Page 52 of The Shadow Heir

He flashed me a smile that glowed white against the surrounding gray. In his hair, small twisting vines appeared, growing straight out of the air and reaching up into an impressive crown of leaves and stems.

I’d thought the long-sleeved dress would help me stay warm, but this icy morning had claws that raked my cheeks and chest. Curling inward, I wrapped my arms around my body and prayed this torture would be over soon. But I wasn’t sure who or what to pray to. Many Avencians prayed to the sun, some to the stars,but now that I was here, in a place the sun had no power, I didn’t think it was worth my time. Ivy’s words about the First and Last flashed through my mind. She’d said all power gifted to the fae came from this deity I’d never heard of. If he had power over the immortals, he must be truly omnipotent. I worded a quick prayer to this god I didn’t know, hoping he cared for little mortals like me, whose lives were but a breath.

The laughter and the chatter of the fae drowned out a fainter sound I couldn’t place. A quietwhoosh-whooshthat didn’t match the silence of the still air.

In the brightening sky above, a dark shape floated across the few remaining stars—a dragon, wings spread wide. It was high above, uninterested in us, it seemed. I watched until its small black outline disappeared behind the cliffs.

“Did you see that?” I whispered to Ivy.

“A dragon,” she said with a nod.

“I thought they caged them all.”

“Oh, no. The dragons hate the fae. And so the fae capture some of them and train them like horses, just to prove they can.”

What I wouldn’t give to be free like that creature right now.

My eyes fell and landed on the sole figure standing in the rows of stone benches, arms crossed, feet wide. Casimiro’s expression was hidden in shadow, but the faint light of dawn rested on his shoulders and shining hair. When he’d rescued me from the water earlier, he’d worn nothing but an unkempt white shirt, but now he wore a shining black jacket over it, his first button still lazily undone. On his head sat the black crown. He was speaking to Alba, a smile on his face, and I found that I couldn’t look away.

“Zara, remember. They can enchant us,” Ivy warned from nearby.

The words snapped me back to reality. The trial. Casimiro was about to try to kill everyone standing in the sand but me. I couldn’t think of him asattractive.

Ivy stuttered a little, then crept closer. “Do you know St. John’s wart?”

I lowered my arm and turned to her. “It’s a plant, but what about it?”

The stands continued to fill with other fae prancing in to watch us bleed from whatever perils the heir had cooked up for us. One female fae crept in on all fours, dressed like a white tiger, with actual whiskers and—if I was seeing correctly—a tail.

“It can ward off enchantments for a brief period. The mortals here all clamor for it, but it’s hard to get. The servants are the only ones with access to it, and they don’t give it out freely. Everything here costs something, and these fae value secrets above all else. Pay for St. John’s wart if you can, and take it before every trial. If I’d had some left, I’d have given you some, but I haven’t gotten hold of any in weeks.”

The stands were mostly filled now. Drinks sloshed as glasses clinked. Laughter rolled down over us. Dresses and suits sparkled in the dying starlight, and the sickly-sweet scent of the fae’s spiced wine drifted down from the crowd.

I nodded at Ivy. “I will.” If I could find that herb, I would feel much better about talking to Casimiro again—and maybe the twisting in my stomach that happened every time he approached would dissipate.

“The games are about to begin!” Felipe shouted. He lifted both arms from his position beside Casimiro and held them aloft until the crowd grew somewhat silent. “Cast your enchantments now.”

With a satisfied inhale, Felipe lowered his arms and rubbed his palms together.

Sparks of magic and howling laughter filled the dark arena. Ivy bent down and vomited. I raced to her, but my feet stopped moving mid-stride and anchored to the sand, sending my arms pinwheeling. I pumped my arms, but my feet wouldn’t budge.Panic seized my lungs, making it hard to breathe. In my nightmares, I could never run forward.

My eyes cut to the heir. How could he possibly think I’d survive a trial whererunningwas required if my feet were cemented to the ground? Hatred tingled in my toes and warmed my blood as the grates leading off the arena slid open.

From the darkness came howls and slavering sounds. Two black hounds raced out into the fading night, fangs bared, hackles raised. Cold, burning fear shot through me.

The first dip chased Tomas. My heart flipped as I watched the dog take him down with ease. I couldn’t run, but I could throw. I bent to take my shoe off, but my foot wouldn’t lift. The sand scrunched under my foot, and I frantically tore at my shoe until it wiggled free in the soft sand, my foot never moving from the spot. I threw the shoe at the dog as it bit at Tomas’s leg. It whirled on me, and I recognized its scarred face. It was Diego, the heir’s pet, and it charged toward me.

That was stupid of me.

Ivy screamed. Laughter and cheers poured from the stands.

The hound’s red eyes paralyzed me even more than the magic holding me down. For a moment, I considered praying, but I still didn’t know who might be listening or why they’d want to hear from me.

In two more breaths, the dog would be on me.

Sheer lunacy drove me to open my mouth and shriek, “Diego! Sit!”

The animal clamped its jaws shut and landed on all fours a handsbreadth in front of my leg. It sniffed my bare foot and my skirt, its nose hovering near the pocket that contained the ruby. Then it sat.

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