Cloak of Night (Circle of Shadows #2) - Evelyn Skye Page 0,75

she sat up, thoughts of her damnation rising again.

“Why does it have to be me?” she asked. “Why did I have to be the one to rebel, to be cursed with this magic?”

“Because you were the only one brave enough to lead us,” Daemon said.

“I’m not that brave,” Sora said in barely a whisper. “I’m only holding it together because I have to. If I fall apart, we lose everything.”

“That’s the hardest kind of courage of all.”

She closed her eyes and burrowed into him again. Daemon tightened his arms around her.

A few minutes later, though, Sora bolted upright. “Oh gods.”

“What is it?”

“It’s not just me who’s damned to the hells after I die. It’s Hana, too . . . and all our hypnotized friends at the Citadel.”

Daemon shuffled uncomfortably. “Yeah.”

He’d already thought of that. Yet he hadn’t brought it up, instead letting Sora process her own fate first.

The revelation that Hana and so many taigas were affected made everything worse. But in a bizarre way, it also made it possible for Sora to rise out of her despair.

No destiny is set in stone, she thought.

She looked at Daemon. “This isn’t over until we say it is.” That’s what she’d told him, Broomstick, and Fairy back in Jade Forest. And it was still true. The stakes might be even higher, but that only made it more imperative that they fight.

“True,” Daemon said. “We decide when the fight ends.” He hugged her again.

The press of his broad chest on her face and his biceps around her made Sora feel safe, despite the odds. The woodsy, night-sky scent of his skin comforted her.

It also simultaneously stoked embers in the pit of her stomach.

Sora had to extract herself before she did anything rash. Like look up at how the wind tousled his wild, blue hair. Or stare at the sparks that danced in his eyes now that he’d awakened the demigod nature inside him. Or kiss him.

She ducked out from Daemon’s arms and cleared her throat. “Let’s find Broomstick and get out of here.”

Sora could feel the weight of this new burden on her shoulders, but she could carry it. She had given herself to Kichona, to protect the kingdom and its people at all costs. And she meant to keep that promise, even if it meant her own death. Her own eternal damnation. “I’m not going to let my sister and all the other taigas be condemned to the hells. So let’s go return the soul pearl to its owner and kill the Dragon Prince.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Early the next morning, Sora, Broomstick, and Daemon flew toward Gorudo Hills. Sora was looking forward to all four of them being reunited, but as soon as the old mining shack came into view, she let out a gasp.

Fairy lay in a limp heap next to the smoldering remnants of a campfire, and an arrow protruded from her chest.

“No!” Broomstick jumped off Daemon’s back before they’d even landed. He was still haunted by the Lake of Nightmares, but seeing his gemina lifeless on the ground roused him to action. He sprinted to Fairy’s side, skidding the last few feet before he threw himself over her body.

As soon as Daemon’s paws hit the grass, he ran, too. Sora clung to his fur.

“Is she alive?” Daemon asked, panting.

Fairy moaned and rolled over, rubbing her eyes at the commotion. The arrow wasn’t in her chest but embedded in the ground next to her. “You’re back. Everyone’s back.”

“Oh, thank the gods,” Broomstick said. “You’re all right. You’re lucky.” He plucked the arrow out of the grass and held it above his head. “It just missed her.”

Sora began to scan their surroundings. “They could still be here.”

“Who attacked you?” Daemon asked. “And what are you doing out here? I thought you were going to sleep inside the shack, where you wouldn’t be seen.”

“Attack?” Fairy pushed herself onto her elbows, pinching her lips at the pain. “I was alone the entire time you were gone. I took a nap and felt a little better, so I thought I’d try to contact Liga.”

Broomstick was on his feet now, the arrow in one fist and a sword in his other hand. “You couldn’t have been alone. This had to have come from somewhere.”

“But why shoot only one arrow?” Fairy asked.

“It doesn’t look right. Can I see it?” Daemon shifted into human form. Broomstick handed the arrow to him.

Daemon smirked. “That’s what I thought. Fairy was right—she wasn’t in any danger. This is from Liga. See the