Page 116 of Realm of Dreams & Shadows

The thought makes me frown. Because why am I here but Whistler and Chase aren’t? And does Adric even know that we were sneaking in through a back door? For that matter, how did he get me here at all?

I don’t know, but I’m not worried. Or, at least, not very worried. I don’t believe Adric will hurt me. And maybe this will work out even better. Maybe I’ll be able to get Finn free. Or maybe I’m hopelessly naïve and totally screwed.

“Please, Adric,” I say. “I need to know Finn’s okay.”

“Of course, you do.” He gestures toward a different part of the library, and the space shifts around us, creating new passages and alcoves. “This way.”

I follow him through the maze of books, trying not to notice the way the light catches in his hair, the fluid grace of his movements. Everything about him is designed to seduce, to draw me in. I need to remember that.

“Here,” he says, stopping beside a pool built into the library floor. The water—if it is water—shimmers with an otherworldly light.

“A scrying pool,” I whisper.

“Very good.” He sounds genuinely pleased, like a teacher praising a particularly bright student. “Look and see what you need to see.”

I lean over the pool, and the surface ripples. Images form in the light—Uncle Finn sitting in what looks like a comfortable study, reading a book by a fireplace. He appears unharmed, even relaxed.

“He’s really okay? This isn’t a trick?”

“I would not harm this man of your blood.”

“You had to know that taking him would hurt me. That I’d be terrified. And that I’d hate you for doing it.”

His expression hardens. “Kali took it upon herself to acquire your uncle. Leverage. And revenge.”

“Leverage, I understand. Revenge, not so much.”

He runs a strand of my hair through his fingers. “Revenge, because she knows her place in my heart. And,” he adds, his voice heavy with passion, “she knows yours.”

“Oh,” I say, then swallow. “If she’s right—if you truly care for me—then let him go. Especially if you didn’t order the capture in the first place.”

He shakes his head. “I would be a fool to release such an effective advantage now that I have it,” he says, the manipulative words almost apologetic in tone. “But I can promise you that he’s comfortable and safe. As you can see, he’s being treated as an honored guest, not a prisoner.”

“He’s a prisoner.”

Adric edges closer to me, close enough that I can feel the warmth of his body even before he puts his hands on my shoulders, then leans in, his words a whisper when he says, “I need you to understand what’s at stake here, Cora.”

“What do you mean?”

“The barriers are failing faster than even I anticipated.”

“How fast?”

“There’s no way to say for certain. A millennium,” he says, and I sag with relief. “Or perhaps no more than a week. I don’t know. Even the scrying pool cannot foretell the future with true accuracy. But what I do know is that a time is coming when they will fall completely. When that happens, there will be peace among my four realms, but I will be unable to help yours, my love. It will be like your Wild West. Lost and lawless. And in a much darker world than an empty prairie.”

I shudder, trying not to imagine what would happen if the inhabitants of the other four realms could easily slide into our world. Chaos, yes. And worse than that.

“Your realm needs someone with the power and knowledge to maintain order.” His reflection appears in the pool beside mine, silver eyes intense. “That someone could be us. Together.”

“I don’t want to rule anything.”

“Don’t you?” His voice is soft, seductive. “Can you really tell me that you don’t welcome the power that grows within you? You, who spent a lifetime shuffled aside by others. Don’t you rejoice now that you are finally becoming who you were meant to be? Don’t you crave the power and resources to carve your own path?”

I don’t answer, but he must see something in my expression because he smiles. “And don’t tell me you’ve forgotten our garden so soon.”

“Adric, no.”

“You could have everything,” he continues. “Power beyond imagining. The ability to protect everyone you care about, to reshape the world according to your will. All you have to do is⁠—”