Page 42 of Ties of Shadow

“After that, he never touched me. Never looked at me except to correct me for oozing my black magic, as he put it. He hid me away, filling the house with luz and a thousand light fixtures to fight against my evil.”

My heart ached for him. “But what about your mother? Surely, she—”

“She loved me as faithfully as ever. But when her second child showed signs of a different magic, Father sent me away.” His eyes didn’t meet mine.

I stilled. “What?”

“He put me on a wagon with Uncle Koll and forbade me to ever return.”

“How old were you?”

“Nine.”

How monstrous. He was just a boy.

“I was a scapegoat. Mother was getting sicker, and Father blamed me. He was also struggling to keep me hidden. So, I was forced to flee.”

Waves of despair and rage prickled through my chest, both emotions enhanced when my fingers touched his arm. “It’s not your fault.”

His jaw clenched. “It may not be, but I paid for it dearly.”

“Couldn’t Uncle Koll seek help from the guards? Or seek peace and safety from the king?” I asked. Green eyes cut me to the quick, and I stepped back at the hostility I saw there.

“There was nowhere to turn, Dayspring.”

Imagining a small and childlike Shade was too much. Water filled the base of my eyelids. As awful as he was supposed to be, it was becoming clearer and clearer to me how completely unfair the Shade’s life and reputation had always been. I shook my head. “I’m so sorry.”

His whole body turned, and the weight of his presence pressed heavily on my skin. “I’m not. I am who I am today because of those decisions. I’m stronger than I would have been under his thumb. My manor is full of life, and Uncle Koll thrives while my mother did not.” His knuckle slid along my bottom lip, and his hand clenched before he tucked his palm against my neck. His thumb caressed my cheek slowly. “Without those actions, I doubt we would be together now.”

Electrical tingles danced across my skin and shivered down my body. I swallowed hard. “My stay here hasn’t been so awful.”

The hard ice of his eyes softened, and I found myself melting as well.

I coughed once, feeling the weight of many mammal eyes upon us. “Well, shall we finish up and go home?”

A frisson of pleasure vibrated through my chest as he exhaled a low growl. His eyes flushed with shadows, almost a dark emerald, before lightening. He whispered, “Home.”

I had nearly forgotten the rotten cave cat but when we reentered the dark, the beast pressed its oily skin against the Shade’s legs, its purr more like rocks tumbling down a mountain than a gentle hum. Bertha was wholly attached to my…to the Shade. As my hand was laced in his hand on the other side, I started to think I might be attached too.

The way back seemed to pass much faster as I grew accustomed to my borrowed shadow vision, the steady arm to support me, and the fear of the slimy cat that propelled me to escape this cave. My fervor must have been obvious.

“Are we racing, Dayspring?”

“Obviously, I’m winning.” I said, feeling a bit bold in the darkness.

“Obviously, I’m letting you win, as any gentleman would.”

I tripped on a small stone. “A gentleman? You are Death, sir.”

“A very polite Death, perhaps.”

We turned another corner, and I stumbled again, the shadow vision shrinking around us. I glanced up to the Shade; his perfect lips were pinched too tightly. He caught me looking and softened them into his perfect smirk.

“Staring at me once again, I see. Well, look all you like. I’m here for your taking.”

Behind me, Jamison let out a bitter-sounding chirp, and Bertha began a low, rumbling growl.

“Okay, okay, I won’t look anymore.” I said lightly, but the Shade’s forearm tightened beneath my fingertips. The animals had all stopped. They stood as still as the stones around us. And they weren’t looking at us.

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