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“I’m talking about my ability to remove fragments of people’s souls. My power is my curse to bear, if not an actual curse. But you’re already familiar with it. My father’s guards know that engaging in a direct fight with me means that could happen to them. So they will hunt me down from above and then signal each other to ambush us instead.”
Nava was quiet, but her gaze still burned with fury. “Is that why so many of them came when they kidnapped you from our home?”
They hadn’t truly spoken about that night since she’d found him. His father had sealed his memories with a complicated spell, and before tonight, Orion hadn’t even wanted to unravel it. Funny how, only a few days ago, he hadn’t cared about his old life at all. He wouldn’t have dreamed of abandoning this kingdom.
His father didn’t know that the reason Orion had left the Copper Kingdom in the first place walked beside him now. If he’d understood that, Nava wouldn’t have survived this long. The thought made his stomach clench in fear.
Whatever reason his old self may have had to avoid telling her the truth about his lineage—it wasn’t good enough. A part of him was thankful those memories were gone. No need to remember the stupid decision he’d made. Or the glaring fact that it had put her in danger.
Nava tilted her chin up. “And was that why your father’s consorts attacked you all at the same time tonight?”
Although his father’s concubines were Dark Ones like Orion, they couldn’t steal fragments of souls. They could, however, drain his energy instead.
“Yes,” Orion said. They really shouldn’t be speaking out here in the open, even if they were barely whispering. But his body throbbed from the concubines’ attack, and the sting of his father’s betrayal burned too hot to ignore his need to open up to Nava. Her pain and anger sang through their soulmate bond, churning in the pit of his stomach and gripping his heart.
All of a sudden, she froze mid-step, as if she’d seen a ghost.
Orion followed her line of sight. There. Something moved behind a slightly cracked door to their left. The mist was thick enough to make it hard to see farther than five feet ahead, let alone across the street into a filthy, locked-up shop.
A pale hand emerged from the shadows, and then Devon Black’s familiar features rose like a wraith in the mist. His lips were moving soundlessly as he beckoned them in. But Orion didn’t need to know the exact words his brother muttered to know they should follow.
2
NAVA
Inside, the shop reeked of mildew and body odor. Nava climbed over broken furniture, taking in the wide room. A wooden counter with shattered glass ran along the back wall. It must have held loaves of bread once upon a time, like Simone’s shop in Willowbrook. If Nava closed her eyes and brought it to mind, she could still smell the scent of freshly baked goods. Her stomach immediately rumbled. Gods, she was hungry.
Tears pricked at her eyes as a wave of emotion surged through her. She couldn’t deal with this now. Not when her life had turned into this hide-and-chase game that didn’t seem to stop.
“Took you two long enough. I almost thought you’d let yourself get captured.” Devon closed the door behind them.
“You shouldn’t have left us behind to deal with those guards alone,” Arkimedes complained. In the dark room, his magical eyes shone with green light.
Heavy footsteps echoed toward them from the hallway to their left. They drew close. And closer. “Watch what comes out of your mouth, brother,” Devon said. “We aren’t alone in this place.”
Arkimedes fell still, his aura darkening as he turned toward the sound.
A young man who couldn’t be older than eighteen stormed out of the corridor. He lifted the rusty sword he carried with shaking hands, scowling at Devon. “Fool! You brought a Dark One with you. Now we’re all damned!”
“I discovered that this shop had prior occupants,” Devon said, ignoring the young man’s outburst as if he were a puppy waving a stick instead of a sharp weapon.
Admittedly, the sword’s blade looked rather dull.
“Get out, or I’ll?—”
“You’ll what?” Devon’s cynical smile raised gooseflesh along Nava’s arms. There he was, the old enemy she’d almost forgotten. “What do you plan to do to us?”
Hesitating briefly, the man glanced at where he had come from. Was there a room? Nava couldn’t see much other than crumbling plaster walls. Without a warning, he lunged at Devon, sword raised over his head.
Devon effortlessly grasped the blade with one hand, his fingers turning white as ice quickly spread over the metal’s edge. Then he pulled the sword from the young man’s grasp and tossed it aside. His tall frame loomed over the stranger. “There is only one fool in this room, and it’s not me.”
The coldness of his tone instantly transported Nava to the day Devon had first set foot in her shop in Willowbrook. He hadn’t used it with her for quite some time. Alarming, how fluidly he could transition to villainy.
The young man stepped back with wide eyes. His worn blouse slipped off his shoulder, revealing his bony torso as it nearly fell off him. With such a skeletal frame, he couldn’t have been eating much during his time in hiding. Whoever he was protecting was clearly a loved one.
The stranger’s wary eyes darted from Devon to Arkimedes. Nava felt sorry for him, even though they’d done nothing to deserve his outburst. Fear could make anyone do foolish things.
“Stop,” Arkimedes growled and rested a hand over Devon’s shoulder. He looked at the young man with a stern gaze. “We mean you no harm, but we will stay here tonight.”
