Leap desperately wished he hadn’t been separated from the others, that he’d gone into the castle with them so he could have seen firsthand what happened. But he’d used nearly all his magic reserves to keep the guards occupied so Adara and Einar could confront King Aolis without interference, and had been forced to go into hiding. The only reason he even knew it had been safe to return to the castle was because the noxious cloud of shadow magic that had hovered over Kaipei Castle for as long as Leap could remember had finally vanished.
But if King Aolis was dead, and the cloud had vanished, why was that female using shadow magic? Shouldn’t it have vanished from all of Ediria?
Cirra dipped beneath the cloud cover, revealing a scattered forest surrounding a deep blue lake. The sun had crested the horizon, sending ripples of gold across the lake’s surface and gilding the verdant tops of the trees. It would have been a peaceful scene if not for the sound of a female screaming.
Leap narrowed his eyes. Wait. A female screaming?
His heart rate tripled, and he tugged on the wind, demanding it to bring the sound closer to him. The words exploded in his ears, sending his heart straight into his throat.
“Adara! Einar! Where are you?”
“Squalls!” Leap swore under his breath. That was Mavlyn’s voice! Cirra put on a burst of speed, hurtling them past the lake and deep into the forest. The sound of Mavlyn’s desperate shouts got louder and louder, and when Leap was almost certain they were on top of her, he jumped off Cirra and crashed through the treetops, catching a wind current to buffer his fall.
Mavlyn jumped as Leap landed right in front of her, clapping a hand to her chest. “Leap!” she cried, her eyes wide with a firestorm of emotions—relief, terror, guilt. Strewn around her in the clearing they stood in were obvious signs of battle—broken branches, chaotic footprints, the remnants of a fire that had been trampled, and even traces of blood.
“What in the skies happened here, Mavlyn?” Leap grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her panic-stricken gaze on him. “Where are Adara and Einar? What happened to King Aolis? And why does Gelsyne seem to be running the show back at the castle?” Had all this effort been for nothing? Anger boiled in his veins as his heart sank into his gut. How could Slaugh have possibly beaten him here?
Mavlyn sucked in a shuddering breath. “I was foraging for herbs when I heard the shouts,” she said in a choked voice. Her entire body trembled as tears streamed down her face, and she clenched her hands into fists to keep them from shaking. Roots burst from the ground in response to her emotions, and they writhed in the dirt, as impotent as Leap’s anger. “I ran as fast as I could, but I was too late. They took Adara and Einar, Leap. They’re gone.”
2
Adara
Some hours earlier…
The tunnel seemed to go on forever.
On and on we walked in total darkness, the sounds of our breath and the scrapes of our shoes the only sounds echoing in the close-knit space. The scents of sweat and dirt and fear clogged my nostrils, making it difficult to breathe, and my limbs dragged, heavy with exhaustion and throbbing with the wounds from my battle against Aolis.
Fear was the only thing that kept me going. Fear of being caught by Slaugh and his men, and fear of being trapped under the earth forever, never to breathe fresh air or feel the sun on my face again.
I’d never considered myself claustrophobic, but the lack of sunlight and space in this cramped tunnel made my skin crawl. Perhaps that was because it reminded me of the time Mother had used her magic to seal me into another earth tunnel, one that had spirited me far away from her, and led me straight to Einar.
Mother.
My heart pulsed in my chest like a throbbing wound at the thought of her, and I sucked in a sharp breath. Tears slipped down my cheeks as the memory of that terrible shadow being invading my mother’s body burst into my mind’s eye. The way that noxious evil had risen from King Aolis’s body and poured into hers… it had been the ultimate invasion of body, mind, and soul.
Was Mother still in there? Was she fighting tooth and nail to regain her bodily autonomy? Or had Nox crushed her into a shadow of her former self, forced to inhabit the darkest recesses of her mind while another took control? The thought was more than I could bear, and the tears came faster, pouring down my face until I felt like I was drowning. My shoulders began to shake, and it took everything I had not to burst into audible sobs.
No matter what lies she had told, what aliases and roles she had assumed, Gelsyne was still my mother. Everything she’d done had been to protect me… and she’d lost everything trying to keep me safe.
A warm hand curled around my shoulder from behind, radiating strength and solidarity. I closed my eyes and allowed Einar’s comforting touch to seep into my soul and take the edge off my grief.
Slowly, I reached up and threaded my fingers through Einar’s. His hand jerked beneath mine, as if startled, then gently wrapped around my fingers and squeezed tight.
Never in my life had I wanted to throw myself into someone’s arms more, to let them wrap me up and hold me so my pain might evaporate beneath the heat of their embrace.
And never had I imagined it would be Einar’s arms I would want to throw myself into.
Pull yourself together, Adara,I told myself. I let go of Einar’s hand so I could swipe at the tears on my cheeks. Grief was an acknowledgement of loss, and I hadn’t lost Mother yet. There was still a chance I could save her. All I needed to do was find a water fae priestess to perform the coming-of-age ritual on me, and unlock the hidden light magic inside me. Then I could use it to drive Nox from Mother’s body and vanquish shadow magic from the realm once and for all.
It seemed impossible to me I could wield such power. After all, just a few short weeks ago, I’d been deemed magically impotent, unable to command so much as a thimbleful of magic. But that was before I’d discovered that the ‘amulet’ I’d worn around my neck my entire life had actually been suppressing my true abilities, and that I not only could wield ice magic, but fire as well.
Which was also impossible. No fae had ever been born with the power to wield both of those elements at once. So if I could do that, why not shadow magic, too?
A laugh threatened to burble at my lips at the absurdity of it all, and I choked it back down, shaking my head. I was clearly losing it. Were we ever going to get out of here? Had I been right to trust that faux shadow soldier to lead us to safety? Or were we being herded into a trap?
The path we treaded grew steeper, and my heartbeat picked up as the sounds of chirping crickets filtered through the earth above our heads. The ceiling grew lower and lower, until we were crawling on our bellies in the dirt, and my chest grew tighter as the earth closed around us.