Page 24 of Shadowkissed

“I did.”

Clara leans forward. “Funny. Because he’s saying otherwise.”

The rogue lifts his head slowly. His eyes are wrong. Glossy. Too black. Like there’s something still moving behind them that hasn’t settled.

“She was there,” he rasps. “The girl. With the eyes.”

My stomach knots.

Clara eyes me. “Violet, he said. Said she threw him through a dumpster like he weighed nothing.”

I force a casual shrug. “Sounds like he was hallucinating.”

“Does it?” Clara raises an eyebrow. “Because we pulled residue from the alley. Shadow magic. Old fae signature.”

Tamsin cuts in. “That kind of power doesn’t just show up without someone noticing. You sure there wasn’t anyone else there?”

I meet her eyes and hold them. I know she knows I’m not saying everything, especially since just the other day I had questions about a violet-eyed fae.

But yet, I lie.

“No.”

Clara doesn’t blink. “You’re sure.”

“Positive. I was alone. Caught him trying to run. Must’ve cracked his skull harder than I thought.”

They don’t believe me. But they can’t prove I’m lying. Not yet.

Tamsin looks away first. “We’re flagging the energy signature. If it shows up again, we’ll know.”

Fuck.

The moment I leave the building, I duck into an alley and brace my hands against the brick, breathing hard.

I just lied to PEACE for a woman I barely know. A woman who might be cursed. Marked.Claimedby something that shouldn’t even be walking this plane.

What thehellam I doing?

I walk for blocks, trying to shake the feeling. I don’t go home. I can’t sit still. Instead, I end up at the edge of the river, watching the sun burn low behind the skyline. And all I can think about is her.

Nightshade.

She doesn’t belong to the club, or the streets, or the shadows. She belongs tosomething else. Something ancient and wrong and far too deep for me to swim in. And yet… she feelsright. That’s the part that’s driving me insane. Because when we brushed hands the other night, I know it did something to her. She couldn’t hide it. But it seemed to wake something in me as well.

When our fingers brushed, it wasn’t just a flicker—it was asurge. Something inside meopened. Something that’s been dormant my whole life—maybe longer.

My wolf knows her. My bloodrecognizeshers.

It wasn’t lust. Wasn’t just attraction.

It wasbonding.

No.Calling.

Like two puzzle pieces snapping into place in the dark.

I flex my hands, and for a split second, my skin glows faint—lines of light tracing over my knuckles, down my forearms. Not tattoos. Not magic I know. Old magic. Guardian magic.

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