Inferno of Darkness (Divisa Huntress #2) - J.L. Weil Page 0,11

draw it out into the sun?

Or capture it?

God, if I didn’t have the pregnant Queen of Inferno with me, I wouldn’t think twice about capturing the shade. The last thing I wanted to do was put Angel in harm’s way. So the capturing would have to wait. For now, I needed to get Angel to safety. That was my main concern.

My eyes narrowed in on the animal-like shadow, the way it slunk against the brick building, bending and stretching to test the boundaries. “Lexi,” the shadow whispered. It had no mouth, no face, no solid form. I didn’t understand how it was able to speak. Maybe it hadn’t spoken at all. Maybe its voice was in my head.

A cloud rolled in as I approached the sidewalk, blanketing the sunlight, and the shade made its move.

Fuck.

That was all I had time for, one quick f-bomb before the shade was on me, coiling itself around my body from head to toe until I was encompassed in a mist of darkness and frost. The air expelling from my lungs puffed in front of my face, and I comforted myself with the knowledge that the cloud would eventually pass, shooting beams of sunlight upon me. It couldn’t hold me forever. Whatever the shade had in store for me, I could take it.

“Lexi!” Angel shrieked, panic in her voice.

I threw out an arm, advising her to stay put and that I was okay, and tiny black flames danced over my fingertips. What the hell? I didn’t want her to come any closer to the shade, and nor did I have the time to dwell over the sudden display of… I didn’t know what was on my hand. Turning to the shade, I asked, “Why are you here?” It didn’t seem to be actually harming me.

Like smoke, the shade curled and churned over my body. “The prince sent us.”

Us? How many were there? “Why?” And which prince? It could just as easily be Soren that commanded the shades. The thought made my heart jerk in my chest and the flames of darkness lick brighter on my skin.

“To warn you. The queen isn’t finished with you,” it hissed.

“Tell me something I don’t already know.”

“He can’t protect you here,” it added, growing agitated, its form flickering.

“Tell your prince that I can take care of myself. This is my turf.” I also had about a hundred other things to say to Ashor, like how he was an asshole for sacrificing himself. How I would never forgive him for shoving me out of his life and for whatever weird darkness he implanted inside me. “Tell him—”

“A war is brewing. And when it begins, the havoc will bleed into your world. When the time is right, he will come for you. He will do what he can to shelter you from the aftermath.”

My pulse thundered in my veins. Ashor had found a way to communicate, to warn me. The thought ran laps in my head as the shade unwound itself from around me to skirt back into the shadows. “Wait!” I called after it, surging forward into the alley after it. “Is he okay? Is he safe?”

But it was too late. The shade had disappeared, and the dark flames on my fingers extinguished.

Shit.

I wanted more time. There was so much more I needed to know.

4

Every instinct in my body was telling me to chase after the shade, no matter that I didn’t know where to start looking. Or how to actually catch the damn thing. The alley before me was empty, and the shadows cast against the ground and the building didn’t move.

Yet, I continued to stare. Waiting. Hoping. Wanting.

“Lexi,” Angel hiss-whispered behind me.

“I’m okay,” I responded, raking a hand through my hair as I exhaled.

Her brows were drawn together in deep concern and worry. “What the hell was that?”

I stared down at my hand and answered, “A shade. It was sent to give me a message.” My fingers were bone-cold, the kind of cold I only felt in the Court of Darkness.

“What message? Who sent it?” she rattled off, a protective hand over her belly.

“Ashor. It was a warning about his mother.” I didn’t want to cause Angel any more stress, not in her condition. The impending war could wait, but I would inform Chase so he could keep an extra eye on his wife.

The tightness in her shoulders relaxed a degree. “I have to say, you really know how to pick them. A prince. But not just a prince,