“Verity,” I murmur, my eyes devouring her worriedly.
She doesn’t respond as she tries to twist out my arms. Her hands fly at me, but I catch them before she can strike me. She screams wildly. I hear the others stirring, boots stomping across the sand towards us. I don’t have to look to know it’s Thal. A growl rumbles from my throat and the footsteps stop.
Fear clenches in my chest as Verity doesn’t wake from her nightmare. From the darkness, a dark shadow streaks towards me. Serus, her familiar, prowls around her head, ignoring my warning snarls. His amber eyes flit towards me and I imagine a hint of fear in them.
“We must wake her,” he says. “Do it now.”
“I can’t,” I hiss, eyes flashing.
“Well don’t be so damn gentle, you fool,” Serus snaps.
I grit my teeth, dropping my gaze back to Verity. I can feel her heart racing, and it has nothing to do with my touch. Her face is twisted with fright, her eyes roving crazily behind her eyelids. I draw my hand back and drive it flat across her cheek. The sound of the slap echoes through the camp and Verity’s screams are cut short. She sputters, eyes flying open. Guilt coils around my heart as I see the angry red mark of my strike already forming on her cheek.
Serus sighs, pacing again. Verity’s eyes dart around until they finally settle on my face and a soft whimper escapes her lips. There’s a pain in my chest at the sound. I reach for her again, instinct screaming at me to pull her into my arms. But Thal is beside her in a flash, and he tugs her away from my reaching hands. I bare my teeth at him, fingers curling into fists but his eyes flit to something behind me. I glance over my shoulder and see Erzur watching with sharp eyes.
Verity buries her face in Thal’s chest, and his hands drift up and down her back soothingly. The sight is almost enough to make me roar with jealousy, but I sit back on my haunches and clamp my mouth tightly shut.
“Is this it?” Erzur remarks from behind me. “This is the drama that woke us all from sleep? The Bloodbane’s typical cravings for attention?”
I growl, but Verity speaks before I can defend her. Verity rolls out of Thal’s arms and onto her knees, baring her teeth viciously at the ebony queen. “I’m sorry my vision of the monsters that will devour this world and any other they can sink their teeth into woke you,” she spits out bitingly. “Sleep now, if you need it so much.”
A grin tugs at my lips and I display it to Erzur, pride washing through me. Erzur sniffs, looking down her nose at the trembling Verity. “I’m sure Altair will tell me whatever insights you have,” she says, drawing my name out long enough to sound possessive.
I watch as Erzur slinks back to her tent, which we found hidden beneath a saddle blanket. The other slowly roll over and return to sleep until only Thal, Serus, and Verity and I remain. I sit beside her, keeping a discrete distance even though I want nothing more than for her to sit flush against me.
Her eyes are shadowed with fear. “I keep dreaming of these Shades,” she murmurs.
“They’re only dreams,” Thal says, stealing the words from my lips. I stare at his hand on her knee.
Serus perches on her other leg, blocking me and I grind my teeth with frustration. “I’m afraid they aren’t,” he says.
“What?” Verity asks, surprise lacing her voice.
“How can they be more than dreams?” I ask. “Verity is a Bloodbane, not a seer.”
“True,” Serus agrees. “It’s the Shades, they’re calling her to them in her sleep. It’s dangerous.”
“How is that possible?” Thal asks fiercely.
Serus flicks his tail. “Now that we’ve come to the wastelands, they’re growing more powerful. Verity must learn to protect herself even in her sleep and she can never return to the ether.”
“That, at least, I can agree with,” I mutter, thinking of the blood she spilled every time she tried to leave the ether.
My eyes drift towards Sadal, lying on his side in chains. He cocks a brow. “What? It’s not as if I’m the one dragging her there.”
“Not anymore,” I snarl.
Sadal rolls his eyes. “They won’t stop. Now that I’ve lost my powers, Verity is the only one who can rend the veil that separates our world from the veil. And she’s the only one who could stop them.”
Fear surges in my chest, and I see that fear echoed in Thal’s eyes. Verity bites her lip, dropping her gaze to her lap. “Then I’ll never return and they’ll never escape, right?”
“Then they’re no longer a threat,” I murmur. My hand drifts towards her and plays over her hair before I can stop myself.
“Darkness grows and grows and grows, like vines creeping through your garden,” Sadal says sinisterly. “You thought the poisonous barbs were the culprit, but it’s the roots.”
“What?” I cut my eyes towards Sadal but the grin stretching across his face tells me his words are nothing but nonsense.
“He’s right,” the old witch intones. She slips into the light, her watch over. “The Shades don’t need Verity, though she will make it easier and faster for them – which is why they desire her so much.”
“What are you saying?” I ask, dread pooling in my gut.
“For thousands of years they’ve been pressing against the fabric of the ether, stretching it. Soon, they’ll pierce through it, tearing it open completely.” The old witch’s eyes are filled with worry. “When they do, they’ll be free in your world, and the darkness of the ether will spill over into this realm. You’ll
