Page 50 of Sun, Moon & Shadow (Fate of Aemoria #1)

Gasping for breath, Nova woke from a nightmare, her skin slick with a cold sweat.

In her dream, the lycane hovered over her, its great paws crushing her chest. Stealing her breath.

In an instant, the creature transformed into her father, his metallic eyes flashing wildly and strands of his long silver hair brushing against her cheeks as he strangled her with his bare hands.

Only a dream , she assured herself, swallowing hard and sitting upright on the ground. Her stomach twisted with a painful hunger. The torch in her cell was dying, and shadows gathered at the edges of the room.

An ominous howl echoed in the distance, and her head snapped to the entryway.

A shiver rippled across her skin as she recalled the searing pain of the lycane’s claws against her flesh.

If one attacked her now, she simply wouldn’t survive.

She was an easy target. Chained to the floor.

Without weapons. The iron impeding her ability to heal.

Nova crawled as far back into the shadows as her restraints would allow, crouching low and staring into the void, bracing herself for whatever monster was coming for her.

To her surprise, it was not a creature but an ordinary male that rushed into her cell. As he stepped into the faint light, she heard the clink of metal and recognized the battered face of Idrian’s second-in-command.

She was in serious trouble.

“There you are,” he sneered as his eyes settled on her hiding in the darkness along the cell’s back wall.

“The whole plan’s gone to shit,” he said, panting slightly as if he’d been running. He took several more steps until he loomed over her. “Came to collect what I’m owed while I’m still alive to claim it.”

He moved swiftly, grabbing her by the hair and hauling her away from the wall. She tried to strike him, but the chain halted her hands.

The guard laughed, lifting his foot and forcing her onto her back with his boot.

He lowered himself to the ground, roughly wedging his hips between her thighs.

One forearm pressed against her chest, holding her down, while his free hand fumbled with his breeches.

Nova heard the key ring knocking repeatedly against the floor as she struggled beneath him.

“Don’t worry,” he rasped, his breath coming out in short puffs against her cheek as she turned her face away from his. “It’ll all be over soon.”

He cursed under his breath, rolling his body off of hers a bit to grapple with his laces. Seizing the opportunity, Nova slammed the iron cuffs into his nose. Hot blood spurted onto her chest as he cried out, bringing both hands to his face and releasing his hold on her.

Nova squirmed out from under him and scrambled to her knees, quickly looping the chain around his neck once and pulling it taut.

The guard sputtered and choked, clawing at the chain cutting off his breath and blistering the skin at his throat.

Nova shoved a knee between his shoulder blades and settled her weight on top of him, roaring as she fought her exhaustion and the pain of the iron cutting into her already-scalded wrists.

Less than a minute later, her attacker ceased struggling. Nova slumped forward, her vision blurring. She heard the faint tinkling of metal and realized her hands were trembling. Her vision went in and out of focus as she stared at the body beneath her, her heartbeat pounding in her ears.

Someone entered the cell, and Nova twisted to face whoever else had come for her.

In the light of the dimming torch stood the terrifying form of a wolf-like beast on its hind legs.

The creature dropped to all fours and approached her.

As it neared, Nova lowered herself to the ground, using the guard’s body as a shield.

A paralyzing fear ran through her for a breath before she saw the creature’s amber eyes.

“Lucan?” Her voice was an exhausted whimper. The animal dipped its head low in a submissive pose and came to her side. Nova didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, so she did both as she gently petted the bristly black fur on his snout.

Nova flinched as another figure flew into the cell, skidding to a halt just inside the entryway.

This time she could only cry as Callan fell to his knees before her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her tight against his chest.

“Are you all right?” He tilted her face up toward his, quickly scanning her for injuries and hissing through his teeth at the wound on her head.

“I’m alive.” They both let out a choked laugh.

The clink of metal reminded her she was restrained, the iron chain still looped around the neck of the guard who lay dead on the ground between them.

“The keys. On his belt,” she said.

Callan set to work releasing her from her shackles, his gloves protecting him from the iron’s ill effects. The second key he tried turned in the lock, and the cuffs fell away, landing on the guard’s back with a soft thud.

Callan cradled her wrists in his hands, and she winced at the lingering burning sensation.

