Page 111 of What Lurks Between the Fates

“You can,” he said, waving subtly. The threads hanging through the air swayed as if he’d stroked them, responding to his motion with a casualness that could only be natural. “You have taken something from me. Something that does not belong to you. All you need to do is give it back, Estrella.”

“How do I know it’s really yours?” I asked, lurching forward as the burning within me touched my heart. Caldris groaned beside me, the sound of his voice breaking through the haze.

“Like calls to like,” the man said, lowering to his knees in front of me. He stared at me across the small space between us, sliding the sharp point of one of his nails across his palm as he held it out to me.

The blood that flowed from his wound wasn’t red, but the thick, viscous molten gold. It slid across his skin slowly, painting him with the color as he moved his hand and it trickled down to his wrist.

“Who are you?” I asked, staring at the blood in fixation.

The subtle hints of gold in mine were nothing compared to the vibrance of his.

He touched his thumb to the spot under my eye where tears would have fallen, the coolness of his blood coating my skin.

“I am your father, Estrella,” he said, his voice staying gentle as I swayed forward involuntarily. “You’ve been so brave, but I need you to fight for just a while longer.”

He took my hand in his, slicing my palm open with the same nail. My blood slid across my skin.

“At least tell me your name,” I said, feeling the power slip from me. He pressed our hands together, taking what was his back as I withered. That loss of power drained me, leaving me feeling weak in comparison.

“The day for you to know who I am will come soon enough,” he said, pushing to his feet as the haze began to fade. “It was nice to have a few moments where you do not hate me first.”

“Wait—” I protested, pushing to my feet as the haze slammed down upon me.

He vanished into the ballroom, the white light gone as I stared back and forth between Imelda and Caldris. Imeldanodded to my mate, signaling that the burning had passed as she touched a tentative hand to my face.

My mate sighed in relief, pressing his mouth against my forehead. He didn’t waste another moment, turning and guiding me toward the doors to the ballroom. We left, escaping the mix of chaos and revelry around us.

Humans danced at the center of the ballroom where Mab had once stood, their feet slipping in the blood upon the stone. Their movements were sluggish, as if they’d danced for hours but couldn’t stop.

I stumbled as Caldris led me out the doors.

The humans wouldn’t survive until morning—would dance until they died.

43

Estrella

Caldris grasped my hand as soon as we emerged from the throne room, using the distraction of Mab’s severed flesh to our advantage.

“We have to go. Now,” he said, his voice urgent.

“I won’t leave you here,” I said, knowing exactly how much he would suffer at Mab’s hands if I fled in the night after the display I’d just shown. We’d played our hand too soon, come on too strong with the magic I barely had control over. Even now, having cut Mab’s hand from her flesh, it still strove to take her head, to watch that crown clatter to the floor and stride over to claim it for myself.

The vengeance, the monster rising within me, terrified me—even with the surge of power muted by my father.

My father.

“We aren’t leaving,” Caldris said, taking us out of view of the doors.

He waved a hand—summoning the shadows he called home. The walkway appeared before us, plunging us into darkness as he pulled on the hand he held tightly within his. It was a tether, drawing me into the shadow realm I’d walked through on my own more times than I could count. The portrait of what existed in the real world was foggy, hidden behind mist and shadows as we ran through the realm he created.

We emerged out the other side suddenly, stepping onto solid stone as a familiar hallway drew me in. Two guardswaited at the entrance to the underground passage, blocking it from us as they stepped forward, unsheathing their swords as they went.

Caldris swept his shadows out, darkness bleeding from him as they fell to the floor. I felt the moment their hearts stopped beating mid-drop, felt the second they drew their final breath. We strode passed without hesitating, our steps already beyond them by the time they hit the stone with a loudthumpthat made me wince.

I knew this path. Knew the hallway before me as it led to a single doorway. The arch of it was unassuming as Caldris pressed his palm to it. His power lashed out, striking at the magically sealed door with lashes that left gouges in the wood.

Shadows curled around the surface as his eyes bled to black, wrapping around the frame—smothering it. He pulled his hand back slowly, shoving it forward to slap his palm down on the wood in a single, battering hit. Power erupted through the hall as the door finally flung open, clattering off the stone beyond it.

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