even the hall’s grandiosity can’t temper the tension sizzling in the air.
Amriel has already made it halfway down the stairs. He aims for the Shadow, who stands at the bottom. Various fae linger around the hall’s perimeter, murmuring to each other, their features catching the pink glow from the walls.
The Shadow’s head snaps up as he catches my scent, his nostrils flaring. Horror and relief war for control of his expression.
“Princess.” He starts up the stairs. “Shadows below, are you all right?”
I gather a breath to respond, but Amriel beats me to it.
“No. She isn’t.” He arrows toward his twin, pink and green light reflecting from his hair. “You almost killed her.”
The Shadow’s attention drops, his lips parting to reveal his teeth. “Ialmost killed her?You’rethe one who sent her into the Wildwood. With no preparation, no weapon, no?—”
I never hear the rest. Amriel launches himself, his fist crashing into the Shadow’s face as they go tumbling down the stairs.
A shriek jets from my throat. I hurry downward, slipping and sliding, not knowing how I intend to help. By the time I reach the bottom, the fight has escalated to a full-blown brawl. Fists fly, fangs snap.
Amriel pins the Shadow beneath him, his shoulders flexing as he rains blow after blow against his brother’s face.
“Stop!” I scream, but it’s no use. They can’t hear me, and I don’t dare venture any closer, lest I catch a stray claw. I can only watch their descent into mindless violence, my heart curling into a ball.
The Shadow bucks Amriel off, then does some kind of backflip maneuver that ends with them circling each other, locked in a deadly orbit. Blood leaks from the Shadow’s cheek, but the liquid seeping from his split skin isn’t red. It’s blue, studded with silver sparkles. And itglows.
I stem a breath. Goddess, no wonder he shines in every room. That light isinsidehim, running through his veins. And it’s beautiful. Strangely, hypnotically so.
