Page 117 of Poison Sun

“I don’t know.” I tighten my grip around the handle of my dagger, searching for a way through the shadow souls.

There isn’t one.

They have us outnumbered, weak, and cornered. If we throw ourselves at them, we’ll probably be toast.

But what other options do we have?

Before I can come up with one, soft, haunting chimes break through the eerie silence of the night.

I know where they’re coming from. I remember it from my first visit here with Morgan. They’re tiles built into the ground near the entrance, for children to step on to make music.

Now, each note weaves a spell of stillness not just over us, but over the shadow souls, too.

Then, they stop, and the Shadow Lord emerges through the arch, the shadow souls parting to let him through.

He looks just like he does in my dreams. Tall, with an aura that commands the night, his presence terrifying and captivating at the same time. He moves with a grace that doesn’t belong in this world, each step slow and deliberate, and finally comes to a stop in front of me.

His eyes—a deep, endless black—fixate on me, and I’m as glued to the ground as I am every night we see each other.

But he says nothing, reveals nothing.

The message from the shadow soul in Central Park floats through my mind.

Your light calls to the Shadow Lord like a beacon in the darkness. He offers you a throne of shadows, a kingdom of night.

“What do you want?” I finally break the silence.

“I want you,” he says. “Only you.”

I narrow my eyes at him, although I don’t move away. “Unfortunately for you, I’m not an object to be claimed.”

He glares right back at me.

Then, he turns his attention to the shadow souls surrounding us. “Kill him,” he says simply, motioning to Lucas and pulling me aside to let them get to work.

Amber

I yank myself out of the Shadow Lord’s grasp at the same time as the shadow souls descend upon Lucas.

They swarm him, and in seconds, his screams fill the air. Painful screams as they suck his soul from his body. Screams so haunting that I’ll never be able to erase them from my mind.

Then, as quickly as it began, it ends.

The shadow souls disperse, forming their circle around the garden again, leaving ash where Lucas stood.

It happened so swiftly. He didn’t have a chance to put up a fight.

I hated Lucas. Despised him.

But that… it’s not the kind of death I’d wish on anyone.

I turn back to the Shadow Lord, and while part of me knows I should be celebrating Lucas’s downfall, rage flows through me like fire.

But I say nothing to him. And he makes no moves for me.

So, I gather all the force I can muster, lunge at him, raise my dagger, and slam it into his chest.

A perfect hit.

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