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Skye held up a hand as they approached the clearing, stopping a few feet inside the tree line.

“What are they doing?” Carin murmured, her voice nearly inaudible even to a shadow mage’s senses. It was the first time she had spoken all day, though Asher had made up for her silence with a near-constant stream of chatter. He kept poking at her, trying to make her laugh. There was history there, though Skye couldn’t quite tell if it was good or bad.

“Is it a trick?” Kato asked. He looked to Skye.

Who just shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said. He’d never seen shades act this way. The ones he’d encountered had been wild and vicious, desperate for any amount of flesh or aether they could find. They were constantly on the move in search of sustenance, and they would tear a mage apart if given the chance.

These, however—they looked almost… calm.

There were five of them wandering listlessly around the glade. Two men, two women, and a single child.They seemed to have no direction, no purpose. It was unnerving.

Kato pulled up his horse beside him. “Just when I thought I’d seen everything—”

“Never assume you’ve seen everything,” Vaughn said gruffly. “It’s childish.”

Kato and Skye shared a look. The man was unpleasant, to say the least. There was likely a reason Kalahad wanted to be rid of him.

“Should we find a way around?” Kato asked. “It may be best not to alert these. Shards know what they’re doing out here. Or how many more could come running.”

“Is there an alternate path?” Vaughn asked.

“Not by road,” Skye said, tightening his grip on the reins when his horse tried to kick. The shades were making them antsy. This entire area smelled like death. “We’d have to double back to Ryme to find another highway, and while there are trails that cut through the forest, it would be slow. We’d lose what little protection the wardline is still giving us.”

Vaughn let out a low hum, grazing a finger across the amulet at his neck—a single shadow crystal encircled by a carved ouroboros. Skye had seen that symbol before. He knew he had, though he couldn’t quite place it.

“Let me take care of this,” Vaughn said after a moment. He swept aside his fur-lined cloak, revealing a set of fine gold armor. He reached for an equally exquisite sword.

“Look,” Kato said, one hand going to his own sword. His horse skittered back a few steps as the child stumbled closer—a small girl with tangled black hair. Half of her face had been shredded down to the bone, and when she spotted them with a single brown eye—

Tilting her head back, shescreamed.

And it was like nothing Skye had ever heard. Shrill and piercing, it echoed into the distance andnearly made his ears bleed. Birds jolted from the treetops overhead as the shades began to scramble.

Heart lurching into a gallop, Skye just… reacted.

He dropped from his horse and reached for the dagger in his boot in a single fluid movement. His legs surged, his aether flashed, and then he was flying, a flurry of dirt and gravel streaming in his wake.

All shadow mages could use aether augmentation. They could move magic around their bodies to increase their already-enhanced abilities. Bolstering immortal strength and quickening immortal speed—boosting the superior reflexes they’d been granted solely because they’d been born fey.

But bloodcrafting—that allowed him toalterhis body. To examine the way his muscles flexed and snapped; the way his heart thundered in his chest, pumping blood and magic through his veins. If he could see it, he couldchangeit. He could make it better. He could re-weave his muscles and strengthen his bones.

He could become something that was no longer completely fey.

His dagger found its target as he cut the throat of that screamer. And before any of the shades had begun to react, he’d already started moving through the crowd. A slice here, a cut there—the crystals in their chests shattered. They fell to the ground. It was almost a relief to finally be able to let loose. To give himself over to the moment. For a little while, there was only the dance of metal and the spray of flesh.

Seconds later, Skye skidded to a stop, grabbing his horse’s reins before it could panic. He ran a hand down its nose, cooing at it the way Taly had taught him. She’d always had a natural way with animals. He could feel his heart pounding, the fire of his aether still burning in his limbs and only just beginning to recede.

That had felt…good. Better than it probably should.

The others were staring at him. Gaping.

“What in the nine hells—” Vaughn began.

“And here I thought I was the faster brother,” Kato interjected, shooting a meaningful glance at the others. “Pureblooded bastard… You don’t think you could’veshareda bit of the glory.”

Skye forced a smirk. He knew what his brother was doing. Kato was covering for him. What he’d just done—it was unusual, to say the least. “I guess you just need to work on your reflexes.”

Kato muttered something under his breath, then looked to Vaughn. “You wanna know what’s sad?” he said in a conspiratorial whisper. “Our great-great-great-grandmother could still hand him his ass. The woman was already ancient when she was conscripted to fight in the Shade Rebellion. She ran messages between the Council and the front line, and rumor says she once ran from Tempris all the way to the Arunea outpost in a single day.On foot.” Kato looked to Skye, sneering. “What do you think, golden boy? Think you could beat that?”