Page 35 of Solar Shadows

For a limited time, of course. Nothing came for free.

The power wove into the fabric of my being, becoming one with me. To use it, join hands with The Moon, then simply call to it together with the wordsCelestial Ward. No clapping required.

As long as we were joined, and the ward was properly charged between uses by resting, then we were good.

“Got that, little brother?”I thought at him, wondering if he’d hear me.

“Yeah,”he answered.

Hello, brand new telepathy—a.k.a. an extra boon with this power.

“Celestial Ward!” we cried at the same time.

Magical energy exploded from our bodies, blue tinged with silver-and-golden hues, wrapping itself around us in an egg-shaped bubble. It glittered, flecks of sparkly magic falling around us like snow. The lifespan of the ward connected to us, already beginning a slow countdown to collapse in our heads.

Thirty minutes and counting. Plenty of time to make something happen.

I loved how we got to break the apparent no-magic rule of being here.

Thank you, Hecate.

“What is this?” the fae woman demanded.

“Safety in numbers, bitch,” I retorted, squeezing my brother’s hand.

“No! No! No! You will not be slippery fishes. I won’t allow this. Come out and wait properly for me to taste you. My servant is on the wing. Soon I will have you.”

On the wing. Got it. She’d just given her game away. The crystal shades were taking parts of us, carrying them back here for her.

“Why can’t you taste us now?” Riley asked.

“You know too much.” She circled the bubble, clearly not stupid enough to attack it.

What a pity.

“We do,” I interjected, “so you might as well fill us in on the details now.”

She paused, staring right at me. “You see me, don’t you?”

I nodded. “Just a tad and it’s not pretty.”

The hag lifted a hand, running it back and forth across the surface of the bubble. “Fascinating. Yet it feels incomplete. Lacking starlight.” She grinned. “I am looking for him. Closing in.”

“You are?” Riley said. “Where is he?” He grunted. “Why did I even ask that?”

“He hides with shadows. Empty. Lost.”

A pang of sadness landed even thinking about it.

We’ll find you, Preston.

“Out of place,” the woman continued. “Who is he? Why is he drifting?”

Okay. Not weird at all. “Are you sensing all of this?” I asked. “Are you an empath?”

“You could say that,” she replied. “I feel, I see, I know. Not everything, of course. There are conditions on me because of the Winter Queen, but I am too great to be fully contained.” She grinned again, throwing her head back. “But soon I will leave this place. Soon I will walk the lands beyond my prison, including yours. Soon you will cower, soon you will see me for who I truly am.” She stepped back, lifting her arms. “I will taste of you and I will destroy you.”

So much for not wanting to hurt us. By Hecate, these villain types were always full of shit.