Page 26 of Night Fae (Monsters of Veridia #3)

Zev adjusted the short sword at his hip, testing its weight and balance. The Shadow Palace armory had decent weaponry—not as fine as what he'd trained with in the Night Court, but it would do.

Any blade that could slice through his father's neck would do.

He slid a dagger into each boot, another at his belt. All within easy reach.

"Expecting to fight an army?" Knox asked, entering the armory with silent footsteps. The incubus wore his usual black, a sword already strapped across his back.

"Better prepared than dead."

Knox studied him. "Are you certain about this? The Fields of Memories aren't kind to those with pasts like ours."

Zev didn't answer. Instead, he tested the edge of a throwing knife against his thumb.

"What will you do if the Fields show you a vision of Rhys?" Knox pressed.

"Focus on your own demons," Zev shot back, sheathing the throwing knife.

Fortunately, Knox knew not to press further, and they finished arming themselves in silence before heading to the palace courtyard where the others waited.

Caelen stood near the stone fountain, dressed in the colors of his kingdom—black and silver, with hints of deep blue at the edges of his formal attire.

He didn't wear a crown, but he didn't need one to appear regal.

Daniel stood pressed against his side, the Shadow King's arm possessively wrapped around his waist.

"You're late," Caelen said, his voice cold as he regarded Knox and Zev. "Perhaps my servants should have reminded you of the urgency."

"We were selecting appropriate weapons," Knox replied evenly.

Caelen merely raised one eyebrow at them. "Do try to keep up with us once we depart."

Zev wanted to fire back at Caelen, but he was distracted.

Malik leaned against a stone pillar, still pale but standing on his own. Their eyes met across the courtyard, and something twisted in Zev's gut.

Caelen spoke again. "Now that the incubus and his friend have decided to join us, we can proceed.

" The Shadow King held four silver pendants, each bearing a complex symbol etched into the metal.

"These are protection amulets. They won't shield us completely from the Fields' influence, but they should help us distinguish memory from reality. "

Caelen distributed the amulets, placing Daniel's around his neck himself before tossing the others to Knox and Zev with barely a glance. "Do not remove these, no matter what you see or hear."

"How far is it to the Fields?" Daniel asked, fingers tracing the pendant now resting against his chest.

"Half a day's ride," Caelen replied, his tone softening when addressing his mate. "We'll reach the border by midday."

Servants brought three horses, already saddled and provisioned. Zev approached the sleek black mare assigned to him, examining the saddle straps.

"Planning to check every buckle?" Malik's voice came from behind him.

Zev turned. "You should be resting."

"I wanted to see you off." Malik stepped closer, lowering his voice. "And I want you to promise me something."

"What?"

"That you'll come back." Malik's voice was steady, but his hammering heartbeat—audible to Zev—betrayed his anxiety. "To me."

Those two words hung in the air between them.

"I can't promise that." Zev glanced over his shoulder. Daniel sat perched in front of Caelen on their shared mount, the Shadow King's arms encircling him as he took the reins. Knox busied himself with his own horse, pointedly not looking their way.

Meanwhile, Malik stepped closer to Zev, close enough that Zev could feel the warmth radiating from his body. "Why not?"

"I don't make promises I'm not sure I can keep."

Malik studied him for a long moment, then reached up to touch the side of Zev's face. The contact was brief but seared into Zev's skin like a brand. "I know you can't lie." Malik's voice dropped to a whisper. "But sometimes I wish you would."

Before Zev could respond, Caelen called impatiently for them to form up. Malik stepped back, his hand falling away. Zev mounted his horse, keenly aware of Malik's eyes on him as he guided the mare into position behind Knox.

Knox's mate had appeared at his side.

"Take care of Malik while we're gone," Zev said to Adrian.

Adrian agreed. "I will. But you'd better return. You'd better all return."

Zev gave a curt nod, then followed as Caelen led them through the palace gates, refusing to look back at the human who had somehow carved out a place for himself in Zev's hollow ribcage.

They rode in tense silence for the first hour, following a narrow path that wound through dense forest. Caelen and Daniel led, the Shadow King's arms wrapped protectively around his mate as they shared whispered conversations. Knox followed several lengths behind, with Zev taking up the rear.

The forest gradually thinned, giving way to rolling hills covered in pale silver grass that whispered as they passed. They stopped briefly to water their horses, then pressed on.

