Page 96 of The Edge of Darkness

The ground was no longer rumbling as we approached the northern gate to the Mountain Court.

The passage resembled the eastern entry point, where Niall had first brought me into his territory. The mountain walls rose up a hundred feet on either side of us as we walked down the corridor toward the territory beyond. Toward Salterra. The Wastelands.

We stepped out beyond the stone walls, and were flanked on both sides by the colossal statues of the ancient brothers who had fortified Calledan. They towered above us, ever the watchful guardians at our backs. But the stance of these statues was different from those at the eastern gate. In the east, the brothers stood as warnings for trespassers or evildoers.

Here, they stood ready for war.

The brother wearing the helm appeared as if he would walk right out of the mountains, sword stretched out before him in a challenge. The other brother held a shield and spear in front of him, poised to launch into a sprint. I could almost feel their energy radiating off the stones, a silent warning for enemies to go no further. The notion steeled my spine and rallied the power in my veins as I narrowed my eyes on what stood before us.

The Veil was a clear boundary, rising from the foot of the giant slab of stepping stones that gave way into our territory. Its translucent shimmer radiated under the midday sun. But on the other side of it, standing against the backdrop of The Wastelands, was a single being, staring up at the statues. Her long, black hair was freely blowing in the wind, and she was dressed in sleek, black leathers with an impressive array of curved daggers strapped to her belt. Black leather vambraces wrapped around her pale forearms, flexing as she flicked two of her long black nails together, as if in boredom.

When she finally lowered her gaze to us, chills skittered down my spine. Her pale face was striking—in a dark, sinister way—with high cheekbones, a sharp jawline, and a pronounced scar that stretched down the left side from her temple to her jaw. Her shadowed, gray eyes were churning, like melted metal, rimmed with thick kohl, contrasting her red lips.

The strangest of her features were her ears. They were rounded. No sign of any fae lineage. But she felt all wrong. There was a wickedness to her that reached across the gap between us.

She had power; I could feel it.

Niall approached her with his hands in his pockets, like this was another casual meeting on the friendly streets of Calledan, yet his expression was as hard as the stone at our backs. “You sure do like to cause a scene.”

The stranger gave him a predatory smile. “And you like to take your time answering the door to visitors.” She clicked her nails together again. “You should be grateful I deigned to announce myself in the first place.”

Niall’s shield pulsed around us, consuming mine.

She tsked. “Oh, none of that. It’s not like it would be helpful anyway.”

Niall narrowed his eyes at the woman. “Where are your little friends?”

He had claimed there were a handful of beings here, but the woman stood alone.

She cocked her head, more animal-like than human—or whatever she was. “They were getting impatient, so I sent them away. Besides, I only want to talk.”

“There are ways to request an audience that don’t involve you trying to bring down my wards.”

She scoffed, bringing up a hand and examining her manicure. “Bring them down? I have no need to bring them down when I can just bypass them entirely.”

Niall raised a sarcastic brow. “Yet you still remain on the other side of them.”

She let out a gravelly cackle—her only response.

“If you came here to merely be a nuisance who wants to play at breaking down my⁠—”

“The creatures were playing. I am not,” she cut him off.

A ripple of Niall’s power shot past the wards and The Veil and crashed into the stranger, sending her stumbling a few steps back. His voice deepened to a threat that echoed off the mountains behind us. “You will not interrupt me when I’m speaking.”

The woman had the nerve to smile again, and the defiance lit a match deep within me. I willed my power to calm beneath my skin.

“I’ll ask only once,” Niall warned. “Who are you?”

As if weighing her words carefully, she answered slowly, that smirk remaining on her face. “I’m a huntress of sorts. Seeking something of mine that was taken.”

“And what might that be?”

“Don’t play dumb,” she challenged. “I picked up on its scent the closer I came to these mountains, and I can sense it now.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you speak of.”

She chuckled. “You’d rather keep it locked away and out of reach. I respect that. But are you willing to fight for it?” She gazed up at the brothers bracketing the mountain gate behind us. “They look like they’d be worth fighting.”