Page 31 of Darkness and Deceit
Maybe he’s afraid of what he sees.
He turns. His icy blue eyes catch mine, but before he can say anything judgmental, I beat him to it.
“Look, I need you to know that I’m not exactly a pro at summoning my Shadows, okay? They only show up when I’m about to die, so unless that’s part of your plan, don’t expect much help.”
He exhales. “I know. I can feel your nervousness. I need you to stop it.”
I blink. “Absolutely. Let me just whisper a little incantation, bottle up all my fear, and hurl it into a bottomless pit real quick. Would that make your Keeper sensibilities more comfortable?”
He raises an eyebrow likeyes, actually, that would be ideal.
“Aren’t you worried? Even a little?”
“Of course I am,” he replies, clipped. “But I have been trained to compartmentalize. Something you have clearly yet to master.”
Then he turns, continuing without pause.
I grit my teeth and follow. “Gods, you Keepers. How does anyone evenwantto protect you? I’ve been around you for two days, and I already want to switch career paths.”
He doesn’t look back. “Keepers are not meant to be relatable. Emotional entanglements interfere with our ability to serve the Balance. That is why relationships—especially romantic ones—are forbidden. We are celibate by design.”
That shuts me up.
Celibate?Thisguy?
I mean, sure, he’s infuriating, but he’s also annoyingly attractive. The voice. The cheekbones. The whole marble-statue-meets-battle-priest thing. Tousled dark hair. Eyes like polished steel. And now he’s telling me he’s completely off-limits?
“That’s... a relief,” I mutter and add under my breath, “figures the universe would make you gorgeous and completely unavailable. Balance, I guess.”
He says nothing. Not a flicker of reaction. But his posture straightens slightly, like he heard me and doesn’t know what to do with it.
We walk deeper into the trees. The silence stretches and every twig snap makes me flinch. I inhale, forcing my heart rate to calm. I have questions. So many. But I need to ask them carefully.
“So… this other Dual. Magnus,” I say, voice low. “What do you know about him?”
Augustus doesn’t hesitate. “He was a student at Obsidian. One of the most gifted we have ever seen. Controlled his Shadows effortlessly with rare precision, immense power. Just before graduation, he discovered he could summon two Shadows at once.”
A chill prickles my skin.
“In gaining that control, he disrupted the Balance,” Augustus adds. “We suspected he used a forbidden spell. Or something equally unnatural. But we do not know for certain.”
He glances at me, eyes narrowing.
I lift my hands, mock-innocent. “No forbidden spell here. It just... happened.”
“I know,” he replies. “I read Wren’s report.”
Of course he did.
I scowl. “Anything else? Something not in the official Keeper log?”
“Only that his soul was twisted by what he touched. He stirred chaos in the realm. That should be enough.”
“I mean... sure.” But it isn’t. “You really believe people just wake up one day and decide to burn the world down?”
The second it’s out of my mouth, I pause as the thought settles uneasily, creating a pit in my stomach. Shit, maybe they do? Maybe that’s exactly what being a Dual means.
“Thewhyis irrelevant,” Augustus states. “Wrong is wrong. The Balance does not weigh motive. Only result.”
