“I need you to do what you do best,” she said to him.
I could barely see it through the swirl of shadows, but his jaw ticked. Something was happening here, I was sure of it. So I’d stayed silent, and I listened, beginning to realize this might be just the answer I’d been looking for. The gods used the god of shadows to punish those who displeased them.Everyone thought he reveled in it, liked being their weapon. But something was off. I got the distinct feeling he didn’t like it at all.
Aethira walked forward, vines dipping down from her leg and slinking across the shiny black floor. “I think a flogging will do for this one. Make it public.” She tapped a long green nail against her chin. “Send your shadows to snatch the perpetrators from their home, then punish them in the town square.”
“Perpetrators?” the shadow god ground out.
“Well, I don’t know exactly who did it.” She rolled her eyes. “So we’ll teach all the suspects a lesson.” She gave him a calculated smile. “Glad we had this talk.”
Then she disappeared in a cloud of green smoke, glittering dust falling to the ground in her wake.
It hit me then: the truth. I’d turned to the god of shadows. “You don’t want to kill anyone. The other gods make you.”
His fists curled at his sides.
“But why?” I’d asked.
He didn’t answer, but I was right. I could feel it. And that means we can help each other. I’m just going to have to convince him first.
Chapter Thirty-Five
BELLAMY
For four days, I’d tried to figure out how to get out of the castle. Well, the castle wasn’t the problem. It was the village below. Jungle surrounded the village on all sides, shadows lurking under the canopies, keeping anyone from getting out or in, as we’d learned when we’d gotten inside.
I needed to go during the day when Kairoth was sleeping, and Driscoll and Leoni needed to distract the pixies long enough for me to escape, so I wouldn’t be able to rely on either of them for help.
Which meant I was stuck until I figured out what to do. My hands had healed some as a result, but my mood had soured. I’d had barely enough fibers to start on the third sweater.
I paced on the farthest edge of the mountain plateau, which looked down over the village, trying to think up any solution to this problem.
“How long has she been doing that?” Driscoll asked from behind me.
“About an hour,” Leoni responded.
We hadn’t talked much since that day in the garden, and they’d given me my space, which meant I’d successfully pushed them away, and for whatever annoying reason, I missed them.
“I don’t know how to leave.”I turned.
Leoni took a step forward, peering at me. “And why do you need to leave?”
I gestured toward the garden.“No more nettle weed. I need to find more.”
“Could you just ask Spirit Shadow to fly you down there?” Driscoll asked.
“One of his rules is no leaving.”I sighed.“He won’t do that for me.”I rubbed my arm, looking away.“I also haven’t spoken to him in four days.”
“Well, that’s an interesting development.” Driscoll crossed his arms, smirking.
“Are you two going to help me figure this out or not?”
Driscoll waved his hand in the air. “Yes, yes. Of course we’ll help you.” He looked over at Leoni. “Go ahead, shorty.”
She rolled her eyes. “Well, we would have to stay here to distract the pixies. You need to go during the day when Spirit Shadow is sleeping.”
Every time they said spirit, I winced. I knew how much Kairoth hated that term. It made him feel like a ghost, unimportant, forgotten. But I didn’t feel like correcting them right now and getting off track, so I remained quiet.
“Can you fly by any chance?” Driscoll asked.
