Liam shook his head. “Your body doesn’t actually need food here. Or water. Your brain is still adjusting to that reality, but once it does, you won’t feel hungry or tired anymore.”
Disappointment settled into that gaping hole in my stomach where the food should’ve been. Ilikedfeeling hungry and tired. Hungry and tired were temporary problems.Humanproblems.
If my brain stopped feeling those things, what was next? How long before I lost all traces of my humanity.
Sensing my distress, Liam frowned and cupped my face, his touch warm and gentle. In that same low, husky voice, he said, “I will do what I can to protect you here, Gray.”
I nodded, grateful. “But is that… allowed?”
Liam considered me for a long moment. At least, itfeltlike a long moment, standing in the spotlight of his intense gaze, holding my breath in anticipation of all the reasons why he couldn’t interfere with the natural order, how I’d already caused enough trouble, how he’d already broken all the rules.
His thumb brushed across my cheek. When he finally answered, his voice was no more than a whisper.
“No,” he said simply. “It isn’t.”
I was trapped in his eyes, losing myself in their depths, in the gentle touch of his hand on my cheek. The fire crackled behind us, soft orange light dancing with the shadows on the cave walls, the tinkling glass rain falling outside. In that moment, it seemed like we’d hit the pause button on all the craziness of the situation, and in here, it was just us, warm and close and safe.
If I stretch up on my tiptoes just a little bit, our lips will touch…
“Gray, I…” Liam let out a soft sigh, his gaze sweeping down to my lips. He seemed to be stuck there, maybe contemplating the same thing I was contemplating.
Holy hell, he’s going to kiss me…
“Liam, I—”
“I should go,” he said quickly, our words crashing into each other. “I, ah, I’m sorry, Gray. I hate to leave you alone here, but I need to get back to the material plane and find your people.”
I nodded, turning away from him and pretending to be interested in the fire. What the hell just happened? Had I actually been thinking about kissing Liam? Not just thinking about it, but…wantingit?
“No, you’re right,” I said, forcing conviction into my words. “You need to tell the guys everything I’ve told you about Jonathan and the prison. It’s crucial that they help Ash and the others.”
“Yes,” he said. “But what shall I tell them of you?”
“Tell them…” I closed my eyes, trying to picture each of their faces, trying to find the words to say goodbye. What could I say? That I loved them? That I appreciated everything they’d done for me? That I wished we’d had more time to get to know each other, to be together, to be a family?
That I was sorry?
Fuck that.
A surge of anger welled up inside, pushing outward against my skin as if it were a living thing trying to break out. Jonathan and his family had taken so much from me as a child, and now I was in the same predicament again, still trying to outrun him. Separated once again from the people I most cared about. Alone and powerless…
But…no. That was bullshit. I wasn’t an orphaned, powerless child on the run and afraid of my own magic anymore. I was awitch. Maybe I didn’t have full control of it yet, but everything inside me believed—no,knew—that I had power.
My anger burned away, leaving something much stronger in its wake: raw determination.
I turned back toward Liam. “You tell them I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
“Gray, I don’t think it’s wise to make that sort of statement when—”
“You told me if I banished a soul here against its will, my own soul would be trapped here eternally while my body rotted away on the material plane. But my bodyisn’ton earth. It’s here. And so is my magic.”
“That may be true, but you can’t just magic your way out of the Shadowrealm. That’s not how it works.”
“The fact that I manifested here proves we don’t actuallyknowhow it works.” I shook my head, dislodging a thought that had been quietly needling me ever since I’d seen the black forest by that lake, right before Jonathan attacked me. “Every time I’ve traveled to my own magic realm, I’ve encountered the black forest and the rune gate—the borderlands between my realm and the Shadowrealm. The gate was always leading me here.”
“But not for the purpose which ultimately vanquished you here.” Liam ran a hand through his hair, exasperated. “Gray, you were supposed to train as a Shadowborn, to learn how to harness magic from both realms and work with soul energy, both light and dark, in whichever capacity we ultimately determined best suited you. Instead, you condemned a soul here before his natural death, and now—”
“I know what I did, but that’s not the point. All I’m saying is a connection between realms doesn’t just break. Isawthe black forest here—it vanished before I could get to it, but it was still here. Which means my realm is still accessible.”
