Page 3 of The Shadow Heir

“Afraid of a little alone time? If you love me, show me.”

My mouth fell open in a silent scoff, my body’s alarm bells ringing at full capacity now. “Jorge, I…Please…I don’t…” I couldn’t form a complete sentence. I had beenwrong.Sowrong.

Deep in my chest, a sharp ache prickled like I’d been stabbed. I backed away from him.

“Zara,” he said, coming closer. I could no longer deny the look in his eyes. I’d seen it plenty of times before, but out here, we were entirely alone. The carriage driver was likely expressly told not to interfere with anything happening inside the carriage. I had to run.

“Don’t look so scared,” he teased. “I heard you were fun.”

“What?” I shouted, voice cracking.

“You have a reputation, you know. All the other men you’ve left behind said it was worth it.”

My jaw couldn’t open any wider, and my rage couldn’t boil any hotter. “Theywhat?” I couldn’t believe this, couldn’t wrap my head around the lies, around what myreputationmust be to him. Then it hit me. All of this—all of the persona he’d portrayed—was simply a ploy to get me alone, because he believed a pack of lies crafted by men with wounded egos. I pressed both palms to my forehead, smearing away the sweat beading there and feeling a growing urge to vomit. I backed away quickly.

“There you go,” he said, rolling his eyes. “You enjoy tossing out men like the food left on your plate, don’t you?”

My stomach dropped to the ground, and I hunched forward, dumbstruck.

“They warned me you’d run. I only assumed it would be after.” He half-turned aside, his hands again going to his hair.

At those repulsive words, I bent down and yanked the dagger from its sheath at my calf. I’d taken to wearing it everywhere after witnessing the Wild Hunt mere weeks ago.

The blade glinted in the moonlight as I held it at arm’s length, pointed toward Jorge, my heart in little dusty pieces at my feet.

“Leave me alone,” I warned.

Love was supposed to be powerful. It was supposed to break class barriers and expectations and curses. But all it had done for me was ensnare me. I swallowed and stood straighter, harnessing my emotions before they spiraled away with the breeze.

Jorge chuckled dryly. “I thought you wanted me to meet your father. I thought you loved me, Zara.”

An angry huff escaped my lips. “That’s what you call love?” I said, eyeing the carriage with a shiver of unease. To think that’s why he’d courted me.I lifted the knife a little higher, trying to steady my shaking arm. Grateful my father had insisted on putting me through weapons training, I wouldn’t let all those years of training fail me now, despite feeling like I was cracking at the edges.

Jorge lifted his hands, palms out. “Cálmate.I’m leaving.”

That command—calm down—smashed any remaining bit of tenderness I felt toward Jorge into the dirt at my feet. My stepmother, since she’d arrived five years ago, had used that command more times than I could count, whenever my emotions rose to a level that made her uncomfortable. The words always had the opposite effect, though, and my breaths came faster through my clenched teeth as I glared at the man I’d hoped to marry, the man I’d dreamed would set me free from my father’s bargain.

And with that, he spun toward the carriage. Before the door closed, he spat one word over his shoulder, “Maldita.”

My chest cracked from the inside. He couldn’t possibly know. My father had been diligent in his efforts to contain the fact that I was a gift from some magical being. No one would have done business with my father—bought his wine or invested in his vineyards or his ships—if they’d known that. Magic was for stories, not for noblemen.

But what if the truth had leaked out somehow? Wasthatwhy each of the men had left me?

As the carriage rolled away, I stood still, heaving quick breaths, a tear tickling down each of my cheeks.

“Stars,” I hissed between clenched teeth as I slipped the knife back in its sheath at my calf. I grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it across the road into the trees, where it made no sound at all as it was swallowed by the night. I tilted my head up and stared at the starry sky. “What now? Aren’t you supposed to have some sort of power?” My father had never taught me to pray to anyone, although he cursed the stars often enough that I assumed they held some sway. But if they did, the stars didn’t like me very much. They sent me too many failed loves. Too much heartbreak. And a life that was over before it really had time to start.

I had mere minutes until my birthday, hours if this Oscuro creature waited until the hour of my birth passed. But that wasn’t enough time to find true love, no matter what my father orchestrated. Marrying a gentleman’s son wouldn’t fix anything. As my twenty years drew to a close, I’d be gone. Whisked away to the Shadow Court, wherever that was.

No stars, no bargains, no miracles were going to help me now.

An owl launched into the air nearby, startling me. Peering up at the dark forest, an old, familiar verse from a children’s song echoed in my head:The shadows come to steal and to kill, and they dance away with your heart.If you think them kind or a good place to hide, you’ll die alone in the dark.The song was meant to keep children from wandering away after dark, but it hadn’t done much good for me.

As I hurried home, Jorge’s words plaguing my mind, I knew that if Ignacio caught me and my father and stepmother found out I’d sneaked away again, I’dfeelcursed. But their greatest threat, I realized with a huff, was now my last resort. I’d have tomarry whichever bachelor my father could rope into a marriage by sundown.

I wasn’t in the mood to return to my room. Not yet. I’d only weep into my pillow, which didn’t sound fun or productive, so I picked my way north across the garden, avoiding the areas visible to Ignacio on his nightly vigil between my bedroom and the external doors nearest my wing of the house. To take my mind off of the emptiness growing inside me, I visualized the row of wooden targets lined up at the edge of the shooting field adjacent to our forested acres. Loosing arrows into the center of a target sounded like the perfect way to pass this dreadful night. Besides, if my aim was true, I might even be able to slay this Oscuro whenever he came to claim me.

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