A Kingdom of Shadows

Book 2: Solaris and Crello Trilogy

by Rina Vasquez

Genres: Dragons & Mythical Creatures; Humorous Fantasy

Synopsis

THE THRILLING, ENEMIES TO LOVERS TIKTOK SENSATION!

'This book is everything I wanted and more! Sometimes the second book of a series can be a hit or miss but this didn't disappoint in the slightest!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'Nara and Darius' relationship is honestly funny and sweet and gripping all at the same time. Honestly never know what's going to happen with these two.'⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'The world building is phenomenal and the characters are well developed and lovable!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
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Nara set out to hunt dragons - now one dragon might be her only hope . . .

Wanted by Queen Marilyn and her army of Venators, Nara and Darius embark on a dangerous quest. The Screaming Forests aren't a place for the faint of heart; evil monsters and perilous magic lurk in every shadow. They must reach the Isle of Elements, or forfeit everything they hold dear.

But The Elven King who rules over these lands has other plans for this duo. They must solve puzzles, escape caverns, and fight wicked beings to fetch elemental stones hidden away in the Isle of Elements.

As tempers flare and tensions between the duo rise, will the pressure tear them apart for good or push them together in ways neither could ever have imagined?

Release date: February 29, 2024

Publisher: Headline

Print pages: 432

Sample

‘What’s someone like you doing in a tavern all by yourself?’

I turn to look at the man sitting beside me at the bar. A man I’ve grown all too familiar with.

My gaze wanders around the tavern, taking in the scene of inebriated patrons knocking their mugs against one another and drenching the nearby benches with mead, before coming back to rest on the man who is next to me. When I look at the fine strands of his brown hair, I can’t help but grin, even if a part of me is secretly repulsed by him. ‘I felt like I could use a drink.’

I begin to fill with a sense of relief as he gives the bartender the signal to pour us both a tankard of ale. He smiles gently. As he looks at me, he slides the mug across. I make an effort not to move at all because of how uncomfortable I am.

‘Have we met before?’ he asks.

We have.

I draw out the word ‘depends’ on my tongue while angling my head to the side.

His chuckle vibrates, a heinous sound. A laugh I closely associate with the rust of iron gates inside a dungeon. Old, distasteful, and unpleasant to the ear. ‘I’m not entirely sure. Have you asked me for favours before?’

As I reach for the mug, a strained smile crosses my face. ‘Never.’

‘Really?’ He feigns surprise. ‘I can recall all the ones you made for your brothers when you were just a child.’

I fix my eyes on the tankard as the reflection of his grin bounces off the surface of the metal. I quickly reach for my blade, and with one fluid action, I thrust the tip against his abdomen. Nobody takes any notice, nobody even bothers to look in our direction. I had been discreet enough. When I see that one of Ivarron’s brows have now raised, I speak softly and ask, ‘How did you know it was me?’ Darius had placed a glamour over me. It should have worked.

‘Stupid girl,’ he says, unfazed by the blade. ‘I know everyone who lives in this village, and I can recognise when someone is trying to trick me.’ His eyes shift to my left hand. ‘And there is also only one person I know who always favours wearing one glove to cover something they hate.’

The memory of a specific man with whom I came to share my first kiss crosses my mind, causing me to press the blade’s tip further into Ivarron’s stomach. ‘The maps you had at your place. Where are they?’

‘My, my, confessing that you’ve broken into my place now, are we?’ He clicks his tongue; mocking disappointment as his lips split into a crooked grin. ‘I taught you better than that, Naralía.’

‘You treated me like a slave.’

‘Don’t act like you don’t miss working for me since it seems –’ he eyes my clothing. ‘– That your Venator dream didn’t pan out.’

My cold mask falls. Ivarron chuckles over whatever revealing expression must be on my face. ‘Just tell me where you have the map to the Screaming Forests.’ Despite the pressure of my blade on him, my voice is barely a whisper, much to Ivarron’s pleasure.

