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Oh no. Aurora hated when her sister cried. She jumped from the table and went to her sister. “Maybe there are eggs in the henhouse.”
Ember scooted to the other end of the bench. “I don’t want to go outside at night.”
“We’ll go together.” She grabbed the lantern and walked to the end of the bench, holding out her hand. “Take my hand.”
Ember slipped her hand in hers and together they went outside. As Aurora heaved the door shut behind them, she was keenly aware of every blinking eye looking down at them from the trees. Though her wolf-touched eyes could see well at night, she hadn’t remembered it being so dark here before.
They went to the henhouse and looked for eggs, but there were none. Where had everyone gone and why did they take the hens?
Aurora!Ember’s cry resounded in her head. She looked at her sister, whose eyes were nearly popping out of her head as she continued to speak through thought.My friends said the bad man is here!
Aurora gasped when the henhouse door creaked open and a tall, bony man with a gray beard peeked inside. “Who’s there?” he asked in a feeble old voice, then smiled when he looked down at them.
Ember squeezed her hand while trembling beside her.It’s the bad man who takes memories!
He doesn’t look like a bad man to me,Aurora answered. But what if he was bad? She panicked, not knowing what to do as she blinked up at the man, too afraid to move.
“Where is your grandmother?” he asked them. “And why is there a sleeping fire mage in the loft?”
“Who are you?” Ember blurted.
“You probably don’t remember, but I’m a friend of your grandmother’s.” His smile widened. “I’m Thorin.”
Ember squeezed her hand again.Get us out of here! Take us to Nikkos!
Aurora quickly transported them to the loft bed. She accidentally dropped the lantern off the side of the bed, and it hit the floor with a crash.
“Uncle Nikkos, wake up!” Ember cried, shaking Nikkos’s shoulders. “The bad man is here.”
But Uncle Nikkos didn’t move. He just groaned and turned his head. Aurora couldn’t make out his features very well in the dark, but she worried something was wrong with him.
Her nostrils flared when their small cabin began to fill with smoke.
Ember grabbed Aurora’s shoulders, tears filling her eyes. “Take us to the castle!”
“Please wake.” Aurora tried shaking Nikkos. She was so afraid of falling off that pointy turret. “The bad man is here. He’s going to take our memories!”
Uncle Nikkos still didn’t stir.
The door handle rattled, and the old man called from outside, “Girls! Your house is on fire!”
“Rora!” Ember screamed. “Do it!”
Aurora grabbed Nikkos and her sister and sucked in a breath before envisioning that pointy turret and hoping they didn’t get stuck or worse.
* * *
Shirina
Draevyn brought methrough a pretty sitting area to another room several times bigger than my parents’ modest hut, lit with a beautiful hanging chandelier, wall sconces, and a warm hearth. So many candles. I couldn’t imagine how they could’ve afforded such luxury. As I followed Draevyn across a plush plum carpet that cradled my feet like a cloud, I blinked up at the towering ceiling with more wide rafters. I imagined my mates flying from rafter to rafter, their powerful wings carrying them throughout the house in a matter of seconds. In the center of the room was the hugest, softest feather bed I’d ever seen with smooth, lavender-colored silk sheets that could easily accommodate my two mates and me. I couldn’t wait to share it with them. But first, they had to make it back to me.
A set of wide double glass doors draped in gossamer curtains led to an attached terrace that was like something from a dream. It had a large semi-circular balcony with marble rails, a wide swinging hammock, fragrant flowering pots, and a view of the Periculian Forest and mountain range behind it—sleeping shadows illuminated by a starry night sky. I would’ve been content to live out the remainder of my days on just the balcony.
Night had fallen, and the room was aglow with dozens of candles and lamps. Though I knew I should’ve been impressed, I was more worried about wasting tallow and wax to light so much of the room. I understood the significance that Draevyn had brought me here—to his mother’s room. This was a peace offering, for I knew what his mother had meant to him.
After giving servants instructions, he’d left me here, saying he had to get back to the battlements. I was grateful for his absence, for the way he looked at me, like a dog salivating over a bone, made me uncomfortable.
The servants swarmed me like bees to a hive, a group of young women who looked part Fae, part human, all eager to serve me while calling me ‘Your Highness’ as if I hadn’t lived my entire life in a moldy forest with patched dresses and stockings full of holes. How had they known about my royal lineage? Had Draevyn told them? And how long before word spread that Derrick and Flora’s daughter was staying at Abyssus? How long before Malvolia was burning down the gates? The servants had fussed over my clothes, wanting to change me, to bathe me. I’d sent them all away. Couldn’t they see I needed to be alone?
