Page 28 of Night Fae (Monsters of Veridia #3)

Malik's head pounded. He pressed his fingertips against his temples, but the headache would not go away.

And now Adrian wanted him to eat breakfast.

His friend gestured at the tray on the small table beside his bed. "The cook said this would help you recover your strength."

Malik glanced at the array of unfamiliar fruits and bread. His stomach turned at the thought of food, but he forced himself to pick up a piece of something that resembled a plum.

"How do you stand it?" Malik bit into the fruit. It tasted almost like honey. "The waiting."

Adrian settled into a chair, though he didn't look like he wanted to be sitting. He had a restless energy about him. "I don't. Not really." His smile didn't reach his eyes. "I just pretend I'm not falling apart until Knox returns. It's all I can do for him right now."

"It must be difficult."

"It is." Adrian studied him for a moment. "So. You and Zev."

Malik nearly choked on the fruit. "What about us?"

"Come on. I've seen how you look at him. And how he tries not to look at you."

Heat crawled up Malik's neck. Everything that had happened between him and Zev still felt like a dream—the kind you wake from feeling both satisfied and robbed, knowing it wasn't real. Except it had been. Zev's hands on his skin, his mouth?—

Did Malik's thoughts show on his face even now?

"I don't really know what's going on," he made himself say.

Adrian snorted. "Welcome to loving someone from Veridia."

"I didn't say anything about love."

"I guess you didn't." Adrian's expression softened. "But I know you're worried about him."

"I'm worried about all of them." Except maybe for Caelen. Caelen could drop dead for all Malik cared.

"Of course, but that's not how I meant it."

Malik nodded vaguely and picked at the bread, pulling it apart without eating. "Zev is still in love with someone else." The words tasted bitter.

He and Adrian had both read the web novel obsessively. They both knew Zev's story. They both knew Zev was never going to forget his first love, and Malik would never ask that of him. but…

"How do you compete with a ghost?"

"You don't." Adrian reached across the table, his hand covering Malik's. "But that doesn't mean there won't ever be room for something new."

Malik wanted to believe him, but doubt gnawed at his insides, sharper than hunger. Or maybe it wasn't doubt at all. Something felt wrong today—more than just worry for Zev and the others.

More than just the stupid headache that wouldn't go away.

"They should have been back by now."

Adrian squeezed his hand before letting go. "They'll be fine. Knox has survived worse." His confident tone didn't match the worry lines between his brows.

"What if they're not?"

"Then we'll figure something out. That's what we do."

Malik nodded, but the dread coiling in his stomach only tightened. He rose from the bed, suddenly needing to move.

"I think I'll walk a bit." He tried to sound casual. "Sitting makes me restless."

"Want company?"

"No." Malik forced a smile. "I'm not great company right now anyway."

Adrian looked like he might argue, but something in Malik's expression made him relent. "Don't overdo it."

"I won't."

Malik slipped into the corridor, leaning against the wall once he was out of sight. The healers had warned him to rest, but how could he rest when Zev was out there, possibly in danger?

The thought of Zev made his chest ache, as if an invisible thread connected them—a thread being pulled taut to the point of breaking.

Something was wrong. He could feel it.

And he didn't have to wander long before the palace erupted into motion. Guards rushed past him, servants called to one another, and Malik's heart beat faster.

They were back.

He pushed away from the wall, fighting the dizziness that threatened to send him to his knees. Following the commotion, he made his way to the palace's main entrance, where a crowd had already gathered.

Caelen strode through the massive doors first, his silver-white hair caked with dirt and what looked unsettlingly like dried blood. Daniel clung to his side, pale but unharmed. Knox followed, supporting Leon, who could barely walk.

Malik searched the group, waiting for the tall, dark figure that should have been bringing up the rear.

Zev wasn't with them.

The realization almost made him stagger.

"Where is he?" His voice came out sharp.

Knox's head snapped up, eyes finding Malik in the crowd. Something in the incubus's expression made Malik's blood run cold.

"Get all these people to clear out," Knox muttered to Caelen, tilting his head toward Malik.

The Shadow King looked more than a bit unhappy to be taking orders from Knox, but he didn't argue. "Everyone out," he commanded, his voice cutting through the chaos. "Now."

