“Not just that human,” Nine admits. “As soon as I discovered that they knew where to find you, I took the first portal to the asylum. It wasn’t just the male. I could sense more than a few touched humans inside that place. It’s why I knew I had to get you out of there before any of your enemies got to you first.”

  I immediately think of Diana, the blonde tech whose eyes flashed golden the other night. Of how uncomfortable she made me. What about Dr. Gillespie? He was always way too interested in Nine. How many times did I think it was super weird how my psychologist was humoring me by acting like my hallucinations were real?

  Too many, but it made sense if he knew that they weren’t hallucinations at all.

  He’s telling the truth. As painful as it is—as incredibly unbelievable as it is—Nine is telling the truth.

  “Why?” I forget in the heat of the moment that Nine wanted me to be quiet. The word bursts out of me with all the subtlety of a bomb going off. I’m an almost twenty-one-year-old orphan. I’m not supposed to have enemies. “What the hell does she want with me?”

  “It’s because you’re the Shadow.”

  I’m not a statue, but I go still like one.

  I know that voice. Lilting and lyric, it’s deep enough to belong to a man, and rich enough to make me want to turn around and see him—even though I know better.

  When I manage to break my sudden spell of paralysis, I search for him.

  There he is. Rys. The golden fae—the Light Fae—who killed my sister has joined us in the gardens.

  In this strange place, he is absolutely brilliant. His lovely, bronze-colored skin is nearly a match for the swirls in the sky, his golden eyes flashing and reflecting the silver trees. He moves purposefully but easily, like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Long, tawny hair drifts behind his lean body as he glides toward me.

  His lips part. A whisper on the still breeze.

  I have an irresistible urge to go to him—

  “Riley,” snaps Nine. “Stay strong. Fight it.”

  But I don’t want to—

  “Shadow,” Nine says, more feeling in his harsh voice. “Stop moving!”

  I jam the heels of my slipper into the fluffy, wispy, flossy grass. My shins strain as I fight the pull toward Rys. And it’s not just because Nine told me to stop.

  I want to stop.

  I do. When about ten feet still separate me from him, I finally manage to put on the brakes. I’m panting at how much of my strength it took to fight the compulsion to go to him, but I stop.

  “You’ve taken too many liberties, Rys.” Nine moves so that he’s standing beside me. He points at the Light fae. “I could sense your brand on her skin the second I returned to her. You touched her.”

  “And you’ve told her about the Shadow Prophecy before she came of age,” Rys counters. “Seems we both did a little trickery.”

  “I did no such thing. I kept to the terms of my bargain.”

  “You called her Shadow.”

  “It’s just another name for her. That’s all.”

  “Ah, that’s right. Because you don’t know her true name.” Rys turns to me, his eyes sparkling in delight. “We’ve shared more than a touch, you and I. Isn’t that right?”

  Whether I’m doing it to myself or he is, suddenly the song from the night I danced with him in my dreams is filtering in through my ears, beating against the back of my skull. I grit my teeth, desperate to ignore it.

  I can’t. Not only that, but my hands grow even hotter inside of my gloves. I can’t forget how I let him touch me, the sizzle I felt when our bare skin connected, or how weak and drained I was as he sapped me of all my energy.

  He touched me. And I let him.

  I wrap my arms around me, hugging myself. Nine moves forward, shielding me with his body as he steps between Rys and me.

  “You interfered,” he accuses the other fae.

  “You say interfere, I say that I’m just doing what I must to claim what’s mine. I’m not like Melisandre. The prophecy doesn’t faze me, Nine. Riley’s got enough blood in her to be a proper ffrindau for me. I want her. I’ve waited long enough to take her. Leave her with me and your debt is repaid. You can go.”

  Nine reaches into his pocket. Of all things, he pulls out a rock. Seriously. A rock. About the size of a nickel, he holds it up, then lets it nestle in his palm. He cradles it like its heavier than it appears. “You don’t have the power to clear it.”

  Rys holds out his hand. “Then pass it to me. I’ll gladly take it.”

