Page 99 of Enchanted Shadows
“Is that a compliment, honey?”
“A backhanded one, yes.”
I laughed as I moved us toward the elevator, but as I did, I felt and saw Kessara’s gold magic flare.
I turned toward her. “Kess?”
One moment she was there, the next, she was gone.
CHAPTER 31
Iwas met with a wall of darkness. These shadows were unrelenting. Cold and biting. I knew immediately it wasn’t Kessara’s shadows. They didn’t feel right. And if there was another shadow wielder in this castle, that could only mean one thing.
I tried to walk into the shadows to wherever Kessara was, but the shadows were unyielding. Like a wall of bricks with teeth. “Kess,” I called, keeping my voice calm even if I didn’t feel it in that moment.
As if hearing me, more shadows surrounded me. These I did recognize. They were still cool, but softer somehow. They moved me, bursting me through the other wall of shadows, and placing me beside Kessara within the others. I didn’t hesitate to use my power to flood the shadows and area around me, bringing a little light to the situation.
There was Kessara and her seething ex-lover standing across from her, after having shoved her into a nearby wall with his shadows by the looks of it.
Nah. We didn’t like that. Not even a little.
Owen?Jorah asked immediately.What’s wrong?
The ex has arrived,was all I had time to get out. I also pressed a small button on my watch, one which signaled to the teams that another team member was in need of back up. Something I could do which would alert Miles along with everyone else.
I looked at the man before me, standing in his shadows but lit up with my green magic bouncing around like lightning. He was slender, blond hair styled up perfectly. Pristine suit and tie. A large emerald ring on his pointer finger. Where he was all sharp angles, I was bulk. As I suspected, we looked nothing alike. I was fairly certain Kessara’s thighs were now bigger than this man’s.
The man looked me over. If looks could kill, I’d already be dead.
“Raikes?!” Miles called out, worry all over his tone.
“Just a moment,” I told him, trying to sound utterly unbothered.
It was the way Kessara reached down with her hand toward me, gripping onto what she could reach, which was my pants at my thigh, and squeezing hard that had me sliding in between them, covering her with my body. I reached behind me and took her hand in mine, giving it a gentle squeeze. My magic flared when I noticed her hands were shaking. Whether she was shaking from anger or fear, neither option was acceptable.
I put all my attention on the man before me, taking care to choose my first words. “I believe you’ve already metmywife.”
The shadows pulsed against my magic. I didn’t buckle. It was like the way I had encased the shadows before in sparring with Kessara, but this time we were all standing inside them.
I cocked my head. “I’m Commander Owen Raikes. And you have exactly three seconds to get your power away from my wife or I’ll consider it an act against Wylan itself.”
Royal politics were not new to this man. I knew it to be one of the only languages he fully understood. So I wasn’t all that surprised when his power dropped, Kessara’s along with it.
“If you wanted to drop in, there was no need for dramatics,” I told him.
Calix ignored me. “Kessara?”
“Yes?” Her voice sounded strong. Sure.
“Tell me this is a sick joke,” he blurted out. “I show up here to see what Damek did this time, what had you running scared. And this man says he’smarriedto you.”
“It’s true,” she snapped. “I’m married.”
Calix took two heaving breaths. He was angry all right, but also at least attempting to not start a war. “You can’t be.”
She held up her hand from around me, where I still stood between them. “But I am.” She showed him her ring.
“You bonded tothis? This man?” His nostrils flared.
