Page 101 of The Edge of Darkness

The witch’s voice was a low growl as she said, “I am not scared.”

I took heed of my mate’s advice and held my tongue, regardless of how badly I wanted to sling another playful jest.

Nivelle glared up at me as her and Auren passed by. The small burlap sack that was slung over the witch’s shoulder bounced against her back as she climbed around a jagged stone and onto the ledge above.

We had quite a trek ahead of us—if Aremis’s recollections of the legend were correct. That was one good thing about his Aura: it allowed him to eavesdrop on conversations all throughout the realm, and at all hours of the day. Mid-morning gossip over tea and pastries, late afternoon rants, lovers’ quarrels in the evenings, whispered tales around the fire before bed, and the hushed murmuring of secrets spoken in the shadowed corners of taverns at well-past midnight, all of those were things the Aura had access to. If there was something to be known, Aremis was the one to find out about it.

According to Aremis, the last time someone had spoken of the wraith—besides the retelling of the famous story known throughout both the fae and human realms—was during the most recent war. Many fae thought she was a seer, skilled at telling fortunes and predicting one’s fate. A few idiots had ventured to her supposed cave system on the eve of battle to learn if they would die the following day.

None of them had returned.

I supposed they became more substance to add to the legend.

The same wouldn’t be said for our lot. I would make damn sure of that.

Aremis caught up to me and nodded ahead toward Auren and Nivelle. “Think it was wise to let her join us?”

I could hear the two of them conversing quietly as they hiked the path. “Guess we’ll find out soon enough.” I didn’t know much about Nivelle. Only what Auren had told me earlier. From the sound of it, she was trustworthy. She just preferred to be a pain in everyone’s ass. “If worst comes to worst, the wraith can have her.”

Aremis pushed out a breathy laugh and shook his head. “Don’t let her hear you say that.”

I huffed a laugh of my own. “If there even is a wraith.”

“I have a strong feeling that there is.”

“And what makes you so sure?”

Aremis glanced back up at the witch. “Because of her reaction this morning, when she found out what our plans were.”

I looked up, watching the way Nivelle regarded Auren as they moved. The way she marked every movement my mate made was making me anxious. “Keep an eye on her,” I told my second.

“Already have been,” he replied.

“Niall . . . Aremis . . . you might want to come see this,” Auren called from up on the ridge they crested.

I ported to her side in an instant, ready to snatch her back from the edge if there was something that merely resembled a threat on the other side. Aremis was there a moment later.

The terrain swept downward before us into a narrow pass between the peak we were on and the one across from it. Auren pointed, her hair whipping around her face as the wind gusted up from the depths below. Aremis and I followed her gesture to what appeared to be a small cave opening on the opposite mountain face, peeking in and out of the fog as the clouds rolled in from Vahrenhall.

“There’s a trail cut into the mountainside,” she said, moving her finger through the air to trace the landscape.

“That’s one hell of a narrow trail,” Aremis noted.

Auren glanced back at me. “Since we can see it, can’t we just port directly to it?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but the witch cut in. “There’s some sort of magic . . .” she said. “I can feel it.”

I figured there would be, but it helped to have her confirm it. “What kind of magic?”

“I am not sure.” She squinted, analyzing the cave entrance.

“The safest option is to climb,” Aremis concluded. “Better to sense a trap before we port directly into it.”

Another strong gale rippled our clothes as it rushed up the cliffside and swept past us.

“What are you all waiting for, then?” Nivelle snipped as she began the descent into the pass.

Aremis followed, lifting a brow at me as he stepped by.