Page 16

W e weren’t exactly sure of the way back to the staircase that led out of The Shadow from Alastir’s family home.

What we did know was the general direction we needed to move in.

Tess and I followed Puck, allowing him to take the lead.

We had pulled our cloaks over our heads and kept our gazes turned down, hoping not to draw any attention.

It would have been helpful if one of us were a Nightshade and could use our heightened sense of smell to guide us.

Luckily, we didn’t pass the spot where we had slain Kane and his men again.

We made it out of The Shadow and back into Prins as the weather took a turn.

The sky overhead was turning an ominous grey color, the clouds roiling together angrily.

A single raindrop fell against my cheek and I lifted my hand to wipe it away, raising my gaze towards the sky.

I couldn’t be certain that this storm was a natural one and not of magical origin, and the thought had a shiver running down my spine.

But we were already halfway there, and there was no turning back now.

Alastir needed the Dragon’s breath from Dragon’s Hollow to complete the Noctani antidote, and there was nothing that would stop us from retrieving it.

I felt a hope begin to wedge itself deep in my chest, and I tried to shake it away.

Alastir had said he wasn’t sure if this spell would return the Noctani to their original state.

Or if they would even survive it. The thought that I could lose Nikolai forever made my gut twist and my head throb.

The fact that I wasn’t dead had to mean something.

I feared if the antidote killed the Noctani, then I would die too.

I didn’t think there was any other way to get around the binding, despite it being broken in its current state.

I sent a silent prayer up to the Mother that the antidote didn’t kill them. That would be a worst-case scenario, and one we couldn’t afford.

We swung right on the cobbled streets as the sky opened up, sending a light rainfall down upon us.

My feet splashed in the shallow rain puddles as we walked, cleansing Kane’s blood from my boots.

By the time we had crested the hill into Dragon’s Hollow I was tiring, and I could see the same in Tess and Puck.

It had been an incredibly long day, and nightfall was threatening to descend.

We had been back and forth what felt like a million times, and we hadn’t thought it would take us this long.

We hadn’t planned to stay the night in this part of the realm.

We had to make it back to Alastir before the sun set at the least, we had no place else to stay overnight except for his home. We couldn’t risk an inn, despite my craving for a plush bed at the moment.

“Where should we begin searching?” Tess asked, pulling her cloak tighter around herself to help warm her skin and ward off the chill that had settled in the air.

“The fields where we used to train?” Puck asked, brow raised. “There are all sorts of flora towards the forest, I can’t quite remember ever seeing Dragon’s breath though.”

“We might not have noticed it if we weren’t searching for it,” I reminded him. “And it could have been the wrong season.”

“That’s true,” he conceded.

Thunder cracked loudly overhead, followed by a slow and steady rumble that vibrated through my feet and up my spine. Lightning streaked through the sky and hit one of the buildings behind us, sending sparks flying and a loud crash through the air.

“We’d better hurry if for no other reason than to get out of this weather,” Tess grumbled, forging onward, down the other side of the hill.

It was only about a twenty-minute walk through the rain-slicked streets before we glimpsed the old training fields in the distance. Puck had been right, there was flora of all shapes and colors sprouting and blooming on the outskirts of the forest.

I wave uneasiness rolled over me as I recalled that this exact forest was where we had seen Donika’s Araneoch monsters for the first time.

Tess cast me a glance that told me she was thinking the same thing.

We trudged towards the forest edge and scanned the plants for dark red leaves with bright red flowers.

“Is it this?” Tess asked, holding up a bright red bloom with petals.

I shook my head. “No petals… it’s more… elongated and spiky.”

She nodded as she returned to the flower patch and kept searching.

The flowers were growing densely together and it was difficult to see them all individually.

I found I had to kneel in order to push some out of the way to see what was growing beneath.

The edges of the forest were decorated with shocks of blue, purples, reds, and yellows.

Summer in Prins was beautiful, but the same chill Tess had sensed earlier from the oncoming storm was settling deep in my bones.

