His arms tighten around me. “Do not let go of me,” he says, his voice low and rough. “I will not drop you. Not on purpose, my dearest. But if this thing attacks…” His voice trails off, but I know what he meant to say.
I let go of the key and wrap my arms around him, clutching him so hard I can scarcely draw a breath. Though I’m tremblingwith fear, I cannot help but peek out at the strange creature again.
Gods. It’s the shadow figure from his dreams. The nightmares he recently confessed to having. When he showed me the dreams, I sensed his confusion. He didn’t think they meant anything, but he couldn’t say for certain.
Now it would seem the dreams were a warning.
A premonition of a dark event to come.
I pray we survive this. Together.
My heart aches at the prospect of Merak getting hurt.
Or worse… losing him.
Tears sting my eyes at the thought.
The shadow creature’s face shifts and ripples as though it’s made of black smoke, and yet those pale eyes remain fixed on Merak. On my mate. A surge of protectiveness rises within me. I want to help. I want to keep Merak safe… but how? Out of habit, I start to reach for the key on my necklace, only to remember his warning to not let go of him. So, I continue clutching him, holding on with all my strength.
“My, my, Merak,” the creature says softly, a strange purring note in its voice. “You’ve grown.” Its gaze drifts over Merak. “And here I feared I might not recognize you.”
Merak emits a growl so deep it vibrates through his chest and into mine. “Stay out of my mind,” he snarls.
The creature laughs and slithers through the air, coming closer.
Beating his wings furiously, Merak moves us farther away.
“I have spent centuries trying to reach your mind.” It tilts its shadowed head. “Trying to find you.”
A cold shiver rushes through me. Centuries?
The snow starts rushing down faster, and the wind picks up. I shiver and again find myself longing to clutch the key that hangs from my necklace. Not just because it’s a nervous habit of mine,something that brings me comfort when I am feeling uncertain, but because a memory keeps niggling at the back of my mind. The elderly man who gave it to me said the key was important and never to take it off, claiming it would prove useful at a time when all hope seemed lost. What if…
“What do you want?” Merak calls over the roaring wind, the rage in his voice so thunderous, so intimidating, I almost gasp.
I’ve never heard him speak like that before.
The shadow figure smiles again. “I want what is rightfully mine. Your soul, Merak, your soul. That is what I want.” An eerie laugh rumbles from its form.
“My soul? What in the gods are you talking about?”
“Your parents never told you, did they?” It chuckles and twists strangely in the air, the black wisps that cling to it seeming to flow with the wind only to slowly shift back into place.
“Never told me what?”
I sense Merak’s dread through the bond, the growing suspicion about his parents. As my mind brushes against his, I know he’s often believed they were keeping secrets from him, but they died before he could ever discover the truth.
The creature emits a noise that almost sounds like a sigh. “Your mother was dying as she gave birth to you. Even Vaelnor’s most skilled healers couldn’t help her. You were coming, and she was fading fast. So, your father sought me out.”
“What are you?” Merak asks.
“Once, I was a powerful dark mage. But when I died, I didn’t pass into the afterlife. Instead, I roamed the realm for a while until I settled in the forest near your parents’ manor in Vaelnor. Your father let me stay as long as I promised to behave.”
The creature laughs, and the hair on the back of my neck rises.
“The spirit of a dark mage,” Merak says with a growl. “Gods. I cannot imagine anything more loathsome. I also cannot believethat my father allowed you to occupy the forest near my family’s manor.”
“Well, it was fortunate for your father that he allowed me to stay. You see, as your mother lay dying, I saved her. And all I asked for in return was… you. To consume your soul. To claim the body of a highborn lord and walk the realm once more in the flesh.”
