Page 3 of Midnight Reign
Zaiah approaches. “That was intense,” he says.
“Let’s hope we don’t need to see it again,” I mutter, already focusing on picking up any trail that might lead us to Adelaide.
The forest seems to close in around us, shadows deepening. I can sense the land is conspiring against us, trying to keep us from Adelaide.
But I won’t let it. I won’t let anything stop me from finding her. She’s become a light in my world of shadows, a beacon I didn’t know I was searching for until I found her.
And now she’s gone, taken by forces we don’t fully understand. The thought of her alone, scared, hurt, angers me that someone dared to take her from me.
“Hold on, Adelaide,” I whisper into the darkness. “We’re coming. Just hold on.”
As we push deeper into the forest, I make a promise. I will find her; I will save her, and anyone who stands in my way will face the full wrath of the Dark Fae prince.
Because Adelaide is mine.
And I protect what’s mine.
2
ADELAIDE
The world explodesinto chaos as Randall slams the knife into my chest, straight into my heart. For a moment, time stands still. I can feel the cold metal of the blade inside me, an alien presence where it doesn’t belong. The pain is excruciating, and I cry out, waiting for my life to flash before my eyes.
But then, something strange happens.
I don’t die.
Instead, the world around me erupts into a kaleidoscope of red. Light crimson and deep, dark burgundy swirl together in a dizzying scene. It’s beautiful and terrifying all at once, like watching a supernova explode in slow motion. The colours pulse and throb, matching the frantic beating of my heart—the heart that should have stopped, but somehow keeps going.
My stomach lurches as the ground beneath me starts to shake. The stone I’m chained to groans and creaks, the sound reverberating through my bones. Cracks appear on its surface, spreading like a spider’s web. The standing stones around me begin to split, great fissures opening up as if the earth is trying to swallow them.
Thick, acrid smoke fills the air, choking me. I cough and splutter, desperately trying to draw breath. My eyes water, and the swirling reds blur into a nauseating mess. The smoke has a strange, metallic taste—like blood, but rotten. It coats my tongue and throat, making me gag.
Terror grips me. What’s happening to me? Why aren’t I dead? The questions whirl through my mind, each one more frantic than the last. I’ve never been so scared in my life. Even when the Strix took me, even when I first discovered what I was, nothing compares to this moment of pure, unadulterated fear.
I try to move, to get away from the knife still protruding from my chest, but the chains hold me fast. They rattle against the stone, the sound almost lost in the din of the earth splitting around me. I’m trapped, helpless, at the mercy of whatever dark force Randall has unleashed.
I want to ask, to find out what he is doing, why he tried to kill me, but I can’t speak. In fact, I’m completely frozen.
Through the haze of red and smoke, I can barely make out his figure. He’s standing back, watching the stones, his face an unreadable mask. How can he just stand there while the world falls apart around us?
Another violent tremor shakes the earth. The stone beneath me shifts, and for a heart-stopping moment, I think it might roll over, crushing me. But it holds, even as more cracks spider across its surface under my back, digging into me, bruising me.
The knife in my chest pulses, sending waves of heat through my body.
I let out a strangled gasp as a surge of energy courses through me. Power, raw and untamed, floods my veins. My skin tingles with it, every nerve ending alive and firing. The world around me comes into sharp focus, the reds somehow more vibrant, the sounds clearer.
I don’t understand what’s happening, but I know one thing for certain: I’m not dying. If anything, I feel more alive than I ever have before.
Through the swirling mists of red, I catch a glimpse of Randall. He’s moving away, his form blurring at the edges. Is he leaving? Panic surges through me. As much as I fear him right now, the thought of being left alone in this chaos is even more terrifying.
“Wait!” I try to call out, but my voice is lost in the roar of the earth splitting around me.
I squint, trying to see through the haze. There’s something there. A shimmer in the air, like heat rising from the tarmac on a hot day. But this shimmer is vertical, a tear in the fabric of reality.
A portal?
Before I can be sure, Randall steps through. The shimmer engulfs him, and then he’s gone. Just like that. I blink, wondering if I imagined it all. But no, he’s really gone. He’s left me here, alone, with a knife in my chest and the world falling apart around me.
