Page 34 of Darkness Rising
This is what we came for. We came here for that book.
We got exactly what we came for. But not how we wanted.
"I'm happy you chose to join me, Jeriko." My father doesn't move an inch under Link's close watch. "Your first assignment is to capture my daughter."
At the sound of his instruction, Nollix takes a step closer, his fingers lacing tightly through mine.
"Ah, just as I had hoped. Snatch up the daring man as well and let’s be on our way, shall we?"
Confusion circles my mind.
Jeriko grips Nollix by the throat. Nollix raises his fuming sword but before either can deliver a blow, we're swept away.
Strange magic falls across the room. It envelops me. Suffocates me. It blacks out the world until there's nothing left.
I know it all too well.
It’s my father’s magic.
Chapter Sixteen
It Doesn’t Mean Anything
The silence of the night lays heavily on me. It weighs on me until my eyes fling open with a knowing sense of dread.
Even in my dreams, my mind does not find rest.
The flame of a small lantern strikes across deep blue eyes, threatening to drown me in their depths. Nollix’s gaze shifts across my features. He lies at my side, his arm tucked beneath his head while his other hand holds mine loosely.
Was he trying to … comfort me?
Four small, metal walls imprison us. Magic drifts through them like a security measure keeping us locked within. It’s a depressing atmosphere that sinks right into me. It’s an unnatural and drowning form of magic.
We’re alone. My father seems to have managed to cut my bond with Cameron. Unless Cameron’s also being held close by.
Seconds pass while we simply consider one another.
I feel defeated. We tried and we failed.
Slow circles drift across the back of my knuckles as his thumb brushes over the scarring mark of the Wild Hunt. The small amount of contact builds our energy between us, pooling in warm and electric magic that neither of us can see but both of us can feel.
I trust him. Nollix and Link might be the only ones I can trust in the entire kingdom. I wasted so many years avoiding them, wishing to escape them.
And now I hope they never leave me.
Because goddess only knows what I’d become if I were alone.
I’d become exactly what my father worked so hard to create.
As if he can sense my dark thoughts, Nollix shifts closer. The energy between us builds, pressing against my chest in a sparking way that makes my breath catch. My lips part with a shaking exhale and the color of Nollix’s eyes intensifies. It brightens before deepening into a shade so dark it’s nearly black.
The evil lineage that lies within him becomes very apparent in his gaze. It threatens to black out the white of his eyes entirely. He doesn’t appear deadly though.
He’s beautiful. His gaze holds a curious look; a look that’s entirely Fae.
It makes my heart beat faster. It makes my stomach flutter with uneasy nerves.
Without a word, he leans into me. My gaze shifts against his and I don’t move an inch as he presses his lips slowly to mine.
