Amidst Secrets and Shadows (A Court of Gilt and Shadow Book 3) by Stacy Jones & Harper Wylde

Author:Stacy Jones & Harper Wylde [Jones, Stacy & Wylde, Harper]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-03-22T16:00:00+00:00

Reluctantly, they followed on her heels as she set off in the opposite direction of the voice, following their directions to a scenic path that would take them back to the castle.

They hadn’t gone far when a sense flickered at the edges of her awareness. Something up ahead felt… wrong. Distressed.

Veering off the path, she pushed through the thick brush.

“Sweetling? You’re going the wrong way,” Dom teased from somewhere behind her.

“Mmhm,” she murmured absently, not really hearing him.

Pace quickening, she fought her way through a dense tangle of branches, ignoring the hails of her men as they crashed along behind her. As suddenly as though she’d run into a brick wall, she jerked to a stop, her heart squeezing painfully at the sight before her.

Cursing and frustrated grunts preceded her men tearing into the clearing, but they, too, fell still and silent when they skidded to a stop just short of bowling her over.

She could feel Viper’s shock and Dom’s angry resignation through their connections but only distantly, her own pain at the ruin ahead drowning them out.

“What the fuck?” Viper rasped.

“It’s been growing worse.” Dom stepped up to her side, scrubbing at the back of his neck.

“Who did this?” she demanded sharply.

“Not who. What.” Dom glanced sideways, eyeing her almost warily. “The land has been dying for some time now.” He paused, gaze narrowing on her. “For a little over twenty five years, actually.”

“Twenty-five years… ” her voice trailed off, and she felt more than saw Dom and Viper share a heavy look over her head. Her gaze was too transfixed on the blackened land before her.

The plants were all dead, the soil so dark it was nearly onyx. It appeared as though a forest fire had burned through and destroyed everything in its path, but somehow, she knew that wasn’t what happened.

There was no magic here.

The life, the power, that saturated everything in Faery had bled away from this place, leaving it barren and lifeless.

Voice tight with a fury she couldn’t explain, she asked, “This isn’t the only place like this?”

“Not by a fucking long shot,” Dom muttered. “It’s worse in other areas, but it’s not something that’s allowed to be spoken about. The last being who brought their concerns before the crown died. Horribly. When it first started, some Clans tried to repair the land. They brought in their best Healers and Earth elementals, but no amount of power or revitalization efforts could fix the damage. Now, these areas are avoided at all costs.”

“I can’t believe the King didn’t try to fix this,” she whispered, mind reeling, heart aching. “This is his Kingdom.”

For now.

Never before had the desire to reclaim her birthright been so strong. The people and the land were suffering, and she had the overwhelming need to heal it.

“Fix it? Pretty fucking sure he caused it,” Dom grumbled so damn quietly, she wasn’t sure if he meant for her to hear the statement.

“Caused it?” Horror filled her voice, and her gaze flew to first Dom, then Viper.

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