Page 68 of A Fury Of Shadows

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Nikolai was dreaming again.In the dream, he crouched in a dark forest and performed theAura of the Moon, a scrying ritual that would allow him to locate the body of the woman in whom a powerful soul would soon awaken. A soul he hoped would not just prove to be his salvation, but help him avenge his mother’s death and save the world of magic from evil.

The dream shifted, as fluid as a river. He found himself on a high-rise in New York, pouring all of his and Alastair’s power into the magic circle he had inscribed into the rooftop. It was a spell meant to forcibly rouse the soul they had come to the city to seek. Dazzling white light engulfed them asSoul Stormtook effect.

He blinked. He was on another building now, this one wrecked by the battle he had unwittingly brought about. He was holding an unconscious woman in his arms, his stomach churning at the devastating power he had just seen her wield and the sight of the demon she had confronted.

His heart lurched when he looked upon her face. Though she was pale and hurt, the Witch Queen’s beauty took his breath away.

He expected to feel hatred for her. The hatred that had consumed his insides whenever she had come to mind after he’d returned to the Dark Council. But the only emotions that filled him in that instant were remorse at what he had done to her and an attraction he could not deny.

He moved through more memories, a ghost swimming through an endless ocean he had once known.

He saw a battle in a cemetery, where the Witch Queen had laid her best friend Rose to rest, only to discover that the demon who had killed her had taken control of her body. He witnessed her coming into possession of the weapon he had stolen from the Dark Council and brought to New York for her to use. He experienced gratitude when the New York coven accepted him into their fold despite the fact that the Sorcerer King’s blood ran through his veins. He relived the defeats he had helped them and the Witch Queen inflict on his brother and father in the months that followed.

His chest tightened as more intimate moments rose before him.

He was in Mae Jin’s apartment. They were having breakfast. She laughed at something he said, her eyes sparkling. He fought the urge to lean over the table and kiss her.

Therewerekisses. Heated moments when the passion that had ignited between them threatened to burn them both.

His throat closed up as the vision of the last time they had been alone played before him. They stood on the rear porch of a clapboard house, under a setting sun and a rising Harvest Moon.

“Choose me,” he’d whispered to her. “I will make you happy.”

She’d swallowed, emotion darkening her eyes.

Then their hands were on one another and their mouths clashed and the kiss they shared made his very soul tremble.

* * *

He wokeup with tears on his face. Alastair made a miserable sound in his sleep beside him.

It took Nikolai a second to register where they were.

A dying fire glowed in the hearth in his bedroom, inside the keep where the Dark Council had gone to ground. The sun was halfway to the horizon through the windows on his left.

Shit. I lost another day?!

Nikolai sat up slowly and dragged a hand down his face, careful not to rouse Alastair.

The crow inched closer to him. He smiled softly and laid a gentle hand upon his familiar. Alastair relaxed under his touch. Nikolai could tell from the silence that there was no one else in the suite with them. A chill danced down his spine.

He couldn’t remember much about what had happened last night after Vedran had discovered the preciousBook of Shadowshe had strived so hard to find was a fake. Which meant he’d probably blacked out again. He wondered what Vedran had made of his latest collapse.

If he even reacted to it.

In truth, his father had been so lost in his rage he probably hadn’t been aware of much else.

Nikolai gave a brief thought to who’d carried him to his room. He doubted it was Oscar. The last time he’d seen his brother, the sorcerer had been gasping for air. He sneered at the recollection.

Surprise jolted him at his reaction. It was followed by an awareness that shook him to the core.

The contradictory feelings that had wrought havoc on his mind and upon his heart after he’d awakened in the infirmary yesterday were no more. The loathing he felt toward Mae Jin was now an irritating emotion he could ignore. Instead, he found himself experiencing a growing animosity toward the ones in this castle with him.

Whatever it was Vedran had done to him and Alastair to modify their memories had started to lose its effect.

Nikolai clenched his jaw.

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