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Garrett insists that he’s dangerous, and I know he’s right. I saw it; he admitted it.

But right now, he also might be my only hope to save Lyle, and there isn’t much I wouldn’t do to save him. Even if that means I’m in danger. The guys can be upset, but it’s better than thealternative, going after Lyle myself, which I still haven’t ruled out.

I’m not tired, but as my mind wanders, my eyes scan over the woods lazily, and I imagine seeing Lyle down there. It’s painful to picture him with those cold eyes that looked at me as if I were a stranger.

A sharp pain in my chest steals the air from my lungs, leaving me gasping as I grip my chest, unsure what the fuck that was.

It stops almost as quickly as it started, and for a moment, I worry I’d imagined it, but no sooner than I think that, it hits me again. This time, I can’t sit still. Pushing to my feet, I stumble back a step, looking around the room, checking on the guys.

Are they still sleeping? I feel like the thumping of my heart is enough to wake them, let alone my heavy feet as I move around, but from what I can see, none of them has moved.

This time, instead of ramping up and then disappearing, the pain moves from my chest to my head until it feels as though it’s going to split.

I’ve felt this before.

My magic.

Without stopping to think about it, I let my shadows free and they fill the room. Whatever it takes to make the pain stop, and it does almost instantly, though my shadows don’t simply flow through the air the way I’m used to.

No, right now it’s as if they have a mind of their own as they wrap around me, and I feel the weight of them on my back.

“What?” I ask aloud, to who, I don’t know, but I can’t help it. Nothing is making sense.

My shadows are stronger at night. It was something Blair and I discovered during one of our many nights' training, but this is more than just strength. It’s almost as if my shadows have a mind of their own, like they have a plan or something they need to do.

But that’s crazy…right?

Fuck, who am I kidding? My life’s been crazy for a while now.

As if to prove my point, my shadows wrap around me, pushing me back toward the window, but not into the light of the moon, but into the deep shadow opposite of it.

My feet move as if controlled by someone else, and I watch in horror as I move into the shadow, only for the floor and room to disappear, replaced by darkness as a scream rips from my throat and I plummet toward the ground.

My shadows catch me, the wings on my back opening so that I’m soaring through the night sky instead of falling to my death. Somehow, I’ve come up behind the south tower that Garrett’s room is in. The shadows are thick back here; the tower blocking out most of the moonlight, but it only takes my eyes a moment to adjust.

About a million questions run through my mind, but I push them aside to focus on my surroundings.

My shadows clearly know what they’re doing, but they often know before I do. I might be getting better with them thanks to the training I’ve been doing every night, but I’m far from in charge. They used to scare me, back before I knew what they were, but now I can’t help but trust them. Once upon a time, they saved not only me, but this kingdom. While I once was afraid of the dark, now I find a peace in it that I never would have thought possible.

The forest is dense. Even with the ability to see in the dark, I can’t make out anything below the branches. On the rare occasion that I can, it’s only because of a break in the leaves, andeven then, there isn’t much going on down there this late. The most I hear is the occasional owl; it’s too late even for Mother Nature, apparently.

I don’t fly for long, maybe ten minutes out from the castle, but flying isn’t the same as hopping, and the distance I’m able to cover is shocking.

One second I’m flying, the next my body explodes in pain and I’m falling. I hit the ground hard enough to knock the air out of my lungs, but not hard enough to do any real damage, thank the gods.

It takes me a second, but I peel myself off the ground as the pain subsides, and I take a second to look around.

The ground is wet from the rain the last few days. I swear the last few weeks have been mostly gloomy and depressing. Even when it isn’t raining, it’s dark and dreary, which is fine by me. I don’t care to leave the castle, and it gives me the perfect excuse to stay in. At night, I have no issue training in the rain if I’m alone or if one of the guys joins me. They love to show off their new skills and control over the elements, keeping us warm and dry.

I have no idea why the hell I’m here, though.

“What the fuck?” I mumble under my breath to nobody because there’s nobody but me here, not another living soul.

My heart picks up speed until it’s beating so hard it feels like it might very well break free from my chest.

I canfeelhim.

Lyle was here.