“Take a look for yourself, if you don’t believe me,” he said, plopping the creature back in Elyria’s lap.
She tsked, looking down at her creation with new eyes. Ones that did, she had to admit, match the exact shade of emerald peering back at her from its feline face. “If it won’t disappear on its own like my sparrows, I suppose I’ll justhave to, you know,make itgo away.” She raised a hand, though the angle of her brows surely gave away her ignorance as she consideredhowshe was supposed to un-corporealize a shadow creature she hadn’t even intended to make in the first place.
She also was suddenly unsure if she wanted to.
She didn’t get a chance to decide one way or the other. As if it could sense her wavering will, the cub hissed at her. Elyria winced at the scratch of sharp claws against her skin as it leapt off her, immediatelybounding back to Cedric and twining its shadowy body around his arm.
Cedric shook his head gently, disbelief scrawled across his handsome face. “Miraculous.”
“A traitorous miracle,” Elyria grumbled, rubbing the spot on her thigh where the cub’s claws had dug into her.
“How about, ‘Obsidian’ then?” he said.
“What?”
“For her name. Obsidian. It’s a mouthful, I know, but she looks a bit like the rock, don’t you think? Black as night. A little bit, er, shiny.” He tapped his chin. “She would have blended right in during the Crucible, I think.” The shadowcat hissed at Elyria again, then turned to gaze up at Cedric and meowed. “Just as volatile too.”
Elyria tensed, a weight settling in her stomach. The memory of that wild, uncontrolled surge of power when her shadows met the obsidian ground during the Trial of Magic raked across her mind. She could still see Cedric’s body being blasted back, could hear the sickening splash as he sank into that lake of fire. “Stop it.”
“What? I think it’s perfect. We can call her ‘Sid’ for short.”
“That isn’t funny.”
“Who said I was trying to be funny? That’s Tristan’s bag. Thraigg’s. Occasionally yours.” He smiled. “But you’ll never find me claiming to be a comedian. Isn’t that right, Sid?” He scratched under the creature’s chin, eliciting a gentle purr, shadows misting off its back.
“I said, stop it. You’re not calling her that.”
He looked up, confusion washing the grin off his face. “Whyever not?”
“Did you ever think I might not want to be reminded of that obsidian island?” Elyria raised her voice, and the cub bristled. “That I don’tlikethinking about that stars-forsaken trial and the fact that I nearly killed you?”
“You didn’t?—”
“My power launched you into a lake of fucking fire. It’s only by the grace of your own power that you emerged unscathed. You survived because of the raw magic surging through your veins—the same magic you now refuse to master. You barely even try. Why don’t we talk aboutthat?”
Cedric dropped his hand from where he was scratching Sid—fucking hells, she was already calling her that—between the ears. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know better thananyoneelse! I’m the only one who does!” she yelled, jumping to her feet so quickly that the cub startled, dispersing into shadow with apoof.
Just like that, she was gone. Elyria had no time to analyze how she’d accomplished it, nor why doing so left her feeling suddenly bereft. Not when all she could see was the crestfallen look now etched into every plane of Cedric’s fucking beautiful face. Was it because the stupid cat had disappeared? Or due to her callous words?
Fuck it all, why did shecare?
“This is pointless,” she said, sneering. She needed to feel something else, anything other than the echo of his disappointment against her ribs. “Don’t you have amissionto finish preparing for? I’m sure the lord paramount needs his beloved victor by his side as final arrangements are made.”
Cedric lifted his eyes from the spot where the shadowcat had disappeared to meet Elyria’s glare. He got to his feet, his melancholic expression shifting into something sharper. Colder. “Everything is being taken care of,” he replied icily.
“I’m sure it is. I can only imagine the way the servants must clamor to do their precious Lord Victor’s bidding.”
“You know I hate being called that.”
She smirked. “Oh, I know.”
“Well, no need to fret your pretty head about the state of things around here any longer,my lady,” he said pointedly, taking a step back, his eyes darkening. “I’m done trying to convince you to talk to me, done trying to force you to face this. So, you win. Another night’s sleep and you’ll be free of me. Just like you want.”
Shock—and maybe hurt?—flickered through her. Her eyebrows jumped up her forehead, her eyes widening. From the way Cedric’s own brows rose and the small part of his full lips, she thought he might have found her reaction just as surprising as she did.
The feeling pooled in her chest, soaking the edges of her roiling shadows, and her voice was quiet when she said, “That’s what you think I want?”
