Page 72 of Taken By Shadows

But he had already disappeared to some other part of the council buildings.

The instant I opened the door, the stagnant air hit me.

Dead. Heavy. As though I had to beg the air to fill my lungs.

And yet, I didn’t suffocate. There was no lack of breathability, just an unpleasant feeling of entreating the air to fill you that came with each breath.

A curved and dim corridor opened up onto another rotunda. Much like the one I’d just come from, its walls were smooth stone without alcoves, its glass dome overhead clear and gleaming.

In the centre was not a dais.

But a cage.

Chapter twenty-three

The circular birdcage frame stood proud of any walls. And Kaed was in the centre of it.

He was in the same clothes he’d been taken in just last night, his hair now falling a little more limply down over his brow.

His wrists were still chained, but they hung in front of him instead of behind.

I couldn’t read the expression on his face when he saw me. I could hardly read my own emotions at seeing him like that still.

To do that to anyone. Leave them bound overnight, suffering in the heat of the new day. To do it to anyone … but to do it to a prince. The Prince of Hayden and the Northern Corner. The Four Corners.

My blood rushed through me like I’d had too much spiced wine but I forced myself to move into the room.

The tides had turned now, with him captured instead of me. Perhaps now he’d understand what it felt like to be forced into submission and have your plans torn asunder.

It was stifling in here. Had he stayed here the entire night, chained and caged? My gut twisted at the sight, and suddenly my feelings were mottled and opaque.

I cleared my throat against the dry sensation scratching at it. The heat beamed down on the ornate cage, and it felt like a deliberate cruelty.

“Not pleasant, is it?” he finally said.

“What?”

“The air.” He could feel that too? “Fae witch magic was cast to mute and suppress all magical ability when in this room.”

My eyes strained in their sockets. Fae witch magic? Fae witches were real?

“It’s ancient. From before my time,” he said, looking up at the structure that held him.

My shoulders deflated. Oh. They had been real.

“They call it barren air,” he finished.

That’s how it felt. Barren. Dead. Like all the particles in it were just dust and decay. Frozen and suspended without the possibility of being more than “there.” Existing.

I looked at his wrists. “Why are you still bound then if this place won’t allow you to use your magic?”

He gave a sort of laugh at that. “I guess they must really be afraid of me.” A wicked grin graced those lips. They looked a little swollen. I didn’t see water in the cage with him. “At least they got something right about me.” He laughed to himself.

“Did they question you?” My voice was guarded. It felt strange speaking to him now as a prince. It felt strange, but nothing changed in me. He was still just the male who had taken me. That’s all.

The council members had been civil with me. Looking at how Kaed was confined now, I doubted he had had the same experience with the council.

“They did.” He shrugged, and his leather groaned as it clung to him. “They just didn’t care about the answers.”