‘I would listen to her if I were you.’ These words don’t come from Ivarron’s mouth.

Looking past his shoulder, I see Darius resting an arm against the counter and flipping a gold coin between his fingers.

‘She can be quite the menace when she wants something.’ His voice oozes his usual playfulness as his charming gaze flickers to meet my furious one.

‘What are you doing?’ I grind my teeth at his evident inability to listen to my plans. I had told him to wait outside with Tibith.

His response is to smile at me just as Ivarron clasps his hands together and the many rings on his fingers clink as he says, ‘Well, now this is fascinating. My old trapper is working with the infamous Golden Thief. I must say I expected someone more –’ he gives Darius a once over ‘– Intimidating.’

Darius’s lips tug into a fake smirk as he inclines his head forward. ‘Brave.’ His whisper is a threat slicing the air between them. ‘I like that in a man – well, those of my age, of course. Now, why don’t you go ahead and give us that map?’

Ivarron’s eyes dart down to where Darius’s palm carves a blade out of shadows.

My need to scoff is immediate. If my blade did nothing to scare Ivarron, then—

‘With pleasure.’

I furrow my brows at Ivarron’s complacent answer. He looks at me with a sickly smile and rises from his seat. Turning to the barmaid, he gives her a firm nod before saying to us with a derisive gesture of his hand, ‘Follow me.’

Darius and I share a look: do we trust him?

I had informed Darius what type of person Ivarron was on our way here. From how his firm jaw had tightened in the pale rays of sun, I assumed he didn’t like the idea of going to Ivarron for help.

Neither had I.

‘Stick to my side,’ Darius whispers into my ear, resting his hand on my lower back.

I’d retort with an insult if I weren’t too distracted by the various looks shooting our way. However, a traitorous flutter spreads across my spine like the comfort I’d experienced the moment after I saved him from the dungeons.

I remove his hand. ‘May I remind you I know him better than you do?’

His murmur is a chuckle vibrating against my ear. ‘And may I remind you, I managed to pay off your debt, Goldie.’

I glare at him, at the cocky gleam in his golden eyes, before I choose to ignore him and tread behind Ivarron. He leads us through a doorway on the left side of the tavern. Putrid scents of urine and mould hover in the air of a long corridor, but after being so accustomed to spending far too long in the dungeons, I push past the smells. The floorboard creaks, drowning out our heavy footsteps until we enter a smaller room at the end. Sunlight darts through a shaft window on the side, and I watch Ivarron make his way around a table full of clutter. All his jars, trinkets and books decorate a wooden shelf behind him. It’s as if he’s displaying each prize he’s won for hurting various magical creatures.

For so long, I had watched his collection of claws, fangs and pixie wings grow. I would dream of them in my sleep so often that it soon became a reality of nightmares every time I visited Ivarron.

‘It’s been a while since someone’s asked me for a map of the Screaming Forests.’

‘Why has all your stuff moved here?’ I don’t bother explaining why I need the map. I don’t need to tell him what I plan to do with it anyway.

‘Change of scenery.’ Ivarron gestures to the entirety of the room. ‘I own this place now.’

I can imagine all the unpleasant things he must have done to own it.

‘So, Nara.’ He settles into a chair, clasping his hands once again. ‘What do you have for me in exchange for this map.’

‘Money – since you love it so much.’

He makes the sound of unabashed agreement. ‘I do.’

This was almost too easy. He is so predictable.

‘But I don’t need money this time.’ He leans back, his glass eye unblinking. ‘I want something else.’

Annoyance churns in my stomach. ‘We don’t have anything else.’

Darius slowly moves closer to me as Ivarron’s eyes sharpen with a smug smile. ‘It is not an object you can steal. I want to know a hidden secret . . . your greatest desire.’ Curiosity fills his one working eye as it slices towards Darius. ‘How far are you willing to go for this map?’

