Chapter 26
Rian’s hand lingers between us, suspended in the thick air like a challenge.
I don’t take it. Indignation burns hotter than fear. “What are you even doing here, Rian?”
One dark, strong brow lifts. “Don’t you remember? General Ironheart invited me on behalf of the Elders.”
He tilts his head toward the makeshift stage at the far end of the square, where five empty chairs sit behind the musicians playing with unshaken enthusiasm. They don’t know the danger that lurks in the shadows.
“I didn’t think you’d actually come,” I mutter, folding my arms tight across my chest.
“Shows how little you know me.”
Music swells behind me. Couples spin under strings of glowing lanterns, their laughter carrying into the warm night.
Rian dips his head, eyes glinting. “Now, dance with me, Sunshine.”
My heart flips, even as I growl, “Don’t call me that.”
“My apologies, Elara.” His lips curl into a half smile I can’t quite read, and a shiver races down my spine. “Will you dance with me? In exchange, I vow to leave your lover alone.”
It should be an easy answer, but as I search his dark, silver-flecked eyes, I don’t know what to do. This is a game. It must be. But what is his goal?
Not finding the answers I seek, I tear my gaze away and look over my shoulder at the celebration. Several pairs of eyes dart away when they meet mine. I sigh.
“People are already nervous around me these days,” I say, turning back to face him. “I’m not interested in giving them more reasons not to trust me.”
And dancing with a Fae enemy is sure not to win me any favor.
Measured, almost taunting shadows rise overhead. “Does it seem as if anyone notices my presence?”
I still then shift my gaze to the people nearby once more.
The baker’s wife clutches her basket of sweet treats at her stall a little tighter before she turns away. A young couple bounces by, their gazes catching on me for a moment before sliding off as they disappear into the crowd.
There’s no wide-eyed panic, no flinching from noticing who lingers at my side; only prickling suspicion of me is etched across their faces.
I turn back to Rian, wide-eyed. “How?”
He shrugs. “Shadows are designed to conceal.”
“So…what? No one can see you?”
He shrugs a broad shoulder. “They see me. At least…they see what I want them to see.”
Gods…
If a single Fae soldier has the power to hide in plain sight, I pray to never encounter the notoriously powerful Shadow King or his violent heir.
Rian extends his hand again, palm open, steady. “So, Elara Stonebloom, will you dance with me?”
My fingers tremble. What choice do I have? He knows about Lev. About the rebellion.
Though…I trust he won’t share the information. But I can’t explain why.
I release a breath and place my hand in his.
The moment our skin touches, the shadows on my arms quiet, settling as though recognizing one of their own.
It’s so unlike the first time we touched that I have to wonder at the lack of burn. Is it a sign he trusts me in return? Or, at the very least, that his shadows don’t view me as an enemy?
Rian’s grip tightens, and shadows flow around my limbs as he leads me to the dancing crowd, slipping through the gaps between revelers with ease.
No one stops us. No one shouts in alarm. Rian’s power continues to mask his identity as those around us smile, dance, and laugh. They’re drunk on music, ale, and mead, blissfully unaware a Fae enemy moves into their midst.
He spins me once, effortlessly and fluidly, graceful for someone his size. I don’t get the impression that he’s showing off. He’s just…good at this. Practiced in a way that tells me this isn’t his first turn among drunk revelers.
My pulse races once more, but now it’s quicker, sharper. A different kind of rush compared to when Lev revealed his traitorous allegiance.
Silence hovers between us. I let my gaze drift over Rian’s shoulder to the swirl of dresses and flushed faces around us. Couples twirl, their joy bubbling and careless. It makes my chest tighten.
How can everyone be so…calm? So carefree and unburdened by the tragedy last night? It doesn’t make sense.
Are my neighbors truly so inclined to live their lives like blind sheep? If the Elders claim an issue is resolved, do they truly lose the desire to question it?
The shadows on my arms pulse in time with the negative emotion.
Does Rian sense my agitation?
If he does, he doesn’t pry.
The unnerving Fae leads the dance, guiding me through the crowd with patience that feels deliberate. He’s giving me space to breathe, to collect myself.
Until I finally crack. “What are you going to do about what you heard?”
He said Lev would be safe if we danced, but what about the others who are foolishly involved with the rebellion?
Rian’s eyes find mine, dark smoke swirling. “Do you want me to do something about it?”
The question snags my breath. My pulse leaps. “I have a choice?”
His gaze doesn’t waver. “We had a deal. If you help Darius, I leave your town unharmed. No matter what my shadows may or may not have shared with me.”
