Page 99 of Taken By Shadows

Pushing myself to stand, I peered over the edge of the ledge to look down to the scintillating pool below.

It is warmer here …

And without more than a flickering thought, I jumped.

The splash and jolt of cool water sparkled all over my body. And it was exactly what I needed.

I floated, looking up at the cliffs, the fall and the leaves as I let the waters cleanse me.

I was glad to be in temperate water for once and not a hot, bubbling bath of fragrances that ignited my fires rather than dampen them.

I swam. I climbed. Over and over until I finally rested to dry off on the bank of the pool. Under the fluttering sunrays, I dozed.

And the day wore on until the sun slipped out of sight and stopped peeking through the trees.

Some part of me was a little surprised that I had been left alone for so long. I think I imagined that perhaps someone would have noticed the note I’d left and come charging into the glade, blustering about rules …

But the night was taking over from the long day, and there was no one here.

The remnants of tension still lingered in my body; its devious claws raking along my sensitive nerves.

As I lay on my back, the darkness gathered around me, and I should have taken that as a sign to get up. To go back. To remove myself from this peace. But I actually found some sort of comfort in the darkness that I didn’t expect.

My frustrations were now replaced with a gentle burning heat and a languid placidness as my muscles began to ache and simultaneously unspool from the tension they’d held earlier.

Lying on the bed of spongy clover and ground ivy, I closed my eyes to the new feelings tumbling through my body.

“All alone in the dark?”

My spine went rigid, and my eyes snapped open to pure night above me.

Chapter thirty

Adrenaline poured fast and thick into my blood at the vibration of the voice over me. I wanted to scream, but the air wouldn’t reach my lungs. Instead, panic gripped me and wrapped its cold hand around my throat.

“Who—What do you want?” I tried to sit up against the dark. My voice faltered as it drifted into the air.

“Playing dumb is not going to win you any favours, peach.” His voice crackled into the air.

Through a sob I didn’t know I had trapped in my throat, I blurted, “Kaed?”

Was I angry or relieved it was him and not a stranger?

“How did you even find me?” I stammered.

Kaed stepped closer. And he looked terrifying. He was dressed entirely in black and his outfit bulked out his shoulders to menacing proportions.

His tone had been restrained when he’d spoken. But he looked like that restraint might snap at any moment.

“How did you find me?” I repeated, steadier despite the male before me with roiling shadows in his blood.

“It’s my turn to ask questions. Where were you going?” The edge to his words was sharp enough to make me bleed.

I swallowed.

He was nearly vibrating with the power he held within him. The pressure building in his magic, I could almost touch it as it gathered under his skin.

“I’m sure you have a wonderful excuse for why you’re climbing sheer cliffs alone. At night. Leaving without telling anyone.”