Page 90 of Night Fae

One of the shadow tendrils twitched.

Malik froze. Had he done that?

He took a second, just a second, to study the tendrils. They seemed to flow from the silver grass, connecting to a larger darkness beneath. The shadow paths.

Hadn't Leon said something about the paths reacting violently to them?

If Malik was somehow linked to the paths because of his heritage...

Malik concentrated on the nearest tendril, imagining himself reaching for it, grasping it. To his shock, the shadow rippled, as if disturbed by an unseen hand.

He tried again, focusing harder. This time, the tendril twitched, momentarily loosening its grip on Zev's arm.

Rhys—or whatever wore Rhys's face—frowned, looking around. "Someone's here." His expression darkened. "Something interferes."

Zev seemed barely conscious now, leaning heavily against Rhys. The shadow tendrils had nearly covered him completely, only his face still visible.

Desperation lending him strength, Malik focused on the largest tendril wrapped around Zev's chest. He imagined grasping it, tearing it away, freeing Zev from its grip.

The shadow shuddered violently, loosening for a moment. Zev gasped, a flash of awareness returning to his eyes.

"What—?" He looked down, finally noticing the darkness consuming him.

"Ignore it," Rhys urged, turning Zev's face back toward his own. "Look at me. Only at me."

"No!" Malik shouted, but still, his voice was not getting through. "Zev! It's feeding on you. The Fields—they're draining you through your memories. It's?—"

His voice cut off as pressure closed around his throat. The dreamscape itself was fighting him now, the Fields rejecting his intrusion.

But Malik wasn't about to give up so easily.

He fought against the pressure constricting his form. The shadow paths had responded to his commands, however weakly. If he could just reach Zev?—

He stretched out his hand toward one of the shadow tendrils, not trying to break it this time, but to grasp it, to use it.

His fingers closed around the tendril. It felt cold and alive, pulsing with stolen energy. Zev's energy. Instead of pushing it away, Malik pulled on it, drawing the energy back through the connection between them.

The effect was immediate and shocking. Power surged through Malik, raw and electric, filling him with a strength he'd never known.

But it was too late.

The clearing blurred around him, colors fading.

No! No, no no.

Malik woke with a gasp, sitting bolt upright in his bed in the Shadow Palace, heart pounding, the knowledge of what he had to do burning in his mind with perfect clarity.

He had to fight through the paths and bring Zev home.

CHAPTER 19

"Did you have a nightmare?" Lyrian asked. Both he and Leon were in the room with Malik, exchanging concerned glances.

"Not a nightmare," Malik insisted, not bothering with greetings. "Zev's trapped. The Fields are feeding on him. I saw it."

Leon moved closer to the bed, his expression carefully neutral.

"You've been unconscious for nearly a day," he said.