A Court of Night and Shadows

Chapter 9

This darkness was different than the shadows that circled Azriel, trailing behind every move he made. The man was so large it had taken a massive force of will to keep from shaking in his presence, but the reminder that he was one of my mate's closest friends had propelled my fears away. I made a mental note to ask Rhysand why his sense of night seemed so different than Rhysand's, but maybe it was just that was the way all of the Night Court was. I wondered if I would ever possess my own brand of shadows, but I quelled the thought. Their night was magic - something I would never be able to feel, not beyond the bond in my chest.

That other-worldly pull led me forward into the cave. I lost my vision a few minutes in, but I could feel Rhysand watching over me through the bond. It was so freeing to feel him surge me onward, embracing my role I chose for myself - something I knew Tamlin would never have done.

I didn't want to think about that though. I didn't want to think about anything Tamlin did or didn't do, not anymore. That part of my life was over now.

I crept through the blackness with a hand over my stowed knife, unwilling to take any chances despite knowing if I was captured it would be by something inconceivably stronger than me. Still, I felt encouraged by being prepared. I wore a full quiver, two daggers at my waist, and a bow strung over my shoulder. Better than nothing. I held my breath steady as I felt the first corner along the wall. When I turned there was something ahead of me. There was something glowing on the ground. Hesitantly, I approached the enchanted thing that provided the only light in this too small cavernous hall. It shone a deep, treacherous blue-green that muddled and moved within itself.

It was a stone.

I reached for it and found myself pausing when my fingertips drew inches from the brilliant gem. Small zaps prickled against the skin of my hand. Without giving myself anymore time to ponder, I snatched up the enchanted stone feeling its delicate chain whipping at my wrist. It was as if the stone were alive, the chaos of its gloomy colors alive like a roaring sea testing the sailors with its braying storm.

I slipped the strange thing into the pocket of my pants and continued my trek through the endless cave.

After what felt like an eternity, a crack of orange light cleaved through the dark. And then came the voices.

Hissing and howling, eloquent and guttural - a cacophony bursting the silence like a firecracker. I pressed myself against the cave wall, but the sounds passed and faded.

I crept toward the light, blinking back my blindness when I found the source: a slight fissure in the rock. It opened onto a crudely carved, fire-lit subterranean passageway. I lingered in the shadows, my heart wild in my chest. The crack in the cave wall was large enough for one person to squeeze through - so jagged and rough that it was obviously not often used. A glance at the dirt revealed no tracks, no sign of anyone else using this entrance. The hallways beyond was clear, but it veered off, obscuring my view.

The passageway was deathly quiet, but I remembered Rhysand's warning whispered through my mind days ago and didn't trust my ears, not when faeries could be silent as cats.

Still, I had to leave this cave. I had to find Amarantha and hopefully not run into anyone I shouldn't in the process. Killing animals, even the naga beast that had attacked me after I trapped the Suriel so long ago, had been one thing, but killing any others...

I took several breaths, bracing myself. It was the same as hunting. Only this time the animals were faeries. Faeries who could torture me endlessly - torture me until I begged for death. Torture me the way they tormented that Summer Court faerie Tamlin had once found whose wings had been ripped off.