Page 99 of Night Fae

"The shadow paths," Malik gasped, clearly exhausted. "I can... I can guide us back."

The creature howled, the sound of it tearing through the fabric of the clearing. The ground beneath them began to split open, darkness welling up from the cracks.

"Now would be good," Zev said, supporting Malik as the human swayed on his feet.

Malik nodded, closing his eyes. He reached out blindly, hand passing through the air until it connected with something Zev couldn't see—something that made Malik's fingers curl as if grasping a rope.

"Hold onto me," Malik ordered. "Don't let go, no matter what."

Zev wrapped his arms around Malik's waist, pulling him close as the clearing collapsed around them. The creature that had worn Rhys's face dissolved into the encroaching darkness, its howl fading to a whisper and then to nothing.

Cold enveloped them as they fell into the shadow paths. Zev tightened his grip on Malik, feeling the human's heartbeat against his chest—too fast, too weak, but alive.

"I've got you," Zev promised as darkness swallowed them completely.

CHAPTER 21

The shadow paths twisted around them, tendrils reaching for memories, emotions, anything they could consume. Zev felt them prodding at his mind, tasting his grief, his guilt, his lingering fear. He shielded Malik as best he could, using his body as a barrier between the human and the hungering dark.

Time lost meaning in the paths. Had they been falling for seconds or hours? Zev couldn't tell. Malik's body grew heavier in his arms, his breathing more labored.

"Malik," Zev whispered against his ear. "Stay with me."

Malik stirred slightly. "Need to... find the thread." His voice was barely audible, even to Zev's enhanced hearing. "Connection to... Shadow Palace."

The paths shifted around them, responding to Malik's words. Zev sensed the change. A current pulling them in a new direction.

"That's it," he encouraged. "Show me how."

Malik's hand fumbled for Zev's, guiding it to grasp something Zev couldn't see—an invisible cord stretching through the darkness. The moment Zev touched it, energy surged between them. The path ahead clarified, a thread of darker black against the surrounding void.

"Hold on," Zev murmured, taking more of Malik's weight as the human sagged against him. "I'll get us there."

He followed the thread, pulling them along its length. The darkness fought him, currents of shadow pushing them off course, tendrils snaking toward Malik's unprotected mind. Zev swatted them away, baring his teeth in silent challenge.

You can't have him.

A tendril brushed Zev's face, bringing with it a whisper of Rhys's voice.

You left me behind.

Zev flinched but didn't slow down. "Not real," he reminded himself.

Another tendril—this one tasting of Malik's memories. The car crash. His family's bodies. The stark emptiness after the shadow paths had fed on him at the excavation site.

Zev grabbed the tendril and ripped it away from Malik's mind. "Stop fighting," he growled at the darkness. "We're leaving."

The paths recoiled briefly, then surged back stronger. Images flickered around them—Rhys's blood-covered body after the Court had finished with him; Malik lying lifeless in the Snow Palace; Lord Darius standing over them both, victorious.

"Illusions," Zev told Malik, unsure if he could even hear. "Don't look."

Malik's grip on his arm tightened fractionally. "Already... seen them. Keep... moving."

They pushed onward, following the thread. Gradually, the resistance of the paths lessened. The darkness thinned, becoming misty rather than solid. Ahead, Zev could sense something. Not light precisely, but an ending.

With a final surge of effort, he pulled them toward it. The shadows parted reluctantly, and they tumbled out onto a cold stone floor.

Zev twisted in midair, making sure his body hit the ground first with Malik protected against his chest. Pain shot through his shoulder as they landed, but he hardly noticed.