Fear No Evil (Radiant Legacy #3)

Chapter 1

ONE

Run.

CELINE

A gust of glacial wind cuts through my clothes, and I shudder.

We’ve been set up. I have no idea how my father managed it, but the magical transportation gateway was redirected somehow, spitting us—well, I don’t know where we are, but it’s not the celestial realm. How did he know we were coming?

Metal grinds against metal in the sky overhead. When I tilt my face up to get a better look at whatever made that awful sound, a frozen pellet of ice hits my eyelid. My eye waters and overflows, the tears freezing on my cheek before they reach my chin.

I scrape the ice off my face and use some of my remaining body heat to free my trapped eyelashes while staring at the strange collection of hovering debris overhead.

Instead of clouds, there are clusters of jagged rock and metal, loosely held together by magic or some scientific anomaly I’ve never heard of.

Wind rustles through the debris field, making the individual pieces shiver and grind against each other like a rabid dog panting against a chain-link fence.

Part metal, part beast . . . I can’t shake the idea that the realm itself is alive and watching.

The ground rumbles ominously. I widen my stance and grit my teeth.

It doesn’t matter where we are or how we got here—something is wrong with Luca. On his knees with his arms wrapped around himself, he’s panting in . . . pain? I reach for him. He screams. Fear cracks my thin layer of calm until I’m shaking from more than cold.

“Are you okay?” Stupid question, Celine. He’s obviously not okay. “Talk to me, Luca,” I beg. With my hand outstretched, my trembling is impossible to ignore. It’s almost as bad as his.

Luca screams again, and his back contorts to an impossible angle. Then he’s snatched up by an invisible force and slammed flat on the craggy ground.

“Oh my gods.” I cover my mouth, but I want to cover my eyes.

He’s stretching. Ten feet long, fifteen—his body grossly distorts until he doesn’t look like my Luca anymore at all.

“Stay back,” Alistair says, grabbing my arm and pulling me away. I could shake him off if I needed to, but I think he’s right. Whatever’s happening to Luca, I can’t stop it, and the last thing I want to do is make it worse.

Green scales carpet his tan skin, and his eyes flash yellow, each one expanding until it’s the size of my head. The next agonized sound torn from his mouth is more animal than human, and I gasp as his body absorbs his arms and legs.

Gods. He’s shifting. I should have realized it sooner.

Luca—who avoids his basilisk at all costs—is shifting right in front of us, and it doesn’t appear optional.

“Don’t make eye contact,” I shout to the others. Alistair’s grip above my elbow is warm and reassuring. “He’s not in control.”

“But he’s in pain!” Ciprian takes two steps toward Luca, then a deep, resonant hiss stops him in his tracks.

A heartbeat later, and he’s not my boyfriend anymore at all.

I’m meeting his basilisk instead.

Twenty-five feet long and thicker than a storm drain, the snake-like creature is enormous. I’ve imagined how Luca would look fully shifted dozens of times, but I didn’t come close to the reality.

His scales are bright green—no, brown—wait, oh my gods, they’re changing to match the ground.

Shades of brown, some remind me of his hair and others resemble the whiskey-soaked hazel of his human eyes.

Eyes that I desperately want to see again; the skin around the corners crinkling as he smiles and tells me everything’s going to be okay.

“We need to get away from him,” Malach warns. “He’s not stable.”

I frown and keep my voice low to avoid startling the bus-sized predator in front of me. “Go if you want. I’m not leaving him.”

“My truth—”

“Angel, please, Luca wouldn’t want you to—”

“Shut up,” I snarl, shaking Alistair’s fingers loose. “I’ll tell you all the same thing I would tell Luca if he tried to get me to leave, and that’s no. His basilisk won’t hurt me.”

“Celine . . .” Ciprian’s ragged whisper draws my attention. “Don’t move.”

A shadow falls over me, and Ciprian’s cheekbones sharpen as a writhing cloud of the deepest shades of black swirls through his onyx eyes. Nightmare magic.

A furious hiss of hot air sends the strands of my hair flying.

Shit, shit, shit! The basilisk hisses again, louder this time—sounding almost . . . scared?

I’m pretty sure he’s panicking because Ciprian hid me from him. I may be nervous, but no part of me believes Luca would hurt me. His form is irrelevant. Shifted or not, he’s still Luca.

“You’re freaking him out,” I say to Ciprian. “Turn it off.”

“I don’t want to,” he mutters, his lips barely moving as he speaks through clenched teeth.

“Angel—”

“No,” I cut Alistair off. “This is my choice. Respect it.” The message is for all of them, including my jittery body. Every instinct screams at me to run, but I know better. Luca is scared. I won’t leave him.

