Page 233 of Captive of Secrets and Storms

Karl’s grip remains firm.

A different pirate lunges, slashing the servant woman’s shoulder. She cries out, her weapon clattering uselessly to the ground. She’s not a trained fighter.

Hali shrieks and strikes back, but she’s outnumbered. A punch lands hard in her side.

“NO!” I shout and jerk my arm with more force.

“Stop,” Karl demands.

I don’t.

I drop my weight.

My shoulder screams, but the need to stop what’s happening eclipses the pain.

The faded remnants of the deal’s marks heat my skin.

I glance at my arms, and a gasp flies from my throat.

My veins darken beneath the surface, black spreading through my hands like ink poured into water.

My pulse stutters as something fierce awakens beneath my skin.

It’s not light or warmth, but coldness.

And it looks terrifyingly similar to Rian’s shadows.

My eyes fly to Karl’s.

He stares at my palms, mouth hanging open, then his wide eyes lock with mine. “What are⁠—”

I slap my hands against his cheeks.

The impact jolts up my arms as black power erupts from my palms.

It surges across Karl’s face in pulsing tendrils, digging into pores, spilling into his mouth and nostrils, silencing his scream before it can leave his throat.

Wave after wave of shadow flow into his body. I don’t release him.

Not until the light leaves his eyes.

Karl hits the ground with a heavy thud. His unseeing, bloodshot eyes stare up at the smoke-filled sky.

The darkness recedes back up my arms, coiling behind my sternum, leaving behind bone-deep exhaustion that makes it hard to stand.

I stumble back a step.

What have I done?

The archers are frozen around me. Their disbelief and fury taste bitter on my tongue.

Then a guttural snarl rips from Steinn’s throat. “You bitch!”

He raises his bow, pulls back the string, and aims the arrow at my heart.

I stare down the pirate whose hands visibly tremble with rage, suppressing the gnawing sense that I just made a monumental mistake.

My light magic is depleted.