Page 51 of Crown of Light and Ashes
"Running from prophecies doesn't make them less true," Banu calls, hurrying after me. "Though I must say, denial looks fetching on you. Very determined chin. Very flushed cheeks. Very 'I'm not thinking about shadow sex' energy."
"I'm not thinking about—" I break off, mortified by the heat flooding my face. "I need the potion, Banu. Now. Before it wears off completely."
As if summoned by my words, a familiar presence presses against my consciousness—Kaan, his awareness brushing against mine through the weakening barrier of Banu's magic. I stumble, gasping as a wave of sensation washes over me. Curiosity. Irritation. Hunger. His emotions bleed into mine, tangling until I can't separate them.
I break into a run, desperate to reach my chambers before the bond opens completely. By the time I slam my door shut behind me, my breath comes in ragged gasps, my skin hypersensitive as if every nerve ending has been exposed.
"Banu," I call, my voice urgent. "I need the potion now!"
She solidifies completely near the window, dropping her glamour entirely to reveal her full form for the first time this evening. Despiteher slender five-foot frame, Banu has a way of filling any space she enters with her presence. Her iridescent wings, nearly transparent in the dim light, fold gracefully against her back. Her expression is unusually serious. "Are you sure that's what you want? The bond exists for a reason, Nesi. Fighting it could have consequences neither of us has foreseen."
"I can't let him into my mind," I insist, pacing the room like a caged animal. "Everything I've worked for depends on keeping him out."
"Or perhaps," she suggests, "everything you're meant to become depends on letting him in."
A surge of alien emotions floods through me—dark, possessive, triumphant. Kaan, sensing my turmoil through the weakening barrier. Sensing Banu.
The door to my chambers crashes open with enough force to splinter the wood. I turn, words of outrage dying on my lips as I take in the sight before me.
Kaan stands in the doorway, half-dressed and magnificent. His broad chest is bare, shadows dancing across dark skin pulled taut over sculpted muscle. A jagged scar runs from his left shoulder to his sternum, evidence of some ancient battle that only enhances his dangerous beauty. His pants hang dangerously low on his hips, revealing a trail of dark hair disappearing beneath the waistband. His hair is damp, as if he'd rushed from bathing, dark strands falling across his forehead in careless perfection.
My mouth goes dry. I hate myself for it, but I can't tear my eyes away from the sight of him—power and danger embodied in flesh that my treacherous fingers itch to touch. The curse left its mark on him, thin silver lines tracing the path of shadow poison through his veins, somehow making him look even more otherworldly. But there's something different about his eyes, a heightened awareness, as if his recent brush with the curse sharpened his magical perception.
"Who were you talking to?" he demands, his deep voice sending an involuntary shiver down my spine. His shadows swirl around him, more agitated than I've seen since his illness, reaching hungrily into the room.
I force myself to breathe, to ignore the way my pulse quickens at his proximity, the way savage heat invades my core. My reaction is purely physical, I tell myself. Meaningless. Yet the bond betrays me, carrying my unwanted awareness straight to him.
A knowing smile curves his lips as he catches me staring. "See something you like,hatun?"
Pure, cold terror grips me as I feel his presence pushing against mine through the bond, seeking entry to my innermost thoughts. But beneath the terror is something else, a heat that builds low in my belly, a hunger I refuse to acknowledge.
Banu's form flickers, her glamour wavering under stress, making her partially visible like a heat mirage.
"Answer me," Kaan growls, stalking into the room. His shadows slam the door behind him, then flow across its surface, sealing us in. "Who is here with you?"
"No one," I manage, backing away until my legs hit the bed. "I was talking to myself."
"Liar," he hisses, closing the distance between us with predatory grace. His bare chest radiates so much heat that I can feel him even before he reaches me. The scent of him—cedar and something darker—fills my lungs with each panicked breath. "I can feel your deception through the bond. It's opening,hatun. Whatever barrier you've erected is failing."
His hand shoots out, gripping my chin with bruising force. "I've been patient. I've allowed you your secrets while I recovered. But now I want answers." His voice drops to a dangerous whisper. "Who was in this room? What were you discussing aboutpotions and bonds?"
My mind races, searching for a plausible explanation, but before I can speak, a faint shimmer of silver light wavers behind Kaan's shoulder.
Banu's glamour continues to fail under her fear, her outline becoming more solid with each passing second.
"Oh, for twilight's sake," Banu's voice rings out, pitched higher than normal. She drops her glamour completely, stepping fully into view. "This melodramatic standoff is getting us nowhere. Yes, hello, I'm the invisible someone. Surprise!"
Her attempt at bravado is betrayed by the tremor in her voice and the way her wings have flattened against her back—a defensive posture I've rarely seen from her.
Kaan whirls toward the sound, shadows lashing out with blinding speed. They connect with Banu, coiling around her body like serpents. Her eyes widen in shock as the darkness envelops her, and for the first time since I've known her, genuine fear flashes across her face.
The shadows lift her slightly off the ground, tightening visibly around her slender frame. Banu goes rigid, her skin losing its usual pearlescent glow as she pales to an ashen white. Her hair, normally a vibrant, shifting rainbow of colors, drains to a stark, fearful silver-white.
"This is—" her voice catches, her usual confident tone replaced by a tight whisper. "This is undignified." Her wings struggle against the shadows' grip, the delicate structures trembling uncontrollably. The fine shimmer of fairy dust that usually follows her movements has changed from gold to a dull, fearful gray that floats around her like ash.
I watch as Banu, my fearless companion, tenses as Kaan's shadows constrict around her.
"These don't feel like normal shadows," she manages, forcing a small smile. "They're surprisingly warm. Like evil kittens with boundary issues."
