Page 56 of Night Fae

Caelen approached him with a calculating gaze. Frost glimmered in his white hair, and his breath fogged in the unnaturally cold air of the ruined garden.

"Have you expended enough of that cursed magic running through you now?" he asked. "Or do we have to go another round?"

Understanding dawned slowly through Zev's rage. Caelen hadn't been trying to humiliate him—he'd been offering an outlet for the dangerous energy that had been consuming Zev since his feeding on Malik.

The ice restraining Zev shattered as he slumped forward, suddenly exhausted. The wild power had indeed diminished, leaving him drained but clearer-headed than he'd been since emerging from the shadow paths.

Caelen gestured to one of the uninjured guards. "Take our guest to the east wing. Give him a chamber where he can rest." To Zev, he added, "You're safe here for now. The Night Court has never been welcomed within these walls."

"Why help me?" Zev demanded.

"I'm not helping you," Caelen replied coldly. "I'm helping Daniel, who cares about his friend, who cares about you for reasons I can't begin to fathom."

The guard approached Zev cautiously. "This way, sir."

Zev followed without argument, still tempted to stab Caelen but too drained to fight anymore.

CHAPTER 12

The guard led Zev through the Shadow Palace's winding corridors. His limbs felt heavy. Damn Caelen and his ice magic. The slashes on his cheek stung, a small pain compared to the dull ache spreading through his chest.

The guest chamber door swung open. Spacious. Dark sheets on the bed. A window overlooking the nightscape of the Shadow Kingdom. No personal touches.

Zev didn't bother thanking the guard or removing his clothes. He collapsed onto the bed, darkness swallowing him instantly.

Even as he drifted off, though, something tugged at him. Something?—

No.

Not Malik's dreams. Not again.

Zev pushed against the connection, fought it, but his exhaustion won, and his consciousness slid through the barrier between their minds.

Malik stood in a meadow beneath a violet-tinged sky. Not Earth. Not quite Veridia either. The tall grass whispered against his legs, wildflowers releasing a sweet scent that reminded him of summer evenings back home.

There was a lake nearby. Maybe he would go there and sit for a while. That would be nice, wouldn't it? Just to exist for a moment without worries.

Maybe he would nap.

He felt kind of tired.

Why was he so tired?

A prickle on the back of his neck.

Was there someone else here?

Malik turned. There was a figure standing at the meadow's edge. Was that…?

Zev?

Malik's heart beat faster. That was Zev! What was he doing here? And why did he look like that? Oh, right, his glamor had dropped when they'd….

Oh.

Malik's memories of the last few hours came back to him in a rush. They'd fled the Night Court. They'd jumped into the Shadow Path, and he'd clung to Zev there. He'd felt so close to the fae, like they were in sync, like he was really just an extensionof Zev, and then they'd made it out, and the sensation lingered, and… then Zev had kissed him.

Malik's heart thumped painfully in his chest at that particular memory.