I search his face for proof he’s lying. But his storm-colored eyes hold steady, a surprising glint of blue flashing in their depths. My throat tightens.
“Thank you,” I choke out in a whisper.
“There’s no need.” His hand steadies me as he spins me again, pulling me closer when the turn ends. “You are loyal. It is an admirable quality.”
A bitter laugh slips out. “Or maybe it makes me a fool. The people I’m protecting would burn me alive if they knew my secret.”
His fingers flex at my waist, a barely there pressure that sends heat sparking through me.
I force a wry smile. “You know, you always show up at my worst moments.”
His lips curve, the smirk both knowing and restrained. “Or perhaps I simply have good instincts. I know when you need me.”
My heart betrays me with a flutter. I roll my eyes to hide it.
He didn’t mean it like that. He couldn’t have.
“How’s Draven?”
His brows lift. “Why do you ask?”
The music slows, turning languid, intimate. I don’t know why, but I let him guide me into the softer rhythm of a second dance.
“He looked drained after subduing the fire,” I say.
As if it took everything in him to smother those flames before Rian’s shadows finished the job.
“Draven is fine.” He leads us around a couple who’ve halted in the middle of the dance floor to lock lips. Matching circlets on their wrists confirm they’re wed. No one is going to interrupt them. “But I’ll be sure to let him know you are concerned.”
“Please don’t. It’ll probably just irritate him.”
“Exactly.”
A smile tugs at my lips. “You three really do act like brothers.”
“Just wait until you see the four of us. We used to be the bane of our guardians’ existence.”
I picture four Fae boys getting into mischief, and my smile softens. The Fae were once children. They have families. Friendships. Just like us.
What will happen if there is a war between humans?
Will we destroy each other?
Will the Fae King step in to keep us in line?
Or will the rebellion succeed in allying us together and lead us into another Shadow War—one the human race is unlikely to survive?
Rian leans in, and his spicy scent fills my nostrils. “What are you thinking?”
My voice catches, the truth too tangled to offer. “I don’t know.”
“Verdanthia is safe,” he says, misreading me completely.
Safe. If only. I’ve yet to fulfill my end of our bargain. The thought gnaws at me, but I keep it locked inside.
“I have a question. About my magic.”
“What is it?”
Our pace has slowed with the new melody, our bodies caught in the gentler tide of music. The bottom of my skirt brushes the top of his boots.
“The Fae book.” I hold his gaze, needing to see some flicker of recognition. “The magic it describes… It isn’t based in shadow.”
“That is your question?” The darkness at his shoulders stirs. “I thought that fact obvious.”
Nothing about magic, or that Fae book, is obvious.
“The passages speak of magic fed by life. By brightness.”
Something sharp bites into the sole of my slipper. I shift my weight. Rian’s grip tightens, steadying me, pulling me closer until his shadows skim my bodice. My stomach twists.
His head dips, his lips too near my ear. “You were saying?”
I can’t fight off the tremor that ripples through me. “Th-that doesn’t sound like shadow magic.”
“Indeed?”
“It was referred to as a light gift.”
“Hm.”
“Is that…” I pause to lick my dry lips, then lean back to hold his stare, pretending like I’m not feeling everything I’m feeling when his magic continues to brush along my torso. “Is that what my magic is? A light gift?”
Shadows pulse then thicken around us. Still, the surrounding revelers don’t seem to notice.
“What makes you think that?” he asks.
“Instinct for one.” I clutch his arm as he guides us around a couple pressed indecently close. The circlets on their wrists reveal they, too, are married. “And your reaction is another.”
He doesn’t look away, though the tension lining his face sharpens. “There were those who once wielded light magic not unlike what you’ve read in that text.”
“So…light magic is elemental magic.” I remember him saying human magic is elemental.
“No.” His tone is clipped. “But they are alike.”
I purse my lips. “What about fire?”
“What about it?”
“It’s elemental. But also light. Like Ferria’s—” The words choke off, my eyes widening.
Shit.
Rian levels me with a pointed look. “Did you truly believe I wasn’t aware of Ferria’s power?”
No. But I never admitted it. And I won’t now.
I seal my lips, refusing to say more.
He exhales, exasperated. Even so, his face is unfairly striking. “Don’t you trust me by now?”
I choke on a half laugh. “It’s hard to trust someone who holds the fate of everyone I love in his hands.”
His grip tightens, just slightly. “Fair enough.”
His chin lifts as his gaze sweeps the crowd.
I do the same.
The dancing has softened from bouncing and spinning into swaying. Ferria and Anton are nowhere in sight.
