Shadows Entwined (Shadows Descent #3)

22. Thorne

22

THORNE

The lower chambers of MistHallow are always dark, but my shadows feel different here. Restless. Like they’re trying to tell me something I don’t want to hear. While Caine and Flint check on the crystal, I’m drawn to a particular corner where the shadows seem deepest.

“Thorne?” Violet’s voice is gentle and concerned. After what we shared this morning, her presence feels even more attuned to my moods than usual. “What is it?”

I press my hand against the cold stone, letting my shadows seep into the cracks. “Something’s not right. These shadows are familiar.”

“Familiar how?”

“Like...” I hesitate, the words sticking in my throat, and I sigh. “Like my dad’s.”

“Okay, well, we suspected he was working with Amara. This is… not unexpected,” Violet says cautiously.

“No, but it… I was hoping it wasn’t true,” I admit, feeling like a fool.

“Of course you were,” she says softly. “None of us want to think of our parents as being traitors or bad people.”

I stare at her and feel crap for whinging about my dad when her mother has been at the centre of a plot against her since before she was even born. “I’m sorry. I’m being selfish.”

She blinks. “What? No, no, you’re not. Your feelings are valid, and you should never not express them.”

“But this is fairly insignificant compared to your mother,” I point out, still feeling like I should.

She huffs. “Forget her. Yes, all of this is her fault, but we have to deal with it and move on, and hopefully, once it’s done, we don’t have to worry about it for another fifteen hundred years. Assuming we live that long.”

Her added grimness makes me smile. “I’m sure we will. For our sins.”

“Great. Too bad I was frozen in time for the first fifteen hundred.”

“Yeah, that’s a lot to get around.”

She snorts. “You don’t say? Anyway, forget all that. We are here for ley lines. I honestly just can’t think about all the plots against us. We have to deal with the Convergence first and foremost. Whatever springs up from that, we are going to have to roll with it.”

I take her hand and kiss her knuckles. “You are so strong. I love you.”

She grins. “I love you too. Show me these lines?”

My shadows respond instantly to her command, spreading out to reveal traces of older, darker magick. Patterns emerge in the stonework, and she leans closer. “So, were these here before magick?”

“Yes, exactly that. All magick is born from the ley lines.”

“Wow, so that’s some serious kick.”

“They cross over a vast network into different realms. It’s quite a fascinating study.”

Caine taps his cane against the floor, ice crackling as he and Flint join us. “As touching as this is, we have bigger problems to focus on. The Dragon crystal is depleting faster than we’d like, probably after the Order hit earlier and likely with The Convergence coming.”

“How depleted?” I ask.

“I mean, in the grand scheme of things, probably not that quickly,” Flint replies. “But enough to be noticeable. I did assume it would take longer.”

I’m about to reply when the pull on my soul is familiar—the dark magick that calls me home.

“My father’s summons,” I mutter.

“No,” Violet says immediately. Her hand tightens on mine. “It’s a trap.”

“Of course it is,” I reply, already feeling the shadows thickening around me. “But if I don’t answer?—”

Too late .

The shadows take me, pulling me through the spaces between realms to the Dark Fae Kingdom.

The throne room is made of obsidian and shadow, designed to intimidate. My father sits on his black throne; despite not being true royalty, he likes to play the part.

“Thorne,” he says as if he hasn’t been conspiring against everything I care about. “We need to talk.”

“Do we?” I keep my voice neutral, but my shadows curl aggressively. “Or rather, do we need to talk about you ? Working with Amara? The Order? How long have you been plotting against MistHallow?”

He sighs, standing with fluid grace. “You don’t understand the bigger picture. The girl—Morgan’s daughter—is too powerful to be left unchecked.”

“That’s not an issue for you to decide. She is fine. She knows her role.”

“She holds the essence of Morgan Le Fay,” he snaps, the mask of calm slipping. “Do you have any idea what that kind of power could do if properly controlled?”

“You mean properly exploited?” My shadows lash out, cracking the obsidian floor. “She’s not a weapon for you to use.”

He moves closer, his face twisted with anger. “The Convergence is coming. With her power, we could restore the Dark Fae to their rightful place in this network of realms.”

