Page 42 of Marked By the Enemy
“You sealed the chamber. You built the path. You left the marks. You wanted someone to come.”
“I didn’t build any of this, but I don’t want the situation to worsen.”
The mirror shattered like a truth finally spoken. The gate beyond was veined with light that pulsed beneath its surface. Behind it, things stirred. The bond twisted in warning.
“You will unmake us.”
Without hesitation, I entered, and the corridor crumpled behind me like paper folding into fire. When I woke, I was still standing in the Keep. My breath came in short gasps. The circles on my palm, wrist, arm, and chest were warm.
Darian sat nearby, watching. “You never lay down.”
My muscles weakened, and I pressed my palm with the circle against my heart. He was speaking to me again. I had missed him. Tears welled. Fortunately, he couldn’t see them in the starlight. “I walked the corridor.”
“In sleep?”
“No. While awake.”
He studied me like the ground had cracked. “What did you see?”
“A figure,” I said. “Cloaked. Tall. He was waiting at the end of the corridor.”
Darian straightened. “Was he a fae?”
“I think so. He had silver eyes. Brighter than yours.”
His whole body went still. “Did he have hair?”
“I couldn’t tell. He wore a cowl. Why?”
“Only those born to the Moon Court’s highest line have silver eyes. Direct lineage.”
“Then he was like you,” I said. “Or who you might’ve been.”
I watched him try to process it—try to bend what I’d said into something he could live with. But the tension in his jaw said he couldn’t.
“What did he say to you?” Darian asked at last.
“He said I wasn’t meant to reach that far. That he built the path and left the marks, but not for me.”
“So, for who?”
I shook my head. “He didn’t say. He was angry, though. Not loud. Just disappointed, like I’d spoiled something.”
Darian’s hand moved slowly to his own forearm, fingers brushing the edge of one of his circles. “You think he was a Bone Seat?”
“No. I think he’s trapped somewhere. But he’s fae, and he said I shouldn’t open the gate.”
“You said he warned you?”
I nodded. “He told me I’d unmake them.”
“The Bone Seats?”
“I don’t know. Maybe something else. Maybe something older.”
Darian looked at me like I’d said something sacred and forbidden in the same breath. “What gate?”
“Behind the mirror. After it cracked. The bond let me see it. It seemed to be alive. Beyond it lay other entities who were watching.”
