Page 6 of Tell Them That I’m Coming

And now there’s a second prophecy?

Her broken wings will only end the curse when her own heart stops…

I don’t know what that means, but anything that involves curses and my heart stopping—which obviously means the end of my existence or, you know, death—can’t be good.

No wonder Mom made me promise not to go to Noctavara until I was ready. If Damien saw my future death and mentioned Noctavara, it makes sense that the fiery realm be closed off to me.

I’d never even heard of it until two gold moons ago when Katrin mentioned a squad of fire demon soldiers had visited Brille Rouge, searching for… something. She had hidden with her fellow seamstresses so she wasn’t sure what they were searching for, though Rafe insisted that we go to their realm and see for ourselves.

Only I couldn’t break through. It was the first realm that wouldn’t open to me, and I’ve been harboring a grudge about it ever since.

Maybe this is why. Maybe, like Mom said, I wasn’t ready. Because she… she’d heard of Noctavara before. I could see it in the lines forming on her normally smooth forehead and how her dim eyes shadowed over to hear me mention the fire demon realm.

Because of the prophecy? Well, yeah, Alana. Of course it’s about another prophecy.

I don’t want to know. That’s what I tell myself as I flee to the edge of the shadows at the end of Sombra. These same shadows were the ones that took me when I was a child, and though King Yelios no longer lurks in their depths, no one in the village will think to find me there.

Even Binx is hesitant to step paw into the shadows. Many ungez make their home in the darkest part of the woods—including Binx once—but they are the smallest and gentlest of shadow beasts. With my luck, I’ll go to think… to sulk… and find an arkoda roaring at me for invading their territory.

And while arkodaskin makes excellent leather, it usually takes a pair of hunters to defeat the monstrous beast—and that’s nothing compared to some of the fiercer creatures waiting to snack on unsuspecting demonesses.

I’m upset, but I’m not an idiot, and I don’t go too far into the shadows. Just enough where I can sink down into the ash, ignoring the scattered bones lurking in the debris, as Binx curls up around my shoulders.

Then I berate myself for running. A mature demoness would have confronted Mom and Dad. If I’m in danger, hiding it from me won’t help anyone, and it’s not like I can stop the future from happening anyway.

If the doppelseers saw it, it’ll happen. It’s only a matter of when, and considering it took two thousand years for their vision of a halfling babe and a rain in Sombra to come true, there’s no reason for me to be panicking now.

I give myself some time to calm down. When Binx chitters softly, telling me that I need to be heading back, I listen to my soul-pet. Besides, I need to talk to Mom. I need to ask Dad what’s going on because, odds are, she won’t want to tell me.

I need to⁠—

Shit.

Rafe.

CHAPTER 3

BRILLE ROUGE

Ican’t believe I forgot him.

Really, Alana? What were you thinking?

I had meant to grab something to snack on from the icebox, then return to Brille Rouge to retrieve Rafe. Unfortunately, I got distracted by what I overheard, and I spent way too long in the shadows, trying to work up the nerve to confront Mom and Dad with what I did hear.

Rafe can’t come back on his own. He has Loki’s mage blood, but he hasn’t learned the spells for portal travel yet; probably because his mother insisted that her mate not teach it to him so that she can keep a closer eye on him. If he was bonded to Katrin, he’d be able to open a path from her realm to his, but for now, it’s harmless flirting and gentle wooing. Until I grab him, he’s stuck in Brille Rouge.

Great. When he shows up late, Kennedy will have a real reason to blame me. And I know I shouldn’t be wary of a human woman who is a head shorter than me, but she has Freya. Even if she won’t scold me, she has her ungez lecture mine.

I snap my fingers, catching Binx’s attention.

He chirps, a questioning sound.

“I have to get Rafe. Want to come along?”

Despite Binx being my soul-pet, he doesn’t follow me constantly; not the way the butterflies do. More often than not, he prefers to stay at home, making himself a nest on the couch, snoozing the day away. When he’s in the mood for adventure, he’ll take his perch on my shoulder and join us on our travels, but I never assume he wants to come.

Today he does. Probably because he can still tell that I’m shaken from what I overheard, but instead of hopping down and scampering back to Nuit, he digs his claws into the top of my dress, waiting for me to call up a portal.