  What are they talking about? I thought I was confused because I was still shaking off the woozy feeling that hits me every time Rys pulls that command shit on me. Nope. When Nine looks at the rock in his palm, before vanishing it into the depths of his coat again, I can honestly say I have no clue what the fuck is going on.

  “A rock?” I blurt out. “What’s so special about a rock?”

  Rys grins. “It’s a token of Nine’s favor for a human.”

  Nine’s entire expression closes off. “It was no favor, Rys. You know that. It was a command.”

  “From a human,” Rys says again. His grin widens, turning almost predatory. “A mother’s last command to protect her infant daughter.” He traces his jaw with his slender, bronzed, pointer finger. “Though, I’ve often wondered, shouldn’t her fate free you of any debt you feel obligated to repay? Yet still you linger about my mate, like an unwanted shadow.”

  His words are like an arrow to my chest. My whole body jolts as I realize with a sudden start that I’m the infant daughter Rys is talking about. The human? That’s got to be my mother.

  They’re talking about my mom.

  I whirl on Nine. “My mother asked you to protect me?”

  “Commanded,” corrects Rys cheekily.

  I can’t even look at him. Mate? That’s gonna be a nope. Maybe if I hope real hard, he can join Jason in being a statue in this freaky garden.

  Besides, my attention is super locked in on Nine. He knows it, too. His silver eyes have dimmed, the razor-sharp edge of his cheekbones jutting out as he sucks in a breath.

  “My mother commanded you to protect me?” I ask him a second time. I wave behind me, gesturing where I think Rys is still standing. My hands are shaking. “What does he mean by debt? And her fate? What happened to my mom?”

  “Yes, Nine. Answer her,” Rys calls out. “You were at the gas station that day. You know.”

  I’m sure Nine can see the hope in my expression as I gaze up at him. Apart from the grainy, black and white footage from twenty years ago, this is the only thing I’ve ever heard about the woman who left me behind.

  I long ago accepted that she’d done it on purpose.

  Could it be that she had no choice?

  “Do you?” I ask him. “Do you know what happened to her? To me?”

  Nine glares past me. If looks could kill, the Light Fae would be six feet under this candy floss grass in a heartbeat. “I left her alone after the contract was made. I have no idea what happened to Callie after I returned to Faerie. Riley’s my concern, not her human mother. And I’ve done everything to protect her, like I said I would.”

  I’m used to Nine’s cold and callous attitude when it comes to humans. I’ve known for a long time that I’m the only exception when it comes to his outright disdain for anybody in the human world. I was so happy to have him care about me—even if it was in his stilted, limited way—that I never second-guessed him when he said he was sent to watch over me.

  I had no fucking clue that he’d been commanded to.

  This is a double gut punch. I learned two things just now. One? My mom’s name is Callie. I tuck that deep inside, that small nugget of information that brings me closer to the woman I lost. And two? Nine only ever looked after me because someone forced him to.

  I don’t have my mom. I guess I never really had my Shadow Man, either.

  “Is that why you visited me as a kid?” I ask him. “A… a debt?”

  The fae can’t lie, but I’m betting that Nine’s wishing that he could because it takes him a few pointed seconds before he finally nods.

  “Yes.”

  “She made you do it.”

  “Yes, but, Riley—”

  Nope. That’s all I needed to hear.

  “I want to go back to the asylum,” I say, interrupting him. “Take me back. Now.”

  “I can’t.” He says can’t. I know from his demeanor that he means won’t. Now I know where I got it from. “It’s not the place for you any longer. You can’t go back.”

  I whirl around, facing Rys. “You.”

  Rys arches one of his perfect eyebrows. His smile is playful. I hate him for that. “Yes, my ffrindau?”

  Ffrindau. I know what Nine said that meant. Soul mate. Yeah, right. That’s never gonna happen, but I’m not above using this fae to get what I want. “Can you bring me back to the asylum?”

  “I’ll do anything you ask of me.”

  “She doesn’t need you, Rys. She has me.” Nine bristles, visibly annoyed. That’s… that’s new. He never used to let me see such an emotional reaction. Rys has obviously gotten to him.

