Page 228 of Captive of Secrets and Storms

No, not the shore.

Toward Darius.

I draw in a ragged breath.

Darius sits upright. Shadows swirl around his torso like eager puppies, desperate for attention.

But all of his attention is trained on me.

“Elara…” His voice surges with wonder.

Gritting my teeth, I roll to my side and plant my shaking palm into the coarse sand to push myself up.

The world tilts.

I blink until it refocuses.

Silas has reached Darius, kneeling at his side. Anders, too, has climbed out of the water. He wrings his tunic out with his hands and he heads toward me.

But Darius’s bright, pain-free eyes never leave mine.

“Beautiful, stubborn, clever Elara…” he continues, shaking his head. “You should have let me go.”

A wobbly smile tugs at my lips. “One day you will meet The Mother, but not because of that fucking curse.”

Even in the dim moonlight, Darius’s complexion radiates a healthy color.

I lift a trembling arm and triumph roars through me. The dark twisting vines are gone.

I did it.

I completed the deal.

I’m free.

Anders reaches my side. His hands glow with magic. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” Giddiness floods me, mixing with fatigue, making me a touch dizzy. “I’m great.”

He tilts his head, giving me an odd look, but the light fades from his hands with a subtle nod.

I watch him return to Darius’s side with a wide grin, seconds away from shouting my success to the heavens when a series of taps against my sternum gives me pause.

It almost feels as if someone is vying for my attention.

I turn my senses inward. The warmth of my magic is absent, drained by my efforts, but there…tucked between my ribs, weaving around the slender bones, is a cool sensation that wasn’t there before.

Shadows.

I suck in a breath.

The dark magic stills.

Apprehension floods me.

It’s as if the shadows fear my reaction.

My heartbeat quickens.