“I’ll go with you,” Silas said, surprising me. It was the first time he’d volunteered to be in my presence, in any capacity. And I didn’t think our daily group breakfast counted.
As we walked the long path out of the hall, toward the kitchen just off from it, I felt every shadow witch eye on my back. Did they know, I wondered, about the prophecy? Would they wish to stab me in my sleep? All the while knowing they couldn’t?
Not that I took any stock in that prophecy. In my mind, it was horse shit.
“You don’t look happy to see them,” Silas said when our feet met the sweet relief of the kitchen floor, finally away from the awkward tension in the hall.
“That’s because I’m not. I mean, I’m glad they’re alive and safe, but I’m not happy they’ve come here, of all places.” I arched an eyebrow. “Would you be?”
“I’m never happy to see visitors,” he said.
His comment caught me off guard, and I couldn’t help but let out a light laugh. “No, that’s true. You looked like you wanted to shove us into the sea when we showed up last week.”
“It wouldn’t have worked.” He pursed his lips. “It’s very difficult to push a gargoyle shifter off of anything. The wings tend to stop the free-fall.”
My light laugh deepened. A small smile cracked his face. And those eyes. They were so very, very blue. Like a river of ice that I could get swept away in if I stared for far too long.
Swallowing hard, I glanced away.
“Do you know what I say, Rowena?” he asked, jerking his chin toward the door. “To those witches out there?”
“No, but I’m certainly intrigued to hear it.”
“Fuck ‘em.” His gaze went dark. “Even that so-called Queen.”
Swallowing hard, I gave him a nod. Silas, I decided, was most definitely the strangest of all of them, though I’d known that from the moment I’d seen him skulking along the landing pad. But there was something more there than met the eye. Something he didn’t like for anyone to see. But, I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what that was.
“And you shouldn’t blame Jasper and Eli,” he said in a voice so low I almost didn’t hear him. “They were just doing their jobs. When we shifters get tasked with protecting someone, we will do whatever it takes to keep them safe. And, sometimes, that means we don’t make the best choices. Sometimes, we make the worst.”
His eyes flashed, as if they were viewing some distant memory. He wasn’t just talking about me, not just talking about the shadow witches in the hall. He was talking about something he’d done, whatever had caused him to draw into himself the way he had. The others had mentioned that something had happened to him, but they’d never said what.
Our conversation was interrupted when Marcus’s deep voice called out from beyond the door. “What’s taking so long? We’ve got some breakfast to eat and some witch hunters to discuss.”
That flash of vulnerability on Silas’s face melted away. In its place, his gloom settled back around him. His disinterested frown was put back into place. But I had seen the depth of him before his mask slid over the truth.
“If I’m unhappy to see the shadow witches,” I said, finally reaching for the plates that were stacked inside the cupboard, “then you’re unhappy to see Marcus.”
“Understatement of the century,” he muttered as he took some forks from the open drawer. “Jasper and Eli are bearable. Marcus is something else.”
“So, he’s your least favorite shifter, huh?” I wasn’t surprised. They were polar opposites. Marcus was outgoing, arrogant, flirtatious, and brimming with a strange kind of exuberant energy. Silas was none of those things.
Silas slammed the drawer shut and frowned. “No, that would have to be Sebastian.”
“Sebastian?” My mouth dropped open, shock flittering through me. “There’s another one of you guys?”
“Unfortunately, yes. And let’s hope you never have to meet him.”
Chapter Thirteen
The tension was so thick that I could slice through it with my fingernail. The witches were clustered around the middle of the table. I was in my spot on the end, like I normally was, and the gargoyle shifters—plus Kipling—hunkered between me and them. Like referees at a boxing match.
“Well, this is certainly awkward,” Marcus said with a bright smile, as if this were all some kind of game to him. And maybe it was.
“Just tell us why you’re here, Marcus,” Silas said in an exasperated tone.
