Page 132 of A Kingdom of Shadows

"You're not real."

His eyes fix on me. It sends a bolt of memories down my spine. "But I am, Nara. I'm right here, can't you see?"

Behind him, flames spread like a bird's wings. Without a word of warning, I shove against his chest and bolt away from him, shaking my head frantically. I'm heading nowhere, only deeper into this blackened abyss that never ends. When I turn around to look for Lorcan, he's nowhere to be seen, and I suddenly find myself at a precipice. I shout as I stutter to a halt and take a step back, but the ground gives way and I fall. My back makes a parabola as I try to twist myself into a position where I can reach for something, but I can't. My screaming reverberates as my body falls and falls into nothing but darkness. I yell Darius's name at the last second, closing my eyes and bracing myself to hit the floor when my body stops midair. I'm suddenly afloat, my hair moving fluidly around me like it would beneath waters.

A source of light shifts above me, and I raise my hand as if I'll reach. Specks of dust dance across my fingers, and in just one blink, I am no longer drifting in the air. I am no longer falling as my feet slowly touch the ground. Urging myself to take a moment and breathe, I inhale deeply through my nose and then exhale, inching one step forward and encountering a wall. My hands brace against sudden dreary bricks. Impenetrable and cold. The same barriers I'd faced in Emberwell.

The dungeons.

I take a step back and try to fight the panic. I'm shaking my head, scanning the chains along the ceiling when the same mold-infested scent clogs up my nose. A sturdy chain length jangles beneath my boot, and I almost trip over it. I twist, following where it leads. And at the end, a flare of dull light in the sandpit of the cell shines on Idris and to his side... Darius. The shackle is locked around his ankle as the other connects to my brother. They're silent, staring down at the ground.

Chestnut hair covers my brother's face, yet he and Darius are still... so very still. I sprint toward them, tasting the potent fear on my tongue the more I run. No matter how long I do it for, I can never reach them. They seem so close but so far away. I'm shouting their names, waving my hands to get their attention, yet it fails me.

"You can keep calling to them," a female voice says, "but they will never hear you."

Sarilyn.

Of course, she, of all people, would be the one to show up.

I can sense her behind me as she touches my shoulder and walks around me.

We soon are face to face. She in all her gold glory and immoral grace. "It is so good to see you, Naralía." Her smile seems so serpentine.

This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't—

"So brave." She twirls a strand of my hair with her fingers before yanking on it hard. "And so, so, so foolish."

I cringe as rage festers inside me. It's so easy for anyone to be enthralled by Sarilyn. Even in my nightmares, she had this nature about herself, but she is exactly like Aurum once was. The two, in theory, belonged together.

I grip her wrist and glare up at her. "Let go."

Her smile does not waver. "What happened to you wanting to become a venator, Naralía, or did you forget your one greatest wish?"

It was a wish I regretted the minute I entered Aurum castle.

White hot fury billows out my nose. I can practically see it between us as I breathe out harshly.

Sarilyn keeps her chin high. "I see." She loosens her grip on my hair and turns to Darius and Idris, still in this weird trance. "Bite him."

What—

I receive no other warning as Darius looks at my brother and grabs his arm, raising it to his lips.

"Stop!" Horror clutches my throat, and Sarilyn roars with laughter, lifting a palm in the air, which freezes Darius and Idris. I turn to her. "Release them—"

Sarilyn clicks her tongue and shakes her head. "Why would I do that when I'm having so much fun." She places her hands on my shoulder, twisting me so I can look at them again. "The eldest Ambrose, having to provide for his younger siblings since such a young age, and the Golden Thief, afraid to bite the ones he cares for, especially when it comes to the woman he loves." Her sigh is mocking. "What a predicament."

I stare at Darius, my heart cracking and waiting to burst from its cage as tears spring from my eyes.

Sarilyn turns me back around to face her, and she wipes my tears with her forefinger. "But we can fix that," she says. "You can fix that."

I don't meet her gaze. I'm in a mind of my own as she walks behind me. What can I fix? What can I do?

"You have a choice," her whisper is a half hiss, strangely making me glance at my hands where a blade now rests between my fingers. "You can risk your brother dying from a shifter bite or... kill the one you love?"

Kill.

I face her. "I—I can't."

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