Page 224 of The Chains You Defy

“What?”

“You’ll be an example. For once in your life, you’ll be useful to me, isn’t that nice? So, I’d better try to keep you alive for a little while longer, hm?”

Admittedly, I made little sense.

Before her grating voice could annoy me again, I used my own obsidian pool as an entranceway into the void world of shadows and darkness.

Although I cocooned Danartha in a protective bubble, I had no idea if she would live or die. But to make sure she wasn’t getting too comfortable should she persevere, I filled her prison with nightmares. Her panic tasted delicious, and I drank all her emotions in.

The shadow void was different. I was different as well, after all.

Already on the edge of control, the longer I remained in this parallel reality, the more my sense of self threatened to slip away.

Growling, I propelled myself forward faster, as the urge to kill became overwhelming. Luckily, my destination wasn’t far away, and my magic in Harc at Nayana’s side called to me like a beacon. Soon, I would be there, back where I belonged. With her.

One moment, I had been bathing in peace; the next, Danartha had stood in front of me, handing me a letter before starting to threaten me. My heart had been on the verge of collapsing when Dion had appeared.

Being trapped in a solid shield of darkness had been almost unbearable.

What had been happening outside?

Even when Harc had joined me, I hadn’t calmed down, no matter how tightly he’d wrapped his body around me.

And when we’d started floating away, I’d hammered my fists against thebarrier. Of course in vain.

When the bubble finally released me, in the middle of camp, my sight had turned blurry, and my friends jumped up at the same time, alarm written all over their features. If the claws of panic hadn’t crushed me in their grip, my heart would have warmed because of their protective reaction.

“Nayana?” Ireas was at my side first and wanted to check on me, but I quickly shook my head.

“No, no one can be near me.” I almost choked on my words. “Something is very wrong with Dion, I can sense his fury. And he’s coming. Don’t touch me.”

Ireas backed away after my warning and crashed into Thain, who simply flung his arms around the young medic, tucking his back into his chest, holding him tightly.

Antas and Fig had approached me as well, and the former didn’t give one damn about my terrified request. Instead, he steadied me, calmness radiating from him in waves. His attempts to soothe me were in vain, and as a frantic Harc aimed for pushing the male away as well, I had the confirmation that him being so close could result in a potentially disastrous outcome.

But before I could do anything else,somethingappeared, seemingly rising out of the ground. A figure covered in an inky, oozing substance, shadows undulating in the air around them.

In the end, the entity stood at least eight feet tall, towering in a pool of the same viscous liquid they consisted of, while the wisps and clouds of smoke billowed to the sky, as if the creature had brought their own wind with them.

No facial features were visible, except for a bright amethyst light illuminating the obsidian features where eyes should have been.

My own eyes widened.

Darkness.

Shadows.

Amethyst.

The strange feeling holding me hostage.

Dion?

What—

Directing my gaze back to the creature, I noticed they held something encased in dark matter, but before I could inspect the scene more closely, a chill ran over my spine as the being spoke, voice distorted and warped, yet my suspicion that this was the fae prince hardened.

“Stop touching what’s mine.”