Page 93 of Secrets and Starlight

Ayla hesitated, leaning back.“What is that?”

I frowned, certain I had heard her voice in my head.

She shook her head.“I imagined it.”

I sat up straighter, shock coursing through my veins, and I intentionally directed my next thought through the tether.“I don’t think you imagined it.”

She pinned me with her eyes.“That’s really you?”

I nodded.“Yes.”

“The tether—it’s…”

“Changed again,”I agreed. The threads binding us had thickened anew. We were mates, undeniably so.

I needed to celebrate, to kiss her and claim her again, but…

I gripped the black diamond in my fist, reminded that responsibility over Gloom was now in my hand. The deity’s negligence may have almost killed me, but I’d never let the Starlit King have this sort of power. “We need to get out of here.”

“Quickly,” she agreed.

Pinching the shadows, I wrapped my arms around her and—

The darkness didn’t obey.

The door to the study clicked. It creaked.

“Stop right there!” he called.

I tightened my grip on Ayla. There was only one voice that could make my skin crawl that way.

The Starlit King had arrived.

Chapter thirty-three

Of Kings and Thrones

Ayla

I tensed, leaning into Zayne’s embrace.

He isn’t shadow-stepping.

I turned to him, but on this side of the desk, we were close to the starlit box, and I watched in horror as shadows slipped through his fingers.

My own magic twinged, drawn not only to the box, but now the Starlit King. I couldn’t see my father, standing on the other side of the desk, but light flooded from him. I made myself smaller, hoping he couldn’t see us, huddled under the desk and hidden by the remnants of shadow.

“I can’t shadow-step this close to the box. I might be able to harness the black diamond, only…”Zayne said, thinking fast. He may have left the thought unfinished, but I understood.

He didn’t know if it would work. He didn’t know if he could take us both.

The Starlit King neared, his boots stomping closer, and my stomach knotted. There were so many dangerous factors at play—my role and Zayne’s, the agreement to send weapons south, and now, the repaired black diamond.

We would only remain hidden for a few more moments.

“I should have searched for you earlier, Shadow Prince.” the Starlit King boomed. “But you cannot withstand my starlight.”

My heart pinched with split-second decisions as I met Zayne’s gaze.“Do you trust me?”

---