I remain silent, pondering his words. If there is one thing I will never forget about Ivarron, it would be his nefarious deals and his greed to blackmail anyone by obtaining information from his victims. He’d done it to people I’d known from my village. I’d seen them step into Ivarron’s old home and come out thinking they’d made the best decision of their life, when they’d given everything away.

‘What if I trade you a valuable pendant?’

I thought I misheard; I glance over at Darius. I give him a puzzled look as he holds a firm gaze on Ivarron.

Pendant?

Since when—

My thoughts freeze as he takes out the Rivernorth pendant from his pocket. The gold glints and reflects in Ivarron’s eyes as if he were in a sudden trance.

Darius dangles the chain on one of his fingers. ‘A pendant that belongs to the previous rulers of this land. The Rivernorths.’ He tilts his head, and a smirk carves his full lips. ‘Wouldn’t you rather this than a silly little secret?’

The last time I saw the Rivernorth pendant was the day before Darius’s arrest.

‘Tempting.’ Ivarron taps his fingers against the desk, then rises and walks towards Darius, reaching for the pendant.

Darius pulls his hand back and snaps, ‘The map.’

Ivarron’s fingers curl into his palm, unsatisfied with that retort. Still, he turns back to the desk. Taut silence stretches the room as his hands skim the top layer of wood before fishing out a set of keys from his coat pocket to unlock a drawer. He lifts a rolled-up parchment and heads towards Darius again. Each step is precise and heavy with tension as he hands it over. Hesitation crosses Darius’s eyes, but his gaze briefly meets mine before he drops the pendant into Ivarron’s palm.

Despite our success, the pressure in my chest doesn’t seem to lift off.

‘It’s been a delight seeing you again, Nara.’ Ivarron turns to me. An unwelcoming grin shapes his thin lips as Darius unfurls the map in his hand.

‘I wish I could say the same.’

He laughs, raising the pendant towards the light. ‘How I’ve missed you, Trapper.’ He pockets the pendant, and I can’t help but watch his movements. ‘You were my best one yet, although Idris wasn’t far off in terms of his skills. I wonder if he picked that up from your father or –’ he pauses ‘– Illaria.’

My eyes flare up at him as he says my mother’s name. ‘Don’t ever say her—’

‘This isn’t the map.’

The anger on my face shifts into confusion at Darius’s accusatory words, and when I look at him, I can almost taste the anger pulsing off him.

‘He gave us a fake map.’ He tosses it onto the desk, much to Ivarron’s curious amusement.

No, there must be some mistake— ‘How do you know?’

Darius’s eyes don’t leave Ivarron’s once. ‘Well, Goldie, in my many years of thieving, I’ve come across a few cartographers who have shown me how to spot a fake. Whoever you got this from, I assume they drew this fake map and hid the real one instead.’

It had been too easy.

‘I underestimated you, Golden Thief.’ Ivarron angles his head, his lips curling into a menacing smile. ‘Immortal blood or not, you do prove useful.’

Whatever Ivarron’s intentions are, neither of us wants to play his game any longer. I’d dealt with it for too long in the past.

‘Where is the real map?’ Darius demands, inching a slow step towards him.

‘How about we make a different trade?’ Ivarron raises his hand, tapping his forefinger against the others. ‘You, for the map.’

The tension rolling off Darius’s shoulders thickens the air, making it hard to breathe as his rage grows at Ivarron’s request.

‘After all,’ Ivarron’s smile only grows, ‘I’ve always wanted a pet dragon.’

Silence takes over the room, but Darius’s anger is loud enough to rupture the walls to dust.

‘Oh? It seems I’ve struck a nerve with the—’

Not even half a second goes by before Darius takes a single stride and grabs Ivarron by the throat, slamming him against the shelf. Two jars smash onto the floor as Ivarron wheezes out a sadistic chuckle.

I immediately rush after them, touching Darius’s shoulder as I say his name in warning before Ivarron exclaims, ‘Careful. Even a powerful shifter like yourself can be tamed with just a single drop of this.’ He rummages through his pocket and lifts a vial—

‘Neoma blood.’ It slips past my lips in a whisper as the blood shines bright, brimming with something beyond extraordinary.

