Page 108 of The Shadow Wand

But no one is here.

Emboldened, Silvern pushes himself against her, nuzzling her neck, and Sparrow tries to squirm away, desperation mounting.

Silvern slams himself against her, as if for emphasis. “Do you want to go back to the islands?” he snarls, wild desire sparking in his eyes as he reaches down to grab hold of her skirts, pulling them up even as Sparrow frantically struggles to push them back down. “Right back where you came from?”

He can’t find the blade. If he finds the blade...

“Silvern.” An imperious female voice sounds from the open doorway.

Silvern freezes as both his and Sparrow’s heads turn toward the dim hall and surprise rips through Sparrow.

Mage Evelyn Grey is looming in the shadows.

Silvern is off Sparrow in a flash as he faces his mother, looking for all the world like a cornered feral animal.

“Your father has need of you,” Evelyn coldly states, her green gaze boring into her priest son.

Sparrow can barely breathe, can barely move as she prays that Evelyn Grey did not see the blade strapped to her calf.

Silvern gives his mother a curt nod and strides out of the room, leaving Sparrow alone with Mage Evelyn Grey.

The room grows silent save for a distant peal of thunder.

Evelyn’s gaze does a slow slide over Sparrow, and Sparrow struggles not to wither from the sheer force of that icy stare.

“You need to wear looser clothing and get that violet hair under a cap,” Evelyn says, leveling the order lightly but firmly. “And get your chores done earlier to avoid being alone with the men of this house. You’re here to serve, not to tempt.”

Outrage volcanoes in Sparrow as the urge to grab up her blade takes furious hold.

“Stay away from my son.” Evelyn Grey bites out each word with deadly emphasis. “If I find that you continue to be a distraction for him, it won’t matter that you’re indentured to Lukas. I’ll take full possession of your work contract and drag you to the Fae Islands myself.Do you understand?”

Sparrow forces back the trembling that’s kicked up all over her body, the desire to lash out in pure rage. To push this woman to the floor and fight back.

But Evelyn Grey holds all the power in the world.

The Gardnerians hold all the power in the world.

Blinking back vengeful tears and keeping her hand far away from the hilt of her knife, Sparrow nods.

“I’ll kill him,” Thierren growls, anger flashing in his pine green eyes as he takes hold of his wand’s hilt.

Sparrow shakes her head emphatically as she struggles to force back the furious tears that are threatening to storm loose, her whole face tensed as she huddles in an isolated hallway with Thierren.

Thierren’s angular features are sharpened with anger, his Level Five magic practically storming off him. Sparrow can feel the churning energy of it on the very air.

There are times, like this, that Sparrow struggles not to hate the image of him—his distinctly Gardnerian looks, the green glimmer of his skin accentuated by the darkness of the storeroom.

His vile Mage Guard uniform.

Their alliance is so complicated that Sparrow can’t bend her mind around it, her anger at the Mages so raw and leagues deep that it’s impossible for Thierren to escape getting snared in it.

They’re both so damaged from what they’ve been through. Thierren with his constant nightmares and debilitating guilt and fierce desire to fight for the Fae—Fae who will likely want to smite him if he ever does find them. And Sparrow, with her own constant nightmares of predatory Mages and the threats they pose to both herself and her beloved Effrey as well as the small rune-collared dragon she’s become increasingly fond of.

“You can’t kill Silvern Grey,” she insists, adamant, her tone gaining steel.

“Hecan’ttreat you like that,” Thierren rages, as his fist tightens on the hilt of his wand.

Anger spikes through Sparrow. “Of course he can,” she snarls, the anger erupting. Years and years of pent-up anger. “What do you think it’s been like for me? What do you think it’s like for all of my people? You Mages treat us like this all the time.” On some level, Sparrow knows that Thierren doesn’t deserve the full brunt of her fury, but she’s having trouble holding back what’s been kept at bay for far too long. “It’s a miracle that I haven’t been raped.Repeatedly.”

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