Page 468 of Kingdoms of Night

Any other time, I would have let this insult slide with a disappointed sigh. Except now, I was sticking out my neck for them as much as they were for me. The last thing I needed was for humanity to have me spitefully rooting against them.

Not that they didn’t do plenty enough before now.

The ride to the clearing stretched in tense silence. Even if it weren’t quiet, my heart was the loudest thing for miles.

Starlight rained down on the cedar altar, turning the red-tinted wood purple, and its glade into raw silver.

Dismounting, I felt for the weapon bound to my thigh and prayed to whatever gods remained with us. There was no coming back from this, not unless Nabonassar’s dagger truly was the god-killer he claimed it was.

I ascended the altar and balled my shaking fists as I knelt, facing the pinecone bell that hung from the arch.

A breeze manifested to ring my presence—and that of my groom’s messenger.

Through the gaps of the slim, mossy trunks, I saw something move like smoke tendrils. Soft sounds accompanied its approach, like it were a scarf blowing in the wind, eerily unnatural considering its size.

The proxy crossed the threshold in a quiet rush, coming to a hovering halt across from me. I jerked back with a stunned gasp, swallowing air that inflated my stiffened lungs.

All prostrated themselves, hitting the grass with a heavy collapse. I ought to join them, but all I could do was sit frozen, watching it glide closer.

Everything should be telling me to run. Instead, awe had my body pinned and my senses numbed, save for my attention.

Cloaked in shadows, the creature had the outline of a man, with a flash of white from within the depths of its hood. Too close to flee, the proxy showed the cause to be a silver mask rusting at the edges, iridescent impurities gleaming.

The air felt heavier, like it was pressing against me and up from within, making it harder to pant. All I could do was stare with expectant dread.

A gloved hand extended out of the dark form, palm turned up for my own. Barely thinking, I let it pull me to my feet, grip firm yet gentle.

While the initial shock of its appearance had begun to wear off, that didn’t make me steady, especially when it spoke.

A low, male voice arced out through the quiet. “You may go.”

The escort scrambled up and away, not sparing me a last glance. They knew they were leaving me for dead.

I felt for the dagger at my leg and tried to calm my breathing.

“What is your name?” It—heasked, tinged with intrigue.

Was there a point in lying? He and his master had no doubt been informed of my status as a disgraced priest’s daughter.

“Meissa,” I breathed, shuddering. “Meissa Bint-Eleil.”

The hand around mine, hidden by the swathes of darkness that enveloped him, tightened. A single pull brought me too close for comfort, and I could feel those unseen eyes focused on me.

“Meissa Bint-Eleil, do you, of your own will and desire, accept the hand offered across the void?” he recited.

I choked on the words before I exhaled them, tearing up from my dry throat. “I do.”

“Bride of Shadows, may you be the light needed to banish the darkness that plagues us all.”

My jaw dropped, leaving me reeling as he took my other hand and came even closer. I couldn’t gather enough thoughts to form a question, too consumed by startling confusion.

He wanted this to end? Did I understand that correctly?

Gathering my wits took too long. In the time it took for me to draw in a breath, the world had swirled around us, metamorphosing our surroundings.

The Cedar Forest was gone, and in its place was a forest of wiry blue trees, branches growing in loops and tops peaking in flared ends that glimmered in the moonlight—

No. It couldn’t have been that.

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