“No,” I say simply. “You don’t get to use her. You don’t get to use any of us.”

“Us?” His laugh is cold. “Don’t tell me you’ve actually developed feelings for this girl playing with power she doesn’t understand?”

The fury in my soul darkens, and it takes everything I have not to do something I know I will regret. “She’s my family. More than you’ve ever been.”

“Family?” Now his voice holds real anger. “I am your blood. Your heritage. Everything you are comes from me.”

“No. Everything I was came from you. Everything I am now? That’s mine. Hers.”

His shadows strike first, but I’m ready. We clash in a dance of darkness, father and son, tradition versus choice. He’s powerful, centuries of dark magick at his command, but I have something he doesn’t.

I have something worth fighting for.

“You’re making a mistake,” he snarls as we battle. “I won’t stand for this defiance.”

“You,” I reply, “can go to hell, along with your plots and plans.” The strength coursing through me, coming from my connection with Violet, is staggering. I push my dad back, shoving him back into his throne.

My dad is shocked when he realises I’ve actually managed to overpower him. His magick fires up angrily, but it can’t match the intensity of mine.

“This isn’t over,” he snarls, gripping the arms of his throne. “You have no idea what forces you’re meddling with, boy.”

“No,” I agree coolly. “But I know who I stand with. And it’s not you.”

Before he can respond, I feel a familiar tug on my soul. Violet. She’s calling me back.

“Goodbye, Dad,” I say, letting my shadows envelop me. “I hope for your sake we don’t meet again soon.”

The darkness swallows me, and I let Violet’s essence guide me home. I emerge in the lower chambers of MistHallow to find her waiting anxiously.

“Thorne!” Violet exclaims, throwing her arms around me. “Are you okay? What happened?”

I hold her tightly, breathing in her scent. “I’m fine. Dad tried to convince me to join his side. It didn’t go well for him.”

Caine’s eyebrows shoot up, but he doesn’t say anything. If anything, I can see the wheels turning.

Flint looks relieved. “Glad you’re back in one piece. We were worried.”

“I’m fine,” I assure them. “We have work to do. The ley lines appear intact. They are drawing protection from MistHallow and probably that crystal, so we need to make sure it doesn’t drain down completely.”

“I think that’s still a way off, but I will recharge it an hour before the Solstice,” Flint reassures me. “And then we hope for the best.”

“How long have we got?”

“About sixteen hours.”

I hear Violet’s gulp, which she tries to hide by turning away from us. She is getting scared. I don’t blame her, but we can’t let her see our fear. She needs to be strong and resilient and fight whatever tries to come for her with every ounce of strength and power I know is inside her.

I go to her and wrap my arms around her from behind, pulling her close against my chest. She relaxes into me slightly, though I can still feel the tension in her body.

She takes a shaky breath. “I’m scared, Thorne. What if I’m not strong enough? What if I fail and everything falls apart?”

“You are the strongest person I know. You’ve faced so much already and come out stronger each time. This is no different.”

Caine moves in front of her and cups her face. “He’s right, snowdrop. You’ve got this, and you’ve got us to help you.”

Flint nods in agreement. “We won’t ever let you fall, remember?”

Violet draws strength from our words and our presence. Her spine straightens, and her eyes harden with determination.

“Okay,” she says, her voice steadier now. “Let’s do this. What’s next?”

“We need to prepare the Nexus,” I explain. “The Convergence will be strongest there. We need to channel that power and use it to stabilise the dimensional barriers.”

“So, back to the tree?”

“Back to the tree.”

“Can we stockpile some blood first? Human?” she croaks.

I exchange a look with Flint, who narrows his eyes at me before turning to Violet. “Yes. We will get both human and synthetic. Let’s go to the dining hall. I could use a sandwich.” His stomach growls, and it lightens the mood considerably.

“Well, let’s get you all fed. You will need your strength as much as I will,” Violet replies.

Taking one last glance at the space where I rematerialised after basically banishing myself from my home, I take a moment to mourn the loss of everything that made that place home. Now, I feel a more profound kinship with Violet. Like her, I’m now homeless apart from this place. That just ratcheted up the stakes for me. Not that I was prepared to lose this place to anyone before, but now, now , I will defend this academy with my last breath if it comes to that.