As they remounted and continued their journey, Caelen addressed them all without turning.

"The Fields feed on emotion," he warned as they crested a particularly high hill.

Below, the landscape shimmered in the distance, like heat rising from stone.

"Keep your feelings guarded. Any strong emotion—fear, anger, joy, grief—will make you vulnerable. "

"And you've been there before?" Knox asked.

Caelen's expression darkened. "Once. It was not... pleasant."

Daniel twisted in the saddle to look up at his mate. "You still haven't told me about that."

"There are many things I haven't told you, pet." Despite the endearment, Caelen's tone was grim. "Today is not the day to invite bad memories."

Zev decided it was time to change the subject. "We should discuss our plan," he said. "Once we find Leon, how do we extract him? Especially if he's working with Yuri willingly."

"He's not," Daniel insisted. "Leon wouldn't betray us."

Caelen tightened his hold on Daniel. "People can be manipulated. The Leon we find may not be the one you knew."

"If he's under some kind of influence, we break it," Knox stated simply.

"And if Leon's not controlled?" Zev pressed. "If he chose this new alliance?"

Daniel glared at him. "Then we try to understand why. He's still my friend."

"Your friend who might be helping to destroy the barriers between worlds," Zev countered. "Allies can turn into enemies before you know it."

"Enough," Caelen commanded, his voice cutting. "We waste time with pointless speculation. The Night Court or rogue Barrier Keepers could be at the Fields already." His arm tightened around Daniel. "We deal with Leon when we find him."

The shimmering in the distance had grown more pronounced. As they rode toward it, the air took on a strange quality—thicker, somehow, as if they were moving through water rather than air. Sounds became muffled, and colors blurred at the edges.

They dismounted at the border of the Fields, tethering their horses to a stand of stunted trees. The animals seemed skittish, nervous.

"They won't cross into the Fields," Caelen explained. "Animals have better sense than we do."

Zev studied the boundary where normal landscape gave way to something... different.

There was no clear line, just a gradual shift into unreality. The silver grass beyond the border sometimes appeared solid, sometimes transparent, revealing other landscapes beneath—snow-covered mountains, dense jungle, barren desert—each flickering in and out of existence.

"Jamie?" Daniel suddenly tensed. "I hear Jamie."

Caelen gripped his arm. "It's not real, pet. The Fields are already reaching for you."

Daniel shook his head. "It sounded just like him."

"Remember the amulets," Knox said, touching the pendant at his throat. "Focus on them when things become confusing."

Zev touched his own pendant, the metal cool against his skin. "Let's move. The longer we stand here, the more time we give the Fields to work on us."

They crossed the border together. The moment Zev stepped into the Fields, the air around him changed—became charged with energy that prickled along his skin.

Colors intensified, then faded, then shifted entirely. The silver grass sometimes brushed his knees, sometimes barely covered his boots.

Time seemed to stretch and contract. One moment, the others were right beside him; the next, they were distant figures shrouded in mist that hadn't been there seconds before.

Zev focused on his breathing, on the solid weight of his weapons, on anything but the whispers that tickled the edges of his consciousness.

"Stay close," Caelen called, his voice sounding both near and impossibly far away. "The Fields will try to separate us."

"I feel magic," Knox said. "Strong magic, in that direction." He pointed toward what appeared to be a copse of trees—though as Zev watched, the trees sometimes vanished, replaced by stone pillars, then tall sculptures, then trees again.

They moved toward the source of magic, fighting against the disorienting shifts in reality. Daniel stumbled once, then again, his eyes darting to things only he could see.

"Jamie's just over there," he insisted. "I can see him."

"It's not real," Caelen repeated, gripping Daniel's hand tightly. "Focus on me and nothing else."

Zev kept his senses alert for danger, though in this place, danger could wear any face. Every shadow might conceal an enemy—or a memory given flesh.

The magic grew stronger as they approached the center of the Fields. Here, the shifts in reality were more pronounced. Objects from Earth—a streetlamp, a bench, a chunk of what looked like asphalt—phased into existence before dissolving away again.

And there, in the center of it all, was Leon.

The human knelt within a circle of glowing symbols etched into the ground. His eyes were closed, his hands pressed flat against the earth. Energy pulsed from him, feeding the ritual that swirled around him like a vortex.

"Leon," Daniel called, starting forward.

Caelen's arm shot out, holding him back. "Wait."