Page 28 of Taken By Shadows

“Did you pay them?” I flung the words at the male who walked ahead of me.

The guards at the gates had been relatively passive, if a little nervous, and I wondered if I had just traded my chance at freedom to save corrupt soldiers. That was possibly harsh to think. I’d already given my freedom up to save Leesha, even her undeserving neighbours, from his sword.

“I don’t want anyone knowing I’m here yet,” he sighed, turning to me.

More questions spilled into my mind. He wanted privacy. Anonymity. Why?

I moved to step back, but he leaned in. “Don’t get used to this freedom. I’m more than willing to restrain you again.” His threat was a wicked purr on the chill night air.

I couldn’t make sense of him. A thief. A fae. A male who cared what people in this city thought of him enough to set me free beside him. What kind of criminal was he?

I kept pace with my captor as we moved through narrow paved streets with tall angular buildings. At least walking behind him meant I could imagine throwing daggers into his back.

Each building was made of the same carved blocks with ornate lintels above the doors. My pulse fluttered as I took in the sight of newness all around me. Everything from houses with russet tiles to towering buildings with pale sage roofs that caught the moonlight. I had never seen a place like this. The scale of the city was something I couldn’t have even imagined; every tree-lined street brought us to dozens of new buildings, each pressed onto the paved walkways like the very stones were starving for air and space. I knew fae tended to dwell in the cities, but the books, the maps, they did nothing to paint the picture of the influence their presence had on such a place. The splendour, the scale. I felt small in this new stone maze.

“Where are we?” I asked, somewhat dazed by the magnificence of the structures that towered over me. He didn’t answer. I didn’t expect him to, but I refused to be silent as well as obedient.

There was a small part of me that awoke to the novelty around me. I was somewhere unfamiliar, foreign and entirely enticing. Somewhere that might bring me answers—if I could ever get away.

We passed some people, rounded ears as clearly visible as pointed ones, but I bit down on the urge to call for help. If he’d threatened to cut down soldiers, I doubted unarmed people would be much of an issue for him.

What were townsfolk going to do against a fae with shadow powers?

I’d never seen anyone wield magic like that. I’d never seen any magic until today. I’d heard of it, read about it. But flying through the skies was finally seeping into my bones. The adrenaline from the experience had somewhat petered out, but the way my nerves and thoughts were frayed still lingered.

Magic in its real form, not just mentioned in pages, was so much more potent and consuming. It was like seeing fire for the first time. Its potential, its power. There was a draw to stay near the source, to learn more, to experience more. But the wiser part of me remembered that magic wasn’t just for show, it wasn’t just pretty. It could be used to control, to dominate. People who travelled through towns and villages often told stories of fae magic, but I didn’t think I could have been prepared for what it really was to behold.

But I was struggling to fear the magic I’d seen. The reality of it was more fantastical than anyone older than a child would believe. Everyone knew fae could harness magic in some small capacity at the very least.

But his magic was not like in the stories … It was darkness. His power seemed to come from shadows and the black night that followed him like a shroud. And it had a draw, a pull. Like a sunless seduction beckoning you to join them in the waiting abyss.

No one would even notice if he used his magic now. The streets were edged in darkness. And the few people who passed us were too concerned with the gathering storm. Most were battening down doors and windows of the townhouses around us.

Iron lanterns hung from the angular stone buildings, swinging in the gathering winds. Their ageing metalwork whined in protest as the storm pulled on them. They were lit with a faint blue light, its hum unmistakably magical.

The coruscation of the bobbing lights was stunningly beautiful through the shards of rain that fell in silver threads around us, but something hollow lurched in me at the sight. Even the simple magic like fae light was beyond me.

Magic in the cities must have been far more common than I had read about. Fae lights dotted nearly every street we passed through. And yet, there were humans here. I had always thought fae kept their magic for themselves, and humans suffered beside them. Had I been wrong?

We turned onto a large square where an ornate freestanding lamp lit the space. People moved around me like water around a rock as I waded towards the lamp. The iron frame laced around the mauve glass, blue fae light rippling inside the delicate casing. A firefly fluttering its wings, its light pulsing like gentle breathing.

“It’s beautiful.” I was shocked by my own wistful words, which felt so out of place.

While I was distracted, he somehow circled and came up behind me, and I lost the trance I was in with him so close. He radiated heat despite it raining.

“It’s a lamp,” he said, unamused. “I knew you were common. But surely, they have lamps where you come from.”

I glowered and whirled on him, all fear swallowed by my fury. “Can’t you just for one moment appreciate that perhaps I’m trying to cope, trying to find beauty in a place I don’t recognise? With a stranger who took me against my will. Can’t you just give me a moment to see something beautiful in a world that’s gone dark? Are you so damaged that you can’t see beauty?” My voice had pitched higher as I ranted. Not screaming. But loud enough to turn a few heads. Whether they’d heard what I was saying or not, they carried on, ducking their heads and pulling their collars up around their necks.

“I can. I—” His face had flattened, his shoulders tugged back and stiffened. His eyes tightened with ... was that anger? Pity?

“You what? Snuff it out before it can soften you.” I wasn’t quite sure why I was even shouting at him now. But I felt betrayed by the way he’d saved me from Gold Teeth only to take me for what he wanted. He’d been so reverent. The touch of his hand on my jaw when he had pulled my eyeline back to his to avoid the bloodshed. It had felt imploring, like he was checking to see if I was alright. Like he cared.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

His face hardened and a wickedness found its way to his eyes, that emotion he’d been on the verge of expressing, gone. “You either come with me now, or I’ll take you with me now.” He leaned in until his power enveloped me. “Gavrin will already have arrived, and he’ll meet us up ahead.”

I took a tentative step backwards, keeping my eyes on him. But before my heel even lifted and landed, his hand wrapped around my wrist.