Page 37 of What Is Dark Within Me

“No, we’re not. Time passes differently in the Hiding Place. This realm was supposed to be our punishment, our endless torment, but we’ve made the best of it. You could spend a month here, and it would only be the equivalent of a day in the human world.” Nicolas tilted his head, and his eyes scanned her face. “You need to get control of your abilities. The man who gave Violet this object was no hobbyist from the Diabolus Society. He must have known he had a Remnant that could slaughter a human magician, and he held onto it, anyway. Our doctor is either stupid or powerful.”

She leaned back against a trellis, crossing her arms. “You’renota good man, despite what my grandmother says. You brought me here to torment me, didn’t you?”

“Aleja, I—” Nicolas took a long pause. “That was not my intention.”

“That’s all you have to say?”

“It’s all I can say.”

Aleja’s fire crawled up her arms. It shone on Nicolas’s face, turning the shadows beneath his cheekbones dark red, like a wine stain.

“This is what I’m talking about,” he said. “We may need to fight our way to Violet, and I won’t be able to do it alone.”

“Then bring the Dark Saints with us. I refuse to be a prisoner here,” she said.

“It’s not possible. At this moment, the Saints cannot leave without destabilizing the magic holding this place together. Listen, there’s something that requires my attention at our borders. I’ll be taking Garm and my general with me, so you’ll need to practice on your own. Bonnie’s magic manifests in other ways, but I’m sure she’d be willing to offer a few tips.”

“But the bond—” Aleja began.

“The distance won’t affect us in the Hiding Place. This realm is directly tied to my magic, as much a part of me as I am of it. As long as we’re both here, it’s as if we’re perpetually close to one another.”

“What’s so important at the border that you’re willing to delay finding Violet so she can unbind us?”

“A scout has detected traces of magic that don’t belong to us,” he said, surprising her with what seemed like an honest answer. “It’s probably nothing. The Astraelis test our defenses every few decades, but the timing is inopportune.”

“Because there are only six Dark Saints?” she asked. It wasn’t as if she understood the inhumanely complicated magic required to create what Bonnie had called a pocket dimension, but it felt good toknowsomething, when it felt like everything else she’d once believed had been incinerated in a single day.

“Yes. That I’m at half-power is also problematic. If something happens to me, I don’t know what will become of this place and those who reside here. There have been… stirrings, lately. Whispers, rumors, even among the Otherlanders who make their home elsewhere. It’s not exactly unusual, but it deserves my attention. I’ll only be gone a week—the equivalent of just a few hours in the human world. Besides, I figured you’d prefer some time alone.”

Aleja wanted to beawayfrom here. Even her dingy apartment was better than this place, where a painting of a woman who looked like her smiled as she held the Knowing One’s hand.

“I guess I don’t really have a choice, do I? So much for free will,” she said, not missing the way his eyes narrowed at her words.

“I’ll take you back now, if you like. But you should think about what might happen if you lose your temper in a place crowded with innocent people.”

Aleja had no answer for that.

“I’ll guide you back to your room,” Nicolas began. She interrupted him before he could finish, disregarding the warning Bonnie had given.

“I can manage myself,” she hissed, as she turned and stalked toward the palace, leaving a trail of embers and blood behind her.

* * *

The red mountainsof the Hiding Place tinted the snow at their highest peaks. At high noon, the landscape still looked like it was awash in the hues of a sunset. Her family’s books called this place the Infernal Kingdom. The Court of Fire. She could imagine why a human who’d visited this place would return to their realm with those descriptions—if they ever returned at all.

Aleja’s grandmother was often not in the tower room, so she spent much of her time outside, where she could practice calling up her fire without fearing she was going to burn rooms full of precious artwork or Bonnie’s cabin.

But every moment was laden with guilt. Violet was still out there, some place cold and dark, even when the day Aleja spent attempting to eat everything Our Lady of Bounty shoved in her direction amounted to mere minutes in the human world.

“You’re not what I expected,” Aleja said. “As a Dark Saint, I mean. Aren’t you supposed to walk the earth, sowing chaos?”

“If we did, this place might collapse. The Knowing One, the Dark Saints, and the Hiding Place are all intrinsically linked, and many here would die. You should wander. Get to know it. The grounds and the surrounding woods are safer than the palace if you don’t get lost.” Bonnie paused for a moment. “But don’t venture into the mountains on your own.”

“Because of what? Demons?”

Bonnie looked at her strangely. “The demons are onourside, remember? The trails are poorly maintained. If you don’t know where to put your feet, you could end up falling off a cliff. Plus, the Second gets testy when he’s woken up without good reason. Better not to stumble upon his cave.”

“How big is this place?” she asked.

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