Page 20 of Taken By Shadows

Would the people of Shadowfall have protected me the same way? My home. Was that home? Most of them were just a collection of faces I’d left behind. Faces I didn’t care to see again. Names I didn’t care to be called again. A cowardly thought entered my mind then. Did I have to protect them? I swallowed the vile intrusion. I might not like the people of Shadowfall, but they didn’t deserve to die.

And Leesha. The baby. I couldn’t sell their safety for my freedom. I couldn’t.

“Telling me would be the wisest option. And the truth.” He’d stopped examining the crystals and was back, casting a shadow over me. “Because if you lie, I will find out when we bring you there, and there’s no faebane.”

Faebane?

The pages of my mind fanned open in front of me. Faebane was the fae term for adamyte. The history books had mentioned it a few times. It had been plentiful in the Four Corners for aeons, but some accounts of the Two-Hundred-Year War actually cited its dwindling sources as the reason the war lasted so long. Had one side had a significant advantage over the other, a victor might have been crowned sooner.

“Why do you want it?” I flicked my eyes to him.

“Just tell me where it came from, peach.” His voice was strained.

The other male rode up then. “They’re all dead. No fun, really. Men piss themselves when they die. And they smelled bad before that.”

“You really are something, aren’t you, Gav?” the stranger said to the male on horseback.

The one atop the horse just curled his lips in a skewed line in disapproval. But then instantly sobered, and his eyes darted. “Someone’s coming from the east.”

Bray! My heart raced and my blood thundered.

“Gen?!” Bray’s voice was pitched. “I’m sorry. Look, can we talk about this? I’m not good at this. I didn’t mean to push you away.”

“Someone else we should worry about?” The dark stranger before me pulled my attention to him.

No. No. No.

They’d kill him.

“Gen?!”

“Gen?” The male before me looked intently at me. “First lie already?”

“My name is Imogen,” I said emphatically. “I’m not lying.” My courage guttered. “I can’t tell you where the adamyte—faebane is from.” My words were swallowed by the rush of blood in me. They could hurt Bray and everyone back home. They could hurt me.

What was the cost of protecting people—Leesha, Bray, home—going to be? I already knew the answer. But it was never a question. “I just can’t.” I repeated the vow as if to affirm it in my heart.

“And does your lover know where to find it?”

“He’s not my lover!”

“Guess that answers that question.” The female—Denora—came up behind the stranger clad in black before me and winked.

“Gen?” Bray’s voice was closer now. It carried through the spindly silver birch. The one called Gav twitched, as if he wanted to kick his mount to follow the sound.

“Don’t hurt him. Please.” My eyes shuddered, threatening to flood tears over my cheeks.

The stranger regarded me then, lips pursed. “Tell me, and I’ll consider it.”

I hesitated. It was Bray. They’d kill him if I didn’t.

“Last chance. Tell me where you found the faebane.” He gripped his sword as if to remind me that he would indeed cut Bray down.

But I couldn’t.

Bray would have to understand. Even if I told them where I’d gotten the faebane, there was no guarantee they’d let him live. And I just couldn’t risk Leesha and the baby. My heart squeezed. He’d have to understand. He’d have to. Leesha’s safety rested in my hands.

“I can’t.” My eyes fell to the blood-soaked ground.