Page 113 of The Edge of Darkness

I exchanged a look with Niall. “It could be here or in Vahrenhall.”

“Mmm.” He slid his hand along his jaw. “We can check with Vanir.”

“I know it might not be of much help,” the wraith continued, “but it is all I know of the matter.”

“Thank you. We are grateful for the information, and we will try to look for it.”

She dipped her head.

Niall reached for Auren’s hand, and Nivelle turned to follow them toward the entrance.

I gave one last nod to the wraith, noting the change in her demeanor. Gone was the mischief in her eyes and the unpredictability of her posture. She stood there, on the shore of her gloomy pool, like a lost child, holding a mere sliver of sustenance in her arms. It made walking away feel like complete abandonment. I had to remind myself that she had survived before us, and she would survive long after.

Damn my sensitive soul.

Damn it, because I wanted, just for once, to embrace the completeness of feeling something to its full extent. I wanted to fucking feel, without restraint.

Instead, I pushed the image and the emotion to the back of my mind, where all the other things I’d abandoned rotted away.

There was nothing more I could do without risking myself. And even if I did risk it, even if I did let myself feel, the sinking notion that the Aether would sneak in and steal all the glory reminded me that I couldn’t risk it. Better to live the life I was able to, even if it wasn’t what I longed for. This lonely, stoic existence was better than having nothing at all.

At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

Aremis stood above me with the gaping hole in his chest as remnants of my shadowfire funneled through it.

“Why?” He coughed, spitting up blood. “I got her out, for you! I saved her, for you!”

My heart seized at his words, just as his body crumbled into ash, lost to the wind.

The Asher.

The Asher.

The Asher.

I had a sinking feeling that no matter how much I avoided it, somehow, I’d live up to the name.

I awoke drenched in a cold sweat, with a searing pain in my head that lasted only a moment, but it was enough to send my limbs trembling. Shadows spun around me, stirred by the images in my head. Their physical manifestation bothered me more than the nightmare, because I hadn’t summoned them. They’d freed themselves, and now, they were jolting like spears of darkness, piercing the air at an unseen threat.

Next to me, Auren slept peacefully, the smooth planes of her face illuminated by the faint glow of the fireplace. My shadows whipped above her, sending fleeting images dancing across her skin in the firelight.

It couldn’t be far past midnight, given that the fire hadn’t yet burned down to embers.

I traced her brow with a shaky fingertip, gently pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. The shadows turned their attention to her and settled into a strange rhythmic trance before absorbing back into my body.

Her eyelids fluttered, a soft hum filling the space between us. When she opened her eyes, they immediately found mine.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, instantly concerned.

How did she always know when something was on my mind? I thought I’d been good at hiding it. Gods, I’d spent years practicing making my face unreadable in the presence of others, only for her to recognize every tell with a single glance.

I loved that about her.

The thought had my lips tilting with a smile. “You tell me, since you’re so good at figuring me out.”

She blinked away her sleep and shimmied up against her pillow as she assessed me. “You had a nightmare.”

I pushed more of her hair back from her face. “Yes.”