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She inhaled deeply. “Impressive. I don’t remember your shadows being so impervious before.”

“I suspect it has to do with everything that happened in Gloom.”

She touched my chest and sighed, looking at her hand. “I hope this stops flaring up soon though.”

I leaned closer. “Is it really starlight?”

“So he says.” She glanced away.

“What do you think?”

She frowned. “It’s possible. When he touched my magic, it was like he could control it.”

Zayne nodded seriously. “How’s your control now?”

“Better, I think.” She studied her hand. “After he directed my magic, it makes a little more sense.”

“Small blessings.”

“Regardless…” She shook her head, shifting her skirt to the side to expose a dagger holstered on her upper thigh. “I’ve got other weapons. Ones I actually know how to use.”

My knees weakened at the sight of her skirt bunched aside. When she flattened it out, it did nothing to hide her sharpening essence, spicy as ever.

“For what it’s worth, I’m glad you snuck out,” I admitted. “It was miserable, watching you with him.”

She blinked at me. “You’re jealous?”

“Of anyone dancing with you? Always.”

“Good.” She pressed her palm to my chest and leaned closer as if we were two lovers hidden away and not a pair of palace infiltrators.

I growled, my lips moments from hers. “You’re teasing me.”

“Maybe I’ve decided I’m ready for more.”

She didn’t mention the tether, but the promise ofmoreremained, flooding my imagination with delicious possibilities. I traced a finger down the length of her neck.

She leaned closer, giving me the lightest of kisses. “But first, we have business to attend to.”

“Fine.” Still teasing, my thumb trailed over her nipple, and I treasured the sharp intake of her breath. “Stay close to me. I can dampen sounds, but the less noise we make, the more discreet we’ll be.”

We moved together, staying close to buildings where the shadows were thickest. Hand in hand and wrapped in shadows, we wandered to the royal wing. There, several apartments surrounded an open-air courtyard, a grand pool at its center, its tiled base a mosaic depicting the history Mer.

Several guards patrolled the area, none of them noticing us, and I led Ayla into a narrow alley between two of the buildings. “I’m headed to the Underworld,” I explained. “I’ll be able to see the shard from there.”

“I’ll watch.” Ayla nodded, her gaze darting about.

My awareness settled beyond, and I paused, examining the corner of my cloak that contained the shattered shard. It gaveoff the slightest of purples, and I focused on it, deepening my connection to its essence.

Satisfied, I looked about, searching for a similar sight, seeking out vibrations that matched the shattered shard until…there.

The shards came into focus, and my chest tightened.

“There are multiple shards here,” I told Ayla, my voice sounding far away.

“More than one? Are you sure?”

My hand heavy, I pointed to the third door from the left, my mind still halfway in the Underworld. “One of them is in there.” Next, I indicated a second door not that far from the first. “And another is in there.”