Page 220 of Flirting with Darkness

I glanced at the cracked ceiling. “The shabby carpets and damp patches.”

“She wanted to trap Faolán’s soul here with mine, so the house would be restored to its former glory. Her earlier attempts at creating unquestioning servants had failed—you saw that.”

The sewn together bodies lurching around the dining room. “Those poor people. She wanted silent, obedient slaves… so she made you and the entire house into one.”

“I had no choice, and my memories were fractured, blending with things the house remembered—her parties and sacrifices.” She shook her head as if shaking those unpleasant images away. “Once she found what she could do with a soul locked in this place, she wasn’t about to give that up. With Faolán’s spirit in her house and his strength in her body, she would’ve been able to resume her terror. But you stopped her.” She sighed, relief clear in the way her body eased and the soft smile that came to her face. “And now I’m free to join my beloved in the next place.Thank you. Both of you.”

The house groaned. In the distance there was a rumble like thunder or something falling.

Her brown eyes widened. “You might want to run. I think I was the only thing holding this place together. Itisrather old.”

Beneath us the floor ground, then shook. My pulse lurched. Something was very,verywrong.

Faolán grabbed my hand and pulled me close. He curled around me, shielding me as dust rained upon us.

Even if it was only because he’d vowed to keep me safe in Elfhame, I pressed against him and covered his nose and mouth with the frill from my nightgown to keep the dust out.

With an ear-splittingcrack, a fissure split the ceiling. I flinched, more than half expecting it to come crashing into us. He squeezed me tight, crouching, ready to dodge any danger, like he’d shown me in training.

No crash came.

“I’m trying to hold this place together.” Elaina winced, fists clenching. “But I’m losing my grip. I’m already separating from this world, getting pulled to the next.”

“Time to go.” Faolán released me, and in the time it took to blink, he’d shifted into that huge wolf. His fur was no longer ragged and dull, but shiny and healthy, recovered from Granny’s drain. Apart from his size, he wasn’t frightening.

He was magnificent.

“Go,” Elaina said between gritted teeth, her body rigid. “Get out of here. Have a long, happy life. Know that you have my gratitude forever.”

“Thank you, Elaina. For everything.” I touched the air where her shoulder should’ve been.

She gave a stiff smile and nodded, before waving us off. Her brown eyes stayed on the ceiling and that widening fissure.

Rose,Faolán’s voice came through my mind, tearing my attention from the ceiling. He bent his front legs offering me his back.I’m asking you to trust me.

It wasn’t something he needed to ask. I rested one hand on his shoulder and mounted. “I already do.”

39

THROUGH CORRIDORS

He was as fast as the wind.

I clung to his neck, warm in his rich fur as we sped down corridors, turning left and right, dodging falling chunks of plaster and marble.

Dust choked the air. The ground opened up—a yawning black maw.

Still, he ran.

His muscles bunched and sprang under me, as incredible in this form as they were in his fae one. He coughed, and as I shielded my eyes from the debris falling from above, I spotted that his were streaming.

“Straight on,” I shouted.

He eased under me and dipped his head.Can’t see shit in this.

I coughed out a laugh. “Then I’ll be your eyes.” Maybe it was the years of working in our bakery with its air full of flour that had built my tolerance, but I only had to blink a few times to clear the dust.

I searched for falling timbers and cried warnings as they came down in our path. He dodged and leapt and followed my directions.

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