“This?” Puck asked, a long red flower in his grip.

“Yes!” I exclaimed, standing despite my knees protesting from all the kneeling. “How much did you find?”

“There isn’t much,” Puck confessed as we approached, kneeling down to where he had plucked the flower. “Did he say how much of the flower and its leaves he needed?”

I shook my head. “We should take all we can find and make it quick.”

My gaze met the horizon as the sun was beginning to set, disappearing behind the tall pine trees and casting the sky in an eerie yellow glow against the storm clouds.

Puck nodded at me in agreement. We didn’t want to be caught sneaking around in The Shadow after dark, but it appeared that’s exactly what we were going to have to do.

We were lucky to have left at first dawn this morning, but it still hadn’t been enough time with having to backtrack across the realm multiple times.

Lightning struck a nearby tree, and it cracked and moaned, falling to the forest floor a mere thirty feet from us. Tess and I hurriedly helped Puck pick all the red stems and leaves we could find before stuffing them into Puck’s pack.

“This will have to be enough,” Puck declared, “nightfall is almost upon us. We’ve run out of time.”

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Tess agreed, starting towards the streets of Dragon’s Hollow.

“What the—” Puck spoke, but the three of us stopped in our tracks as we saw what awaited as at the entrance to the training field.

No .

No, no, no.

This couldn’t be happening.

We didn’t have the antidote yet.

Where the cobbled streets met the tall grass of the training field was a pack of Noctani.

Their hair was dripping with rainwater as if they had been prowling the streets for some time in the storm.

At their lead was a shock of blond hair, and my tongue was thick and leaden in my throat.

I swallowed back the horror that threatened to choke me as I took a step backwards.

I didn’t want to see him like this.

I wasn’t ready to face him yet, not that I was sure I ever would be. He had the ability to steal my magic—and by the looks of it—we were outnumbered. My vision wasn’t clear beneath the heavy rain that spit from the sky, but it appeared as if there were at least six or seven of them.

I hadn’t wanted to face Nik until we had the antidote in hand.

It was too soon.

We needed to escape him, because killing him wasn’t an option.

Isaac wasn’t with them, and that fact brought with it only a small amount of relief.

Over Nik’s shoulder I could see Antonia Finch, our old art teacher.

She was the only one left from the Shades that had stalked us in the mortal realm and tried to bring us back to Istmere for Donika.

Fletcher, his brother, and his men were all dead.

Ms. Finch’s eyes were an endless depth of black, and tears stung the back of my eyes at the sight.

She hadn’t wanted to fight for Donika, but she had ended up Noctani in the end; despite her best efforts.

She was too weak to stand up for herself, her only options were to obey Donika—or lay down and die.

I swallowed hard, taking another step back. My gaze darted between Puck and Tess, and they glanced back with equally bewildered expressions.

I couldn’t fight Nikolai.

I couldn’t .

“What do we do?” I asked, panicked.

I grabbed Puck by the arm, desperate. He could read it in my eyes. Even if we tried to fight them, we would lose. Any one of them could steal my magic and bring it back to Donika. It wasn’t a risk we could take .

I wouldn’t lose my magic, and I wouldn’t lose Nik. Neither was an option.

Puck turned back towards me, rainwater spilling down his face as the intensity of the storm surged. “We run.”

Without hesitation I took off at a sprint toward the south corner of the field, grabbing Stormslayer from its sheath at my thigh and pulling it free.

My throwing knives were still secured in my boot and at the back of my belt, but I desperately wished I was more heavily armed.

I had no qualms about using force against the other Noctani if it meant making it out of this alive.

Nik was the only one I didn’t want to raise my sword against. I wasn’t sure I even could, if it came down to it.

The Noctani took off too, their speed far eclipsing ours as they cut off our passage into Dragon’s Hollow. We skidded to a stop, sludge flying where our boots had dug into the mud.

“ Shit .”

