Page 32 of Obsidian and Frost

“I was just heading in.”

“You were getting close this time.”

I flinched. “How long have you been standing here?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Six minutes.”

“What? Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you ask me to move out of the way?”

“You were psyching yourself up. I didn’t want to disrupt that. Because, like I said, you were getting close.” The corner of his mouth turned up. “Dark Beauty.” His gaze raked over me and it was absolutelynotsubtle as he basically drank me in. “You’re certainly living up to one part of that tonight. That dress… stunning.”

I shifted at his overt compliment.

I wasn’t sure what to do with it. It was so… brazen.

“One part?” I asked, unfortunately retreating to a comforting tactic of redirecting a dicey subject somewhere else.

“The other is thatinnerdark beauty that you carry with you. The care, the heart, the altruistic aspect. Despite so much pain you still hold so much light. It’s rare. More than you may actually realize.”

“You heard that from Kai Hunter?”

“Well, Nyx does like to talk up those he adores. Although, in your case it wasn’t reallytalking up, it’s an indisputable fact.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“We both know you could have put down that Dark Fae bully in an instant withyourpower set. Instead, you stood there and suffered. All because you didn’t want to inflict hurt or damage, despite the fact that it would have gotten you out of that situation. You weren’t just frozen to the spot from panic, it was due to being afraid you’d harm those around you. Despite it all, everything you’ve endured, others were your priority. That says a fuck of a lot.” He stepped up closer. “I may have looked a little deeper into your background. Before the experiments, you were even fighting for the rights of your people back then—a secret unit that worked to undermine the tyranny of the Royal Fae Court that your parents were members of. You see,little Wraith,what Chimera Circle changed you into may have altered your supernatural makeup, but it didn’t alteryou.Not who you are at your core.”

His words hit so hard.

But not in a painful way.

I didn’t know what to say, how to even begin to—

“I have an idea.”

“You… what?”

“A way to make it a more pleasant experience when you cross that threshold there.”

“Blow right through and stop being so ridiculous?”

“It’s not ridiculous. Not in the least. In fact, it’s actually incredible that you’ve gotten to this point already.” He held out his hand. “If you’ll give me a little bit of your trust for a few moments, we can work together to get you through that door. A Rifted Cradle is a suspended, contained space perfect for high-risk and volatile magic. As such, a blended Wraith-Necromancer concealment spell is doable, especially with what I’ve come to understand about the illusion-rich chaos ofThe Fade.Necromantic and Wraith magic is part of the same twilight resonance which allows us to naturally harmonize with each other’s magic. If you can summon just a sliver of your Dark Fae power at the same time, it will work to stabilize the effect, making the concealment spell highly sophisticated and durable.”

“So, we’d be using necromantic tethering and Wraith cloaking with a little Dark Fae misdirection?”

“Precisely. We’ll blur into the ambient shadows and illusions, passing unseen and undetectable to even the most honed senses.”

I stared out at him, looking between his eyes and his offered hand. “Why would you help me like this?”

He smiled salaciously. “Would you like the brazen, filthy answer, or would you feel more comfortable if I stuck to the other reason at this juncture?”

Even though they were from entirely different worlds and backgrounds and there was so much different about them,thatfrom him really reminded me of Lazriel.

“Ah, you can’t allow yourself to veer toward the first answer, because you’re already committed to another?”

I jolted. “Committed? No. It’s just… I’m meeting somebody in there.”

“I see. Well, it is possible to share rather than limit yourself. Of course, in your case, one step at a time.”