  “We can’t go back to the asylum, Riley, but we don’t have to stay here.”

  Nine’s whole demeanor changes as he turns to me. It almost sounds like he’s pleading—but why would a fae plead with a nobody human like me?

  Then he says, “I’ll take you somewhere else to keep you protected,” and I remember.

  That’s right. Because of his debt.

  Huh. No thanks.

  Right now, I don’t want either one of them. My shock’s fading. Blood is rushing past my ears as my heart beats out of control. My vision is dimming; black spots are closing in on the corners. I’m on the verge of a monstrous panic attack. I take a couple of deep breaths in an attempt to calm myself. It’s useless. It feels like something inside of me is clawing its way out. I gasp and pull on the collar of my hoodie, trying to get more out of this weak air before I lose it entirely and I can’t go home at all.

  Neither Nine nor Rys has noticed that I’m teetering on the edge. Nine is staring at the Light Fae. Rys is wearing a smirk that shouldn’t be half as attractive as it is.

  “If you take her, I’ll just chase after her.”

  “You can’t follow her in the shadows.”

  “No,” Rys agrees. “But plenty of Melisandre’s soldiers can.”

  I don’t know who this Melisandre person they keep bringing up is, but I’ve got a pretty good guess. Who seems to have a reason to come after me and has access to soldiers? She’s got to be the Fae Queen.

  And we’re currently in her gardens. While Nine and Rys bicker like children, I’m a sitting duck. Nine wanted me to be quiet? Yeah, that ship sailed a while ago.

  I don’t want to turn into a statue like Jason.

  “Nine,” I say, because if the choice is between my Shadow Man and the golden fae, I know who I’m sticking with, “let’s just go. I don’t care where. I can’t stay here. It’s too hard for me to breathe.”

  In an instant, Rys loses the last of his playful nature. He grows deadly serious and, in his golden eyes, I get a glimpse of the dangerous, capricious creature who snapped Madelaine’s neck because he wanted to prove a point.

  I choke on another gasp, throwing my hands up as I stumble back. Nine is slender, but he’s tall. If I crouch a little, I can hide behind him.

  The way Rys is looking at me all of a sudden, I have to.

  “You will stay with me,” he says in a booming voice at odds with its normally smooth and cajoling tone. It’s an obvious command. I shiver and start to stand up straight, though there’s nothing about his words that make me feel like I must.

  I hesitate, keeping Nine between us.

  Rys glowers. Hate fills his gaze as he glances at Nine before he turns to me. A mixture of lust and desire twists his expression until I know that there’s no way I’m getting out of this without him trying to call me to him again.

  I’m right.

  “Come to me. Come, Zel—”

  He never finishes his command.

  Nine stiffens. I’m not so sure why—and his back is to me so I can’t see his face—but I sense a change in him as soon as Rys starts to say that weird Zella word again. Before Rys can utter the second syllable, Nine’s pale skin begins to glow.

  He spares one glance at me, a quick peek to make sure I haven’t moved, then he zeroes in on the Light Fae.

  If Rys’s shine is brilliant in this strange place, Nine’s vibrant silver glow makes him absolutely terrifying. The fierce expression on his face isn’t helping me, either. Holy shit. I’ve never been afraid of Nine before, but I guess there’s a first time for everything because I’m about to flip the fuck out.

  I gasp for another breath, certain that I’m about to just pass out already. Only the fact that I’m in Faerie—I’m in the Fae Queen’s gardens—keeps me standing. I’m already super vulnerable. Fainting here?

  Might as well just walk up to her castle and say hi while I’m at it.

  While I struggle to hold it together, Nine lifts his hand again. After muttering something in that harsh, foreign language of his, he makes a gesture I don’t understand. I can’t really see it. Blackness is creeping up on the edge of my sight, though I wince and squint when he stretches his fingers. It’s like he’s turned a flashlight on. A bright silver beam shoots out at Rys, breaking up some of the fog that’s clouding my vision.

  It pushes the Light Fae back a few feet. The grin slides from Rys’s face as he lifts one delicate hand to shield his gaze.

  “You shouldn’t have done that, Nine.”

