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“What do you mean, he’s taken your powers?” I stride forward and grip his wrist, staring at his hand as if I might be able to coax them back to him. “How is that possible? He had no magic. The Shadowkind have no magic.” I look at Briony as if she might have an answer, but she just buries her face in her hands and takes a long, shuddering breath.
Still flexing his wings, Eldrion shakes his head, his expression grave. “The shadows, the darkness... they don’t respond to me anymore. I don’t know how he did it, but he took them.”
A violent chill drags through my body, making it shiver.
“The demon I saw...” I am still holding Eldrion’s wrist. His skin is cold beneath my touch.
He meets my eyes and nods solemnly. “Finn... it was him all along.”
“But there were more.” I pace away from him, pinching the bridge of my nose, trying to both remember and forget the visions I saw. “There were so many more.”
When I turn around, Eldrion is staring at Briony. “The Shadowkind,” he mutters. Now he is pacing. His wings twitch but they seem, somehow, even though they are barely moving, to have lost some of their strength.
In one stride, Eldrion has closed the distance between him and Briony and is holding her tight by her shoulders. Her eyes widen, and her dark hair falls forward into her face as he shakes her a little.
“Is that what he’s planning?” he hisses.
Briony opens her mouth but can’t seem to form any words.
“Is it?” Eldrion’s grip is tightening on her shoulders. She winces and tries to pull away but he doesn’t let her.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she says meekly.
“Is he planning to turn all of you?” Eldrion barks the question, his face inches away from hers.
Briony frowns and stutters as she speaks. “No. No. He planned to kill you. I know that. He wanted Alana to help. He wanted to take over the city. But he never said anything about...” She trails off, unable to finish her sentence.
“About turning into a demon,” I mutter.
Eldrion releases a low growl and lets her go. I can see thoughts flitting across his face, but he doesn’t vocalise them.
“We have to stop him,” I say, forcing myself to stand up straight despite the trembling in my legs. “Whatever he’s planning next, we have to stop him. We have to get your magic back and stop him.”
Eldrion looks at me, his eyes filled with a mix of emotions I can’t quite read. Anger, fear, regret... and something else, something deeper that I can’t put a name to.
“Alana,” he says, taking a step towards me. “I...”
But before he can finish, Briony interrupts, clearing her throat as she steels herself to speak. “Maybe we should get inside.” She looks at the sky as if Finn might reappear at any moment. “We all betrayed Finn in one way or another.” She looks at me, then wrings her hands together. “And he doesn’t forget things like that easily. He’ll be back for us. Won’t he? I mean, he’s not just going to let us go after all that?”
I nod, tearing my gaze away from Eldrion. She’s right. We can’t stay out here. And I can’t think about what happens next while I’m standing here, naked beneath Eldrion’s robe, the feel of him still on my skin and the scent of him dizzying my head.
I take a deep breath, trying to steady myself.
How could I have trusted Finn? How could I not see what he was?
How could I have ever believed I loved him?
I stand in Eldrion’s chamber, hastily pulling on a pair of leather breeches and a dark tunic, provided by Briony before she hastily backed out of the room and left us alone.
My hands are shaking, making the simple task of dressing myself more difficult than it should be. Behind me, I can feel Eldrion’s eyes on my back, watching my every move.
“Stop staring,” I snap, whirling around to face him as I button up the tunic. “And pay attention to what I’m saying. What was that? You’re the all-knowing, all-powerful Lord of Luminael. You didn’t see that coming? You didn’t know your powers could be stolen that way?”
“No more than you knew you were being used as a pawn in his plan to steal them from me.” Eldrion rises from his armchair and paces to the window.
“You’re still staring.” I pull the tunic closed over my breasts and finish fastening it.
He scoffs, folding his arms across his chest. “It’s hard to focus when you’re putting on such a show.”
