Page 125 of Taken By Shadows

“Oh, so you … you came here specially to see me?”

His eyes grew feverish.

The rose still in his hand, he held it up again, still barring me from leaving with the other.

He pushed the wilting petals into my chin, and I recoiled.

“What are you—” No. He would not make me feel this way.

I steadied my voice. Gripping the stem, my hand snagged on a thorn. “I am with Kaedian. Let me pass. Now.”

His demeanour shifted like a tide around me. His eyes glowered, and he yanked the rose back, tearing through my palm as he did.

A gasp ripped from me and he stumbled back at the noise, as though it had cleared his head.

“Huxley.” A clear, resonant voice filled the space. “It’s time for you to leave.” Eryk bit out each word as his hand clamped down on Huxley’s shoulder, squeezing too much for the gesture. He grabbed him and flung him towards the hall, Huxley only barely catching his footing before scuttling away.

I winced as blood poured from the wound.

“Your hand.” Eryk moved closer.

“I’m fine. It’s nothing,” I said, fisting my hand to shield the cut that wasn’t healing like it would for any normal fae.

But Eryk caught my hand in his, gently turning it over as though it were as fragile as a duck egg.

My heart slammed into my chest, and I worried he could hear it.

“I can manage,” I lied, my fingers still clenched.

Eryk’s eyes smiled at me. “I’d like to. If you’ll let me?”

His fingers unfurled mine, and I softened under his touch. I wasn’t entirely sure why I let him see the ragged wound on me, the magic that wasn’t rushing to heal the cut.

But he said nothing and instead offered his magic to heal me. Much like Celeste had, only his hummed with a power that vibrated as it looked for its mark.

As his magic worked, Eryk’s eyes watched mine.

And finally, my muscles relaxed. What would it matter if he knew I didn’t have magic? What was one more person knowing that about me?

If Eryk noticed, he said nothing about my lack of self-healing.

But when my skin had knitted back together, instead of releasing me, he held my hand in his for a moment.

“I have a proposition for you.”

Was that flicker in my heart worry for Eryk and what Kaed would do to him if he saw the nearness? Or was it worry for myself? I felt like whatever was happening between us was more than it should be in such a space.

And where was Audrie?

“Come with me? Into the city proper. I have something I’d like to show you.”

Flutters rose through me. Excitement or trepidation? But they died a little as I thought of the reality of his request.

“Kaed. Kaedian … He will be expecting me back.” I glanced around the halls.

“A few hours. I promise to have you back in one piece. The show will be wonderful.”

“Show?” My face beamed.