Page 7 of Shadows of Ruin (The Broken Prophecy #2)

Chapter 6

Lana

A sliver of moonlight shone through the crack of the tent flap as I awoke several hours later from the truths haunting my dreams.

A scream threatened to escape my lips, but I bit down on the fleshy part of my hand to not wake the others. Tears streamed down my face in a waterfall of emotion.

The dreams of my father’s bloody chest weren’t nightmares at all. They were real.

I swallowed a sob. And now? I was alone.

The grief of that loneliness surrounded me like a dark inescapable pit, worse than my nightmares.

More horrific than the terrors of the dungeon all those years ago.

The all-consuming thoughts doubled me over with a phantom pain inside of my gut, threatening to drive me mad.

Losing Elisabeth and then my father—alone, these two tragedies would have sent me into a spiral, but being taken here to a land that shouldn’t have existed? Away from the only two people whom I could rely on to pull me through such overwhelming grief?

It felt impossible to get through this .

I was being buried alive by this heartache with no outlet. No way out.

Only a few days ago, Kade may have been the one to help dig me out of this endless pit of despair. A chance that only existed for a damn heartbeat before he killed the first man I ever loved.

Now nothing would save me.

And yet… Maybe I didn’t need to be saved. Maybe the woman I’d become while tunneling out of my own grave would save herself and destroy anyone and everyone who dared to stand in her way.

Kade and his friends were the enemy, and if I could hone my hatred for them, I knew I could keep the loneliness at bay.

I am Illiana Dresden, and I am stronger than the darkness within me.

Wiping my tears, and renewed in strength, my rapidly beating heart returned to a steady pace. The desire to scream into the mountaintops subsided, slightly.

A throb in my hand pulled my attention. Small droplets of blood glistened on my skin in the moonlight. A stark reminder of my lack of magic and healing ability. In a flash, what little determination I had conjured now escaped.

All of my failures boiled down to my lack of magic. I’d lost Elisabeth and my father because I couldn’t save them. How many times would I rise from my grief, only to plummet back into it again?

Resigned, I curled into a ball on my open bedroll, Raya’s borrowed cloak falling around me. The flaps of my tent fluttered in a breeze, and a familiar warmth tickled my feet. Kade’s shadows hovered, tucking me back in before whisking a fallen piece of hair behind my ear.

Before I could turn and shout at Kade, his shadows, with one last squeeze, retreated. Kade was nowhere to be found.

Several more minutes passed as I tossed and turned, unable to calm my racing mind. Lying here served to make everything worse, so I rose to exit the tent, patting the pocket where my father’s letter rested. Perhaps reading his words would help focus me. Besides, staring at the stars would provide some comfort. Walks in the middle of the night had always cleared my mind before, hopefully it would work tonight.

Fates, I hoped Mysthaven had stars.

Upon first glance, Kade and his companions were nowhere to be found. Embers from the earlier fire dwindled, but still offered an endless supply of warmth, no doubt from Storm’s magic. A small rock formation lay a few feet away, beckoning me as if it knew it offered the perfect place to stare at the sky.

I sat down and looked upward. The stars shone just as brightly in Mysthaven as they did in Brookmere. I searched until I found my favorite constellation, following the trail of four stars that led into an arrow, one belonging to a warrior maiden who chased away a deadly serpent a few stars to the right.

The patterns they made felt like home.

Home.

I pulled out the letter. No one else knew the secrets it contained. I had no intention of sharing them either. Not now.

Even with the brilliant moonlight, I could barely make out his elegant writing.

My mission contained in my father’s words.

Illiana, you are the key to Brookmere’s survival.

Your mother asked she be buried with a journal she kept, passed down from each generation in the royal family. She needed it secret. Safe. You must go to your parents’ home and find it. I ensured her request was met. In it, she always believed you’d have everything you needed to save our lands.

A clear objective, spelled out by my father’s hand, lay before me. Go to Valeford to find something my birth mother had left behind. What could she have possibly hidden of such importance in a mere journal? It rattled me knowing the key to our kingdom’s survival remained hidden in such a small town, in a grave no less. But the king’s words were clear.

I reread the letter, this time in full, which revealed who the king and queen actually were to me. That they'd stepped in to raise me after my real parents were murdered by the dark Fae infesting Brookmere twenty-two years ago. The third time through, the resolve settled in me again, this time rising stronger than before.

Having a purpose would give me a reason to go on. Strength. Strength and courage to move past the grief over Elisabeth and my father. To avenge their deaths in any way possible. Nothing else mattered.

“How do I get out of here?” I whispered to the stars, asking like they’d whisper their secrets back to me.

I shivered, the frigid temperature freezing my skin. I wished I’d brought my blanket to keep warm.

Murmurs hummed through the night, and I stilled, turning my head in the direction of the noise, beyond the small gathering of rocks around me.

As they continued, I rose quietly, tucking my letter back into my pants pocket. Walking around the rocks past a few trees, I peeked past my hiding place.