“Well,” Marcus said as he glanced at Queen Selene. “To make a long story short, the castle not only went fully visible when our dear Rowena here left, but it was also transported to…well, to the middle of London. Right next to Buckingham Palace, in fact.”
I grimaced and glanced down at my plate.
“As you can imagine, that…” He cleared his throat. “Well, it caused a bit of chaos.”
“The human Queen’s Guard had us surrounded within moments,” Queen Selene’s stone-cold voice cut in, all sharp edges and stabbing points. “The police were circling in helicopters. And the witch hunters, far greater in number than we first thought, were quick to the scene. Our losses could have been devastating.”
Guilt pounded in my ears. This…this was something I’d never wanted to happen. When I broke free of my cage, I’d only wanted to live my life on my own terms. I’d only wanted to make my own decisions. To walk when I wanted to walk, and to go however far I wanted to go.
“I didn’t know this would happen,” I said quietly, eyes locked on my plate. I still was yet to touch my food.
“No. I don’t suppose you did.” She sniffed. “But that does not excuse you of your selfish actions.”
“My selfish actions?” Tears burning my eyes, I pushed back my chair and stood. I couldn’t sit here and listen to any more of this. Of course they had blamed me, when it had really been their own damn fault. All they’d had to do was tell me why they needed me to stay inside the castle. All they’d had to do was explain the deal they’d made with the fae. If they’d just been honest from the start, I would have wanted to help them. None of this would have happened.
“Yes, selfish. You disappeared from the castle without a word to anyone.” The Queen sniffed. “Did it never occur to you how worried we might be?”
“Worried?” I scoffed. “Don’t even try to play that game with me. I know everything now, remember? How you lied to me all these years. How you poisoned my powers. How you kept me a prisoner in my own damn home.”
“You make me sound like the monster.” The Queen’s dark eyes flashed. “But have you not stopped to question the nature of your powers? What kind of creature could be so important? Because the Unseelie Court delivered you to me, Rowena. For all I knew, you were fae.”
My breath whooshed from my lungs as the world began to tilt sideways. Jasper and Eli had told me the fae were the ones who had presented me to the Shadow Coven, but I hadn’t considered what that might mean. That I was fae myself. An Unseelie.
A monster.
Fae were dangerous creatures from another realm, particularly the Unseelie. They had little love for mortals. In fact, rumors had it, they liked to abduct unsuspecting humans and do unspeakable things to them in their realm. And the more innocent the human, the better. If there was one thing I did not want to be, it was that.
Blood roared in my ears.
“That’s right,” the Queen continued when she caught the look of horror on my face. “While you were so busy blaming me, you didn’t stop to consider that I was merely doing what was best. For my witches and for you. Because while the world thinks we’re the dangerous ones, we’re nothing compared to the Unseelie fae. If I’d let your powers go unchecked, you could have ruined us all.”
I closed my eyes and backed up. I couldn’t listen to any more of this. I couldn’t stand here and take the Queen’s twisted logic. And I certainly couldn’t even entertain the idea that I was an Unseelie.
With a deep breath, I turned my back on them
all.
The four shifters quickly stood from their chairs, watching me as I strode out of the hall with my head held high. They didn’t try to stop me. Because all four of them knew, even if no one else did.
They knew how much I hurt.
A soft knock on the open door. And then a soft voice: “Can I come in?”
It was Tess. Frowning, I kept my gaze locked on the rolling ocean outside my window.
“Oh, Rowena.” She let out a heavy sigh as she padded across the stone floor and sank onto the cushion beside mine. Her familiar scent enveloped me, clawed at me, flashing me back to a past I wanted to leave behind. “I’m so sorry. I want you to know that I always wanted to tell you the truth. Hell, I almost did. More than a few times. But, the Queen ordered me not to, and…well, you know how she is with people who don’t follow orders.”
I did know.
