Page 121 of Court of Secrets and Flames

You can’t fight shadows in the dark.

The thought is a sudden and inspiring ethereal voice in my head.

Help me, Nyc.

Forgetting the sword, I raise my hands and call on my magic.

All my pain, anger, and fear pour up my limbs. Within seconds, heat forms and erupts, blasting the air with with a sudden fiery blaze.

In the blink of an eye, the unseen becomes visible.

As trees, tapestries, and hedges ignite with flames, the shadow creature can no longer hide in the dark.

Not when exposed by the light.

The form is a ghastly mockery of dragonkind, with a grotesquely elongated neck that stretches above unfurlingwings. The tainted essence drips with malice, adorned with tendrils that slither and dance in the air.

And it wants my sister.

As if mesmerized, she takes a shaking step forward, face pale and distorted with abject fear.

“Leesa!” She doesn’t respond—doesn’t even blink. Dread coils in my gut as I witness the darkness contort, pulsating like a snake swallowing its prey whole. “Leesa, look at me!”

Desperation claws at my chest, the scene before me one of nightmares made manifest. “Let her go!” Streaks of fire shoot from all angles at my command, piercing through the blackness.

The shadow emits a piercing shriek as the blaze engulfs it. Shrill and inhuman, the cry vibrates the very stones beneath our feet.

Then, silence.

The vanishing darkness releases its hold on Leesa.

She gasps, her body sagging before going limp.

Lunging forward, I catch her just before her head strikes the cobbled path. “Can you hear me?” I find no signs of blood or wounds. “Leesa!”

My head jolts up as Bastian drops to his knees beside us.

He checks her pulse, her breathing.

She stirs, eyes blinking as she comes to.

I cradle her head in my lap while Bastian caresses her cheek.

He presses a kiss to her brow. “What happened?”

“I was…cold. So cold. Afraid.” Her eyes remain unfocused, and her breath comes in short, panicked bursts. “That…thing…called to me. I…couldn’t leave. I thought it was…going to kill me.”

I glance at Sterling, but he’s not listening, focused instead on instructing two of the soldiers to kindle a large fire in the center of the courtyard.

“It’s all right.” I stroke Leesa’s hair. “You’re safe now. We won’t let anything happen to you.”

Bastian sandwiches Leesa’s hand between his. “Lark’s flame chased it away. If it comes back, if more attack, we need to be ready.”

Compressing my fear into a tiny ball, I shove it deep inside a mental box and lock the lid. The same way I did when the dragons’ fear almost overwhelmed me.

Then I wrap the entire box in a layer of rage and fire.

This monster tried to slaughter my sister.

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