Page 69 of Their Reckless Thief
Dorian rubbed the back of his neck and exhaled through his nose. “Fine. I’m with you.”
“I’ll make sure I’m at The Shadow’s right hand when you arrive so he doesn’t suspect I aided your entrance,” I added, glancing between them. “You’ll have backup. But make no mistake, this is high-risk, even for me. I still don’t have any solid intel on the mirror. The Shadow needs to see reason when you speak to him, and that’s a long fucking shot.”
Vincenzo gave a savage, confident grin that had me wondering whether he was ready for whatever came next or if he simply didn’t care anymore. “Reason or not, we’re doing this tonight.”
Dorian raised an eyebrow. “Tonight?”
“Yeah,” Vincenzo growled. “Tonight. We’re not letting another chance slip by. We’re going to end this.”
20
VINCENZO
The enginesof our motorcycles roared to life, and we left the comfort of my territory to venture into The Shadow’s domain. As we drew nearer, the liveliness began to thin out, replaced by an eerie quiet that set my teeth on edge. The streets here felt less hospitable.
The cold bit at my face as we crossed into the borderlands of The Shadow’s territory. The buildings here were crumbling, as if they had long since surrendered to the decay that emanated from this forsaken part of The Below. The deeper we went, the more I felt the weight of it—like something thick in the air, making every breath heavier. This place was suffocating, drowning in its own darkness.
We stopped on the outskirts, just where the edge of my rule bled into The Shadow’s. Ahead, a dense mist crawled low over the ground, curling like black tendrils. Luca dismounted first, scanning the empty streets as he summoned his shadows and pulled them around us like a cloak.
“You’re sure you can keep us hidden the whole way?” I asked as the shadows wrapped around my body like a second skin.
Luca didn’t answer immediately. He was already focused, his hands weaving through the air as if commanding the verydarkness itself. The shadows tightened around us, encasing us in magic to conceal us. It felt unnatural, like being smothered by a living being. Still, I trusted him to get us in. There was no room for doubt now.
“It won’t be easy,” Luca finally said, his voice a low rasp. “The wards are powerful. I can cloak us for the time being, but once we get to his fortress, you’ll have three minutes to get through while I hold the wards open. No more.”
Dorian, who had been unnervingly quiet, nodded, his mouth set in a grim line. “Then we better make those three minutes count.”
We moved as a unit, slipping silently into the mist-covered streets, the shadows swirling around us like a living shroud. Every step felt heavier, every sound swallowed by the oppressive darkness that seemed to come alive around us. The deeper we ventured, the eerier it became. The illusion magic lining the buildings began to show our reflections—only, they were wrong. Twisted.
I caught a glimpse of myself—my eyes were hollow, my skin stretched thin like a dead man walking. Dorian’s reflection was no better. His usually cocky grin was now a void of nothingness.
We pushed on. We didn’t speak. We didn’t need to.
The Shadow’s fortress loomed in the distance, carved into the side of the mountain like a gaping maw waiting to swallow us whole. It was a monolith of dark stone, its walls impossibly high with jagged towers piercing the sky. Even from a safe distance, I could sense the raw, oppressive power that radiated from it.
As we approached, the whispers grew louder, tugging at the edges of my mind. I couldn’t understand the words, but it filled me with a sense of foreboding, like the echoes of those who had come before and never left.
We reached the base of the fortress, where the shadows were so thick it was difficult to see anything beyond a few feet. Lucastepped forward, pulling a small, dull stone out of his pocket. He placed it against the wall and murmured something under his breath. The air shimmered, then the massive stone door before us creaked open, and a gust of frigid air rushed out, smelling of damp earth and something much darker.
“Three minutes,” Luca said, his voice tight, then he veilstepped away.
Dorian and I exchanged a look, then stepped into the fortress.
Inside, the temperature dropped even more. The walls appeared to breathe, their surface slick with condensation. The corridors twisted and turned, narrow and winding, like a labyrinth designed to confuse intruders. More reflective illusions lined the walls, but these were different. The reflections weren’t distorted this time, but they were too clear, too sharp. And worse, they moved on their own.
In one of the mirrors, I saw Dorian, only it wasn’t him. It was a version of him where his eyes were dead, his body limp, his throat torn open. A vision of the future? I didn’t care to find out. I looked away quickly, focusing on the task ahead.
Dorian frowned at me, but we kept moving. The whispers grew louder, the voices more insistent, as if they were urging us to turn back. The weight of this place was unbearable, like we were intruding on something ancient and angry.
Luca’s instructions were in my head.“Take the left. Down the spiral staircase. The chamber is at the bottom.”
The spiral staircase was narrow and steep, the stone steps slick with moisture. Raw energy coursed through me, setting my nerves on edge.
At the bottom of the stairs, we reached a large, iron door. Luca had warned us The Shadow would be in the central chamber beyond it.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm the adrenaline surging through my veins. Dorian’s hand hovered over the hilt of his knife, his eyes scanning every shadow for a threat. We were walking straight into danger, but I couldn’t afford to hesitate. It was now or never.
“Ready?” Dorian asked in a low whisper.
