Shadows of the Night | BOOK 2 DRAFT

5

5.

Shouts waft through the window and jolt me from my sleep. My legs tangle in sheets as I scramble to the window. I don't think of yesterday, of Malik or the attack. I can only think of one thing as I scan the courtyard below to see what caused the commotion. Elias.

Any hope I had evaporates. There's no search party, no celebration at Elias' return, nothing. But my disappointment shifts to confusion. The sun sits low in the sky, chasing away the night. Birds dip across the horizon like drops of black paint, their songs carried through the wind. But at the foot of the castle is a cluster of soldiers, and none of them look familiar.

I dress quickly before skittering through the door. An echo-like silence fills the halls; my footsteps ricochet off the stone pillars aside the staircase. It's only when I get closer to the foyer that I can hear the muffled voices—low and irritated. Eric.

I hide behind the pillar when I get closer, remembering the last time I stood up here and watched the front doors. When Flo was dragged in with the guards and thrown in the prison cells. I swallow the lump the memory leaves in my throat and focus on Eric's voice.

"He's just trying to help," Cassia says, her voice no more than a hiss.

"It's dangerous!"

"Do you have to be so paranoid all the time, Eric? Malik's your friend and he's helping us. We need all the help we can get."

"He should've warned us," Eric says.

"He didn't know. You saw him, he looked just as surprised as we did."

"If you just—"

"What's going on?" I emerge from behind the pillar. Both Cassia and Eric turn to face me, red and silver glowing with anger. "I saw guards outside. What'd Malik do?"

Eric shoots a sour look at Cassia, who just sighs. "Some of his soldiers have come to help us," she says.

"Malik has soldiers?"

"From the elder village," she nods. "They're here to help protect our village while we search for Elias."

"What's the problem, then?"

"The problem is that there are regulations around this. His soldiers can't enter our territory without clear permission from Elias, which they haven't got," Eric says. I open my mouth to point out that Elias isn't here, but he cuts me off. "Shifter politics. You wouldn't understand. Besides, we haven't even decided if—"

"We're going," I say. He looks at me, eyes burning with anger. But it doesn't scare me, not anymore. "Whether or not you come with us, we're going."

He clenches his jaw as the door creaks open, a small triangle of sunlight seeping across the stone floor. Malik slips in. His hair is pushed off his face, and he wears a long-sleeved, dark-blue shirt. "I hope I haven't caused any issues."

Cassia sighs. "You haven't."

"I thought you might need extra protection—"

"We do." She shoots a look at Eric. "Milena and I are very grateful."

When Malik looks at me, I smile before darting my gaze away. He looks at me as if he can see straight into my soul—my hopes, my dreams, desires. I noticed it last night in the library and I can see it again, like I'm a book he's read every page of.

"And what about the hollower, huh?" Eric scoffs. "Care to explain that?"

"You brought a hollower here?" I ask Malik, heart skipping a beat.