Page 57 of A Fury Of Shadows

The man walked off. Nikolai’s stomach flip-flopped. He looked out the lancet windows behind him. Pale clouds peppered a bright blue sky.

Shit. I was asleep for a whole day?!

Blood pounded viciously inside his head. He recalled what had happened in Oscar’s room. The shape of the spell the Witch Queen had hidden within his brother danced before his eyes.

What kind of magic was that?!

Alastair jumped into his arms and huddled against his chest.

“Did you have the same nightmare?” Nikolai mumbled.

The crow trembled. Nikolai furrowed his brow when he sensed his familiar’s confusion.

He wished he could blame whatever wicked conjuration Mae Jin had concealed inside Oscar’s core for what he and his familiar had just relived. His stomach lurched at that unbidden thought.

Nikolai swallowed convulsively.Relived? Is that really what I think just happened?!

His headache intensified with a vengeance. Alastair crooned wretchedly, the pain afflicting the crow echoing across their bond.

Nikolai’s gut told him there was more to this than just the Witch Queen’s magic. It was as if something was stopping them from exploring their past memories in greater depth.

He was distracted by the arrival of the sorcerer. The man handed him some pills and a glass of water. The medicine tasted bitter on Nikolai’s tongue. He gulped it all down and wiped his mouth.

The sorcerer offered him a bowl of steaming soup next.

Nikolai shook his head. “I’m not hungry.”

The man hesitated. “Shall I inform the Sorcerer King that you’re awake?”

“No!”

The vehement denial left Nikolai’s lips before he could help it, shocking him as much as it did the sorcerer. He glanced at Oscar. His brother hadn’t stirred.

Nikolai took a shallow breath.

“No,” he repeated in a calm voice that he hoped disguised the emotions churning his insides. “I wish to rest some more. If my father asks, I’m in my chambers.”

He swung his legs onto the floor and stood up, Alastair in his arms. A wave of dizziness swept over him. He clenched his jaw and forced himself to move.

He didn’t remember how he got back to his suite. He stumbled inside his bedroom, closed the door, and headed into the bathroom. It took him seconds to strip off. Alastair joined him when he stepped under the shower, the crow stretching his wings to wash his feathers.

The hot water cleaned away the stale sweat clinging to Nikolai’s skin.

He pressed his head against the tiles and closed his eyes, wishing it would wipe away his muddied thoughts too. Because he had a nasty feeling he couldn’t tell what was real and what was fake anymore. Judging from what he sensed from Alastair, neither could his familiar.

One thing they were both conscious of. They could not trust their own memories.

Nikolai curled his hands into fists as a fragment of his nightmare flitted before his inner vision.That palace. It exists somewhere. I’m certain of it!

Dusk was painting purple streaks across the sky when the Sorcerer King came to find them. He entered the suite without preamble, Barquiel trailing in his wake in Rose’s form.

“How are you feeling?” Vedran asked briskly.

Alastair flinched on Nikolai’s lap. They sat in the gathering gloom by the windows, where they’d been staring out over the forest and lake that surrounded the castle.

Nikolai looked around. He’d thought he would have an epiphany when he met his father’s probing stare. All he felt was…

Nothing. I don’t feel a thing for this man.

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