Page 112 of Shade of Ruin

It's enough, though. More than enough. They run behind the guards, and just like so many times sparring with Cole, the strands of shadows rise and become nearly solid. They wrap around arms and legs, tightening and coiling and holding the guards in place at the same time as separate strands run into their mouths and noses and clog their throats. Every one of them tenses, pulling and trying to squirm out of my grip on them.

Eight full-grown High Fae from the House of Flames. They have the same potential abilities as Cole. Except that as my shadows slide into them, Iholdthem. I don’t hold back like I’ve always done with Cole. I know their eyes are turning black. Their hearts are racing, but even as they run out of breath, they don’t struggle. They’re no more than puppets right now, and puppets don’t fight you even if they’re dying.

Their bodies slump, one by one, as their air runs out, and as the last one falls unconscious, I let them all go, my shadows disappearing. They’re not dead, but they are unconscious.

I race to the door and slam it open. The heavy steel door feels like it barely weighs anything. I step into the next room, and Cole’s instructions ring through my mind. We’ve never been here. This is the first place in the Keep of Flames that feels truly strange.

Unlike literally every other room in the Keep, this room isn’t covered in that marble. Instead, it reminds me of the cave we were in last night, and that’s because it’s a part of the mountain, not a part of the Keep.

The ceiling holds shadows behind stalactites, and the stalagmites that rise from the floor are nearly as tall as I am. Thisis the opening to Calyr’s cave, and while there are many miles between this place and the dragon’s treasure hold, this is the beginning.

I remember Cole’s words exactly as he’d explained this step. Every piece of my journey from here to Calyr has been outlined for me. I just need to follow his instructions exactly.

This room is full of traps. My father is the only one who knows where they all are, but you don't need to know. You want to bypass them. They could be triggered by anything solid, but shadows aren’t ever actually solid.

Walk on your shadows and you’ll be fine.

Surprisingly, I notice dozens of traps almost immediately. Little pinholes near the opposite door. A rock that’s inset in the floor. A stalagmite with strange lines that wouldn’t ever have happened naturally.

I fill the floor of the cave mouth with shadows, which is far easier than I’d have believed when I first began using magic. All it takes is a momentary thought of Cole’s naked body rising over me. The touch of his lips against mine as I give myself to him completely.

With a thought, I solidify the shadows and walk to the other side of the room without a single problem. I hop off the shadows and let them dissipate. The guards outside are stirring, and the last thing I want is to be anywhere near this place when they wake up. I need to be past the next door.

Maybe I should have killed them like Cole suggested. Choke them to death and leave their bodies there. It would be the smart decision. They wouldn’t be able to call for help or chase after me. They couldn’t have done anything, and it would have taken far longer for anyone to understand what’s happened.

But I couldn’t. Those guards are just doing their jobs, and who am I to say that their lives are less valuable than Hazel’s or mine?They didn’t choose to be here today, and they may not even have a problem with the House of Shadows.

I took a risk so that those eight men survived today and could go home to their families. That means that I have to move fast, though, and I race through the darkness of another room. One with no traps. Cole assured me of this multiple times.

But when I get to the door, I have to pause. Solid steel with a solid steel lock. No magic can break this door. Only someone from the House of Steel could physically break it.

Cole had said that we had two options. Steal his father’s key, the only key, or I could try to pick it with shadows. Which is nowhere near as easy as the other things I’ve done with them. But trying to steal Casimir’s key would have been a completely different level of difficulty.

I take a deep breath and push the shadows from my fingertips, but when I push the shadows into the keyhole, it’s like there’s an emptiness that pulls at them. There’s no end to the amount of shadows that can fill that emptiness, either.

It's the steel sucking the magic out of my shadows, forcing them to dissipate like mist on a sunny morning. But if I can force enough in fast enough, there’s a chance to force the lock. I just need to push hard enough. Like filling a room with shadows to block out the light.

I swallow before beginning. There’s no way to do this while I’m nervous. I have to think about Cole. Have to think about every moment he’s touched me and made me want him. The way his skin felt under my fingertips. The way his mouth feels on mine.

That dark heat of his skin while I kissed him fills me up and I do my best to forget every other emotion. Yet, memories of him lying on the floor this morning flash through my mind and fill me with fear and anger and sadness.

Shadows pour from my fingers just as they did last night. I try to focus on shaping them and forcing them to turn in the lock,to force the tumblers to the side. The steel just keeps draining it, though, and that’s when I hear the door open behind me.

Rough voices hidden from view. I hear the word “shadows” and know that they’re going to come and catch me soon if I don’t hurry. The twang of a crossbow and a scream give the guards pause. I have to focus.

I close my eyes and think about Cole. I picture the way he’d burned for me last night. I feel the way my shadows and his fire danced in his eyes as his hands and lips had roamed over my body. I see his strength and his need to protect me, even from himself.

My mind is filled with the image of his eyes burning bright orange for me as he lay on top of me, his skin against mine, as I gave myself to him.

The shadows pour from me like they’re coming from an ocean of blackness, and for the first time since I began, there are too many shadows for the steel to devour. It only takes a few seconds before I hear it click open.

I’m just in time to slide through the door into another room. “It’s a woman!” By then, it’s too late for them to catch me. I click the lock back in place as soon as I close it, and then I breathe.

I have time now, but I don’t want to wait. Those guards are going to get Casimir, and if he catches me, both me and Cole are going to die. Casimir will blame Cole for letting someone from the House of Shadows survive. Much less claiming me as his betrothed.

My feet are moving immediately. I’minthe mountain now, and torches hang from the walls in the three paths. The labyrinth. This is the only part that I’m nervous about. There’s no way to use magic to get through the labyrinth. No way that my shadows can help me at all.

Cole gave me directions, though. He said that Casimir had taught him how to get through the labyrinth when he wasyounger. Just in case Casimir died and Cole took over as King of Flames.

---