Page 184 of Prince of Darkness and Deceit

The shadows constrict, tightening around Lev’s neck. His flesh bulges grotesquely.

“Rian, stop!” The words tear from my throat. “He didn’t beat me.”

Rian swivels toward me, his inhuman, molten eyes scalding. “You defend him?”

“I-I don’t want him hurt.” I lick my dry lips. “Please.”

This time, my plea falls on deaf ears.

“Do not worry, Sunshine.” His glare slides back to Lev. “I will defend you…even when you won’t defend yourself.”

The darkness billows out and engulfs Lev entirely.

“NO!” I scream, panic consuming me.

I try to rush forward, but Ferria holds me tight.

Jaxon shouts his own protests.

Draven stands silent, face unreadable as his friend chokes a man to death.

Magic sparks hot under my skin, desperate to act.

And then—an idea flares. Wild. Dangerous. My only chance.

I drag in a breath, send a prayer to Olyra that this isn’t a horrible mistake, and shout⁠—

“I can save Darius!”

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The vortex of shadows freezes mid-whirl, a storm arrested in the air. The silence that follows is heavy, suffocating.

Every gaze hooks into me with varying shades of shock and disbelief, but it’s Rian’s I hold.

His stare burns hotter than flame, sharper than a blade. I can’t read his thoughts, but the terrible stillness of his power makes me think he’s listening. At least, I hope that’s what it means, and that he’s not planning a way to punish me for my claim.

“What did you say?” Rian’s voice is low, words barely above a whisper.

I hear them as clearly as if he’d spoken them right into my ear.

I don’t succumb to the panic clawing up my throat.

I inhale through my nostrils, step out of Ferria’s hold, and state with as much confidence as I can muster, “I can save Darius.”

Shadows pulse, but they don’t come from Rian.

Draven moves forward, his body rigid, his shadows snapping around him like impatient hounds vying for his attention. “How?”

I think of my encounter with the natchling. How my magic burst from me as white lightning and how the darkness within the creature recoiled from its touch. Then I think of how my power created an opening in Rian’s impenetrable shadow wall.

My entire life, I’ve viewed the magic that flickered in my veins as healing magic, but I was wrong. It’s light magic. And I don’t know much, but I know light negates darkness. And when I touched Darius all those days ago, and the curse eating away at him attacked me, it screamed of the darkest evil I’ve ever felt.

But I don’t say any of that.

Instead, I meet Draven’s stare. Hope flickers raw and unhidden in his eyes—a dangerous thing.

“I will tell you,” I say, voice steady despite the quake in my bones. “But first…Lev must be released.”