Darius lets go, and I leap in front of him as Ivarron rubs his neck with the same deranged smile lingering on his lips.

‘Word travels fast,’ he says. ‘After the news that the Golden Thief had been captured thanks to the glorious Neoma tree, I knew it was because of you, Nara.’

My muscles tense at the reminder.

‘I’d had many of my men retrieve vials of blood from that tree for my collection. Labelled them as something entirely different, so I was never caught. And when you’d mistakenly grabbed it, I decided to look into it.’ His chin dips. ‘Until I heard word on the street that the Venators were using blood from a Neoma tree against shifters and dragons. It didn’t take long to figure out it had to be because of you, Nara.’

Memories of the night Darius was captured pierce my mind like shards of glass. His hand clutched an arrow shaft as blood pooled from his chest . . .

The second those thoughts flashed into my mind, a stampede of horses braying from outside causes me to whirl my head to the window.

Solaris, no.

‘You’ve become quite the star fugitive in Emberwell, Nara.’ Ivarron’s words drip with mockery as Venators swarm the market square. ‘Venators have been patrolling the village for days on the Queen’s orders. How could I refuse such a hefty reward?’

I bite the inside of my cheek to dial down the fury enveloping me. ‘You alerted them.’

He raises a finger as if to correct me and grins. ‘The barmaid did, though the Queen gave me a generous offer for you and the Golden Thief’s capture if you did turn up here.’

A funny feeling, a lot like betrayal, punctures through me. I must remind myself that Ivarron has always been this type of person.

‘We need to go.’ Darius grabs hold of my arm, tugging me towards the door, but I halt and stare at Ivarron, my molars grinding the longer I have my eyes on him.

‘I wish you could have been different,’ I dare to say, and his brows rise with the faintest amusement. ‘Because there was once a time when I thought you were like a father.’ An incredulous laugh slips out as I shake my head. ‘But what would a thirteen-year-old know?’

The unexpected comment breaks that constant brash confidence Ivarron always carries around. His smile fades into a straight line as Venator voices echo nearer outside, and the last I see before I let Darius take me away from the room is Ivarron sinking onto the chair with a bleary gaze. I try to forget that image as Darius and I rush through the tavern, pushing past people before we barge through the doors. Bright light springs down on us, and the first thing I see is Tibith waving from the ground.

‘Hello, Miss Nara! Did you get the map?’

Darius and I exchange frustrated looks. I heave out a breath as I say, ‘Not exactly.’

Tibith simply blinks at my answer just as a Venator spots us from afar and yells to alert the others. Darius quickly places another glamour upon us, masking our looks from the Venators as we make our way through the village square. Civilians brush past us while I keep my head low, praying we make it back to the forest before someone realises who we are.

‘Shit,’ Darius mutters beside me.

‘What is it?’

‘My magic, I can feel it fading. I’ve overused it today.’

No, not now. Not when we are so close.

I look both ways. Sections leading off into fields and other villages cover my view before—

‘Over there!’ a Venator shouts, and panic blankets me completely.

People stop to look, and Venators unsheathe their swords, darting our way.

‘Come on,’ Darius grunts, fingers closing around my upper arm as we move through the crowd, dodging and sliding between gasping men, women and children.

Once we are out of the market square, the long grass, the fresh crops, the empty fields I’d once spent my childhood in pass me by as I start to run. The galloping sound of horses and shouts from Venators behind us do not compare to the heavy thud of my heart, just remembering how my home was not so far from here.

Sunlight carves through the trees ahead, and a cart full of hay enters my vision. The second we near it, I unlatch the side, and all the fodder falls out, blocking their path and slowing down the Venators.

‘Always knew you were a criminal at heart,’ Darius laughs, and I shake my head at him as we careen through the woods. A scowl forms on my face as I try to ignore him despite the smile begging to part from my lips. Tibith rolls ahead of us before Darius leaps over the same broken tree I’d seen with Illias the day I killed that rümen. He sticks his hand out to help me, but I shoot him an irked look and jump over it myself as I run past him.

