Page 82 of A Vow of Shadows

She shuddered as she inhaled. “Because I have lived more in The Between with you than I ever did in the world of the living. I’m certain I will never fit in again if I go back home, and I don’t think I want to.” She swallowed. “Go home, that is.”

The fire in my chest blazed hotter than a thousand suns. “Then stay.” I gripped her hands in mine, all but choking on the hope that burned inside me.

As though blinded by that fire, she ducked her chin. “What about Behryn?”

“We’ll figure something out. There’s time. He can’t touch you, remember?”

“But my mother—”

“We can fetch her tonight, bring her back with us.”

Slowly, she lifted her eyes to mine. Something flickered in their dark depths, but I forgot it in an instant as she whispered one word. “Alright.”

“Yes?” I asked.

She laughed, and it was the most magical sound in all the worlds. “Yes.”

I brought my forehead to hers, closing my eyes as our breaths mingled. “Say you’ll stay with me.”

Her lips grazed mine, and I went taut as a bowstring. “I’ll stay with you.”

She’d spoken the words against my mouth. I felt the upward tilt of her lips as she smiled, and it broke down every one of my walls. My answering kiss was punishing. I pressed her to me and moaned as her fingers threaded through my hair. When she tugged me closer, I slid my arms over the swell of her hips and hauled her against me. I swallowed her gasp, plunging my tongue between her parted lips as her legs wrapped around me.

Darkness surrounded us. The shadows felt like ice to my fevered skin. They tempered my heat enough that I pulled my head from Katrin’s as they cleared. Whether acting of their own accord or anticipating some unspoken order, they’d brought us to my bed chamber. My body throbbed with need, but I looked at Katrin’s flushed skin and swollen eyes and knew this was not what she needed today.

I carried her to the bed, laying her reverently atop the blankets. She watched me, capturing one swollen lip between her teeth. It would be so easy to climb on top of her, to press my hardness to her softness and watch her writhe in pleasure, to be the reason her breath hitched.

My hands traced the length of her legs, removing her shoes and tossing them aside. Finally, I stepped from my own boots and crawled into the bed beside her. She rolled into me, fitting her curves against my side. My arm snaked beneath her, and I held her tightly, overwhelmed by the sudden fear that she would disappear in the coming day, banished by the sun like a shadow that had only appeared to be a woman to a lonely, unstable mind.

Dread coiled in my stomach, but I pushed it aside. If our time was limited as Fate had said, I would not sully it with dark thoughts. I closed my eyes and surrendered to the welcome respite of sleep.

Chapter 50

Katrin

Iwaited for a sunrise that did not come—not in the dramatic sense anyway. Slowly, the overcast sky lightened from blue to melancholy gray, the clouds heavy with rain that refused to fall.

Evander’s chest rose and fell in the deep, even rhythm of sleep. Laying in his arms, I could almost forget the world crumbling around me.

Almost.

My thoughts strayed to my mother. I hoped she was safe. I hoped that Death would not find her before I could. It was the only plan I had. With Evander unable to leave The Between and my mother an unknowing pawn in Death’s games, it only made sense to bring her here. Only once she was secured could we explore the other options Evander had mentioned.Tyr Anighwas compromised, but there had to be somewhere in this cursed land that was safe from Behryn.

Slipping from the bed, I padded across the room and picked up my shoes from where Evander had discarded them earlier. A glance back confirmed he still slept. He’d told me once that herarely required sleep, but when he did, he slept like the dead. I could only hope that was true.

I said I’d stay, and I had. I’d stayed when everything in me had screamed to find my mother. I’d stayed though it hurt my heart to learn how perfectly our bodies fit together. I’d stayed through the dawn, knowing Behryn would return at any moment.

And now, it was time to leave.

Time raced on, and I felt my heart beat like a ticking clock counting down the seconds to my doom. I wished I had the time to write Evander a note. He deserved an explanation, but every second I delayed put us all in danger.

I made a stop at my room to grab my old glove, the match to the one I’d left at my family estate. It was time they be reunited. The woman that had worn these gloves was gone, but I could pretend to be her for one more day.

A shadow stretched across the floor. I jumped and whirled, but there was no one behind me. Confused, I turned back to the shadow. It stretched far longer than my own, longer than was natural with the direction of the sunlight through the window. Now that I examined it, I could make out other differences as well. The edges were too sharp, the color too dark, and as I watched, it shifted as though caught in a current.

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared down at the shadow. “What are you doing here?”

The shadow morphed, mimicking my stance in a way that I took to mean “what areyoudoing here?”