Page 10 of Shadowkissed

I shattered it.

The club. The alley. Him.

Shit.

That wolf—whoever the hell he is—saw too much. Way too much. He saw my magic, my runes,me. Not the girl behind the glitter and lights. Not “Nightshade.”Liora.

I thought I could handle it. Stay hidden, ride the edges of this city like a ghost with a paycheck. Work a stage, fade into shadows. Keep the glamour strong, the lies stronger.

But then he looked at me like he couldsee throughit.

And that mist showed up. Again.

Black. Cold. Hungry.

And the second I touched power, the second I chose to protect him, it grew. Like it waswaitingfor me to slip.

A low hiss sounds behind me. Not human. Not angry.

Just tired.

“You weren’t supposed to let them see, little star.”

I turn my head, already knowing who it is before I do.

Thorne steps out of the trees like he’s part of them. His long coat rustles like leaves, and his face—lined, old, and carved from something harder than bone—looks the same as the day I met him. Fae don’t age like mortals. Not unless they want to.

“Didn’t plan on it,” I mutter, standing. My legs wobble, but I hold.

He clicks his tongue. “You never plan. You react. That’s the danger of your kind.”

“I saved a life.”

“You exposed a prophecy.”

I hate how fast that shuts me up.

He walks closer, brushing a hand against the trees as he moves. They lean toward him. That’s the kind of respect I’ll never have. Thorne isSeelie—old court. Regal. Bound by rules. He trained me when no one else would touch me. Not when they found out what I was.

Dark fae. Half-shadow. Daughter of a curse and a prayer.

I cross my arms, trying to hide the way my body trembles. “The mist came back. It wasn’t just watching this time. It moved.”

Thorne’s expression hardens.

“Where?”

“Alley behind Lux. Both times... he was there.”

“What would be drawing Seraphiel out to you right now like this?”

I can tell he already knows, but he wants it from me.

“There was an alpha, a shifter, or something. He was chasing down a rogue and… and eahc time he talked to me, the mist showed up.”

Thorne’s stare is intense and it forces my eyes down.

“You’re beingdrawnto him, this shifter. I can sense it. You know what that means.”

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