Another hit.
The iron seared his split flesh clean off, revealing bone.
Another.
His bones fractured, revealing a mangled fist.
Another.
The sound of the iron cracking would have been missed by any who were not watching closely.
My spectator self rushed over in disbelief, staring down at the iron cuff that had once held me hostage. Emon had done it! Goddess above and below, the shifter had done it…the iron cracked under his broken and bloody fist with nothing more than his sheer will to free me—to free his soulmate.
A blaring alarm sounded. Emon turned snarling while chaos broke out within the room. Armed guards attacked him from all angles and he fought like a cornered savage beast but I knew how this ended.
Tearing my eyes away, I looked back down at myself in Emon’s memory, my gaze fixated on my right wrist and the split iron cuff.
A slow smile spread across my face as I stared down at myself.
There…wrapping lazily around my twitching fingers was a thin film of smokey shadows.
Chapter 69
Darknessswirledaroundmeagain for a new memory and my shoulders slumped with defeated relief when the tortured growls and the sadistic laughter disappeared.
I stood in the middle of a massive black marbled throne room, above me a glass dome separated the night sky above from the shadows that swirled below.
Instant home sickness gripped my chest.
I knew this place well—and thankfully, it wasn’t a place of pain. It was one full of love, patience, and understanding. A place that once heard the small pitter patter of my feet, the laughter of my mother while she chased me, and the undying loyalty of a court that I thought I had been lost forever.
I was in the Onyx Throne Room of the City of Night, homeland to the shadow fae.
And in themiddle of the room next to me stood Emon. Proud, despite his deathlike appearance and being covered in iron burns and flaking dried blood, he still commanded a captivating presence.
The soft steps of booted feet had me turning to stare at the exact replica of me only in male form. Bright green eyes, dark blue wavy hair, and black swirled ink etched into the pale skin of his muscular athletic frame.
“Kade." I gasped.
Shadows curled from his lethal hands and weaved around the shifter king. It was a futile attempt to restrain Emon judging by the lack of worry he demonstrated at the shadows binding him.
Then the darkness around the room stirred, swirling and materializing into a majestical ancient fae.
“Mother.” I whispered.
The moons highlighted my mother’s beauty while the darkness poured off her in gentle waves. Shorter than me but not in presence, her skin was like porcelain, her heart shaped face regal with an air of elegance, her slanted eyes a deep sapphire blue, ringed with green, and outlined by thick dark lashes. Her hair fell in undulating deep ocean blue waves when she moved, mimicking the billowing fabric of her dress that blended into the shadows of the room, whispering across the floor like a dark promise.
How could my memory of her ever blurred?
Emon’s eyes remained trained only on my mother, absent of fear.
“Eve.” He said, bowing his head subtly.
“King Daemon.” She bowed her head and then turned to my brother. “Kade, please release the shifter king. He is not a prisoner here…albeit you do look like one.” Her eyes narrowed. “Why is that, your majesty?”
I opened my eyes and swallowed the building emotion within me.
“With all due respect mother. He stormed into our home knocking out a dozen of our guards demanding to see you and only you. I do not feel it would be wise to release him until we know exactly why he is here.”
