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Adrian scowled and yelled for a servant when I crouched down and reached for one of the shards. I held the heavy, lead crystal in the stream of light. “Oh my gosh, look!”

“Get off the floor,” he demanded, grabbing my arm.

I dropped my weight, careful to avoid the sharp pieces. “No, look at this—it's so pretty in the sunlight. It looks like diamonds.”

Instantly, he let go of my arm, his face paling.

Kiam was right about everything. They were obsessed with curses and superstitions.

“Does your diamond shine like this?” Lifting the piece, I kept it illuminated.

He snatched it from me. “Get out of the way.”

He shoved me toward the couch with his free hand, and I let myself fall back onto the cushions. I pulled my legs up, keeping my arms wrapped around my knees. The broken glass cut his hand when he grabbed it, and a black trickle of liquid coursed between his fingers.

Black blood. “Why is your blood black?” I asked and he gave me a withering smile. “Just asking.”

“Leander!” Adrian yelled.

The redhead strolled into the room like he’d been waiting just around the corner. He took one look at the scene and heaved his chest.

“Chaos,” Leander muttered. He took Adrian’s hand in his own and pursed his lips.

Miraculously, the cut sealed itself right before my eyes.

“I could have done that,” Adrian said, yanking his hand back. Leander shrugged.

The redhead turned his gaze on me, his silver eyes gleaming. “Go to your room.”

“I don’t think I will,” I informed him.

Gathering my skirts as I got up, I swiped a muffin from the tray and marched out of the room.

My steps took me straight out the front door and into the gardens. This time, I took a different branch of the path and walked towards what might have been fruit trees. They were shorter than many of the other trees and had pretty, cream colored or light pink flowers. Another one, with stark branches, had purple flowers.

This area was in just as good condition as the other section I had explored, perfectly maintained. While I had found a stone to use to defend myself, it wasn’t something that would have been easy to carry around. I needed something else, something bigger. And something with some reach to it. There was no way I’d get my hands on a sword, and I didn’t know how to wield one anyway. A nice, big stick could come in handy, though.

The limbs on these trees were perfect. Bracing a foot against a trunk, I gripped a branch with my fist and pulled it off. It was at least six feet long, and I stripped all the blooms away except for down at the very end.

With a giggle, I whipped the stick back and forth through the air. I now had my own anti-scraggly haired ghost weapon. I would beat that ghoul down with a pretty staff, or javelin, when it came back. With whatever this thing was.

Setting the wider end down like a walking stick, I turned in place, scanning the gardens. No weird and unnecessary creatures were in sight and I was almost disappointed. Then, the crows came.

There were at least ten of them, squawking and cawing as they lit on the branches around me. Warmth filled my chest and I smiled at them. “You guys like my weapon?” I asked, lifting it from the ground, like they were blind and hadn’t seen it.

One of the birds made a trilling sound. “I’ll take that as yes,” I replied.

When I continued down the path, they followed. Many accompanied me at a distance, but a couple of them stayed close by, tree limbs bowing gently as they hopped from branch to branch.

“Are you guys the same crows from my woods?” I wasn’t sure how they would be, but I was sure Kiam had his ways.

The larger crow turned his onyx eyes on me and began chattering. “I wish I could understand you. That’d be real handy.”

He flapped his wings and next thing I knew, he’d wrapped his claws around my forearm. I had to stop myself from trying to shake him off as my heart hammered in my chest. “What are you doing?”

His beak was dangerously close to my face and visions of my eyes getting pecked out of my head swam through my mind. “You’re not going to eat me, are you?”

I swear to God the crow leveled an annoyed gaze at me. “No?” I asked.