I’m sticking with what I know.”
Light causes shadows, but depending on how it falls, light can also drive them away, for a while. Or maybe that wasn’t how the magic worked at all. It was worth a try.
I raised my hands and formed a ball of light in my palms.
Duncan looked at the glowing orb, then at the Shadow Man, as he charged toward us. His army of knights were silent as they raced over the ground too, swallowing up the greenery, turning the world all around us to shades of gray and black.
He raised his sword, a resigned look coming over his face. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a jackass.”
“Last words?” I said. “That’s sweet, but I don’t think it’s going to be necessary.”
“I was talking to Azrael,” he said.
“Of course you were.”
My orb grew. Bright summer magic shimmered across my skin, grew painfully warm and then hot. I raised the orb of light over my head, just as the Shadow Man raised his sword over his head.
And I threw it at him and his approaching army.
The magic kept expanding as it flew through the air, an ever-increasing ball of light, and then it struck the ground. A wave of golden magic washed through the shadows and suddenly, the shadow knights and the Shadow Man rippled out of existence.
But the Shadow Man’s last rasping words hung in the air: “Until we meet again, Alisa.”
The clearing was quiet. I sagged back against the ground. “Do you think Faer has any other monsters to send after us?” I managed in a gasp.
“Don’t worry about that.” Azrael held me close, and the warm, spicy scent of his body washed over me. “You’re safe with us, and we’re safe with you. We’ll always figure something out.”
His warm eyes held mine.
Duncan groaned. “Can you get just a few Shadows back to kill me, though? So I don’t have to hear this pap?”
“Get the horses,” Azrael said. “She’s weak from using all that magic and from the poison. We need to get her back to the keep.”
Now the fight was over and the adrenaline that had held me together slipped, I felt as if unconsciousness were trying to swallow me. I tried to fight it, tried to summon my strength again.
“Let’s get you back to the sisters so they can help you with the poison,” Azrael said, and there was a note of urgency in his voice that made my own heart beat faster. I felt woozy, the world seeming to spin in a way that left me nauseous.
Azrael handed me up to Duncan, who was already astride his horse. I expected to see hatred in Duncan’s eyes that he had to hold me, the same hatred I’d seen last night. My vision narrowed, and all I could see was his face, as the world grew suddenly muffled.
“You’re going to fall, Princess,” Duncan said, his voice rough. “Relax. I’ve got you.”
I let my head fall against his chest as the world faded out completely.
Chapter Eighteen
I woke in the infirmary. High stone arches soared above me, the room full of light and clean, bright air.
My head ached, and then I thought of Tiron, and I sat up in bed, no matter how much it hurt. My heart pounded. I was desperate to see him again.
Tiron’s bright eyes met mine from the next bed. “Hello, Princess.”
I closed my eyes as relief bloomed through my chest. “I never thought hearing princess could sound so sweet.”
“Aw, you missed me?”
The mattress creaked beneath him as he shifted. I let myself fall back into the pillows, still exhausted from all the blood I’d lost, as he climbed into bed beside me.
“Will it hurt if I hold you?” he asked me.
“Will it hurt if I let you?” I returned.
His lips quirked. “We’ll figure it out,” he promised me, and the two of us shifted together until my head was on his chest. I breathed in his familiar scent of pine and fresh snow, and peace crept over me. For a few long minutes, he just held me, his face against my hair as if he were breathing me in, savoring my body against his, just the same way I felt about him.
The dread clutched my chest, chasing away the peace.
“Aren’t you going to ask me about my memories?” I whispered.
“No,” he said. “Tell me what you remember when you want, Alisa.” He pressed a kiss into my hair. “The past doesn’t matter to me.”
“It doesn’t?”
“No,” he said softly. “All I care about