Cole exited the portal first and turned toLexi. She didn’t say anything as they returned to the prison realm.Cricket was still in the hallway when they emerged, but no one elsewas around.
Cricket turned her head to gaze at thembefore trotting down the hall, presumably in search of some food.Her hooves clapped against the rocky floor as she turned the cornerand vanished.
“She’ll be okay,” Lexi murmured.
“Someone will find her, and if not, we’llcatch her and put her somewhere safe when we return.”
Lexi finally shifted her attention from whereCricket had turned the corner and back to him. When her eyes methis, a flicker of fear ran through them before she buried it.
He hated that she worried about him so much,but he would do whatever it took to keep her safe, even if it meantgiving away tiny pieces of his soul to the shadows.
But that might not be necessary. When herecalled how right she felt, the love that ignited her flames anddrove away his darkness, he pushed the shadows further away.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
She couldn’t hide the uncertainty in hervoice, but he couldn’t take it away, and he wouldn’t change whathappened. Those guards could have killed her, and they’d paid theprice for trying to do so.
“I’m fine,” he assured her.
And he meant it. He was nowhere near asunstable now as he was last night. Maybe the more he called on theshadows, the more symbiotic they would become.
“Do you still want to go to the Gloaming withme?” he asked.
“Of course.”
Taking hold of her hand, he opened anotherportal, and, together, they entered it.
CHAPTER 75
The portal Cole had created opened into asmall cave he knew from his days as a kid in the Gloaming. Itwasn’t far from the backside of the palace but located in the woodsmost avoided… except by foolish children.
He’d ventured into the woods a few times as akid and to this cave, but he’d never frequented the forest, and hehadn’t returned to it after his last time here. That was when hefinally learned his lesson about these woods.
As a child, when he entered the woods, it wason dares from his friends. It was considered a rite of passage tosneak into the forest, to this cave, and to collect a pinkstone.
The stones were worthless, but most in thissection of the Gloaming had one tucked away somewhere… even thoseparents who forbid their children from entering the woods.
That forbidding never worked.
As adults, the dark fae didn’t enter theforest without large numbers of other fae to help see them safelythrough. As children, they were crazy enough to do it alone becausethey taunted each other with dares.
Many of the kids were lucky enough tosurvive, but not all came out again. That should have been enoughto scare the rest of them away; it never was.
Cole never lost his friends to the woods, buthe knew of children and adults who entered them and never returned.Most were never seen again, not even their bodies.
These woods weren’t something to be messedwith, something he was reminded of as the whispers and moans of theforest creatures scurrying about came from outside the entranceonly a few feet away.
None of those creatures were vegetarians.
On his final dare and trip into the woods, heencountered a rat the size of a man. With its nose twitching, thecreature rose onto its hind legs, and its red eyes focused onhim.
Its front teeth were the size of a toddler asthey hung over its lower lip. Blood dripped from them, and evenbefore it issued an eager screech, Cole could tell it intended toaddhisflesh to its already overly bloated, pinkishbelly.
Unable to think past not being eaten, Coledidn’t attempt to open a portal; he simply turned and sprinted asfast as he could toward the palace. His rapid breaths sounded harshin his ears as briars and branches tore at his skin and clothes;the more they shredded his flesh, the more excited the thingchasing him became.
The ground quaked as it thundered after him.Trees cracked and broke as the creature bounced off them. Itsfoot-long claws tore into the earth, propelling it faster as itsquealed in anticipation. The sounds it made roused the othermonsters in the woods.
His lungs had burned, he was certain deathawaited him, but then, he burst free of the woods and into thesunlight of the Gloaming.
