Page 67 of Claimed By Shadow and Blood (Of Fae and Wolf Trilogy #2)

He shook his head grimly. “I don't know, but this doesn’t even sound like her. She’d never say you were a lie and to not come look for her once, let alone twice. Maybe someone got to her and threatened her?”

“How?” I demanded, shifting my weight back.

My shadows boiled, and I ached to explode in a maddening display of rage and terror.

“No one could enter her room if they weren’t family, and she has no family here.

Elara wouldn’t have told her anything remotely like the contents of that letter.

If the entire palace fell down, an orb of protection would remain around that room, so long as the sigil remained.

Even if the earthquake damaged the door, how would anyone have gotten in there in time to convince her to go away? ”

I pressed a hand to my head, everything inside me shattering. I could barely think through the splitting headache that now swept over me and the way my body felt as if I’d lost a part of myself.

“Let’s go to her room,” I commanded, grabbing his hand and portaling us both there.

We landed in the center of the room, which had been torn apart by either the earthquake or someone who had gotten to her. A sour taste filled my mouth as my worst fear turned true.

She wasn’t here.

My gaze went to the sigil I’d made to protect her.

I stumbled, and my breath caught. Someone had altered it… or had I drawn it wrong? My head spun, and I inhaled deeply. There was no other distinctive scent in the room.

No. I knew I’d drawn it correctly, and Briar wouldn’t know how to change it. Even if she’d agreed to go home, she wouldn’t have left without talking to me. She wasn’t a coward. Someone had forced her to leave.

I wanted to search for her, but everyone would notice, especially with diplomats and dignitaries arriving.

That didn't matter. The tug in my chest intensified, urging me to rip the palace apart to find her.

Thalen moved around the room...and froze. “She hasn’t been gone long, Vad. The trail is fresh.”

The floor tilted under my feet, and I stumbled toward the door as more nausea rolled through me. Blood pounded in my ears. I had to get to her. If she was leaving, I had to see with my own eyes and hear with my own ears, and if someone had taken her, I was going to rip them apart.

Thalen grabbed my arm. "Hey! Where are you going? You've got to go down and be the prince, soon to be the king."

"Get out of my way!" I shook free and shoved him back.

He struck the wall and leaped back up, wings flaring out as he cut in front of me. He flung his hands up, and a blast of icy wind slammed into my face.

I staggered back, grunting and swearing as my boots slid across shattered glass and ceramics. My shadows flared up and hooked toward him. "Feck you, Thalen! I’m going to find her and get her back."

"No, listen!" He kept his hands up, and his wings blocked the door entirely. "You have to calm down for Briar ."

My blistering rage quieted, and a pang of awareness struck me. But I lunged for Thalen anyway.

He shoved me back again, the wind knocking the mannequin over.

"You're not thinking straight! Everyone will know something is going on because the coronation will be happening without a prince to become king!

No matter whether Briar left on her own or someone kidnapped her, you'll be offering them a huge gaping weakness.

And if they kill you or take you down, you know they'll go after Briar next just as a matter of principle. Not to mention, everyone will see you if you go searching for her now, and if someone has taken her, they’ll be informed. Let me go get her."

His words cut into me. My wings flexed as I clenched my fists, struggling to form thoughts through the maelstrom. If going after Briar would make her situation more precarious, then I couldn't. Somehow, I had to pull myself together.

Thalen’s jaw set. “If you go looking for her, you’ll lose her.”

Fear strangled me. “ Fine ." I dragged a hand through my hair, hollowness gaping within me.

I couldn't lose control, but my restraint hung by a thread.

"Go look for her. Check the tunnels that used to lead to the old portaling doors.

The ones where we were supposed to meet Bryn Lugh.

If she's been abducted, kill the abductors. If she's leaving, tell her—tell her that this is her choice. If what the letter said is true, I will accept it. I will love her no matter what happens. But…ask her to come back just so that I can crown her queen. She can leave after that. I…” I struggled to force out the words, but I meant them as much as they ached and stung. “I won’t stop her. But there is no other queen for me, and I won’t crown another.

“However, if she’s been taken against her will, there’s no body count too large.”

Thalen’s brow tweaked and he lowered his hands. “If she's been abducted, don't you want us to take prisoners to interrogate?—"

"No. Kill them. Kill them all. I'm tired of people taking her and thinking they can get away with it," I snarled. "We aren't wasting time with prisoners."

"You know she didn't leave you. She loves you.”

My mind twisted as I agonized over the possibilities.

Loving me didn’t mean she hadn’t wanted to go back home.

Hadn’t I been prepared to let her go because I loved her?

Or...perhaps what she would have to sacrifice to be with me was too much.

Maybe this person had said something to her that made her see things differently.

.. or maybe she’d been taken against her will.

“Do it. Don’t argue with her about her decision if it’s what she says she wants.

” I’d talk with her anyway. I’d beg her to stay.

And if, even after I pleaded, she wanted to go, I’d let her.

The thought of her not being my wife and queen broke me. I couldn’t believe that the gorgeous, vibrant woman who had lain in my arms and bit me would simply choose to run like this. It didn’t feel like Briar at all.

Dread spooled within me as Thalen bolted away and I portaled back to my chambers. It was like existing in a nauseating dream. The edges of my vision darkened.

She had to have been abducted. Between her telling Calla Lily, of all people, that she was leaving, and writing a letter?