“Why are you like this with me?” I ask before I can stop myself, eyes focused on the faded banner hanging from the windowsill to my right.
His stare heats my cheeks. “What way?”
The air between us contracts. My gaze is drawn to him like a magnet to metal.
“You’re not kind, but you’re not cruel either.” I slow to a stop.
Rian does the same.
We stand there, staring at each other, silent. I have so many questions—so many things I wish to know.
But I can only utter one. “Why?”
“Why, what?”
“Why help me?” I search his swirling eyes, trying not to get lost in their stunning, silver-flecked depths. “Why let me learn anything about magic?”
Rian studies me with an expression akin to apprehension. But that apprehension gives way to resolve as he threads his fingers through mine.
“Come.” He draws me away from the swaying bodies.
I don’t resist.
He doesn’t speak until we are once more tucked in the cover of shadows. Only a faint stream of lantern light illuminates his sharp features. He releases my hand, and I tell myself I don’t miss his touch.
“Why would I not help you?” he asks, his tone probing. “Darius’s life is at stake.”
Yes, but—
“Why make the bargain in the first place?” I ask. “Why not seek me out and simply ask for my help?”
Onyx clouds curl around his shoulders. “Would you have helped a Fae?”
“Yes!” The marks on my arm and the power humming under my skin bump each other, as if testing the other to try and deduce the truth.
“And that,” he begins, his power darkening the lantern above until our faces are half in shadow, “is why I am this way with you. You are honorable.”
That word shouldn’t undo me. But damn it, it does.
My throat burns, my chest aches, and my heart flutters traitorously.
The silence between us is soft, almost comfortable. And that, somehow, is worse.
What is wrong with me?
Lev and I ended things minutes ago. And here I am, caught in the orbit of a tall, broad Fae who will vanish the moment he gets what he wants from me. What are these…feelings?
It has to be my magic.
Rian is the first person outside my family who knows what runs through my veins. And instead of recoiling, he urges me to wield it. He doesn’t see me as an abomination. Or a burden. He sees me. He sees my worth.
Verdanthians value me as their healer, yes, but if they knew the truth, they’d turn on me. I can’t even be sure what Lev would do if I told him about my magic.
Yes, you do… That’s why you haven’t told him.
“I’d give anything to clear the storm in your mind,” Rian murmurs.
His face is carved in darkness, sharp and unyielding, but his eyes… His eyes thrash with something fierce, something raw. Emotion I can’t name, though it looks too much like—
“Fellow Verdanthians. Honored guests.” Elder Whitestone’s booming voice cuts through the moment, echoing off the market walls.
I jerk away from Rian, heat scorching my skin when I acknowledge how close we stood.
I spin around with the rest of the crowd, looking toward the stage where the Elders line up. Only now do I notice the musicians have fallen silent.
“Welcome to the Late King’s Festival, honoring our beloved king, Korrin Ravenspire.”
Cheers rise like a tide, crashing over smiling faces and sloshing tankards of alcohol.
Whitestone drones on, rattling off accolades and hollow pleasantries of the last human king to sit on the throne. The one the Fae king defeated with relative ease.
My thoughts drift. I lift a hand to smother a yawn. A wisp of shadow curls around my wrist and tugs.
My shoulder brushes Rian’s chest as he lowers his head, his breath ghosting the shell of my ear.
“I must go.”
Please don’t.
I bite my lip, swallowing the words before they escape. “Going to make a grand entrance?”
His mouth curves faintly. “No. I accomplished what I came for.”
I tilt my head back, meeting the weight of his gaze. My heart skips. “Oh? And what was that?”
A dark tendril coils up my arm to my throat, stroking the base of my neck. I suppress a shiver.
“Stay safe tonight. Don’t go near the forest.”
He moves to withdraw, but I catch his hand. Heat spreads through my palm, warmth without pain.
“Wait.”
His eyes flash, shadows tightening. “Yes?”
My throat goes dry under the heat of his stare. But I force the words out. “Tell me what’s happening with the monsters in the forest.”
A frown etches his features. “What makes you think something is happening?”
“Because I’m not a fool.” I hold his gaze, willing him to be honest. To trust me.
The way he wants me to trust him.
A heavy beat passes between us.
Then he dips his chin. “Very well. But not here.”
Disappointment pricks sharply in my chest, only to fade as his fingers lace through mine once more.
“Come with me.” His voice is commanding, threaded with shadows that lick at my skin.
Common sense screams I should resist.
But the desire for knowledge, for answers, is too hard to pass up.
Gods watch over me.
I pick up my skirt and let the Shadow Fae lead me into the dark.