Page 76 of Her Dark Promise

“You sound just like Father.” He missed the horrified look on Bastian’s face, but I didn’t. After seeing what his father was like in the memory, I knew that was a vile comparison.

“Spit your venom, Soren. On this matter, I know I’m right.” He walked up to Soren and hit him on the back of his head with a glass bottle of wine, effectively knocking him unconscious.

I frowned. Poor little scholar.

Bastian hoisted him over his shoulder and then set out into the hallway. He was cautious and stuck to the shadows, not wanting to be caught, not wanting to take any chances in case someone was awake in the castle.

I smiled, suddenly excited. The fool had no idea what he just did, what he just awakened in me. My heart rate increased; the smell of fear potent in the air and the wind whipping around my face was all so invigorating. There was something about stalking my prey and then pouncing on them that made my insides molten. My mind flicked to a memory of chasing Callum in the woods and fucking him right where I found him.

I walked through the opening I created with my shadows and was transported to the same spot where I met this foolish hunter not long ago, waiting for the brothers to arrive. I guessed that it took Bastian a while because he wanted to take his time to ensure that he wouldn’t be caught.

I was leaning against a tree, using the darkness to hide, as I heard rustling down the path. A moment later Bastian came into sight. He stopped at the gate, readjusted the slipping Soren back on his shoulder, and stepped through it. I smiled to myself as he was forced back by my shadows, waiting for the fury that would come when Bastian found that he couldn’t get through.

They were both on the ground as Bastian stood up, clearly confused.

“What the—” He walked to the gate and tried stepping through it again but was thrown back once more.

“How many times are you going to try that before you realize it won’t work?” I asked in a bored tone.

He jumped.

“Goddammit, woman!” He paled when he realized that he had been caught. His ingenious plan to flee was over, and they were seconds away from the repercussions of attempting escape. “I wasn’t… This wasn’t—”

“So, you weren’t just trying to escape before dawn?”

He looked toward the gate, at the vine-covered path ahead.

I tapped my hand against my chin.

“Hm, I wonder whose brilliant idea this was.” I pondered, looking down at Soren’s unconscious body.

He eyed me, furious at his failed attempt.

“Why can’t we step foot over the gate, witch?”

“Are we still name-calling? Rather childish, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Why can’t we leave?”

I walked up to him. “How many times do I need to remind you that your life is no longer yours to do with as you please?”

He pointed to his chest.

“This is keeping us from leaving?”

“No,” I said coyly.

“Then why?” He shouted.

“You’re no fun… It’s just my shadows.” I jutted my bottom lip out, pouting. I released my powers and rolled my eyes. “I told you that the mark binds you to these lands, but that was a lie. The truth? You could leave at any moment; the mark simply brands you as mine. The only one cursed to be here is me. What can I say?” I raised my hands above me and shrugged. “I have a flair for the dramatics.”

“Why lie at all?”

“You wouldn’t have stayed otherwise if you knew the truth, and I wasn’t in the mood to keep watch over you constantly.”

“We are leaving.”

Bastian reached down to hoist Soren over his shoulder. Just as he was about to take a step over the boundary line, I shot myshadows out and clutched onto Soren’s wrist, tugging him out of Bastian’s arms once more, and laid him gently in front of me.

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