Cloak of Night (Circle of Shadows #2) - Evelyn Skye Page 0,73
“There are some crackers here, and your bag full of the stuff you foraged in Jade Forest. If I go now, and Sora and Broomstick are still at Paro Village, we can be back late tonight. But if we’re not—”
“They need you, too. Don’t worry about me.”
Daemon would worry anyway—a lot—but he bent down and kissed Fairy.
He almost missed his mark, and their lips met awkwardly. Closed and pressed a little too lightly.
Maybe this kiss was off because Fairy was weak.
Or maybe everything was fine between them, and Daemon was overanalyzing it. He did have a tendency to think too much.
“Bye, Wolfie,” Fairy said, already drifting back to sleep.
He spread a blanket over her and conjured some drapes over the broken windows to dim the sunlight streaming in. Before he left, Daemon kissed her softly on the forehead, and that one felt all right.
“Now sleep. And when you wake up, I’ll be back with Broomstick and Sora.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Watching Daemon descend as a wolf from the clouds was one of the most beautiful things Sora had ever seen. He looked like a blue streak of the aurora borealis in the dark sky, and she ran from where she stood on the tree house deck and scuttled down a rope ladder to meet him.
She wanted to throw herself at him as soon as he shifted into human form. But she managed to restrain herself and offered him a fist bump instead. “I’m so glad to see you again. I was beginning to worry.”
Daemon’s mouth pressed into a grim line. “Sorry I took so long.”
Sora searched behind him. She’d been so focused on her own feelings about Daemon that she hadn’t noticed he was alone. Alarm spiked in her chest. “Where’s Fairy?”
“We were attacked and both wounded.”
Sora gasped. “Tell me she’s all right.”
“She will be.” He toed a rock on the ground. “I was able to heal myself, but she wasn’t strong enough to make the trip.”
“Crow’s eye,” Sora said. “Who attacked you?”
“Where’s Broomstick?” Daemon asked, not so subtly changing the subject.
“What are you not telling me?”
Daemon let out a long breath. “A lot has happened.”
“Start with the good news.”
He nodded. “Hana was with the ryuu who attacked us. Fairy almost died.”
“What? How is that good news!” Their gemina bond wilted, like an entire meadow of flowers dying all at once.
“Because Hana is having doubts about serving Prince Gin.”
Sora’s stomach flipped. “Really?” She had held on to a small hope that she could still convince her sister to switch sides, but to be honest, it had probably been more delusion than real belief. This, however . . .
“Yeah,” Daemon said. “But there’s more. Um, let’s sit down.”
“Just tell me,” Sora said. “I can handle it.”
Daemon took several long breaths. “Fairy and I broke into Prince Gin’s study. While we were there, we found a book of legends, including the prince’s handwritten notations. The stories were about another time in the past when magic was stolen from the gods, and we think . . .” Daemon winced and closed his eyes, as if what he was about to do was causing him physical pain.
Sora’s heart climbed into her throat. “You think what?” she asked quietly.
He opened his eyes and looked straight into hers. “We think that anyone with ryuu powers is damned,” he whispered. “The knowledge of that magic belonged to the afterlife, and Prince Gin stole it. Anyone who possesses the illegal magic will be damned to the hells after they die.”
“What?” Sora’s whole body shook.
Daemon reached out and held her steady. “We’re going to find a way out of this. Fairy is already reaching out to Liga. There must be a way to get the gods’ forgiveness. You didn’t steal Sight yourself, and you’re using ryuu magic to fight the one who did. We’ll save you. I’ll do anything I can to make it happen.”
But a knot formed in Sora’s chest. It was difficult to breathe. The emerald particles around her reeled in a frenzy, stirred up in her panic.
“Get away from me!” She flung out her hand, pushing at the ryuu magic.
The dust blew a few feet away and remained there, as if cowed by her anger.
She could still feel the magic, though. It wasn’t just the particles floating everywhere. It was the memory of the campfire warmth in her belly and the bliss rolling through her veins whenever she cast a ryuu spell. The feeling that the glittering dust had seeped not only into her skin but, apparently, also into