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I tossed and turned on the bed for a while.
Exhaling, I lay on my back and stared at the ceiling. Restless thoughts consumed my mind. What has the coven involved themselves with? …And Araki. Is he alright? I foundmyself worrying about him. He must be, or else I would’ve felt something through our bond. I concentrated on the bond but felt nothing from his end. Not even a light pull suggested he was using his magic.
With a frustrated breath on my lips, I jumped out of bed, giving up on sleeping anytime soon. I grabbed a shawl from the closet to cover myself and stepped out. Perhaps I could find some clues from the library. The torches on the walls illuminated and cast flickering shadows on the corridor. Just as I started to walk down the corridor and head to the library, I heard deep voices at the other end, right behind the bend. I halted and listened carefully. One sounded like Klaus, and the other Araki. The voices were too muffled to make out what they were saying. I quietly walked in their direction and stopped in the middle of the corridor when the voices ceased. I stood there for a moment and waited. A tall figure emerged, slightly shrouded in the darkness. Araki.
There was no mistaking him. His violet eyes burned brightly like two stars. He stalked toward me like a beast does its prey. That’s when I felt his magic through the bond. A wild roaring storm barely contained. It touched my magic, wanting to capture it. A shocked gasp left me when he halted before me. Purple veins marked his eyes, his canines longer than normal and blood covered his arms and clothes. It reminded me of how he had been in the Forest of Shadows. A much more bestial Dhajork form than he usually appeared.
Araki watched me closely.
“Are you alright?” I whispered, my voice sounding like a bell in the silent hall. “What happened?”
“Are you going to help me or continue to play with destiny just to save your coven?” The hard-edge of his voice, deeply terrifying.
He knowsa terrified voice rang in my head. He saw the coven’s mark.
“If I take you to them, you have to promise me one thing,” I said calmly, even as my heart threatened to tear through my chest from how it thundered.
“Which is?”
“The girl you saw when the spectre took her form. Nala.” It felt like a betrayal telling him about her. “I need your assurances that she won’t be harmed. She will be given a new life… one where she doesn’t have to fight or kill.” I was pressed to find answers of my own. How was the Nightshade connected to the night walkers?
Araki leaned forward, his gaze capturing mine. “I swear.”
I swallowed. “Tomorrow then.”
Shadows
Reilyn
I didn’t sleep that night, and at the first sign of the break of dawn, Araki and Klaus were at my door waiting for me. I dressed quickly and met them.
“Where do we start in this search of yours?” Araki greeted me with a stern, inscrutable expression.
“At Port Thar Modan.” I supplied.
“Open a portal,” Araki ordered, his face stoic and cold.
I swallowed hard as Araki stood one side while Klaus on my other. I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes. I envisioned our destination as magic sparkled before me. I opened my eyes as the portal opened. Before we stepped through it, Araki turned to me. He held out a dagger—one of mine.
“Remember the spell linking us, Reilyn. Killing me will kill you,” He warned.
I snatched the dagger. “I don’t need the reminder. The hideout is probably empty by now anyway.”
“All the same. I would hate for the Nightshade to kill you and bring me down because you were unarmed.”
I tucked the dagger under my blouse and walked through the portal. The portal closed behind Klaus once the three of us passed through. We walked through the city. The winds were strong, the clouds dark with signs of heavy rain. The air was salty from the winds coming from the ocean. With dark woodenrooftops and chiselled stonewalls, the port held a dreadful atmosphere.
Nevertheless, it was bustling with people, ships, boats docking, and fishers sorting out their day catch. We left the horses behind an alley between a motel and a shop. I led Araki and Klaus to an underground tunnel. It was a maze of twists and turns, but I caught the small etching of a half-moon crossed with a dagger at every junction. The crest of the Nightshade. It guided me through the tunnels.
“This is just an old meeting place,” I finally said when we stopped to rest. All three of us were sweating from the pace Araki insisted on, despite it being cool and damp in the tunnels. I leaned against a wall and folded my arms. “The only thing I expect to find here is something that might lead us to their next location.”
In truth, I wasn’t entirely sure the place was abandoned. Priestess Opaline had banned anyone from returning, stating it was compromised. But Araki would have to know where we were going if it was. She must have her reasons for keeping it hidden. Perhaps she and Master Briggs used it as a safe house for the most elite assassins. If that were true, Araki wouldn’t know what awaited him. I only hoped that they would have the sense to take him captive alive rather than killing him outright.
Neither of the men answered me. After a few minutes of rest, Araki commanded, we continued to move. I led, setting a slightly gentler pace than he had allowed. We emerged at long last to a huge, windowless room. With all the ups and downs and twists in the maze, it was impossible to tell whether we were above ground or below it. The place was utterly empty.
“See?” I said, lifting my torch to shine the light further. “I told you; it’s abandoned.”
“Judging by the amount of dust, abandoned several months ago,” Klaus scuffed his foot on the floor. His voice was tense, his posture rigid, and his eyes vigilant.
