Page 54

Cadence

Something was wrong.

I could feel a shift in the air that told me danger lurked nearby, but I couldn’t detect the source of my unease. Apprehension wrapped around me, choking me until I felt like I was unable to breathe.

Not even the palace escaped the eerie sense of foreboding.

Instead of the usual opulence, a light fog obscured the daylight, muting everything. The crystal chandeliers hung overhead, but their soft glow did little to illuminate the space. The polished marble floors echoed louder than they should, making it seem like faint whispers were brushing against my flesh.

My skin prickled, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. As I peered around me, I noticed the corridor was completely desolate. I couldn’t recall when I last encountered a servant or a guard.

I picked up my pace and headed toward the chambers I shared with Ryker. The silence was suffocating. With each step, the feeling of unseen eyes grew more oppressive. As I rounded the corner, I couldn’t contain my sigh of relief.

The comfort was short-lived, however, as the surrounding air turned frigid. It was as though my body was trying to warn me, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t understand the sense of dread that was pulling me under.

My eyes darted around, and my pulse quickened as I searched for something, anything, that would explain my mounting panic.

“Pull yourself together, Cadence,” I snapped, but the words sounded hollow, as if my mind remembered the last time I dismissed my instincts.

All those months ago, when I had ventured home from the marketplace, I knew that danger had followed me to my apothecary. I had played it off as a trick of my imagination, and the next thing I knew, I woke to find myself trapped in the Unseelie Kingdom.

I wouldn’t be so foolish a second time.

I drew my magic around me as I reached for the door handle, but something made me hesitate. My fingers trembled as they brushed against the cool metal, and then I noticed a faint odor in the air. I couldn’t discern what it was exactly, but the smell churned my stomach.

I braced myself, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

Unnatural darkness bathed the room, but through the bond, I sensed it wasn’t Ryker’s doing.

My attention snapped to the billowing curtains. The window I had closed this morning was now wide open.

Cautiously, I inched toward the window. I peered down at the courtyard, which was devoid of its usual hustle and bustle, and repressed the shiver that threatened to break free. I slammed the pane shut, hoping it would block out the unsettling feelings slowly drowning me.

But I was wrong.

Very wrong.

I felt their presence before I saw them, lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike.

As though they sensed my revelation, a low hiss broke the silence, and I spun around as a figure lunged from the darkness.

Dressed in black with their face concealed underneath the hood of their cloak, the figure aimed a strike at my throat. I thanked the gods for Malesh’s dedication to my training as my reflexes kicked in, and I deflected the blow with my forearm before darting to the side.

I scanned the room for a weapon but found none.

A faint throb began in my arm, and I glanced down to see that I hadn’t escaped the assault unscathed. Crimson stained my tunic, and I sent my magic racing to the site to stem the flow.

As I faced my assailant again, an unexpected kick to my ribcage flung me across the room, slamming me into the edge of the bedpost. I groaned in pain as breathing became difficult.

That fucking hurt.

I diverted my power to the fresh injury, and, as expected, I found three broken ribs. The figure prowled toward me, their movements fluid and graceful, as a feral grin stretched across their face.

“You were told to leave,” a low, masculine voice taunted me.

I stood on shaky feet, keeping the man’s attention trained on me as I worked my magic.

“Yeah, well, I’ve been told I’m stubborn like that.”

“Foolish,” the man hissed.

His tone was chilling, and goosebumps rose on my skin.

“Did you think being bonded to the prince meant you were safe here?”

I didn’t get the chance to respond as he lunged again, slashing his blade at me. I ducked in time to avoid the brunt of his strike, but I still wasn’t fast enough to escape without injury. Red hot pain seared my shoulder, and I could feel the warmth of my blood as it trickled down my arm.

The man laughed maniacally, and the sound grated against my ears like broken glass.

“Who sent you?” I demanded, trying to inject as much authority as I could manage into my tone.

“You should worry more about what I intend to do to you.”

I rolled my eyes despite the fear that gnawed at me. “It’s pretty obvious, don’t you think?”

The man sneered, his upper lip curling as he glared at me from beneath his hood. Without warning, he lunged at me again. I raised my arm in a feeble attempt to block the strike, and this time, he didn’t simply graze me with his blade. He drove it into my forearm with such force that the tip pierced the other side.

Pain surged through me, and I fought the overwhelming urge to vomit. I could hear the man moving around me, but the sound was muffled. A buzzing sound erupted in my ears, and my vision blurred as I stumbled away from my attacker.

He gripped the hilt of the dagger before he ripped it from my arm. Agony shot through my entire body, and I cried out, unable to contain the sound of my pain. Cruel laughter surrounded me as I fought to remain conscious. I needed a reprieve, a moment where I could focus on healing my injuries without the threat of my death looming over me.

Today was not my day, however.

The man charged straight for me, gripping my hips as he lifted me before driving me into the ground. One swift movement knocked the breath out of me, and it took a while for my mind to catch up. Then my lungs inflated, and it was as if I was inhaling fire, the burning pain almost unbearable.

But I refused to lie down and die that easily.

My heart pounded against my ribs as I scrambled to my feet and prepared to break the oath I’d made to my mother. I called on my dormant magic, and my veins flooded with power. I could feel my body repairing itself as I faced off against the man sent to end my life.

“You look far too confident for someone about to die,” he mocked.

I grinned, letting the menace show in my expression. “I could say the same about you.”

He barked out a laugh before he surged toward me.

My hand clasped his wrists, and a shockwave of energy burst free on contact. My magic seeped into him before he had the chance to utter a single word. His jaw dropped, and his skin tightened as I drained the life from his body. His fingers curled into skeletal claws as they pressed against the gaunt, shriveled skin. His flesh withered, and his eyes rolled back, leaving only the black abyss of his sockets.

When it was done, all that remained was an empty, fragile husk that was beyond recognition.

I was panting heavily when I released my hold on my attacker, and his remains fell to the cold, hard floor.

“Cadence,” a familiar voice whispered from the doorway.

I spun around to see Ryker staring at the man lying at my feet. His mouth opened and closed as he took in the scene before his steel-grey eyes settled on me.

His gaze narrowed, and his lips pressed into a thin line.

Then he rumbled the two words I’d been hiding from my entire life.

“Wraith Borne.”