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Chapter Sixteen

ARABELLA

A rabella woke up to a world as dark as her thoughts.

A strange sort of panic swelled in her chest. She couldn’t quite identify the cause, but she had this sense that she was running out of time.

For a moment, she wondered whether she’d dreamed of Elias again.

But she couldn’t recall as her dreams slipped between her fingers like the sands of the Abyss.

She sat up from where she slept on the ground, pushing aside her pile of blankets and animal skins. Or at least, she pretended it was animal skins. The idea of sleeping on the carcasses of some furry demons made her stomach turn.

The shadow fae had given Arabella, Jessamine, Breckett, and Hadeon a room farther up in the mountain as their shared sleeping quarters.

Similar to the cave she’d sat in with Arden, this one had an entrance from within the mountain as well as an opening at the other end that overlooked the desert.

There was a steep descent from the mouth of the cave, which carried a constant cool breeze.

If they were to flee this place, she supposed they could try to climb down the mountainside.

But from this far up, they’d just as easily fall to their deaths, tumbling thousands of feet to the base of the mountain below.

“What’s wrong?” Jessamine asked from where she’d been sleeping beside Arabella.

Beside Arabella, Breckett snoozed happily after Jessamine begrudgingly let him feed on her the night before. That had been after they’d been given a hearty meal of some kind of stew and waterskins.

“It’s nothing,” Arabella said, shaking her head as if that would clear the feeling of doom from her thoughts.

Jessamine gave her a flat look.

Sighing, Arabella said, “It’s just… The mating bond… I’ve hardly been able to feel it since we came to the Abyss. But now, I have this awful dread I can’t shake. And I don’t know if it’s coming from the mating bond or if it’s my own fears.”

Jessamine squeezed Arabella’s shoulder and opened her mouth to speak when another voice came from the far end of the cave.

“Don’t rush anything. Or else you might lose any alliance you’d hoped to gain.”

Turning, Arabella spotted Hadeon sitting against the stone wall, his wings tucked in close.

As ever, he lounged with such ease. It was as if he were in his own personal throne room.

His feet were stretched out before him, arms crossed, and his head was tilted back as he leaned against the curved stone wall.

If his face wasn’t covered in bruises and one eye swollen nearly shut, she might have believed his bravado.

“Didn’t sleep?” she asked.

With a chuckle, he said, “No.” Then he leaned forward. “I meant what I said. Don’t rush Arden into an alliance. He won’t take kindly to his hand being forced.”

Breckett made a delightful little choking sound in his sleep before rolling over.

“I understand wanting to get back to save Elias, but maybe…” Jessamine began, her tone oddly hesitant.

“Learn as much as you can from the fae before we try to find a way out. It could be the difference between life or death in the battle to come.” Again, she hesitated.

“The sorcerer wants something from Elias. He sought him out for a reason. If that’s the case, he wouldn’t kill him off so quickly.

” Her eyes locked on Arabella’s. “We may have some time yet.”

Arabella tried to ease the tightness in her throat as she braided her hair and donned her leather jacket. “I hope you’re right.”

Footsteps sounded at the cave’s entrance, and a shadow fae warrior appeared, his face brightened by the lone torch mounted on the wall.

“Prince Arden wishes to speak with you,” the warrior said to Arabella before placing a tray of food down.

Eyeing the food, she assumed it must be morning in this world without a sun. But there was no way to truly know. All the same, this was likely meant to be their breakfast.

Belatedly, she realized it was the same male warrior who’d nearly killed Hadeon the day before. The one who’d retrieved Arden after she’d knocked the knife from his hands with her magic.

Standing, she grabbed a slice of bread from the tray, waved farewell to the others, and then gestured toward the tunnels behind the warrior. “After you.”

She followed the male down long corridors as she quickly ate. The previous day, she’d spent eating her weight in absolutely anything the shadow fae offered them—from stews, to breads, to dried meats. Once she’d finished eating, she’d fallen into a deep sleep.

Even now, weariness seeped into her bones, but she couldn’t let that stop her from training. There was no time to waste.

Like the day before, she felt bursts of magic through the cave walls. It felt like fireflies moved just beyond her line of sight.

