Page 125 of Skyshade
ENEMY
The gates loomed far ahead. The shred of storm she had stolen had long dissipated, melting down until she was back on her feet. She had been walking for hours in the open desert, shoes sinking into the sand. Now at least, she had reached the twisting canyons.
She was walking through one of the strangely shaped tunnels, hand dragging against the smooth rock, when she heard it. Something cutting through the air. Her breath hitched. She turned just in time to see a dagger pierce the stone wall inches from her face.
Her dagger.
One she had discarded on the journey. One that must have been picked up, by someone who would have known how much the blades meant to her.
Someone she had betrayed.
She ran.
Her legs felt boneless beneath her as she stumbled through the canyon, ducking, turning, barely missing the sides of the twisted rock that curved wildly under shards of sunlight.
Oro was the king of Lightlark. The ruler of Sunling. Even with the storm, she could not outrun him—not here in his own lands.
Another dagger. This time, just inches from her hip. She cursed. It seemed he had collected them all on his journey back. He had been right on her heels.
She tore around another curve of undulating stone, then stopped, breathing far too quickly. He was faster. Stronger here, in this heat.
Just before Oro turned the corner, she summoned any remaining energy she had—and used Grim’s Nightshade ability to disappear.
It wasn’t a power she had mastered. Her shadows were slippery in the heat, especially with her strength waning.
Still, she willed herself to keep a hold on them as Oro inched into her line of vision, another one of her daggers held loosely in his hand.
This wasn’t the Oro from before the battle, the one who had called her his favorite everything. No, this was the coldhearted king she had met on the first day of the Centennial, his eyes narrowed in anger—in betrayal. His tall, muscular frame tensed with the practice of a hunter. He took a few more steps. Stopped. Looked up.
Then, very slowly, he turned.
And looked right at her.
He squinted. Isla’s heart froze. She glanced down at herself. She was still invisible. She looked back up and found him in front of her.
She wasn’t breathing. She didn’t dare move an inch as he took a step. Then another. As he tentatively raised his arm. Reached for her.
It was a shame she hadn’t learned to walk through walls, because when his fingertips brushed her cheeks, they both felt it.
And then, she became visible.
Before he could say a single word, her Starling shield rippled onto her skin, and she launched a wave of energy at him.
Oro crashed into the rockface with enough force to crack it. She turned to run, but Oro’s hand shot forward. A sheet of stone from behind him ripped off the canyon, hit her hand, and pinned her against the wall. It curled around her wrist, trapping it above her head. With one more movement, her other wrist joined it.
His look was pure fire. Pure satisfaction.
He was using her own power against her.
They both knew what that meant.
He stalked over to her. A dagger of energy formed in his hand, and he raised it against her cheek. Isla glanced down at it. This was good, she tried to tell herself. This was what she wanted. For him to hate her. For him to resent her.
It was not all she wanted.
“You stole from me,” he said, as if he still couldn’t believe it. “You left me. You betrayed me.”
She just stared at him, chest heaving.
