What Lurks Between the Fates (Of Flesh & Bone, #3)(94)

It pushed back, shoving at me with the loud howl of furious winds filling my passageway. The darkness swirled furiously, shifting from the quiet, peaceful night I’d summoned to my aid to a raging storm of black.

I thought of the moons in the sky, of light in that darkness.

Of love.

The stardust upon my fingers glowed with gold that spread throughout the barrier in front of me. Mab’s magic pressed down on me, her raging, hollow emptiness that was devoid of all life. In those moments, I felt exactly what I had seen in her stare that first day in the throne room.

Nothing.

Dark wind howled through the shadow realm, pushing me back toward the entrance to the passage. The tendrils of shadows felt like claws as they dragged over my skin, wrapping around me and squeezing. I saw the madness within Mab, the fate that cursed crown upon her head had condemned her to.

Within that storm of darkness was only the thirst for power—hungry and insatiable. It was never satisfied, never content as it tore through my skin and bled me, taking anything it could.

I refused to give into that, to allow that nightmare to win. I sank not into the monster inside of me, but to the thread that connected me to Caldris. Focusing on that pulsing warmth—on that love—I shoved back at the shadows surrounding me.

Stardust flickered through the boundary that tried to keep me in, a ripple spreading through it as the shadows melted away. They turned liquid beneath the starlight, fading away. I pulled my magic back ever-so-slightly, stepping through the now passable barrier and turning to watch as it reformed behind me.

I needed to come and go as I pleased, but I didn’t want to dissolve whatever magic Mab had placed around my room. I willed it to strengthen, to not allow any others to walk into my room or suspect that I could leave, but to always recognize me and my magic.

It reformed, the twisted shadows knitting themselves back together as I turned and made my way toward my mate. I could see the real realm through the barrier they formed, but I continued forward as it sped past me. Four steps was all it took to reach Caldris’s bedroom. I’d never been there, never even known where they kept him, but the thread that connected to my very soul guided me toward him, regardless.

He was alone as I approached; an ancient book opened on the arm of the chair where he sat. His tunic was half untied, the laces loose and hanging down his chest. I stepped out of the shadow realm, putting the first of my slippered feet against the blue stone floor.

He jumped to his feet; his hand curled to summon the shadows that he would use to defend himself against any intruder.

I pressed a finger to my mouth as I smiled—a warning to be quiet as I stepped up to him.

Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, he grinned. “I see you figured out the shadow walk,” he said, his voice amused as those full lips curled.

“So it would seem,” I whispered, leaning up onto my toes so that he could grace my lips with a kiss.

“Only you, min asteren, could summon the shadow realm so easily. It took me decades to master. Others take centuries if they ever manage,” Caldris explained, reaching down to take my hands. “Particularly when your room is shielded against such things. She’ll know you broke through her shields.”

“I didn’t break them,” I said, my lips twitching. “Just altered them to allow me to pass.”

“Devious little thing,” he said, his voice twisting with pain and affection as he looked toward his door. “You won’t be so lucky with the shields she’s put around Tar Mesa. You cannot shadow walk out of the palace, so we’ll have to sneak you out the doors the normal way, then you can go from there.” He left me, going to his wardrobe and rummaging around for a cloak as he eyed my nightgown in distaste. “You could have at least dressed before you came and been better prepared.”

“I’m not running,” I argued, turning to face him as I crossed my arms over my chest.

He froze in his rifling, turning to look at me over his shoulder. His hands still lingered on the clothes where they hung, his blue eyes flashing with rage. “Yes, you are.”

“What would be the point exactly? You’ll remain here, and we will have no chance of freeing you if we are not together. She’ll punish you and send you to drag me back, and then they’ll know that I can shadow walk out of my room whenever I feel like it if I do not wear that collar. We’ll lose our advantage, and for what?” I snapped, flinching back when he spun so suddenly, he revealed the predator waiting within him. I wondered if he had that monster, that creature he saw when he looked inward, or if it was merely the way I imagined my power. My own fear of it that created that imagery.

Just as I saw the window from my childhood bedroom at the center of our bond, shutting us off from one another or letting our feelings flow freely to one another.

“The point,” he said, his mouth twisting into a snarl, “is that you would be free, and she wouldn’t be able to harm you. If you can walk through Mab’s shields, then you can shield yourself against our bond. I’ll never be able to find you.”

“It is offensive that you think I would just walk away from here and leave you to suffer. Is that what you think of me?” I asked, scoffing as my own anger rose.

“You tried to kill me in my sleep,” he said shortly, the words drifting into a chuckle at the end.

“So dramatic,” I purred, smiling as my gaze slid down his body. He raised a brow at me, as if to remind me that was exactly what happened. “I didn’t do it.” I rolled my eyes to the side, pursing my lips as I fought my own rising laughter at the incredulous look on his face.