Stubborn as I may be, I know these woods better than anyone else. This is why, as I approach a certain cluster of branches and lichens, I stumble to a pause, panting at what is in front of me.

Thorns and shadows mark the entrance to the Screaming Forests, the thinnest opening a person can get through. Hundreds of times, I’d wondered what it would be like to go through them, curious about what lay hidden ahead.

Male voices tug away my transfixed gaze, and I look over my shoulder at the Venators appearing between nearby trees.

‘Goldie,’ Darius says, his voice a gentle command as I turn to him. ‘We need to go.’

My eyes connect with his, warm and compelling, and I can’t help but nod. I take one last look at the entrance, and my stomach plunges at the idea of the mysteries of the forest before Tibith, Darius and I cross the threshold into Terranos.

As we leap over logs, we are surrounded by endless verdant trees. We don’t stop, even if my legs are tired and my breath heavy. Branches latch on to the sides of my cloak, and I hide my face to avoid being scratched.

Darius slows down when there are no Venators in sight, and we finally stop for breath at a clearing. I inhale the forest air and slowly turn, glancing at everything around me. The forest is covered by ancient roots, the trees are tall enough to obscure the sun, towering over us as if they intend to capture anyone who dares to walk into their forbidden territory. The only light that does enter, dapples through the trees before disappearing into the mist.

I turn to Darius, I see he’s also assessing the forest. My temper is still high from our interaction with Ivarron. ‘Why on earth were you carrying the Rivernorth pendant and didn’t bother to tell me!’

He releases a surprised chuckle, running a hand through his hair. ‘Is now really the time to argue, Goldie?’

Yes, always with you.

‘We don’t have a map.’ I stomp my feet across the long grass as I stalk up to him. ‘We are currently in the Screaming Forests with no direction to head in, and not to mention we were almost captured.’

His brow arches at the aggravation waving off me, but then Tibith trots between us. ‘It’s okay, Miss Nara. Darry can use his powers!’

Darius glances upward, letting out a stiff sigh. ‘No, Tibith . . . my powers won’t work in here.’

‘But-but why not?’

‘According to different sources, the Elven King wants to ward everyone off his lands.’

Tibith takes in Darius’s answer, blinking twice before letting out an excited squeal. ‘Then Miss Nara can use hers!’

‘No magic works here,’ I emphasise, though Tibith’s innocent tilt of his head suggests he still doesn’t understand. ‘And besides, I have no powers in the first place.’

‘And here I thought you were special, Goldie.’

Excuse me?

I point my index finger at Darius. ‘Are you trying to provoke me?’

‘Always.’

The crease between my brows tightens the longer I glare at him. I step towards him until the tip of my finger touches his chest, and his lip curls with amusement at the sight of it. ‘Look, unlike you, I don’t need magic to survive, so don’t come crawling to me when something attacks you.’

‘I don’t crawl to people, Goldie.’ His voice lowers, dark and lustful. ‘They usually crawl towards me instead.’

My lips purse with annoyance as I stab my finger harder into his skin, hoping it can somehow hurt him. ‘Why anyone would like you is beyond me.’

‘Well, Goldie.’ He gently flicks my hand away, and we’re millimetres apart from each other’s faces as he leans down to match my height. ‘You only think that because you haven’t had the pleasure of sleeping with me.’

I scoff. ‘I would rather kiss a goblin.’

‘Done that.’ He grins. ‘And I must say, Treet was a great kisser.’

An infuriating sound urges to come out of my throat, but gets stuck. He seems to know the perfect way to annoy me, he has a witty response to anything I say to him. And instead of wasting my time here, listening to him, I just stare him down and call out for Tibith because he is someone I’d much rather spend this journey with.

But he doesn’t respond. Darius and I immediately look around where Tibith had been standing. Where has he gone?

