Page 5 of Queen of Shadows and Ruin (The Nightfire Quartet #4)

FOUR

After leaving Rabin’s room, Zarya crossed the hall to her own. It was similar to his, furnished with a large black bed and velvet upholstered chairs and divans, along with plush rugs made of colorful threads, woven with gold to cushion her feet.

She unlaced her boots and stretched her toes before warming her hands by the fire. Someone had turned down the bed and left a pile of clothing on the end. She found a warm pair of pajamas, socks, and a thick robe, all clearly designed for this climate.

After a hot shower, she changed and tucked herself under the covers, preparing to find Rabin in the mind plane. She was exhausted and still recovering from what she’d suffered at her sister’s hands, but she craved the reassurance of reaching him in her dreams, even if only for a moment.

Instead of their usual forest, she took a page from his book, imagining the same cold, snowy mountains where he’d summoned her weeks ago. She pictured the same fur rug and visualized them in heavy, warm clothing.

It didn’t take long to find herself standing under the sky, the wind tugging at her hair. Rabin already waited a few feet away, his head cocked, and his brow arched in that way that always made her a little weak in the knees.

“When you said you’d see me later, I was hoping it would be in an environment a little more conducive to being naked,” he said, and Zarya laughed.

She strode towards him before he folded her into his arms.

“I hope you don’t mind. I’m tired, and I just wanted one more goodnight kiss.”

He smirked. “Anything you need, Spitfire.”

He leaned down, pressing his lips to hers. Despite the cold and the icy breeze whipping at wayward strands of hair, his warmth filtered into her blood, heating her from the inside. His kiss was slow and soft but also deep, his tongue probing her mouth and their lips sliding together. It was the kiss she needed after all the uncertainty of the past week. It was a kiss that reminded her of what was solid and real—unshakeable and constant as the stars sparking against the velvet night.

Then she felt the strangest… tug .

A hook jerked behind her navel, yanking her back with a snap. Rabin flashed away, the world around her dissolving into smears of muted color.

Suddenly, she was standing somewhere else.

But this wasn’t the mind plane. It wasn’t anything she recognized.

She stood in a small round room, the edges caked with dust and grime. A woman was huddled on the floor, leaning against the wall, her knees drawn up and her arms wrapped around them.

She shivered in her threadbare rags, and her dark hair hung thin and limp over scarred, bony shoulders. Zarya blinked, attempting to reconcile the strange sight. She tried to move closer, but all she could do was watch. Slowly, she turned in a circle, hoping to orient herself.

A bright golden glow flashed in the corner of her eye. She spun around to catch the shape of a woman wearing a golden sari with dark flowing hair, her burnished skin like she’d been lit within by the sun. Zarya blinked, and then she was gone.

Again, she turned to find herself facing the huddling woman.

Zarya tried to reach for her, but she couldn’t.

“Hello?” she called, her voice distant and hollow, echoing into nothing.

Then the woman looked up, staring straight through Zarya with dull, empty eyes.

A sharp breath snagged in her chest.

Her heart almost stopped.

She knew that face.

A moment later, someone was shaking her.

“Zarya?” came Rabin’s rough voice. “Are you okay?”

Her eyes flew open, and she was now back inside her father’s castle. Rabin leaned over her, dressed for sleep, his eyes wild with worry.

“Are you okay?” he asked again. “What happened?”

She clutched his arm, her fingers digging into his skin. They’d been torn from the mind plane right before that strange dream. She rubbed her stomach, remembering that hook ripping her away. “I’m not sure. Did you feel that, too?”

He sank next to her, stretching out on the blanket. “I did. Like something was pulling us apart.”

She exhaled a short breath. “Do you remember reading about anything like this in the handbook?”

He shook his head. “Never. Try entering again. See what happens.”

She nodded and closed her eyes, searching for that glimmering spot in the mind plane indicating his presence, but she couldn’t find it. All she saw was darkness. Her eyes opened a second later. “It’s gone.”

“What do you mean, it’s gone ?”

Her brows drew together. “It’s like when I was in the palace with Dishani. I can’t feel it anymore. It’s just blank.”

“But your magic is fine?” he asked.

She checked in with her anchors. “It’s fine.”

He ran a hand over his face. “What does this mean?”

“Maybe we can ask the king about this, too.”

Rabin blew out a breath, running his hand along the back of his neck. “Yeah, I suppose.” His expression was guarded, his eyes dark with distress.

She took his hand and squeezed it.

They sat quietly for a long minute, both stewing in their thoughts.

“I don’t like this,” she said. “I hate being separated from you.”

He reached over to cup the side of her face. “I’ll just be across the hall. I swear nothing can hurt you here.”

She sighed and shook her head. “Yeah. I’m just a little shaken. That felt…awful.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of this.” He pressed his lips to hers and then shuffled off the bed. “Good night,” he said, leaning down to plant another kiss on her temple, his lips lingering as though he couldn’t bear to leave, before he stood and turned around, giving her one last look before he closed the door.

Once he was gone, she stared around the dark room for a long while. The curtains hung open to reveal a gentle fall of snowflakes drifting from the sky. She rubbed her stomach again.

It felt like everything was going wrong lately.

Finally, she lay back down, tucking the blanket up to her chin.

It was then she recalled the vision of that stone tower with the woman huddling in the corner. She’d been covered in scars, starved, left for dead, or worse.

Someone had hurt her.

Zarya remembered the moment the woman looked up. She knew those dark eyes with that groove between her brows. That face that resembled hers so much.

It sounded impossible.

Ludicrous.

But she was almost certain the woman had been…her mother.