Page 66 of Taken By Shadows

“Kaed!” Gavrin’s voice cut through the music as he came towards us. “Time to go, brother.”

But it was too late.

Soldiers clad in clinking metal armour had surrounded us, their palms raised and glowing with magical umber light.

Chapter twenty

Gavrin planted himself between the soldiers and us. Kaed was a steadying presence at my back as my breath rattled. The dizzying effects the fae wine had on me fizzled away as the air thrummed with magic.

Were we in danger from guards in a place like this? Their bellicose fae light felt at odds with the soft luminescence of the party lights.

Celeste pushed her way to the front of the crowd that had gathered to watch whatever spectacle was about to unfold.

Bronze and golden armour glinted in the fae light of the garden lanterns as the soldiers held steady, unmoving as they faced Gavrin and Kaed.

“Lord Kaedian.” One of the guards stepped forward. “You are to be taken to the council for your crimes.”

“What’s the meaning of this?” A male with night-drenched hair and dark bronze skin pushed through the fray.

“Lord Daeghan. Apologies for the intrusion. But we are under orders.”

A female I took to be Pearl, came up beside Lord Daeghan, draped in imperial blue.

Murmurs and a few gasps sprouted in the crowd. There were only four guards. Kaed could dispatch them if he wanted, I was sure of it. But there were no shadows invading the garden.

“You will come with us.” The umber magic in their palms hummed in warning.

There was a palpable tension in the air.

I felt a hand on my back then as Kaed moved past me. His eyes gave nothing away as he looked at me.

Gavrin gave him a look that said We should have left sooner.

But Kaed quirked his eyebrow at Gavrin and just stepped into the space in front of the guards, his hands slightly raised.

No shadows.

Two guards rushed him and pinned his arms behind his back. The third guard clasped manacles around his wrists.

I didn’t mean to, but I gasped. Kaed’s head turned, and he smirked at me when he noted my reaction.

“What’s going on?” I demanded, to no one in particular.

The guard who’d spoken stepped in front of me and cut me off from Kaed. Gavrin bristled beside me.

“Lay one finger on her”—Kaed angled his head back to the guard, almost casually—“and you will lose every single one of them.”

The guard’s skin paled at Kaed’s threat, and he dropped his hand.

Gavrin urged me back as the guards ushered Kaed from the party without further explanation.

“Where are they taking him? Why didn’t he fight back? He could have crushed them.” I couldn’t place my feelings, but they were strangled by the sudden shift in events of the evening.

“And make it worse for him? He’s cooperating. Unusual for him, I know. But smothering the entire party in darkness would not have been the way out of this.” Gavrin was unnervingly calm about this.

“Right now, they probably have him for kidnapping you—this time. Not the first time,” he clarified with a grin. “But …” Gavrin chewed on his words.

“But?” I urged.