Page 49 of Heart of Shadows

“Consider me on it,” Aedon said. “I’ll make sure there’s no trace of us when we leave here. They shall not find us again so easily.”

“They should not have found us so easily the first time,” Ragnar said. His quiet disappointment bit into Aedon, who flinched.

“It’s my fault. I was lax. It won’t happen again. I’m sorry, Harper,” he whispered. His fingers rested gently on hers for a moment, then withdrew.

Brand stirred. “Harper, we need to move on as soon as possible. Now they know we’re in the area, it’s not safe. Can you sit up?”

Harper winced and groaned as she tried. Her entire body felt broken. Hands supported her—Ragnar and, to her surprise, Erika—until she sat upright.

“I didn’t even get a chance to fight. I let you down,” she said to Erika. Now the nomad would despise her even more.

Erika blinked in surprise. “Are you kidding? That you managed to fend off two elves of Tir-na-Alathea at all, let alone unarmed, is a miracle. You ought to be dead.”

“You did well, Harper.” Brand’s monstrous hand patted her shoulder gently. He turned to Aedon. “You cover our trail—properly—and I’ll fly patrol up ahead. Ragnar and Erika can travel with Harper.”

They helped Harper stand, but she swayed on her feet. All strength and energy had been drained from her. She hated to admit it to herself, but she wasn’t in any fit state to trek.

“We’re going to struggle today, I fear,” said Ragnar as he offered more of his support to Harper with a hand around her waist.

“Then I’ll carry her with me. I think that’s easiest for us all.” Brand glanced around the group, but no objections came. He nodded. “It’s settled. Harper, you’ll be with me. Ragnar and Erika on the ground, and Aedon bringing up the rear. Who carries the cure today?”

“Harper should,” said Ragnar. “She’s earned it.” Erika nodded, to Harper’s surprise.

“Guard this with your life.” Aedon slipped the small glass vial from inside his top, where it had been tucked close to his chest, and handed it to Harper. She took it reverently, admiring the small, crystal bottle with its stopper containing the precious liquid within. The lump in her throat now had nothing to do with the hoarseness of her voice. She clutched the vial close, its surface cool on her palm, before tucking it into the depths of her clothing. “I will.”

“She—and it—will be safe with me,” Brand said, and he held out a giant hand to Harper. She took it, grateful for his solid weight to hold her up, for her legs still shook and every part of her body hurt. “Right. We have no reason to delay. Let’s go.”

“Going anywhere nice?” a familiar voice drawled. One that sent Harper’s heart into a frenzy.

Dimitrius stood far too close for comfort, in yet another immaculate suit as dark as night, his hands in his pockets and his smooth coiffed hair shining in the morning sun. Those violet eyes were only for her, and the world fell away as she met them with a stare. She raised her chin defiantly, forcing her screaming body to draw up tall and proud. She would not show him one ounce of weakness.

Brand swept Harper behind him as Erika drew her blade and Ragnar hefted his axe from his belt.

“You sent them?” Aedon launched an assault of magic. His barrage disappeared into nothingness. Dimitrius did not so much as twitch. Again and again, Aedon sent everything he had, until Harper’s ears rang and black spots danced across her vision from the volume of magic that crackled and blasted across the space. But his assaults vanished each and every time.

Harper’s stomach swooped. She had thought Aedon powerful, but Dimitrius was incomparably more so. Aedon’s shoulders drooped, heaving with each ragged breath—yet their opponent did not even appear slightly winded. Still, his violet eyes stared them down—and a jolt of something intangible zinged through her as his gaze grazed hers for the barest second. She drew her own knife with a shaking hand, hopeless as it felt against his. Not to mention her own battered body could barely lift the knife, let alone wield it.

“Are you quite done?” Dimitrius narrowed his eyes at Aedon. “Or do I need to teach you a lesson?” Blue lightning bloomed in his hands.

38

DIMITRI

Aedon bared his teeth in a feral snarl. Skulk back to your pack, Dimitri thought, watching his retreat. “Now, who did I send?”

“You well know,” spat Aedon.

“Ah, you mean the two I saw scurrying away with their tails between their legs?” Dimitri cocked his head. “What are two elves of Tir-na-Alathea doing here, chasing you? And why do you think I am involved?”

Aedon glared at him, but did not answer.

Dimitri shrugged. “Fine. Have your secrets,” he said mockingly, even though his mind was alight with wonder and worry. Did they know of the Dragonheart? He could not afford for them to. Then he recalled a report from the forest about a recent theft of one of their secretive elixirs—and the pieces clicked together.

“I hope what you took from them was worth it.” He smirked, but relief washed away the edge of nausea. There was no way for the elves of Tir-na-Alathea to know what he had accidentally sent into Aedon’s hands—but doubt still lurked. Could he afford to take that chance? He already knew the answer. It changed everything.

They glared at him in stony silence. He shrugged off their wariness, circling them like a predator. They shifted with him as he moved, their defences flowing like water, always keeping the strange girl in the centre of their eddies. He did not need his other senses to know she carried what he sought. He could feel it, temptingly close. And, their actions betrayed them.

“I know what you carry.” His gaze flicked to Harper’s, and he gave her a coy smile, showing one of his sharp canines. She returned it with a momentary widening of her eyes, quickly masked by a snarl.

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