Guards and servants scattered, leaving only their small group in the cavernous entryway. Caelen led them to a chamber off the main hall—some kind of receiving room with low couches and flames crackling in the fireplace.

"Where's Zev?" Malik demanded again, stronger this time.

Knox lowered Leon onto one of the couches. "He was separated from us in the Fields."

"Separated?"

"The Night Court found us," Daniel explained, his hand not leaving Caelen's. "We were fighting them, and Zev... he got drawn deeper into the Fields."

"Drawn?"

"He let his emotions get the better of him," Caelen said. "He should have known better."

"Caelen!" Daniel rebuked his mate sharply while Malik sank onto a chair, the room spinning around him.

His worst fears were coming true. "Is he dead?"

"No," Knox said firmly. "Not dead. Just... trapped."

"Then we need to go back for him."

"We can't," Knox refused to change his stance. "The Fields are crawling with Night Court soldiers, and you—" he gestured at Malik, "—are in no condition for a rescue mission."

"I don't care."

"I do," Knox said. "Zev would kill me if I let you get yourself killed trying to save him."

"But we can't abandon him. He would never abandon you."

"I know." Knox's eyes softened slightly. "Listen to me, Zev is strong. He'll find his way out."

Malik wasn't so sure about that. Everyone assumed Zev was strong, but Malik had recently gotten a glimpse behind that strong exterior, and he didn't want to leave Zev to battle his trauma by himself.

He made to get up, but another wave of weakness washed over him.

The room tilted dangerously, and he gripped the chair arms to steady himself.

"Keep sitting." Adrian was by his side now.

Malik rubbed his face.

Damn it. Why did he have to be so useless?

"It's the shadow paths," Leon said, making Malik look up. "They're feeding on you."

All eyes turned to him.

"What do you mean?" Adrian asked.

Leon pushed himself upright with visible effort. His gaze met Malik's. "You're connected to Zev, aren't you?"

Malik's cheeks grew warm again. How did Leon know that? And why did it matter now?

"The Fields…," Leon said. "They're connected to the paths, and if they're feeding on Zev… they're feeding on you."

Adrian went to Leon's side as if to tell him to lie back down, but Leon waved him off.

"This is part of Yuri's plan," he said. "The four of us," he nodded to Daniel and Malik, "we're descended from Barrier Keepers. From before the boundaries existed."

"What?" Malik stared at Leon.

"We're beings of two worlds," Leon explained with a faint look of wonder. "The paths react violently to us. It'll help Yuri break down… the barriers."

Malik needed a second—or several hours—to process all that, but since he didn't have time, he asked his biggest question now .

"But why?" he demanded. "What does he gain by breaking down the barriers?"

"He believes an ancient deity created all realms as one," Leon said. "The Barrier Keepers separated the worlds, and he wants to wake the deity to restore what he sees as the natural order."

"He's insane," Knox growled. "Unmaking reality isn't restoration, it's destruction."

Malik wanted to say something more, but the invisible thread in his chest pulled tighter, a nauseating pain spreading through his limbs. Something was drawing on him, draining him, just as it had in the shadow paths.

He stood abruptly, needing to escape the suffocating room, but his legs betrayed him. The floor rushed up to meet him.

Strong arms caught him before he hit the ground.

"Malik?" Knox's voice sounded distant.

Leon's sounded alarmed. "The connection must be stronger than I realized. If this continues..."

"Will it kill him?" Adrian's voice.

Leon hesitated. "It might."

"Then we need to do something!" Adrian insisted.

Knox growled. "We need to get Zev out of the Fields."

"Or break the connection," Leon suggested carefully.

Malik shook his head, despite the pain it caused. "No. I won't abandon him."

"Malik—" Knox began.

"No." He forced himself to sit up, gritting his teeth against the dizziness. "Zev didn't abandon me in the Night Court. I'm not abandoning him now."

Knox and Caelen exchanged a look that Malik couldn't decipher.

"He needs rest," Caelen finally said. "Take him to his chambers. We'll discuss our options once we've all had time to recover."

Malik wanted to protest, but his body betrayed him. He could barely keep his eyes open now. The last thing he remembered was being lifted again, carried through the palace corridors as consciousness slipped away.