Page 72 of The Shadow Wand

All voices and music are erased by the ocean and the cliff’s sheer heft.

A brittle panic floods in and I lean in against the balcony edge, gasping in big gulps of air as I look around for something,anythingthat could be used as a weapon. But there’s nothing but carved stone and some flowers planted in the recesses.

Please, Dear Ancient One, don’t let Fallon follow me up here, I pray as I grasp the railing for support, wishing I’d had the sense to at least bring a knife or any sharp thing.

A harsher panic overtakes me.

How am I going to get out of here? And what happened to Sparrow? If Fallon has lost my trail, will she level her vengeance on her instead?Remorse courses through me at the thought as I realize what a huge mistake it was to come back to Gardneria.

Kam Vin and Chi Nam were so very wrong.

But where else could I go?

Reflexively, I feel for Chi Nam’s rune stone hidden in the base of my dress’s pocket, relying on the subtle calming energy of the smooth stone as my only support as I’m rocked by a sudden, fierce desire to not be so alone in this.

Where are you, Yvan? What are you doing now?

A knot of profound longing for him gathers in my throat as I stare at the pinpoints of stars, at the inky blackness of the Voltic Sea. A sweet aroma rises on the breeze.

Roses.

I turn to regard the moonlit blossoms planted all along the balcony’s inner periphery. Their heady perfume makes me think of my uncle’s flower garden, and another vicious ache takes hold. I press my eyelids firmly together, holding back tears.

I know that if Yvan were here, he’d wrap me in his warm arms, spread his wings, and fly me far away from this awful place. With him, I wouldn’t be trapped.

Something shifts in the air around me and an uneasy tingle starts at the base of my neck. It’s quickly followed by the uncomfortable certainty that I’m being watched.

I turn slowly and search the irregular shadows cast by the overhanging stone-branches, sure that I heard the whisper of something rough moving against stone. Just around the bend.

Silence.

I can’t see anyone, but still the feeling grows.

I peer across the balcony, searching the shadows of the many alcoves cut into the sculpted trees.

It’s my imagination. There’s no one there.

But still, I swear I heard something.

Someone.

The sense that I’m being watched morphs into a palpable feeling of danger so strong that I break out in a cold sweat.

How could I be so foolish as to come up here unprotected? Far away from everyone. So far away that no one would be able to hear me scream.

Who would question it if I were tossed into the ocean and later found washed up on the shore? Who would doubt that it was suicide? An unstable girl, infected by the same evil seed, the same madness as her brothers. And killing me would make it possible for a priest to strip the fasting right from Lukas’s hands, freeing him to fast to Fallon Bane. Just as Sparrow warned me.

The shadows shift...and a figure emerges from around the bend.

I stumble backward as terror swamps me.

Ancient One, have mercy.

It’s not Fallon Bane. It’s worse than her.Muchworse.

Damion Bane stands there watching me, wand in hand, his eyes bright with interest.

My gaze darts around as my muscles tense and I ready myself to flee past him.

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