Page 34 of Shadowkissed

I don’t know how long I sit there. Long enough for the blood to dry. For the pain to settle into something dull and constant. Long enough for the world to quiet again.

And all I can think about isher.

Liora.

The way she looked when she said her name. The way her lips tasted like fire and danger andtruth. The way her shadows curled around my fingers like they knew me.

She didn’t tell me everything. Not even close. But whatever this is between us—it’s not normal. Not lust. Not even magic. It’sbonded,just like the shadow said. And her enemies know it. They’re coming for her.

And now they’re coming for me, too. Which means I’m out of time.

I drag myself to my feet and grab the emergency stash of healing salves, grimacing through the sting as I smear it over the poisoned wound.

The pain clears just enough for me to think.

If I want to find her again—protecther—I can’t just wait around.

No more hiding. It’s time to go hunting once I get cleaned up. And this time, I’ll be more prepared. I have to be.

15

LIORA

The in-between is colder tonight.

Even with all the shadows at my feet, even with magic dripping off me like condensation off glass, I can’t stop shivering.

This place exists outside time, outside places mortals can name. It’s a veil between moments, between thoughts, stitched from memory and nightmare and the blood spilled on the seams of other realms. I’ve come here since I was old enough to pull apart the edges of this world. When hiding was survival. When escape was the only magic I knew.

And right now I’m hiding again. Like a coward.

The air tastes like ash and frost. Familiar. Claustrophobic. My shadows hug my shoulders, my ribs, trying to hold me together. But even here,hefinds me.

Seraphiel.

His voice wraps around my spine like silk soaked in venom. I don’t see him. I never have to. He’severywherein this place. The air bends to him. The dark sings with him.

Mine.

The whisper scrapes across my skull.

You feel it now, don’t you, little star? That shift in your blood. That awakening. He touched you. Stirred it.

I clench my fists until the runes burn on my skin.

“Shut up.”

You burn so sweetly when you lie to yourself.

“I said shut up!”

My scream echoes, swallowed immediately by the hush of this half-realm. Like even the void knows better than to anger him.

But it’s too late. He’s already inside again. He’s always inside.

I drop to my knees, fingers digging into the ethereal ground, if it can even be called that. My power bubbles under my skin, thick and heavy, begging to beused.It wants out. It wants toanswerhim.

No.

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