Page 58 of Blade of the Nightking

The pull tightened as if in answer, tugging so fiercely that I sucked in a breath, my fingers digging into the porcelain edge of the tub. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t look away from the door. I was caught somewhere between terror and that unnatural force dragging me toward whatever waited on the other side.

The handle dipped.

The door swung open. Aedric strode in, irritation already on his lips. “Hamish’s room looks identical to ours, can you believe that—” He stopped short. “What’s wrong?”

The tension snapped so suddenly it left me dizzy. Air rushed back into my lungs, my grip easing on the edge as the world steadied around me. I swallowed, recognizing that pull for what it was.

I sank back against the tub, the water skimming over my collarbones as I drew in a long, steady breath. Then another.

“Are you alright?” Concern etched his face.

“I…” My voice faltered, my thoughts scrambling to catch up with the abrupt shift. My heart was still beating like a trapped bird. “I’m just… tired.”

Aedric studied me for a moment longer before crossing the room and latching the window shut. At once, the rush outside quieted, fading to a distant murmur. He let out a heavy sigh.

“This may not be as easy as I thought.” He perched on the lip of the tub. “Finding a moment of clarity with Levinica.”

“We’ll stay as long as we need to.” I traced the line of his knuckles with wet fingers.

He nodded once. “The wards around Noctharis are still intact. I can feel them.”

I exhaled. “Good.”

“There’s nothing to fear,” he said gently. “She’s nothing like Hyperia. Lady Levinica is loyal to Elantis. She has no choice.”

Something cold moved through me at the way he said it, at the shadow that passed briefly over his face. His expression smoothed over again as though a mask had slipped neatly back into place, and he offered me a teasing grin. “Is it my turn yet?”

I splashed water lightly in his direction. “And here I thought you might join me.”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “I’ve seen troughs larger than this tub.”

I laughed as he rose to fetch a towel.

Later, with Aedric wrapped around me in the stillness of night, his breathing nearly matching the muted rhythm of the waves beyond the castle, I felt lighter than I had in a long time. Even with darkness pressed against the windows and the eerie stillness of the Court around us, hope beat steadily in my chest.

This nightmare would end.

Once Levinica recovered enough to speak with us, we would learn what she’d seen and how to sever the bond to the Dark Prince. And whatever she said, no matter what it demanded of me, I would find a way to break it.

So things could be simple again. Easy.

So Aedric and I could find our way back to what we’d been.

Whatever it took, we would face it together.

CHAPTER 12

When the first wash of light spilled across the bedchamber, my eyes opened instantly.

For one suspended moment, I lay still, staring at the narrow ribbon slipping through the gap in the curtains and stretching across the ceiling overhead.

Sunlight.

I wasn’t in Dheren anymore.

Lightness unfurled unexpectedly in my chest. After days spent in tunnels and chambers carved deep beneath the earth, where the air had always been stale and still and hot, the sliver of dawn above my head felt like freedom.

I slipped from bed and padded immediately toward the bay window. Gripping the heavy curtains, I didn’t hesitate before tearing them wide open. Aedric groaned from the bed, throwing an arm over his eyes.