Page 3 of Poison Sun

Or both.

There’s no getting through to him right now. No point in even trying. So, we ride up in silence, lost in our own worlds of thoughts and fears.

Finally, after what feels like an eternity, the elevator stops at my floor and the doors open.

I glance over at him again, but he doesn’t even look at me.

His silence slices at my heart like shards of glass. Maybe even more than his angry words.

I search my mind for something to say, but what is there? Another apology? A sad attempt to offer my condolences for what Viktor did to him—to us?

No. Words can’t do justice for what happened. I know that just as well as he.

So, I don’t try.

What’s the point?

When I step out of the elevator, he says nothing. And when the doors close, he’s still staring straight ahead, as if his soul has left his body and only a shell remains.

Strangely, I feel empty, too. Alone. Abandoned.

With nowhere else to go, I hurry back to my room and collapse into my bed, not bothering to change out of my dirty clothes.

Right now, I need to sleep. I need to recharge.

And, when I’m drifting off, one final thought flashes through my mind. A realization.

Because my magic tends to show itself when I’m upset. To have a mind of its own.

But despite how angry and heated I was at what Damien said to me, I didn’t feel a single trace of it.

Amber

Despite my exhaustion, my dreams are a terrifying whirlwind of fear and confusion.

In them, the Shadow Lord looms over me, reaching for me. His eyes are dark, captivating vortexes that threaten to pull me in and drown me in their unyielding depths.

I should run away, but my feet are glued to the floor.

“What do you want?” I ask him.

He doesn’t reply. He just gives me that frustratingly arrogant smirk of his and vanishes into the air.

He’s replaced by Viktor, who smiles at me, raises his arms, and pushes me off the end of a cliff.

Ice-cold fear sears through me.

The light of the oncoming train blinds me. And before I can jump out of the way, it crashes into me, the bone-shattering pain waking me up with a long, shrill scream.

My heart races, my skin covered in sweat.

I take a few seconds to orient myself and catch my breath.

It was a dream. I’m here, in my room at the Fairmont. Safe. The Shadow Lord can’t touch me. Viktor failed at killing me.

But the fear, the pain… it was so real.

My mind flashes to the potion. Is it poisoning me, like Damien said? Eating at my soul? Corrupting my dreams?

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