She would torture them, throw them into the dungeons, fling them into the moat. All that time, I’d thought it was normal, that it was just what Queens must do. But, seeing it all from a distance now—how could I have never seen just how cruel she could be?
Because Eli and I had been reading about the shadow witches together. Their magic was dark. Often twisted and wrong. And, sometimes, they gave into the darkness inside of them, letting their soul get changed in ways that turned them into something…wrong.
With a heavy sigh, I finally tore my gaze away from the window. Turned and met my oldest friend’s eyes. There was no darkness there. Nothing but fear and hope and also kindness. A kindness she often tried to hide.
“It’s not your fault, Tess,” I finally said. “Do you…do you think that I’m fae?”
“Of course not,” she said quickly, but then stopped herself. “I mean, there was a time when I did wonder, but there’s no way you, of all people, have a heart of ice the way they do. And I’m so sorry I let the Queen treat you the way she did for so long.”
“I don’t blame you for what happened. You were just doing what you were told to do. Doing your job, just like…” I trailed off, falling silent. How much had she known about my stone guardians?
“The guys with the wings?” She shook her head, a light laugh escaping from her throat. “Marcus told me all about them. I can’t believe those statues in your room were hot winged men all this time. I knew Marcus was some kind of shifter, but I didn’t know about the others.”
My lips quirked. “So, you think they’re hot, too, right? I mean, have you seen the muscles on their arms?”
She nodded, eyes widening. “Honestly, it’s like they’ve been sculpted by the goddess herself.”
We both grinned at each other for a solid minute, a newfound relief pouring through my veins. The boys and Kipling, they’d been good to me. They’d taken me under their wings—literally—and had done their best to keep my stay in this strange stone world as comfortable as possible. They’d fed me, clothed me, trained me.
But, I had been lonely.
I had missed my only friend in the world. Out of the hundreds at the castle, I realized, she’d been my only true friend.
My smile died. “Only eight of you came here. Where are the others? How did you escape?”
Tess’s face clouded over. “I don’t know. Everyone panicked. It’s not the kind of situation we’ve ever planned or trained for. When everyone realized where we’d ended up and how many soldiers were outside our gates…” She lifted a shoulder. “One right after the other, they all cast a travel spell, disappearing to goddess knows where. Only a handful raced up to the Stone Keep to join the Queen. I was already with her.”
“I know,” I said quietly.” I heard you two talking.”
Her eyes widened as realization dawned. “That’s why you decided to leave. Rowena, I hope you know that I—”
I nodded and gave her a smile. “I heard you tell her that she should tell me the truth.”
She loosed a breath, and then continued with her story. “We decided to travel back to the grounds outside of the Dreadford Castle. Or where the castle used to be, I guess. I think Queen Selene was hoping to find you, take you back to the castle, and somehow undo everything that had happened. You weren’t there, but Marcus was. He filled us in on where you’d gone. After that, we spent the next week trying to find all of our witches, but we’ve come up empty so far. And the hunters have been hot on our trail every step of the way. So, Marcus convinced us to come here. Where it’s safe.”
“I’m glad you came.” I threw my arms around her neck and squeezed. “Even if it does mean I have to look at the Queen’s smug face from now on.”
Her familiar laugh felt like home.
The dream came to me again. A nightmare edged in pain and fear. Sleep dragged me down into the darkness where shadowy vines curled around my hands and my feet. My heart flickered as I closed my eyes against the bright beams that shone onto my face. Not the moon. Not the sun.
Something else.
“Are you sure you’re holding her tight enough?” the snakelike voice hissed into the darkness that clung to my clothes. “Don’t forget what happened last time.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got her.” A different voice. A new one. Definitely female. Light and airy and breathless. And it was one I swore I knew. But my head was so foggy, so full of shadows, that I couldn’t place it.
“Hand me the knife,” the snake hissed. A flash of steel against the moonlit sky. The shadow shifted, looming over me. Big Ben struck twelve. I yanked against the dark, shadowy vines, writhing on top of the rain-slicked street.