  “Leave us,” he orders. “You don’t believe in the Shadow Prophecy. I’ve dedicated too many years to it. The Shadow belongs to the Dark Fae. Accept it.”

  “Aislinn was a Light Fae,” Rys counters. “My claim is stronger.”

  “Fate will win.”

  “Or perhaps the queen will.”

  No, I think as I allow myself to give in to the panic scrabbling against the last of my consciousness. It’s been there since I first saw the magenta sky mixed with gold, the crystalline trees, Jason the statue. I’m light-headed and weak, the anxiety crashing into me like a wave. I don’t fight it anymore.

  At the moment, I decide that Riley will win.

  I remember what Nine told me. When I’m conscious, I can’t accept that I can do that shade-walking shit. But what if I’m not conscious?

  There’s no sun here—but there are shadows everywhere. Lurking behind the unnatural, fantastical trees, like the one that’s nearly hiding Jason, I see the shadows and, despite my cloudy, fuzzy head, I have to wonder.

  It’s worth a shot.

  I start to fall, my eyes rolling into the back of my head. Every part of me locks up, my arms shrinking against my torso as I let myself go, aiming for the patch of hazy black that stretches across the ground.

  I lock my jaw as I collapse. I refuse to give either of them permission to catch me before I hit the ground.

  I only hope the weird grass is as soft as it looks.

  13

  When I come to again, the first thing I look for is my window with its six bars across it.

  Nope. No window. No bars. All I see is the night sky above my head and it hits me: I’m not at Black Pine anymore.

  I’m not even inside.

  A handful of stars twinkle in the distance, a few bright spots in the blackness above me. It takes a second before I understand that I’m lying on my back on the cold ground. Grass cushions me. I can feel it scratching me through my hoodie.

  With a grunt, I roll onto my side. I blink a few times, trying to get my sight back, then use the dim moonlight to peer at the grass surrounding me.

  It’s pointy. Kinda brittle and dry, flat where my body pressed it into the dirt.

  And, thank God, it’s green.

  I don’t know where I am. Not quite yet. At least I can be sure of one thing, though: I’m not in the Fae Queen’s gardens anymore.

  “Riley. You’re finally awake.”

  I’m not alone, either.

  Nine is crouched beside me, his body low, the tail of his long jacket flaring out behind him. It flaps in the cool wind. It’s not so warm here, not so humid, and when I tilt my head back so that I can look at the sky again, it’s a relief to see that I’m back in the human world.

  Lowering my gaze, I pull myself into a sitting position. I can feel the weight of his open stare and purposely avoid his eyes, his words, and his presence. I’m so stinking pissed at him, I want to knock him over. It would definitely be worth having to touch him.

  I put my petty revenge on the back-burner when it finally clicks. I recognize the scene around me with a sudden jolt. Okay. Hold on. I know exactly where I am.

  There’s the gate, unlocked for the moment, though I know the caretaker’s habits. At ten minutes to midnight, he’ll start his final rounds before he locks up for the night. A couple of rows away from where I am, I see the Richardsons’ mausoleum, the stone behemoth that shielded me from the rain the last time I was here.

  And there, somewhere on the west side of the cemetery, I’ll find the concrete angel that stands guard over Madelaine’s grave.

  It’s like what Nine said. I could run through shadows while I’m awake and nothing would ever happen because, after six years of therapy and denials, it’s too hard for me to believe in the impossible. When I let myself faint, though? I must’ve hit that shadow and my body brought me back where I belong.

  Nine got in my head. I should’ve landed in my bed at Black Pine—it’s where I’ve traveled every other time I, well, I sleepwalked through the shadows. All of his arguments about the asylum being compromised got to me. Self-preservation must’ve kicked in. I’m not in Black Pine.

  I’m in Acorn Falls.

  I don’t know how much time has passed. It’s late, the chilly temperature washing away the last of the evening’s heat. Besides the fact that it’s pitch-dark around me, Nine’s presence is a pretty big clue that it’s still night out. As soon as the sun’s up again, he’ll be gone.

  I… I don’t know how I feel about that yet.

 

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