Page 16 of Prince of Darkness and Deceit

The Fae advance with relentless purpose and stop just short of the stage. As one, they lift their hands. Every one in the room gasps, but we release a collective exhale as the Fae lower their hoods. Their silence is heavy, ominous.

On the stage, the Elders stand. General Ironheart draws his sword, slow and sure, unafraid in the face of the threat in front of him.

No one speaks. I doubt many of us even breathe.

Finally, Elder Whitestone finds his voice. “My lords. To what do we owe the honor of this visit?”

Silence.

The slightly shorter Fae, the one with flawless, moon-pale skin, turns. His eyes sweep the room like a scythe cutting through grass. I shudder. Someone in the crowd sobs.

His gaze is predatory. Curious. Cruel.

Beside him, his olive-skinned companion is as still and imposing as the southern dark cliffs overlooking the sea. Shadows peel off him like water rolling off oiled skin, pooling on the aged floor in dark, unnatural puddles.

My heart pounds as I stare at the swirling, smoky surface and a horrible rumor regarding the Fae races across my mind.

Can their shadows really slip into your head? Twist it? Hollow you out until there’s nothing left but obedience to their every evil whim?

Lev curses beside me.

My gaze jerks up⁠—

And I meet the second Fae’s eyes.

He’s watching me. A slow, razor-sharp smirk curls his lips…like he knows something.

Like he knows me.

My blood runs cold as magic drips into the tips of my fingers.

Shit.

4

I can’t move. I can’t breathe.

I’m pinned beneath a stare as dark and bottomless as the Astlorian Sea, the Fae’s eyes gleaming with inhuman sharpness. Terror slices my chest like a blade, splitting my heart in two.

Ferria and I clawed our way to the lives we have now. Juniper endured ridicule and hardship to give us a chance at survival. If this Fae detects the volatile magic running in my veins—if he names me for what I am—the fragile life we built will shatter.

I need to look away, to wrench myself free from his stare. But I can’t. Even blinking feels impossible.

This isn’t natural.

Another flicker of magic sparks in my palms, wild and trembling. I inhale a quick breath and smother it fast, squeezing my fists until it goes quiet. If it rises now, even for a second, I’m finished.

The Fae stares, unrelenting.

There’s at least twenty feet between us, yet I see the shadows swirling in his eyes, masking their true color. His features are sharp, almost delicate. If he were a woman, he might be called beautiful.

But there’s nothing feminine about the dark stubble lining his jaw or the thick black brows arching over his shadowed eyes. His cloak hangs over broad shoulders, fanning open at the front to reveal thick muscular legs that seem disproportional for someone so tall, and yet a perfect match.

Time crawls as stormy, intelligent eyes seem to peer deep into my soul, reading every secret from my mind like a medicinal recipe from Juniper’s journals.

Every heartbeat stretches like a lifetime. I barely register the tremble in Lev’s stance beside me or Ferria’s terrified eyes locked on my profile.

This is it.