I take a few steps, trying to spot a peek of orange fur anywhere. ‘Has someone grabbed him?’

‘I—’ Darius’s words freeze. A twig snaps behind us as a shadow darts across. We both pivot to the sound, with our blades unsheathed at the ready, pointing them outwards.

Another rustle between trees drifts closer in our direction, then stops. My previous annoyance is quickly replaced with worrying anticipation. I can handle it, I remind myself.

‘What do you think it could be?’ I whisper, my back pressed against Darius’s. ‘Trolls? Dangerous Nymphs? Soul-sucking faeries?’

‘If you keep talking, they might end up sucking your soul first.’

I hope he gets eaten. ‘Just—’

Suddenly, a small creature jumps out, caramel hues reflecting off its fur as it jumps through speckles of light. ‘A rabbit?’ I ask, sighing as I sheathe my blade again and turn back towards Darius. Of all things, a rabbit is what I least expected.

‘Wait.’ Darius holds a few fingers to my face, narrowing his eyes over my shoulder. ‘That’s not a rabbit.’

With a frown, I look as the rabbit leaps in the opposite direction. It screeches a horrible monstrous sound before it begins convulsing and morphs into a deformed hairless creature with no eyes and rows and rows of sharp teeth in ring-like circles protruding from its head. I grimace, watching it disappear into another set of high trees.

That’s an image I will never get out of my head.

‘I found fruit, Darry!’

I whirl to find Tibith toddling out of the bushes, holding bright red berries in his palm.

‘Don’t eat that.’ Darius shakes Tibith’s paw to rid him of the fruit. ‘We can’t trust anything in these forests, much less tempting berries.’ He huffs a breath, glancing around. ‘We should camp here for the night, then figure out the rest of our route in the morning.’

For once, I can’t argue with that idea. ‘Agreed.’ I nod. ‘Which one of us should keep watch throughout the first half of the night?’

‘I will,’ Darius says. ‘I can imagine you’re much more volatile if you’ve had no sleep.’

Hilarious.

A forced smile touches my lips as I saunter up to him. ‘The opposite, actually.’ Walking past, I hear that deep chuckle of his from behind me.

I glance over Darius’s shoulder at the makeshift bed he’s made from piles of leaves and let loose a soft chuckle. ‘Looks almost as good as the made-up bed in your cottage,’ I say as he turns to the sound of my voice. I recalled the time fondly, when he’d laid me to rest on a pile of clothes and cured my wounds.

His gaze darts down at the leaves, then lands back on me before resting his forearm against the tree. ‘Beds are overrated; besides, I haven’t slept in one for over twenty years.’

I frown at the strange admission, it seemed to convey a hidden pain. ‘You haven’t?’ I ask. ‘Is that a shifter thing?’

He chuckles, pushing himself off the tree. ‘I suppose.’

Short and succinct. That is not a typical answer I usually receive from Darius.

I can’t help but give him a commiserating look, though I’m sure the last thing he wants is my pity. My lips part in an attempt to ask him if he would like to talk about it when loud snores interrupt us instead. Looking to my right, Tibith lies flat on the grass, his fur belly rising and falling as he breathes in and out of a deep sleep.

A smile blooms on my lips, and I find myself asking something else. ‘How did you meet him?’

‘Does this still count as part of your five questions for me?’

I arch a brow as I look over at the cocky grin on his lips. No, if anything, I will always have a question for him, despite what I’d won playing the Liars, Dice game.

He observes my resolve before giving in with a soft sigh and nodding as he stares at Tibith. ‘I was thirteen when I found him being pushed around by a few people. I ended up confronting them, and since then, Tibith started following me wherever I went.’ He chuckles at the memory, looking down at the ground. ‘The first time we robbed a place together was a bakery, which is when he took up such a liking for bread.’

A silence charges through the night breeze of the Screaming Forests, in such a way that no one would think it is crawling with dangerous, deadly creatures. I let a small smile take over my face at the image of everything they must have done together since they met. ‘And then you taught him how to speak,’ I say quietly, not holding back the admiration in my voice.

