Page 68 of A Story of Sinners

“Maybe,” she whispered. “Still, he was terrified of losing control.”

I shook my head. “Yes and no. He was terrified of losing control, but not over you. He didn’t want to lose control over himself. There might have been too much at stake for a bond like that, little crow. You would have hurt more in the long run, had he killed everyone you’ve ever known.”

Her brows furrowed. “That makes a lot of sense. Real Ryken already has a hard enough time controlling himself. I can’t imagine how much worse his lack of control would be if we were bonded.”

“He would destroy the world just to keep you safe.”

Dahlia’s gaze met mine, and her lips parted as I moved closer. I needed to kiss her, to feel her on me, and so I cupped her jaw and brushed her lips with mine, sliding my tongue between her teeth. A soft little whimper escaped from her mouth.

Even in the dreamscape she felt so real, so warm beneath me. My tongue dove into her mouth, and she gripped my biceps, pulling me closer.

Then, something slammed into me, sending me spiraling from her dream and through an empty tunnel between dreamscapes. Her warm body disappeared, replaced by an icy blast of wind as I fell through a vacuum of space, floating on nothing.

Whatever had shoved me from her dream had sunk into my skin, creating an abhorrent feeling within me. Something was wrong. This had never happened, not once. Whatever had touched me seemed to claw at my skin, marking it with a burning flame. A groan tore from my chest as I fell, careening from the dreamscape and landing in a nightmare.

My body slammed against a ground entirely compromised of dark soot and ash. I pushed off the land with my hands and scanned my surroundings. Flashes of lightning cracked across the sky as shadows hovered low to the ground. Molten volcanoes erupted, sending lava spiraling through the crags of the mountains. I’d been here once before upon retrieving the crystal that held my powers, and I hoped to never return.

My brows furrowed as my gaze cast around the nightmare, so many questions filling my mind. Was this Dahlia’s nightmare, and if it was, then where was she? How did I get here? Why was I here at all?

A deep voice speaking in a language of grunted and hissed syllables filled my mind.

Take it. It’s yours, the voice hissed.Take it all. Kill them all.

I shook my head and back peddled, searching the dirt for some sort of door out of this nightmare. When I turned, a large beast stood before me: tall and broad, with scaled skin, wings, and carved horns.

A Shade God.

He held his arm out and touched my chest, the blast wave from his palm sending me reeling through a sea of pitch-black nothingness.

I awoke, but not in my bed.

Black moss cushioned the ground beneath me as I gathered my bearings, peering through blurry eyelids to glimpse stone tree trunks and crystallized leaves.

The Scourged Forest.Whywas I in the Scourged Forest?Howdid I get here?

When I scrubbed a palm down my face and rubbed the sleep from my eyes, blood smeared across my skin. I held my arms out, noting the redness dripping from them. My eyes darted around the forest, spotting a pile of dead bodies not too far from me, bodies that had clearly been murdered by me and the weapon in my hand. Shade bodies.

I realized that the true question was not reallywhyorhow.

It waswhat.

What the hell just happened?

Chapter29

Ryken

Spring and summer had passed by in a blend of blooming flowers, hot days, and visits to the continent, all with Redmond at my side as my new advisor. Though my sleep suffered from constant nightmares, the two of us had achieved a considerable amount.

Treaties had been signed between Faerie and each state of the Mortal Lands, as well as New Hazel, though the King and Queen had questioned my intentions with their daughter, demanding the right to see her, which I permitted occasionally.

Gabriella didn’t seem to enjoy those visits, with her parents fussing and fawning over her, but she suffered through them for the benefit of the new treaty. The social calls were brief and limited, as I was unwilling to let them glimpse too far into Faerie.

Her parents had been forced to bargain with me, forming an agreement that required secrecy about the cracks in the barrier. The two now bore matching silver tally marks on their wrist, marks that would not disappear until I said so.

Every nation had been more than willing to overlook the abduction of Dahlia and Gabriella in exchange for peace. Each leader had accepted the terms of the new agreement.

Every. Single. One. Except for the King of Cambriel, who sent troops to attack the bubble daily. Aiden refused to meet, refused to sign a treaty in any form, or to simply retire his quest of retaining the women. He was on a mission to retrieve both his queen and Dahlia, refusing to quit even when his men dropped from exhaustion. His army clashed against the bubble with chains and swords, as if the pathetic attempts at destroying the barrier would accomplish anything.

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