Just how many shadow fae are here?

After they’d turned down several tunnels, two fae appeared, walking in the opposite direction.

Toward them.

She held her breath, uncertain of what to do with her hands.

How would the shadow fae feel about some demi-fae appearing suddenly in the Abyss with several other rather unusual companions?

They’d probably never come across an erox or a human.

And any encounters they’d had with the Twilight Court fae were likely less than friendly.

As such, it was possible they viewed Arabella as an enemy given that she’d appeared in Hadeon’s company.

For reasons she couldn’t explain, she found herself wanting these fae to like her. To accept her.

These are my people.

The thought slipped into her mind. As it did, she blinked, uncertain what to make of it.

Once, the enchantresses of Shadowbank had been her only family.

Then Elias had come into her life and changed everything.

Now, how she viewed the world was being challenged once more with this new kinship with shadow fae. Did she owe them any loyalty?

She fixed her eyes on the cave floor where the shadows swirled playfully at the feet of the oncoming fae. There were two pairs of feet. One walked with purpose toward them, and the other pair was far smaller, turning and jumping toward the first fae.

It was at that moment she realized one of them was a child.

The too-loud whispers of a small voice echoed down the tunnel.

“Who’s that?”

Looking up, Arabella’s gaze fell upon a middle-aged female with blue eyes as piercing as shards of glass.

Like the fae guards, she was garbed in worn leathers and animal skins and boots made for hard labor.

Instead of carrying a spear or sword, she held a basket of what appeared to be laundry.

Beside her, the child bore a smaller basket of similar fabrics and bounced on their heels.

Both had long, pointed fae ears.

Similar to Arabella, they had pale skin, long limbs, and a fellowship with the shadows.

“Mom,” the child whispered again, loud enough to wake sleeping ogres. “Who’s that ?”

Uncertain what to do, Arabella offered them a small smile.

“A guest of the prince,” the female responded, eyeing Arabella.

She didn’t miss the accusation in her gaze.

What do you want, outsider?

Why didn’t you come before?

If Arabella had been stuck in the Abyss for countless years, she’d probably feel similar—a mixture of curiosity, hope, and fury at no one coming sooner. For them, it had been a thousand years. Plenty of time to build distrust and resentment.

She shrugged off the lingering stares as they passed, feeling the spark of their magic grow smaller as the distance grew between them.

Arabella passed several tunnels that led to rooms filled with fae. All of them were busy with their work or talking with each other as they sat cross-legged on the ground. Some spared looks her way, but many kept their eyes on their tasks.

It felt strangely… domestic.

She hadn’t expected the fae to have found contentment within one of the underrealms. Part of her had thought they’d be starving or hardened from the environment.

She hadn’t even considered there’d be children there.

But it made sense that some of the warriors could have fallen in love over time and might have wanted children.

Clearing her throat, she said to the guard, “What can I call you?”

She studied the way the cave walls and floors sloped downward and wondered if they were headed toward the base of the mountain.

“Colton,” he said, not looking back at her.

“Were you part of the army that fled to this place?”

Or were you born here?

She realized she had no idea how quickly fae children aged. But if she had to guess, Colton was about the same age as Arden, who looked like he’d be in his thirties if he were human.

“I fought in the fae wars,” he said, his voice cold. “And I followed my prince when he gave the orders to retreat.”

She considered her words for a long moment before saying, “Why do the other fae courts hate the shadow fae?”

Part of her disliked asking the question so bluntly. She didn’t want to imply that the shadow fae held some sort of blame for the terrible predicament they were in. They were victims to unspeakable violence. But why? How did the other courts convince themselves that such an atrocity was acceptable?

Colton paused mid-stride, and she nearly rammed into his back but managed to skid to a stop before colliding with him.

Slowly, he turned toward her.

She realized that, like Arden, his long brown hair was pulled back in a series of smaller braids, which he’d woven into a single long braid that fell down his back. Perhaps this was customary for shadow fae males. Unlike the prince, however, he kept the mask over his mouth and nose at all times.

Colton’s eyes narrowed on her in the dark tunnels. “Indoctrination.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.