Page 54 of Slaying the Shadow Prince
Something knocked against the underside of the raft.
‘Shit,’ Drue muttered, clutching the rudder. ‘Stay in the centre.’
But Talemir wasn’t looking at the centre. He was looking at the now countless pointed fins emerging from the sea’s depths, scenting the blood in the water and circling the feeble raft, investigating the generous fare aboard. The hair on the back of Talemir’s neck stood up as he judged the distances between their boat and the shore on either side. Both were too great.
He grabbed the horses’ reins and attempted to soothe them. Both were on the verge of rearing up and capsizing the whole vessel. But with so many sharks circling them, the seas were even rougher than before and their raft rocked violently atop the waves.
‘Fuck, Talemir…’ Drue visibly swallowed her fear. ‘Now’s the time where you could fly away. I wouldn’t blame you —’
Talemir went to her and clasped his hands over hers. ‘I like the sound of my name on your lips too much for that, Wildfire.’
A flash of relief filled her eyes. ‘So what then?’
Talemir raked his fingers through his hair, tension roiling off him as he ran through their options, each one more useless than the last. He suppressed the urge to pace, aware that with each second that passed, danger lurked closer and closer. Those countless razor-sharp teeth were near enough that he could see the bits of gore from previous kills between them.
There was only one option. And as loath as he was to try it, he wouldn’t be the reason they perished in the strait.
‘I need you to trust me,’ he said to Drue, fighting to keep his voice even.
‘What? What do you —’
‘Drue.’ Talemir held her chin between his fingers and lifted her face to his. ‘I need you to trust me. I know I’m a monster, but at this moment… Can you do that? Can you trust me?’
The little colour remaining in Drue’s cheeks drained, but she took a breath and nodded.
That was all Talemir needed to see before he closed his eyes and sought the darkness. He reached into himself, searching for that familiar tug, that cyren song.
But while it usually simmered close to the surface, now, it was nowhere in reach.
The boat rocked beneath him.
He heard the smack of a fin against its side.
For fuck’s sake.He ground his teeth and cursed silently, digging deep for that tether of obsidian, for the whisper that so often tried to lure the beast from within.
Nothing.
Where the fuck was his magic when he needed it?
There was another loud thud, this time at the raft’s other side. Water splashed aboard.
‘Talemir…’ Drue warned.
But Talemir didn’t open his eyes. Furies damn him, he was going to get them out of this mess; he had to —
Focusing, he drew on every fucking moment where his curse had surged forth in a heartbeat out of his control, where he had been on the brink of bursting into night itself. He thought of Drue in his chambers, baiting him into the shift. He thought of the hot springs, his wings spearing through his back. Each memory slammed into him, the impact powerful, tangible.
He may not have mastered his change, but in this moment, he would bend the darkness to his will.
This time, when he called, the shadows came.
And when Talemir opened his eyes, wisps of that onyx power surrounded them. Ribbons of it poured from his fingertips, lashing at any creatures that got too close to the raft, defending them. His magic didn’t touch Drue, didn’t touch the horses.
It bowed to his command. It shielded them all from danger.
With a flick of his wrists, the threads of power dipped into the bloody water behind and propelled them forward.
And suddenly, the frenzy of sharks was in the distance and the gap between their watercraft and the next shore was closing in fast.