None of that was like her. Briar didn’t say feck.

She never had. Her Earth profanity was slightly different, but I couldn’t remember what it was.

Why would she suddenly start using our language?

But how had someone gotten in? I knew I had drawn that sigil correctly.

My mind felt scrambled, and the hollow sensation intensified and spread through me. Had she shown signs of unhappiness or hesitation, and I’d missed them? What could have changed so fast? She’d been so upset when I had vowed to send her home, meaning Earth.

Thinking someone had kidnapped her against her will again made me see red.

Thalen was one of the best trackers I knew. If anyone could find her, he could. And I would get my vengeance on whoever was to blame.

Time passed in a blur. Somehow, I dressed in layers of silk and leather and fur, fastened my cufflinks, straightened the seams, and ensured every line was in its proper place and form.

Meeting Elara and greeting the select royals and dignitaries who wished to give their condolences and congratulations to us before the coronation went by in a haze.

Briar had to come back soon. Surely Thalen would catch her.

The Ceremonial Hall filled swiftly as the guests arrived. I paced inside the small chamber to the right of the dais, waiting for any sign of Briar and Thalen before the three blasts of the heraldic trumpet. A tug. A letter. Something!

A knock sounded, and a soft voice spoke on the other side. “The bride is in her chambers now, Your Highness. All is prepared.”

I lunged toward the door and flung it open. The attendant drew back with terrified green eyes. “Your Highness?” She bowed her head once more.

“She’s there? Is there any message?” I demanded. My wings flexed as my shadows stretched out. I didn’t even try to draw them back. My heart galloped, but something still felt wrong.

However, even if Briar had come back to say no to forever, she was safe and would be crowned my queen.

“N-no message. She just ran up,” the attendant stammered.

The heraldic trumpet blasted three times, piercing my skull.

With a ragged sigh, I lowered my head, then drew myself up and closed the door.

I’d find out soon whether Briar was returning to me as my queen or as my queen and my love.

Whatever came next, I would honor her choice. Even if it destroyed me.

I strode onto the dais as the music swelled, choral voices interlacing in ancient harmonies as the drums beat and the strings sang. Practically every seat in the hall was filled.

Vyraetos stood before the coronation pedestal, which now held two crowns. The Shadow King’s crown was forged from star metal and obsidian, all sharp angles and harsh lines with jagged peaks like the mountains at night.

At the center point was the head of the enchanted spear used by the first Shadow King to slay the ghost dragon that had tried to destroy our magic eons ago.

The Shadow Queen’s was smaller and more delicate, shaped with dark silver and midnight iron, braided together with thorns at the sides until it all came together in a central weaving shaped to resemble a full moon with roses.

My shadows hummed in anticipation, and the icy burn of my magic flowed through me.

Elara waited for me at the foot of the dais, her manner calm and a look of soft happiness upon her face.

Her glamour had returned to full strength, and she wore a floor-length indigo gown with silver beads woven throughout like starlight in a midnight sky.

Silus stood at attention in the first row, but Thalen wasn’t there.

My brow furrowed. If Thalen had gotten Briar back for the coronation, had she asked him to remain with her?

Or was he trying to convince her to stay?

Physician Morlo was missing as well. His seat farther down the bench from Thalen and Silus was startlingly empty. Perhaps something had happened to delay him?

Briar’s friends were among the assembled guests.

They all sat near the front in fine garments.

Veralt sat beside Rhielle with his broad arm flung around her shoulders.

Calla Lily leaned over and whispered something to Rhielle from her seat at the end, and Rhielle shook her head with a sly smile before glancing at Veralt.

He shrugged and responded. Whatever he’d said, Quen seemed to approve, and Yuki and Velessa whispered back and forth until Thalira motioned for them to stop.

Myantha watched the front with wide eyes and rapt attention.

Flanking the sides of the dais were the members of the councils.

On one side was the joint council of Aureline and Shadow who had assisted with the trials.

The rest of the Shadow Council stood on the opposite side.

They watched me from beneath their hoods, and my skin itched from the knowledge that at least some were still traitors yet to be exposed.

My nerves remained raw, my heart hammering.

The discomfort within me intensified, and I wanted to crawl out of my skin.

Briar was in the next room, but there was no tug of awareness.

Did I always feel that tug when she was near, or only sometimes?

But if she was here, why did I still feel like I was on the verge of breaking?

I scarcely registered Vyraetos picking up the Shadow King’s crown and approaching me.

He spoke of our people’s sacred history and sacred duty, of how our magic flowed through the king and into the kingdom.

His voice droned on and on, and I fought to keep my eyes away from the door that hid Briar from me.

Everything within me tightened, and blood thundered in my ears.

Soon.

Vyraetos placed the crown upon my head. “Behold your king. Long live the king!”

His voice sounded as if it were coming from far away. Blood rolled down the sides of my face from where the points of the crown had pierced my skull, but I barely felt it. I could scarcely breathe as I kept my gaze fixed on the door.

“The trials have been given, the tests made. A queen has been searched for, tested, and seen. Behold now the one whom Fate, the councils, and the king himself have chosen.” Vyraetos gestured toward the door on the left side of the dais.

Silently, the black wooden door opened beneath the arch of black and white roses, lilies, and other flowers. My breath caught, and my hands twitched as I forced myself to remain in place.

A shimmering blue skirt ghosted at the entrance, and then—Kaylen stepped out to greet me, dressed as a bride.