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Kiara

Even when Raina had become Rae, she maintained faith. That, I think, is why she made connections with sun pr iests across the realm. One day, her successor would call for help, and she prayed her followers would be there to answer.

Entry in Aurora Adair’s Diary, year 20 of the curse

I woke on a bridge of marble and glass.

Shards of clear gems and glass were embedded in the stone, capturing the focus of the moon. They shone like frozen stars, the fractured pieces stretching the length of the bridge.

My shirt was unbuttoned, my pants unlaced, and my hair tangled in my face. Swiping it aside, I rubbed my eyes, certain I still dreamed, that my physical body waited for me in Jude’s arms, where I was safe and untouchable.

The more I rubbed, the more I realized that wasn’t the case.

This was my reality. I was alone. On a bridge leading to a lofty palace surrounded by marble walls. And to my left was a storm of lightning and fog that reminded me of the Mist. I shivered.

Jude was gone. My friends were lost.

A wave of dizziness had me staggering as I lurched to my feet. My hand flung out, seeking purchase, grabbing on to the walled edge of the bridge. It came up to my chest, not quite tall enough to hide the star-speckled waters about a hundred feet beneath my feet.

My fingertips smarted as the shards of glass pricked them, and I tore my hand away with a curse. Blood welled up on my index and middle fingers, and I wiped them on the abrasive linen of my pants.

My gloves were absent, no doubt left behind from where I’d shared the evening with Jude. I imagined what he thought when he woke and found me gone. Would he believe I ran off as he’d done in the Mist?

A choked laugh left me. I was more worried about his reaction than about why I was here in the first place.

Come closer , a voice whispered across my mind. It was deep and seductive, a rumble of a command. Look over the ledge.

I went stiff, my muscles straining.

The voice from my dreams. From last night, the one that led me here—

The night itself.

Like a fool, I listened, my fingers biting into the bridge’s ledge once more. I didn’t care when the glass sliced me. I was instantly swept away by the vision below.

The waters that had swirled with a thousand stars now churned, black shadows grazing the surface, twirling around and around in a never-ending loop. I fixated upon the clear center, my body tingling with anticipation.

A form took shape.

My brother’s face, diluted and blurred, greeted me. Cold sweat trickled down my forehead, down the back of my neck. Liam waved, his mouth forming my name, and in my precarious state, I almost waved back.

Not real, not real, not real.

“Jump in!” he ordered playfully.

I shook my head, my knuckles turning a sickly white. The moon grew in size, spreading its pale light across the bridge, over the roiling waters, and the eerie vision of my brother.

“Kiara,” he chided. “I thought you were more fun than this.” Liam made a show of splashing, swimming around in the circle of shadows, his grin contagious.

I went rigid.

Liam never called me Kiara . Meaning, it wasn’t merely my subconscious playing tricks. Someone was controlling this. None of it was real, but it wasn’t some hallucination my mind had brought about.

It was the same someone that must have brought me here, pulling my strings as if I were a puppet to control.

Unease clawed at my insides, my pulse racing. I tried to release the ledge, but my hands wouldn’t allow me an inch of freedom. My fingers gripped the stone like they had a mind of their own. Or as if someone held them down.

Shadows appeared, ones that didn’t belong to me. Rather than the black and gray I’d become accustomed to, their shade was a stark white. They circled my wrists like manacles, forcing me to take in the shifting scene.

Fine. We’ll do it the hard way , the voice whispered across my mind.

Who are you? Show your face! I screamed inside my head, trying to yank free. All to no avail.

Silence.

In the waters, my brother’s face morphed from one of joy to rage. His canines extended, becoming fanged, pointed, and like those of the masked men from the Mist. The whites of his eyes eclipsed his pupils, and his soft brown curls were caked in mud and black blood.

I screamed until my throat became raw.

“Let go!” I shouted to the unseen entity imprisoning me, infiltrating my mind. The snow-white shadows binding me to the bridge merely tightened in reply.

Liam snapped his jaw, his grin wicked. My shadow beast slunk into the recesses of my soul, offering no help…but another entity rose to my aid.

Raina’s magic spread across my chest, and golden rays washed over the horrific scene of an undead Liam. I called out to Raina, like the faithful, repeating her name like a prayer.

Channeling her warmth, I worked to pry my hands free. I envisioned the orb I’d seen in my dream when my grandmother visited me in the Mist. Its image eased the pressure surrounding my wrists, chasing away the cruel vision of Liam. With my darker magic restrained, I allowed the golden magic control.

Flames ignited where the white shadows grazed my sensitive flesh, roaring to life and sparking. My shackles fizzled to nothing, and the flames of a goddess flared before extinguishing entirely.

I reared back, the abrupt action sending me stumbling and falling onto my bottom.

Dreams and nightmares. Shadows and flames.

I was well and truly in the realm of a god, and as if to confirm, a cloak of blue fog shrouded the moon, which pulsated like a heartbeat.

To my right, the bridge led to the walled palace, which I took in with greater scrutiny.

The white walls were veined in blue, reminding me of the scars covering my hands. It was a jagged, stunning creation, the construction intricate yet effortless, as if the architect followed the natural direction of the stones. Well over ten stories high, three towers rose, the middle higher, its roof a pointed half of a diamond.

I forced my attention on the other bank.

To my left, in the distance, was that storm of silver, black, and glittering dust. It blocked my view of what lay beyond, and no matter how many times I attempted to summon my heightened sight, I perceived nothing but terror and beautiful destruction.

I had two choices—

Both promised the start of a ruinous nightmare.

There was only one reason I’d been brought here—to separate me from my friends, from Jude. I’d fallen under the spell of my shadows and soared away easily, without an ounce of fight.

The night had coaxed me with little to no effort. How very weak I felt.

My temper flared.

Raina’s warmth battled with the ice infiltrating my veins, but it raged to the forefront, urging my steps into the gale of swirling gloom and fierce lightning.

Do your worst , I thought to the watching night. Above, the moon and all its many stars trembled in reply.

I took my first step into the darkness.