‘Wasn’t easy, but I managed just fine.’

‘Well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone take time to teach a creature to speak or care for them the way you do with Tibith, especially in Emberwell.’

When he doesn’t respond, I tilt my head up at him. His gaze brands into my own as a smile lingers on the corner of his lips. ‘Is that a compliment, Goldie?’

‘You wish,’ I retort.

‘I don’t need to,’ he says, mischief glinting in his eyes. ‘If anything, I already know you secretly have a thing for me.’

And there he goes again, annoying me beyond words. ‘You know, every time I think we are having a decent conversation, you decide to go ahead and ruin it.’

He hums with a lazy smile, crossing his arms over his chest. ‘What can I say? You bring it out in me, Goldie.’

My previous irritation surfaces again, twisting inside my stomach like a whirlpool. ‘You’re the worst person to be stuck with for this journey, I can’t believe I’m doing this with you,’ I sputter annoyedly without fully realising the consequences of my words.

For a split second, I almost see a hurt look in his eyes. ‘I’m not particularly thrilled either,’ he responds, feigning amusement. ‘But what option do I have?’

‘Maybe exercise the option of shutting up right now.’ I give him a firm look before leaning into his face and pointing my index finger at him. ‘And don’t even think about doing anything weird while I sleep!’

‘Weird?’ His lip quirks as if he’s trying not to laugh.

‘You know what I mean – placing bugs on me, scaring me awake. And, by the way, I don’t scare easily, so you can forget that idea—’

‘Are you sure you don’t scare easily?’

I hesitate for a second, staring at the challenging gleam in his eyes before lifting a brow. ‘Do you?’

‘I asked the question first, Goldie.’

‘And I asked the question second,’ I quip, and he chuckles in resignation.

‘You know, you’re the most stubborn person I’ve ever met.’

‘Thank you.’ I smile curtly. ‘Now, goodnight,’ I add in a harsh tone, shutting out any other possible chatter as I curl up and rest on my side, facing away from him.

I regret the second I close my eyes.

Thoughts plague my mind. Memories, the dungeon, the Ardenti I had to kill, and . . . Lorcan, all come rushing back to me like a crashing wave in a storm. I can’t fight the tightness in my throat gripping at me so firmly that I clutch on to my chest. Too mulish to say a word, I lie here, waiting for my thoughts to dissipate into an empty void.

What are we doing here?

Another day has passed in this forest, another day where we did not encounter anything vaguely threatening or dangerous. I should consider myself lucky, but every few hours Darius would tease me about not falling headfirst into a bog, and so I began to reconsider the meaning of this word ‘lucky’.

Unsurprisingly, quite a few arguments have sprung out of my impatience, causing Tibith to quickly try to make us see how this was no place to fight or bicker.

We have yet to listen.

This brings us to now – we have decided to sit down and rest in another clearing within the forest.

Tibith is further away from us, rolling along the grass, and when I turn to look at Darius beside me, he is staring at Tibith with a smile.

‘What’s it like?’ I ask. His gaze cuts to mine in question. ‘Without your powers, what does it feel like for a shifter?’

He cocks his brow, and I already know what he’s thinking.

I roll my eyes. ‘It’s a genuine question, and it doesn’t count towards the ones that are part of the bet we placed.’

He tips me a curious glance beneath his dark brows. ‘Are you that interested in shifters then that you want to know more about us? Or am I just that special to you?’

Why did I even ask? ‘Never mind.’

I’m about to turn the other way when he sighs and says, ‘It feels like something is blocking my powers.’

I pause, then look up at him as he leans back, his arms straining as he rests all his body weight on them.

‘A lid to a jar screwed on a bit too tight, if you will.’ His brow furrows the more he stares out ahead. ‘I can feel my magic there on the surface, burning to be let out, but I can’t make it work, no matter how hard I try to summon it.’

‘Not even when you would like to shift?’ I cannot d