Page 72 of Song of the Shadow Prince
He furrowed his brows and rubbed his chin speculatively. “That’s quite a coincidence,” he murmured. “Usually, they’re rather difficult to find. Next to impossible. It must be fate.”
“Fate, my ass,” I grumbled. “That bitch owes me a year’s worth of therapy!”
“You’re not Arya?”
We whirled around when we heard the deep timbre of Damien’s voice. He materialized from the inky shadows, his huge frame cloaked in darkness. Piercing ebony eyes stared accusingly at me as if I’d just told him Santa Claus wasn’t real.
Fuck.
18
DAMIEN
Iwatched from the shadows as the scene unfolded between Arya and the witch. My plan had been to sneak into the Ryder residence to talk to Arya, but I didn’t expect her not to be home. Fortunately, I saw her outside the gates. Unfortunately, I witnessed her battle the witch. I was about to intervene when the magic bounced off her and I realized Arya had a protection spell on her. She’d come prepared.
When the second magic flame barreled toward her, a man in white suddenly appeared out of thin air. If I blinked, I would have missed it. But my stomach dropped when the magic flame froze in the air, because that meant the man was fae.
What in the name of the immortals was a fae doing outside of Faelight Forest? And how did he know Arya?
Then it all made sense. A little too much sense. Since the accident, she had been claiming she wasn’t Arya. Practically begging everyone to see she wasn’t Arya. And no one believed her.
“You’re not Arya?” I stepped out of my hiding spot.
She and the fae whirled around to face me. Her expression was one of shock, but the fae looked almost bored when hemet my gaze. I didn’t recognize him. Not that I knew many fae since they were sequestered in their forest, but still. There were some I’d encountered, but this one? This one I would have remembered. He had a unique look that would be difficult to forget.
“Damien!” She glanced between me and the fae. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you.” I stepped closer, unable to refute the fact that I missed her. It hadn’t been long since we last spoke, but I felt the tug of our bond pulling me toward her. To this woman who was not Arya. Now I understood why she was so different from the Arya I knew.
She fidgeted, clearly nervous. “Uh… you should have given me a heads up. I, uh…”
“Would have had a lie ready to go?” I finished for her. “Who are you?”
The fae laughed and then sniffed the air. “Ah, so this is the infamous Shadow Prince!” he mused, then offered a slight bow. “A pleasure.”
I frowned and ignored him, turning my attention back to her. “Whoareyou?”
She blew out a breath. “My name is Cat,” she whispered. “I’m not from Elaria.”
“Then where are you from?”
The fae chuckled as if he was in on a joke I wasn’t.
She grimaced. “From somewhere very far away.”
“From where?” I demanded with a growl.
She sighed as if she was exhausted. “From a place called Earth. You’ve probably never heard of it because it’s another world. Arya sort of pulled me in here and swapped places with me,” she casually offered with a shrug. “I’ve been trying to find my way back home ever since.”
I furrowed my brows. “That’swhy you jumped into the River Elara that day…” I murmured as I started to piece it all together. The switch must have happened the night of the accident.
Cat nodded. “Yes. I thought maybe the portal might be in the river, but...”
“It wasn’t?” I interrupted.
She shook her head. “If it is, I couldn’t find it.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Good,” I muttered mainly to myself.
