Page 59 of A Vow of Shadows

Inky and Storm floated to my sides, flanking me like the guards Evander claimed them to be.

“It is day,” I said, stating the obvious. “Where will you go?”

“There is food still at the manor.” He had an answer for everything.

“It can wait. I’m not even hungry.” I wasn’t. In fact, I became nauseated at the thought of food.

“You’ve just been through a major ordeal. Your body is running on stress. You must eat. Starving will not keep you from Death.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but Sam spoke first.

“You may want to remember, Kitty, neither Van nor myself are strangers to starving bodies. I think I can speak for both of us when I say we have no interest in seeing you suffer in that way.”

“So you’d prefer I suffer in other ways?” I was being dramatic, but I didn’t care. The thought of being separated from Evander made my skin feel too tight.

“In this instance,” said Sam, “I do believe I’m the one who is suffering.”

Evander stared at us both incredulously then focused his gaze on me. “Your shadows will remain in communication with those traveling with me. Should anything go wrong—for you or me—they will alert the other.”

The knot in my stomach eased at that knowledge. Evander’s eyes met mine, unflinching. He had weighed both options and decided leaving was worth the risk. Somehow I knew, if I asked him to stay, he would, but I had placed my life in his hands. I needed to trust him.

My stomach rumbled an untimely growl, and I relented. “Fine, but I don’t like this.”

“Your opinion has been noted,” said Sam, stepping close and draping an arm over my shoulders. “We’ll be just fine.”

Though he addressed the latter part to Evander, his attention slithered along the marked side of my face.

Evander flicked a wary glance from my face to where Sam touched me. I kept my expression neutral, biting back the urge to jam my elbow into Sam’s ribs. With a curt nod, Evander turned, the sweep of his billowing cloak like a wave goodbye. The shadows engulfed him, and he was gone.

Chapter 39

Katrin

Shrugging out of Sam’s hold, I hobbled to the door, ignoring the shooting pain in every other step. I halted at the threshold, immediately struck by the scent of moss and rotting wood. Evander was well and truly gone. The familiar heaviness of being left behind settled on my shoulders, only this time, I was alone with a veritable stranger. I dared a behind me at the man in question.

Sensing my eyes on him, Sam looked up from where he’d been pouring himself a drink. “Don’t look at me like that. I mean you no harm.”

“You didn’t seem too keen on me yesterday,” I snapped.

Sam straightened, a glass in each hand. “I don’t dislike you, Kitty Kat.” The distance between us shrank, eaten up by his easy, long-legged stride. He extended one of the glasses my way, brows raised in question.

My etiquette training had me accepting the drink before I could think better of it.

“You could have fooled me,” I said, sniffing the amber liquid.

Sam barked a laugh as my nose wrinkled.

“It is hard to watch someone make the same mistakes I did.”

“But it’s not the same. Wasn’t that your point? That you and Evander bartered your souls to save others while I was merely protecting myself.” My ankle throbbed in pain. Unwilling to make the trek back to the seating area before the fire, I slumped to the ground.

Sam squatted, setting his forearms on his thighs and gesturing at the drink in my hand. “That will help.”

I eyed it. In the search for a cure, I’d downed innumerable concoctions, received countless doses of different drugs. I was no stranger to alcohol, but I’d never developed a taste for it. Pinching my nose, I tossed back the entire glass, sputtering as the liquid fire burned its way down my throat.

Sam laughed again.

“If you tell me it will put hair on my chest, I may just kick you,” I rasped.