Digging deep for some much-needed nerve, I reach behind me without looking and feel around until I bump something solid. My fingers may be numb, but there’s no mistaking his scales for anything else. Sleek and smooth, Luca’s basilisk is cool to the touch.

I blink. He shudders. Then I’m surrounded.

The basilisk curls around me, coiling himself into a determined pile with me in the center. Almost, but not quite squeezing, he’s all I see.

“Fuck,” Alistair roars.

“Everything’s fine,” I say, raising my voice to be heard over the wind and through the basilisk barrier. “We’re okay in here. Right, Luca?”

I stroke his scales gently and avoid looking directly up at his head.

I’m not sure if Luca can turn his petrification off and on while he’s in basilisk form—fuck, he may not know either. He’s never fully shifted, not once in his entire life. His parents told him to keep his basilisk hidden, and he followed their instructions to the letter. For decades.

This is brand new to him, which means we’ve all got to stay calm.

That’s surprisingly easy for me. Luca’s basilisk is one giant length of sinuous muscle and an awesome barrier against the biting wind. Hidden in his coils, I’m safer and a hell of a lot warmer than I was before.

“You’re kind of jacked, babe,” I tease him, wondering if he can understand me while he’s like this.

“She’s flirting with a basilisk.” Ciprian’s voice is exasperated, but no longer panicked. “Ow—fuck! Malach, this arrival spot you picked is not it, man.”

“This isn’t the celestial realm,” Malach says, his voice a low, tense rumble.

Luca stiffens, and I cock my head. His shift happened right after the gateway spat us out, almost as soon as we arrived. It seemed instinctual. But he’s controlled his basilisk for almost thirty years. Why now? What about this place made him lose control?

I tune everything out and think hard. Then it clicks. All the oxygen leaves my lungs with a whoosh. No, it can’t be. Except it makes complete sense. The barren, forbidding landscape. Luca’s primal reaction . . .

“I think I know where we are.” I have to shout to be heard over their arguing.

“Where?” Alistair demands.

I take a deep breath. “Do any of you know anything about the monster realm?”

My question sets off a chain reaction. Luca rattles, Ciprian curses, and Alistair goes deathly silent. Combined, their reactions confirm what I already know: we’re in deep shit.

“We need to find cover,” Malach says. There’s a slight hitch in his voice, a sign that his confidence is shaken.

“Cover where?” Alistair asks. “That mountain looks like the only option, and it’s got to be miles away.”

I sag against Luca’s side. “We need your human side back,” I tell him. He curls tighter around me, and I wince. I’ve upset him. Licking my lips, I backtrack. “But you shifted well. If there’s danger, Luca will bring you back immediately. I promise.”

I don’t fully understand how things work for shifters. The mechanics seem simple enough, but Luca isn’t big on talking about his basilisk. For all I know, I could be trying to reason with a reptile right now. My gut says otherwise.

I think the basilisk is smart like Luca and just as stubborn. I’m pretty sure he understands exactly what I’m saying, and if I can convince him to give control back, he will. This creature is part of Luca, and Luca is the most considerate, loyal person I know.

His basilisk must be the same, right?

“Please,” I whisper, dropping my forehead to his scales.

I feel the creature’s eyes on me, then he shudders, his big body trembling wildly as a raspy wheeze escapes his mouth.

I frown. He’s in pain. Luca’s in pain. Gently, I run my fingers along his side, trying to offer comfort.

One second, I’m petting a snake, and the next I’m touching skin. Naked skin.

“Shit!” I grab Luca’s arms as he wobbles on his newly restored feet. “Are you okay?”

His pupils are horizontal slits—tiny black rectangles surrounded by yellow-tinged hazel. I focus on the bridge of his nose, avoiding direct eye contact as he sags against me and groans.

A backpack unzips, then Alistair is beside us, tossing me a soft, warm sweatshirt before carefully helping Luca step into jeans and sneakers.

I press the fabric to my face. It’s worn and faded from countless cycles through the wash, and it smells like my detergent—proof Luca’s been embedded in my life long enough to become part of it.

My stomach flips.

We need to get home.

Yanking the hoodie over Luca’s head, I cup his cold cheeks. “You’re okay,” I tell him. “We’re okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”

I brace for a sting. Relief rolls over me, first when Luca’s hazel eyes focus on mine, and again when my magic doesn’t call me a liar.

“W-what h-happened?” Luca asks. He lifts his hands in front of his face, wiggling his fingers before balling them into fists.

“You shifted into your basilisk,” I say. “Do you remember anything from . . . during?”