Page 66 of Unraveled (A Kingdom of Beasts and Ruins #1)

NERA

“I thought she would never leave...” the shadow says from the corner of the balcony just as Mia goes back inside. The blood moon shines over me, casting a red light across every surface, but it doesn’t reach him where he stands.

There’s something wild, magical even, in my blood tonight. His, too, I imagine. Something that allows me to stay grounded in the now and not fade into a panic about his visit. Losing myself to fear is what he wants. He loves to watch me squirm.

“Was that Ash’s mate? The one I kept seeing in your dreams?

” His dark voice brings some comfort with its familiarity.

I hate that I missed it—that I missed him—while stuck in my stone form.

But now that I’m here talking to him again, I miss the distance the curse wedged between me and the seelie king.

“That’s none of your business,” I snarl to the nothingness. “Why are you here? Couldn’t you be happy only terrorizing my dreams?”

“Funny, I don’t remember our last encounter the same way...” he says, tapping one long finger over what I assume is his face. He lacks his usual cruelty. “Didn’t you say how much you missed me and begged me to not leave?”

I hope my cheeks will return to their normal color, or at least that he won’t notice how flustered I am by the memories of our last meeting, when I was so happy to see him again after five years of silence.

When I definitely lost my fucking mind. Sylas is someone I’ve never forgotten about.

After all, it’s written in the damned stars.

I desire to see him. To fight with him. I crave his touch... Not even when the curse had sunk its claws into me did I forget the sound of his voice, or his smooth movements... or his brutal personality.

I take a deep breath. This is only a fragment of him. A shadow. His shadow. Surely he can’t see those details.

I swallow deeply as Sylas moves closer. Even now, his scent tickles my mind, a memory I shouldn’t have, since we’ve never met in person—not really.

“You took something from me last time we met, Nerala,” he says. “I want it back.”

“I didn’t mean to. You can have your shadow back. I don’t want it.”

This man has been a constant voice in my mind since I can remember. Except now... he isn’t in my head. Not since the night the scientist took me, and while I held onto the memory of him, I accidentally—and in a panic—stole his shadow.

Fuck. Ash is going to kill me if—when—he finds out.

He’s here. He has come for me.

A clear male form takes another step forward, and his translucent body shifts with the night sky.

I press myself against the railing, and the cold stone digs into the shapes of my wings.

“It seems you won’t let me go, and I guess our time apart has ended.”

“No.” My heart skips a beat. When I think I’ll be able to speak without giving my horror away, I say, “I’m not coming with you. I don’t want you, nor do I want your shadow.”

He chuckles and steps back into the corner, tilting his face to the moon, and briefly, that magical red light graces his handsome features. For a second, he isn’t a shadow but a male—and he is here.

“Traveling the continent during the blood moon will speed this up. Ready your things and tell your brother I’m coming.”