“Shit, indeed.” Tess murmured, her sword held tightly in her grip.

Corian hadn’t been embellishing when he had said they had increased speed and strength. With how quickly they had cut off our path I would guess they were twice as fast, at least. Maybe more.

Shadows slithered out from Nik’s hands and I had to choke back a cry as they slid across the field, wrapping around my legs. For once his shadows didn’t bring me comfort, and the only thing I could think of was how Donika had used her shadows to torture me.

Hurt me .

It would be foolish for me to expect anything different from Noctani.

“We only want to talk,” he called out, his voice sounding as smooth as honey, a sinister smile lifting his lips.

My gaze traveled from those lips up to his black, endless eyes, and my magic surged forth of its own volition.

I was too volatile. It was all too fresh.

The last time I had seen Nik as Noctani my magic had detonated, and we couldn’t risk that happening again.

I didn’t have control of my power, and if I unleashed it here, I had no clue what would happen.

I didn’t want to risk Puck or Tess. I didn’t want to risk hurting Nik.

The group of Noctani had found us fairly easily. Who knew how many others were out prowling the streets of Prins searching for us? How many soldiers Donika had sent to find us?

“Whatever happens here, you need to get that Dragon’s breath back to Alastir,” I murmured to Puck, my voice low.

“Don’t talk like that,” he snapped. I could sense his searing gaze against my back. “We aren’t leaving you here.”

“You might have to, if it comes down to a fight we can’t win. Our only hope is to finish the antidote. We need to finish the antidote , do you understand me?” I replied through clenched teeth.

“No. What good does the antidote do if we don’t have you anymore? I won’t leave you here.” Puck’s voice was grim.

“Do not make me command you, Puck.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” This time, his voice was venom . “I will stay to protect my queen at all costs. I will not sacrifice you and your magic to save Nikolai. It’s not what he would have wanted.”

“And if your queen commands you to run, to leave with the Dragon’s breath and finish the antidote?” I asked, my voice strangled.

“Then she will be shit out of luck, because that isn’t an option. Who gives a shit about the antidote if you are dead?”

“ Me . I give a shit,” I snapped back.

“Stop it!” Tess cried, “both of you!”

The Noctani were fast approaching from across the field, closing the distance between us. They were close enough now to be within ear shot, listening to our every word.

“I can distract them enough for you two to get away,” I said, lowering my chin and focusing my gaze on Nikolai.

He would be the biggest threat of the group and fighting him without killing him would be incredibly difficult.

“That’s a terrible plan,” Tess spat, adjusting her footing as the Noctani continued to approach.

There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. It would come down to a fight, and I didn’t think they would kill me. They would take my magic and bring me back to Donika. It would buy us some time, at least.

“Listen to me. Both of you. We cannot fight them. We can’t kill them all and take Nik alive.”

Nik released a laugh so deep his head tilted back against his shoulders, his face pale against the stormy sky.

“Maybe not, but we will try.” Puck flicked his Katana through the air, threatening the Noctani not to come any closer. “I won’t run without you. I promised him, Diana. I promised him I would take care of you. Keep you safe.”

“From him ?” I seethed—my teeth bared. “The circumstances have changed. They won’t kill me, Donika wants that too much. She would never let her Noctani take that from her. The two of you on the other hand… ”

I let my words trail off, hanging in the thick, tempestuous air.

“Enough.” Nik’s voice was cutting and deep as he raised a hand.

The Noctani stopped in their tracks behind him.

Their dead, black eyes tracked our every breath.

Our every movement. Nik’s sword was strapped to his back.

His wet hair fell over his brow. His lush mouth twisted into a smile.

Everything about him was the same except those eyes .

Every glance towards him that met his blackened gaze threatened to undo me.

How could this have happened? How could I have let Donika turn him into one of her twisted little monsters?

Nik inclined his head as his gaze remained focused on me.

“What’s the matter, Firecracker? Didn’t you miss me?”