“Well, are you coming?”
I finally moved, my eyes snapping to the side like she hadn’t just caught me watching her walk away.
I’d lived through war. Survived blood oaths and betrayal. But her? She was the kind of danger I couldn’t fight with steel.
22
Aurelia
Kaelith playedhis games with cruelty. Malachi played with his shadows. Both wanted to see me falter. But if I could twist silence into discomfort, even for a breath, it meant I wasn’t just reacting. I was playing too.
Catching Malachi staring at my ass as I walked away wasn’t something I’d planned for. But for once, his mask had slipped. Just a crack—but it was mine.
I rounded the corner and paused. Laughter drifted from the kitchen, warm and careless, hitting me in the chest before I could brace for it. I missed my brother. I missed Hayat. Our late-night meals, their arguments over nothing and everything, the quiet, carved-out space we called safety. We hadn’t had much, but what we did have, we built ourselves. Together.
Aeryn thought I’d gone searching for some forgotten text, some way to channel blessings without a patron. That was the story I gave him. The mask I’d pressed into place, so he wouldn’t see the truth written in every line of my face: that I left because his life was slipping through my fingers faster than I could hold it.
He already suspected. I saw it in the way his questions lingered too long, in the way he smiled too quickly. But if I admitted it, if I let him believe for even a breath that he was the reason I’d walked into the mist, he would never forgive himself.
So I lied. To give him a parting gift until I returned. A little less guilt, a little less worry, a little more hope.
“Aurelia Moirae.” The voice came from somewhere just behind me—low and calm.
I turned. Malachi was talking to someone further down the hall. Before he could see me, I slipped away and followed the voice.
“Hello?” I called softly. “Who’s there?”
Someone stepped forward. Lavender skin. Eyes like glass catching the faintest trace of light. A Shadow Elf.
I’d only read about them, tucked between the pages of books people weren’t supposed to read. But books remembered what people didn’t. And I’d always had a habit of collecting the ones they tried to burn.
The more he stepped into the light, the more certain I became. A Shadow Elf. I stared—awestruck, unmoving.
“You are staring,” he said flatly.
“I—sorry,” I blinked, forcing myself to refocus. “I’ve only ever read about Shadow Elves in books.”
He didn’t react, just studied me with a weighted gaze that said more than most people’s words. I extended a hand anyway. “I’m Aurelia. But I’m guessing you already knew that.”
He didn’t move. Just looked at my hand like he didn’t trust it, or me, and then to my face.
“Gabriel,” he said at last. “You shouldn’t be here. You need to leave.”
“I will. After the ball,” I replied lightly, catching Malachi approaching.
“Gabriel,” Malachi called, sardonic, disdain carved plain across his face. “I see you’ve met our guest of honor.”
“I much preferred your face when you were staring at my ass,” I said sweetly. “This scowl ruins the charm.”
His expression held practiced irritation, but for the briefest beat, his mouth parted—unguarded, startled—before he pressed it shut again, sealing away the slip.
Gabriel’s mouth twitched. Not quite a smile, more like the memory of one.
“It’s nice to meet you, Gabriel.” I inclined my head, studying him like another riddle of this place. “You seem certain about where I don’t belong. Curious—do you always greet strangers with warnings?”
Gabriel looked at me like I’d grown wings and was preparing to fly straight through the moon. “You cannot travel through the mist alone,” he said quietly. “Not with what follows you.”
I folded my arms. “Of course not. Gods forbid anything here be simple.” My tone was lighter than I felt. “Then tell me—why not?”