Page 17 of The Shadow Heir

I swiped at one pesky tear that got loose.

“And when the doctors told us it was impossible, I thought I was going to lose her to the grief. I’d heard the stories of a wish granter who walked the woods at night, so I sought him and I simply…made the deal. It sounded so simple at the time.” Tears poured freely down my father’s cheeks now, tracing the lines of the intimidating scowl that had given him a reputation as a heartless man. People were staring. “Oh, Zara, I am so sorry,” he mumbled, taking my hand with both of his.

A deep voice cleared his throat behind me. I stiffened.

“We must go,” the fae prince said in his rough voice.

Had the room grown darker when he approached?

My father did not spare a glance for Casimiro—his eyes never left my face. Nina glared at me, as if totally oblivious to the prince. She wasn’t one to be impolite to well-dressed men, so I wondered if the fae was employing some trickery that made him invisible. I grabbed a full goblet of wine from the table and took a large gulp.

A dark figure now stood before me, composed entirely of thick, writhing shadows, as if made of smoke. He still wore his fancy suit, still had all the same chiseled features, but everything, hisface and clothes alike, were monochrome black and my eyes had trouble fixing on him.

“What are you?” I murmured.

He smirked. “The prince of shadows.”

That didn’t explain his current form. I tried to move away, but I bumped into the table, rattling the glasses and cutlery. Nina gasped.

Casimiro leaned forward, grasping my wrist with a strong hand. “You belong to the shadows now, señorita Valencia. You can come willingly, or I can force you.”

I jerked my arm free, trying to calm the terror rising in my blood. “What will you do with me?” Stories said the fae stole mortals as brides or servants. One tale even claimed the fae turned humans into all manner of unusual creatures. But this prince had said he was going tokillme—and yet, somehow, I had a choice in the matter.

He lifted his elbow as if he might escort me. I scoffed at him.

“You will do what all mortals do in the Shadow Court,” he said. “You will either serve us or entertain us.”

My face twisted in disgust. “I won’t serve you.”

“Then you will entertain? How fitting.” His lips twitched.

“I will do no such thing.”

An annoyed sigh escaped his mouth. “You will serve forever, or you will entertain us for one year. My father’s bargains offer all mortals this choice.”

My spine straightened. “One year?” I blinked at his strange, shadowy form. “That’s it?”

“Oh, I assure you, it is the worse of the two options. Remember what I said. If you do not want to die, choose wisely.”

I didn’t care what he thought. “If the options are forever or one year, the choice is easy. I’ll entertain for one year.”

“That is your choice then? For it is, as always, the mortal’s choice. I cannot force your decision.”

“Who would choose forever?”

His shadowy face inched forward. “Those who want to live. I hear you mortals are afraid of death.”

I tried not to flinch. My father was still standing behind his chair, only a step away, but he was entirely still, his head hung low. Nina was scanning the room, as if searching for someone.

A shiver of unease raked down my spine. No one in the room seemed concerned with the figure comprised of twisting shadows. “Trying to scare me into a life of servitude?” I snarled at him. “Well, it won’t work. I choose one year of entertainment.” This wassomuch better than being taken away for the rest of my life—my father must not have known about this aspect of the bargain. I was a good dancer, and Papá had ensured I was good with a blade. I could survive a year of entertaining the fae. A year. A single year. Relief filled my lungs, though the prince’s smoke-like eyes unsettled me.

A slow nod was his only response. He again lifted his elbow toward me. For a moment, I hesitated, then I took it, trying to reassure myself that all I had to do was endure one year in his court.

His dark fingers clamped my arm to his, and he murmured in my ear, “You have made a bold choice, mortal, and my father has entrusted me with the mortal trials. If you make it past the first trial I prepare for you, I will personally invite you to dine at my table.”

The room melted away before I could so much as scream.

My hand on the fae prince’s arm tightened as the walls and the crowds dissolved, leaving us standing in a moonlit forest next to the second fae I’d seen last night.

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