Page 73 of Sanctuary of the Shadow
“But he hadn’t— I sensed that he hadn’t killed.”
“He hadn’t killed in his new body. His kills were done in his previous existence as an incorporeal being. That’s why you can’t sense the many stains upon his spirit. He was reborn as my creation. He is, in effect, a new species. A physical wraith. A perfect merging of Fire and Water. A possible impossibility.”
“That’s why he doesn’t remember anything?” She could scarcely get the words out.
“Yes. The moments after the magical explosion that transported him back to the South will be the first memories he has, as they were the first moments of his new existence.”
“He’s the one…who killed…”
Darya nodded solemnly. “Your mother. Everyone in your clan. It was him.”
“Raith…killed…” Harrow’s stomach heaved. Her knees gave out, and she sank to the floor, wrapping her arms around herself, suddenly unable to stop shaking. The room felt like it had entered a blizzard, the origin of which was her frozen heart cracking in two. “No…”
“I am truly sorry, Harrow. As soon as Salizar sent word to Audra of your interest in the wraith, I began efforts to contact you and warn you. I knew you wouldn’t believe Salizar if I entrusted him to break the news.”
“Why didn’t you get to me sooner?”
“I couldn’t. I am powerful, but it takes advanced magic to weave a dream spell this deep for two people, especially when you were fighting me so determinedly. Every time you ignored my call from the surface and chose to dive into the deep in your dreams, I had to start all over again.”
“T-two people?”
“As we have this conversation, I’ve also trapped the wraith in memories of his past existence. He is currently reliving every pain he endured and every death he dealt in vivid detail. Living life without memories of his torture was a gift he did not deserve, so I have relieved him of it.”
Even now, a tiny part of Harrow’s heart ached to imagine Raith reliving such torment. How those memories would hurt him.
Protect him, the Water suddenly demanded inside her.He needs you. Go to him.
No!she screamed mentally, pushing the power back down.
Or had she screamed aloud? Judging by Darya’s flinch, she had.
Raith was a wraith. And not just any wraith. The very wraith who’d killed her beloved mother and her entire clan. The very wraith who’d floated down amid the carnage and stared into her eyes, head tilting as he studied her like a bug beneath a magnifying glass.
Those eyes…Fire and shadow.They were the eyes she had stared into as they made love just hours ago.
Harrow scrambled across the floor on her hands and knees and threw up into the potted plant by the window.
How in the Goddess’s name had she been so resistant to the truth? Why hadn’t she pieced it together sooner? Why had she been so bloody stubborn? Salizar had warned her, all but telling her exactly what Darya just had, yet Harrow had refused to believe him. Why?
She remembered Raith’s inclination to kill Salizar, the blank look on his face when she’d told him he couldn’t go around murdering people. He’d genuinely not understood why killing was wrong.
Because he was evil. Because he’d killed her mother and her entire family.
GO TO HIM.The Water rose like a flash flood.PROTECT HIM.
I will never go to him!Harrow screamed back at it, shoving her power back down, this time slamming the door behind it.
Eventually, she rose from the ground, wiping her mouth with her sleeve, uncaring if she appeared disgusting to the beautiful Queen sitting in the armchair. Everything felt numb.
Her heart had shattered into a million pieces. Her mind had switched off, unable to comprehend any more pain or sorrow. All that remained was numbness.
And cold, deadly purpose.
“What do I do?” Her voice was flat, strange to her own ears. Inside her, the wellspring of her power had become a silent, empty pit, as barren as the Southern deserts.
“You have to get away from the wraith immediately. Salizar is under orders to retrieve him and bring him back to my territory. As soon as the wraith is within my boundaries, I can dispatch him. As long as he remains in the Ether Territory, he is under Queen Nashira’s protection. We can’t act there without risking war.”
“Why—” Harrow swallowed hard, her raw throat scraping. “Why would Nashira protect him?”