Kade and Storm sat side by side facing out toward an ominous-looking mountain range.

“Want to tell me why you let it overtake you so spectacularly earlier?” Storm asked.

Kade shook his head. “I know Jax was merely running his mouth as usual, but the thought of the king knowing she is here—” He paused, picking something up and tossing it forward into the night.

They’re talking about me.

“ And?” Storm prodded .

“The thought of him using her, hurting her,” Kade sighed. “I couldn’t stop it.”

Silence fell between them, but only for a moment before Storm sighed. “It sounds like your own magic destroyed it, overcame it even as it escaped you. Your shadows made sure she was safe.”

“Don’t.” Kade’s voice held a warning toward his friend. “It’s stronger here. She isn’t safe with me. And we damn well know she won’t be safe with him.”

Him. Kade continuously referenced him .

The king.

“This was always the plan. We needed a queen for whatever purpose Cassandra foresaw.”

A prickling sensation stirred in me. Foresaw? It sounded too familiar. Too much like a prophecy. Hadn’t Kade mentioned a prophecy when we were fleeing? I thought it had been mine, but what else did Storm mean?

I needed to hear more. Needed to know what I was doing here. I stepped forward to hear better, and a dried twig snapped beneath my eager feet.

The men startled, but before they could catch me, I fled.

I barely made it a few paces before shadows wrapped around my waist, followed quickly by a pair of arms.

Kade tsked. “Spying is so unbecoming, Little Rebel.”

I backed a step away from him, shocked he let me. “What were you talking about with Storm? I heard you. I’m not safe here. Who is Cassandra?”

Kade’s eyes narrowed, those beautiful grey swirls standing out against his skin in the moonlight.

“Taking your time to fabricate another lie?” I pressed. “I guess I shouldn't expect anything honest from you. ”

“I never lied to you.” Kade’s gaze flitted to my mouth, staring as the grey in his eyes twisted with black, which seemed more prevalent here .

My jaw twitched. “How can you say that? You lied to get me to sleep with you and?—”

He took the one step remaining between us, my back hitting a deadened tree. “I never lied to you,” he growled. He braced a hand on the side of my head while grasping my chin in his fingers, forcing me to meet his gaze. “And I didn’t coerce you into what we shared. Don’t you dare twist what happened between us.”

My lip curled as I snorted, yanking my head from his grasp. “Yes, well when you said you were in Brookmere for a queen just to get me in bed, I didn’t think you meant you’d be kidnapping me.”

He leaned in so close that I felt his breath against my skin. Fury radiated off him as his shadows pulsed. We stood barely an inch apart as his chest pressed against mine, rising and falling in rhythm with my own.

I needed to move. Now. Otherwise, my traitorous body might do something like lean into him. My eyes prickled, damn it all. Damn him . He wouldn’t get any more of my tears.

But Kade saw it all.

Every flutter of emotion.

He leaned down, almost like he wanted to kiss me, but instead grasped a strand of my rose-gold hair between his fingers. His eyes cleared to grey as he swallowed, not breaking eye contact.

“You believe many things about me, Little Rebel,” he said softly. “And the longer we stay here, the more you’ll learn. The more you’ll hate me. But I meant every word I said to you.” Kade dropped my hair and skimmed his knuckles across my cheek tenderly. “Every touch. Every pleasure-filled sound. Every damn moment between us was real. I may have hidden truths from you, but I never lied. Except that night, when I told you I was there for a queen.” His voice trembled over the last few words .

I stopped breathing, watching as Kade pulled his hands away, and his shadows.

“I was only there for you,” he whispered.

He turned, walking away and leaving me alone.

I shivered from his absence. As much as I hated him, every time he retreated, something in me broke further. It shouldn’t be possible, seeing as everything I loved had been taken from me. What else was possibly left to feel such pain?

Kade Blackthorn’s presence should have filled me with fire, with a rage so fierce, it would warm me until he died just like my father.

Instead, his absence triggered a horrible sorrow. This festering, wretched pain I couldn’t work through lessened around him, which must be his shadows or magic keeping emotions at bay when he was near. That was the only explanation as to why the stabbing ache in my chest returned full force as soon as he disappeared from sight.

I fell to my knees, reliving the death of Elisabeth, of my father. Watching the nightmare in my mind of losing Brookmere. I’d conjured horrors in my head at what happened to Ian, my mother. No news of the palace meant no way of knowing what Andras had done.

Instead of fighting harder to destroy Kade myself and return to my people, my remaining family, I kept losing my nerve. I craved the respite from the pain his nearness brought, yet all of this was his fault.

I breathed deeper, heavier, as I let that hatred consume me. Hating myself for my body’s reactions to him was enough to fuel that fire for now.

I planned on using it to hurt him the second he let his guard down. If he remained distracted talking with Storm or the others, instead of watching my tent, I’d have a chance to sneak away.

Tomorrow night , I told myself. Tomorrow, I’d prevent Kade from following me, and then I’d return home. No matter what.