This time, I turned my head away from the killer. I knew what would happen next. He would stab me in the heart and dump me into the Thames, never to be seen again.
And, in the shadows, I saw a face. A face I knew.
The knife sliced into my heart, and I woke with a scream in my bed, sweat dripping down my face. I curled my hands around the sheets and clung tight, willing the nightmare away.
I knew who the traitor was. I knew who had turned the hunters onto our coven. It was Rebecca.
Chapter Fourteen
I sought out Silas the next morning before breakfast. He was up in his tower doing…whatever it was that Silas did. He’d never said, and I’d never asked. The curving stairwell went up, up, up, and I could now see why he chose to enter the highest window by using his wings. It was way too steep of a trek to go by way of feet several times a day.
Panting hard, I finally reached the top landing. Sweat poured down my face and into my eyes. Despite Jasper’s continued brutal training, I was still gloriously out of shape. One day, I thought. One day I will be able to climb these steps without running out of breath.
“Rowena?” Silas glanced up from his perch behind a tall easel that held a large canvas that was almost as wide as his wings, which were flared out and swishing against the floor. He dropped his paintbrush to the floor and stood. Red splattered on the stone.
In fact, there was more than just the one canvas in this room, I realized, as my gaze flickered here and there. The room was packed with paintings. Big, bold splashes of colors. Dark ones and bright ones. Scenes of the ocean. Scenes of the city. Both in its current state and what I imagined might be its past.
And there, I spotted in the corner, was a painting that looked a lot like…well, me. A pink-cheeked silver-haired girl perching in an armchair with a book. My Highland romance book, I realized, when I took a step closer and the details of the cover became clear.
Silas cleared his throat. “No one comes up here. I ask them not to.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, brushing my foot against the step below. “I didn’t mean to intrude. I just wanted to talk to you about my dream. We can just discuss it at breakfast.”
With the other shadow witches, I thought darkly.
Curiosity lit his eyes. “Was it different this time?”
“There was more of it,” I said. “Someone else was there, and I know her.”
“Sit,” he said, gesturing to the stool beside his. I pi
cked my way across the cluttered floor and eased onto the stool, but not before I noticed his furtive attempt to turn the canvas away from my eyes. “Who did you see?”
“Rebecca. She’s one of the shadow witches from Dreadford Castle.” I loosed a breath, still trying to come to terms with what I’d dreamed. “She’s pretty much the Queen’s second-in-command. And she’s been a guard, of sorts, for me on more than one occasion. I find it difficult to believe that she would be involved in this. She’s always been one of the nicer witches at the castle.”
“Hmm.” Silas tapped the dry end of a paintbrush against his chin. “Where was she in all this? During your escape from the castle, and then during the later London incident, I mean.”
I thought back, trying to piece together her whereabouts. “Well, she brought Marcus to us in the first place. She introduced him to the Queen so that he could warn us about the hunters. And then when the Queen thought he was lying about who he was, Rebecca made sure I got to my room safely.” I shrugged. “After that, I don’t know.”
“Something to ask Marcus about, I imagine,” he mused.
“You believe my dreams are real, don’t you?” It was the first time I’d asked him this, though I had suspected it long before now. Hence, why I’d climbed up all these steps to have a chance to speak with him alone. I wasn’t ready for anyone else to hear my suspicions just yet.
They probably wouldn’t believe me anyway.
“The more important question is, do you believe they’re real?” He raised his eyebrows.
“To be honest, Silas, I don’t know.” I took a deep breath and let the images of my dreams flip through my mind like faded polaroids. “They feel real when they’re happening. But then I wake up, and they just feel like dreams.”
“There are some who would say that visions don’t exist,” he said.
“But you would say they do?” I asked.
He gave me a solemn nod. “I’ve experienced them myself.”
Lifting my eyebrows, I shifted on my seat to better meet his eyes. “What did you do? Were you able to change them? What were they about?”
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