Page 57 of Shade of Ruin

When Darian moves, I slip the ring back on my finger and the shadows disappear. Darian looks nothing like he had when I’d wrapped him in shadows. Now, he looks just like a much larger version of the merchant. Fur coating his body. Long, thin nails. A bear's face. But he’s growing at an incredible pace, his arms extending an obscene amount, almost like wings.

He reaches around and picks up the humans, smashing them together against his chest. They all look like they’re struggling as he lifts them into the air, his muscles straining even as he grows so large that he dwarfs the version of himself that fought Cole.

The platform creaks, and when he leaps into the air, the entire thing shatters, throwing me off. I hit a tent to the side of the platform and roll into the shadows, praying that no one even thinks to look for me.

When I look up and see the massive feathered wings carrying Darian high over the city and a gryphon following him, I know there’s no way that anyone’s thinking about the strange human hidden in a corner.

But then I hear one of the crowd say, “Do you smell shadows? Has the Shade been here?” It’s been less than two minutes since I took off my ring, and already people can smell my shadows.

Which means it’s time for me to get out of here.

“What. Are. You. Doing?” a voice hisses from behind me.

I whirl around to see Cole standing beside the destroyed platform. The merchant is screaming at anyone who will listen behind him, and everyone in the market is staring up at the creatures flying over the city.

“Cole… I…” He doesn’t let me say anything. He just takes the two steps toward me and grabs me by the wrist. Hauling me up beside him, he ignores the scene of chaos around us and pulls me out of the market. Instead of going the way Darian and Lee had taken me to make our plan, Cole takes me deeper into the city.

I can feel the anger inside him. Our souls are bound, regardless of the fact that this betrothal is a farce. When he touches me, it’s like that moment by the river all over again. Not as intense, but just as real. His emotions are powerful right now, and the anger inside him batters my mind.

When we’re only a few steps away from an enormous castle made entirely of red marble streaked with gold, he stops. A forty-foot-tall wall rises into the air even inside the city, ringing the building. The castle I’d seen when we’d entered Draenyth. Looking up, I can see guards patrolling the top of the ramparts beside catapults, trebuchets, and ballistas that are already loaded.

Cole pulls me into a building, a small clothing shop, and drags me to a back room where an older male and female sit. One at a loom and the other hand-stitching two pieces of fabric together.

“I need the room,” he says quietly, and the two High Fae hurry out, not even bothering to put up their things. I hear the door shut loudly, and then Cole speaks.

“You’re supposed to keep your head down. I don’t know what kind of idiotic idea has you stealing property while pretending to be the Shade, but this has to be stupid even for you.”

I whirl around and glare at him. “They were going to eat them, Cole. That merchant was selling them to be eaten like cattle.Except that you don’t beat cattle all the way to market. No one tries to sell cattle by suggesting people torture the cow before it's slaughtered. Even as a food source, it’s cruel and terrible.”

“That’s what happens here, Maeve. Dozens of types of Fae feed on humans. You know that. Why wouldn’t there be a merchant selling them?”

I don’t have the words or logic for him. “It’s wrong, Cole. It has to be obvious, even to you, that it’s wrong.”

He turns around and begins pacing, and every muscle in his body looks tense. “Maeve, that’s the way things are right now. You knew that coming into Draenyth. Didn’t you expect…” He looks up at me. “You really didn’t know, did you? It’s not just humans that are hurt and abused here. A single broken law could have a lesser Immortal living out the rest of their lives as a slave. And other than the four Great Houses, anyone could end up collared and being abused for centuries or even millennia. I’d rather be eaten than be tortured by my father for eternity.”

I blink. “So you don’t agree with it?”

Cole nods. “I don’t want humans or Immortals abused. People that break the law should be punished, but it should be reasonable. There are alternative food sources for all the Immortals, but just like the High Fae treat the Lesser Fae as lesser beings, the Lesser Fae treat humans and Wyrdlings like they’re food. All of it’s wrong, Maeve, but that doesn’t mean we can just go steal those slaves in broad daylight.”

He's quiet, and I don’t dare try to push him. I expect his hands to be alight with fire, but there’s none. He turns to me. “You’re lucky that Lee and Darian are so good with their House of Steel powers. No one would ever suspect that the two people who perpetrated that theft were actually House of Light. If they had, it’s very possible that Rhion would pinpoint them and get his wish to have them as his slaves. Especially Lee. Even I couldn’t prevent that.”

He sighs and sits down in the chair that the female was stitching in. He runs his finger over the soft velvet that’s on the stitching board. “They’ve always hidden their skills with House of Steel powers after that day with Rhion when we were children. They’ll be safe, but…” he looks up at me, “Maeve, they’re one of my weaknesses, and today, you gave my enemies a chance to hurt me by hurting them. I’m not afraid of someone trying to attack me. Physically, magically, or politically. I can handle that. Don’t let them hurt Darian and Lee because… because I’ll have to let them get hurt. I can’t turn away from my goals, but seeing them broken would… I don’t think I’d come back from it. I don’t know if I’d survive it.”

It's silent in the room as I look at Cole and really see him. He feels so invincible most of the time. Like there’s nothing he couldn’t do. He always has a solution to every problem, and he always seems to be right. If it comes down to a fight, there’s no one I’d rather fight beside.

But his shoulders are slumping more than ever. His face looks haggard, and every step seems exhausting to him. Cole’s burning out, and this… This scared him. He has more wounds than I know about. Moments that hurt him like when he was a child, like when his father punished him for Darian and Lee’s mistake. How many more stories could he tell like that?

“Why’d you bring me here, Cole? Why’d you trust me with Darian and Lee? With all the people in Aerwyn? You know about my debts, but I’ve never proven that I’m trustworthy. I’m just a dumb Wyrdling trying to get to Draenyth. Now I’m here, and you’re still keeping me safe from everyone. What is it you’re not telling me? What do you know about me that I don’t know?”

He slowly shakes his head back and forth. “You’re one of the few House of Shadow members left. You’re powerful, Maeve. Far more powerful than you could ever believe. I know about the ring you wear, and I’ve seen the shadows leak from your fingerseven while you’re wearing it. You’re someone I want as an ally. But you’re also a good person. That drakeling and gryphon wouldn’t have taken to you as they had. The villagers in Aerwyn all fell in love with you. Now you’re saving humans. You’re… I trust you more than most people.”

I blink, not entirely sure how to react to his declaration. And the thought of me being powerful in his eyes? Mind-blowing is what that is. “Then why do you keep so many things hidden from me?”

“Because I have to. I may want to trust you, but I can’t. Maeve, I don’t live in a simple world. I’m not working to make a village better or try to fix corruption. I’m trying to savethe worldwhile everyone in this forsaken city is trying their best to break it even faster. At any point, someone could catch you and torture you, and there’s no way I could trust you to keep from telling them everything. And then there are the debts you owe to the Shade.

“I want you safe, Maeve. I want you to accomplish your goals. I want you to believe me enough that you listen to me. At the same time, I can’t return that trust. I’ve given you more information and secrets than I should so you’ll have faith in me. There’s nothing else to really say about it.”

I sigh, and this time, it’s me that paces. “How am I supposed to prove that I’m trustworthy?”

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