Page 34 of What Lies Within Masks & Shadows

Her eyes widened; lips parted in disbelief.

No guards.No guards anywhere.

And he wasn’t anywhere to be seen either.

She might not have an opportunity like that again. So, like a ghost in the wind, Alora silently moved the table and slipped through the canvas.

Alora had escaped far enoughdown the path that the fire’s glow didn’t reach her. Consumed by the darkness, her eyes could clearly decipher her surroundings.

Still, not a single sound stirred. An eerie feeling chilled her bones at the thought of it, but she pressed forward.Keep moving. You can do this.

In the darkness, feet away from a quiet tent, the glow of white hair moved and shimmered, glistening in the moonlight. The horse she had ridden into camp on. It was grazing, untied, like it was meant for her. If she didn’t know better, it could be a scheme by her captors. But the lack of tack and ropes proved that to be unlikely. If a setup, wouldn’t it have been tied up instead of walking about with its own free will?

It may not have been the perfect plan. A horse’s footsteps would surely draw attention. Stirring the camp and ultimately sending anyone within hearing distance rushing after her.

But she had to try.

And this time, he wasn’t around to hunt her.

Soundlessly, her boots moved across the trampled dirt. The horse barely cared as she crouched at its feet to scan the area.

No one had come. No sound of alarm.

Shaking knees pushed her up, and she placed her palms on the white horse’s side. “Okay … horse. Get me out of here,” she said, voice shaking in a whisper. Alora gripped the horse’s mane, ready to swing herself up, but darkness swarmed her feet, gradually drifting up her legs.

A menacing chuckle scraped every inch of her body like the claws of a beast, embedding ice in her veins. Every hair stood on end as she felt his body press against her. “Hello, clever girl.”

Darkness unfurled up her abdomen. She swallowed the bile rising in her throat.

“What am I going to do with you?” A shadow hand, made entirely of darkness, gripped her shoulder.

“Please, don’t?—”

“Begging does not convince me. You will never beg me.” An icy arm, also forged of shadows, wrapped around her chest, and he turned her to face him with them. “It would seem someone cannot stay in her tent. Perhaps mine would be more suitable.” The darkness swirled around his body. Only it wasn’t his body at all. More of a figure made of whorling ash and smoke in the shape of him.

And his eyes… She couldn’t see them but knew they were locked onto hers. He—the darkness—stared, and the shadow head tilted as he lifted a finger to her chin. Somehow, she felt that too, like he’d fully manifested in faerie form.

That deep voice growled, “Jade, take her to my tent. Make sure she iscomfortablefor my return.” A phantom hand gripped her arm and drew her from the shadows. Pulled by … nothingness.

“I will see you soon,” the darkness threatened as it misted away. And with it, the clouds in the sky drifted from the moon, casting a glow once again into the sleeping valley.

Or what she’d thought was a sleeping valley.

Nails dug into her forearm. Jade—where she wasn’t before, she now was—pulled her along. Where an empty campsite was a moment before, now stood guards outside her tent. Even the fire blazed, no longer only embers.

Passing onlooking guards outside her tent, they snickered with amused smiles.

His game, she thought. Ithadbeen a setup.

Erected at the end of the row, facing the walkway, a larger tent than any of the others appeared. Two guards were positioned outside, spears in hand. Both proudly waited, one with night-dark, feathered wings tucked tight behind his battle-black armor. The other without wings, High Fae by his stunning face and pointed ears, narrowed his eyes, meticulously considering her and Jade’s approach.

Jade neared the tent, and the two guards reached to their side, opening the entrance wide, and allowing them to enter.

Alora stopped.

His tent.She was going intohistent… To wait for him—to do what? She fisted her palms, desperately calling to her fire that still abandoned her.

Jade was nearly halfway inside before turning around, her nails drawing blood from Alora’s forearm when she didn’t release the punishing hold. “For fuck’s sake, move.”

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