“Did he hurt you?”

Nova shook her head weakly. “I broke his nose yesterday. I managed to rearrange it again just now before he could get what he came for.” She forced a frail smile.

Callan’s nostrils flared, and he pulled her to him again, pressing a firm kiss to the top of her head as she sagged against his chest. Lucan emitted a low yowl beside them, and Callan pulled away.

“We have to get out of here. Can you walk?”

“I think so.” He helped her to her feet, and she kicked off her remaining slipper. “The iron—I wasn’t able to heal.”

“The effects will fade. I won’t let anything happen to you,” he assured her. “Take this.”

Callan pressed his dagger into her palm, and she closed her fingers tightly around the hilt, relishing the feeling of a blade in her hand.

Lucan stood at the cell’s opening, sniffing at the darkness beyond. Nova and Callan joined him. Idrian barked orders in the distance, his voice an unhinged roar rumbling through the tunnels. The clamor of rushing footsteps was nearing with every passing second.

Lucan lunged forward into the darkened passage, leading the way to the exit with Callan and Nova close behind. Nova registered several dead bodies, slashed or torn open, as they sped through the winding corridor of stone.

They could see daylight brightening the opening a short distance ahead when they were set upon by guards, three of them pouring out of an adjoining tunnel from the right.

One swung his sword horizontally at Nova, but she ducked beneath the blade, crouched behind him, and thrust the dagger up and under his ribs through a crease in his armor.

She twisted the blade as she pulled it free.

The guard fell to the ground, and she looked up to see Callan fighting against a second soldier who had him pinned close to the wall, their blades crossed. Callan kicked his opponent’s kneecap, sending him stumbling backward.

“Run, Nova!” Callan bellowed. “Get out of here!”

She got to her feet and sprinted for the light. Lucan’s deep, guttural growl and the wet, choking gasps of his victim mixed with the clash of steel and a pained cry from Callan, echoing in the tunnel behind her.

Nova’s chest was ready to burst by the time she emerged into the sunlight.

Collapsing onto the ground, she twisted to face the cave, sweat dripping down her forehead and into her eyes as she willed Lucan and Callan to come into view.

Perhaps it was another hallucination, but, for an instant, she thought she glimpsed a raven, wings spread wide and stark black against the bright sky, before it disappeared behind the mountain’s peak.

An agonizing minute passed before Lucan appeared, the sun glinting off the midnight strands of his coat, his muzzle and the fur at his throat shimmering with fresh blood.

Callan stumbled out soon after, falling to his knees.

He buried the tip of his sword in the ground and turned to the cave with his arms outstretched.

Flowing forth from his hands, a thick wall of ice began to form, covering the mouth of the cave entirely and sealing Idrian and what little remained of his forces inside.

When he was done, Callan fell forward, bracing himself on the ground, and Nova crawled to his side.

A faint blue glow faded from his eyes, leaving them dark brown once again.

Tiny red droplets freckled his skin, a constellation in blood spattered across his face.

Starting at his shoulders, she ran her hands over his body.

He caught her wrists gently just as she reached his ribs.

“I’m fine,” he said, still breathing heavily through his nose.

Lucan appeared beside them, leading a large gray stallion by the bridle. He’d returned to his Fae form, his chin and neck still wet and stained crimson. Nova glanced down at her chest, covered with blood from the guard’s broken nose.

“We make quite a crew,” she chuckled weakly, lightheaded with the imminent threat to her life having been thwarted for the time being.

“We need to leave,” Callan said. “That’s a wall of solid ice, but it won’t hold forever.”

“I found their horses tethered in a grove to the east and freed all except this one.” Lucan grinned, patting the animal on the side of the neck. “Nipped at their ankles a bit, too, to get them good and scared. It’ll be a while before they’re able track them all down.”

“Good thinking.” Callan rose to his feet, grunting with the effort. He pulled his sword from the ground and sheathed it. Nova handed him his dagger, which he slipped back onto his thigh. He held out his hand and helped her up.

“We left our horses there.” He pointed to a large rock rising out of the ground in the distance. “How are you feeling?”

Nova briefly touched her temple and examined her wrists and forearms, taking stock of her injuries. Her mind already felt clearer in the short time since the iron cuffs had been removed.