Page 139 of Taken By Shadows

The two engulfing powers would meet, and it would be utter blackness.

A flash blazed across the sky as lightning struck in forks of red and purple in the strange after-sunset glow.

It must have jolted him from the emotion of his memories, because his magic receded. And I felt him lock it away inside him.

Lightning continued to strike. Over and over again, like violent heartbeats.

They came sharp and fast, and the rain followed.

Lines of light shattered the sky and lit up the night until pale white forced the endless night back.

I gasped when a bolt crashed into the steeple of the ruins overhead.

Before the flash had even evaporated, a hail of stones and shale crashed down.

I crumpled to shield myself, my arms coming up to protect me.

Nothing hit me. Nothing even came close. Debris scattered around me, rocks shattering to the slabs already cracked with moss.

Kaed was in front of me. Close. So close. His arms caged around me, wings opened wide.

He had shielded me.

I looked around at the strewn pieces. More than a few would have broken bones and cut deep enough for me to bleed out.

My skin felt hot like it might vaporise the rain as it crashed into me, and my heart raced.

There was a charge in the air that had nothing to do with the storm that was growing around us.

He panted heavily as he looked at me trapped in his arms. His heart was thundering with the shattering storm. “You might say you’re not mine to protect, but I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Lightning flashed in his eyes, and thunder hammered in my chest.

He didn’t have to say it. But I knew it wasn’t about the scattered rocks. If his father or Hart were coming, Kaed would stand in their way.

“You can fight me all you want on that.” He practically vibrated when he spoke. “But I will protect you. Ever since I took you from that meadow, I’ve been trying to protect you.” His voice sounded pained at that last admission.

“You took me …” I was a little dazed from the lightning strike, the crumbling ruins and the arms that still encircled me. He was so careful not to touch me, like he might ignite a fire if he did.

“You can fight me for eternity, until the sands of forever and never meet. Until the Crown Oaks are ash on the wind. But I won’t stop protecting you.” His eyes pierced into mine and pinned me there.

In my heart, I knew they were more than just words, it meant something more. Something had been building between us. The way his words settled into me. He was forthright in his declaration. Maybe this was always meant to happen like this, or perhaps we’d shaped it to happen, moved the pieces of fate with our actions. How much could one influence the stars? Every move we made was a step in a dance that was already set in motion. Kaed’s words made it seem inevitable. How could he be so sure, so unrestrained?

“Protecting me from?” I looked up to his eyes, through the strands of dark hair he hid behind.

“I didn’t tell you about my Crown when I met you. I let you believe what you wanted to believe. Because I knew you’d hate me for it if you knew. But being with me, being seen with me, it was the safest place for you. I was protecting you from people who would hurt me.” Kaed stilled. So silent were his breaths, I wondered if he had been cast in stone, until his heart beat loudly in his chest. “Hurt you.”

I shook my head and my eyes scrunched against the mesh of thoughts latticing their way over me.

“But you took me? You bound me. You kept me …”

None of this made sense. He was like a different person now. Gone was the armour. Gone were the dismissive comments, the barbs. This wasn’t him? Or was this really who he was?

“I know. And I cannot say I am sorry for that,” he ground out, like he was pulverising rocks to powder.

A single, heavy heartbeat crushed through me. “I know. Neither am I.”

And there it was. The truth that had been growing inside me. From the moment he’d touched me, laid eyes on me, I felt a pull.