shaede assassin 05 - shadows at midnight by amanda bonilla Page B

studio— Sia’i, rolqir al Nys’Asdar —echoed in my mind and cold power flared from my ring. What in the hell had those words meant? What sort of magic had they awoken? And what inescapable consequences had speaking them triggered?
    “You’re going to fail, you know.”
    The darkness melted away in an instant and I stood face-to-face with Azriel. Tyler and the rest of the team vanished and I spun in a circle to find myself enclosed by four stone walls. Don’t fall for it, Darian. This isn’t real .
    “You should have drown yourself in that bathtub all of those years ago,” Azriel replied in his cool, silky tone. “It would have saved us both a world of trouble.”
    I’d never told him that mere nights before we’d met, I’d thought about drowning myself in order to escape Henry’s abuse. But my husband had barged into the bathroom and yanked me from the tub before I could do anything quite so foolish. The illusions conjured by the Rakshasa used my own painful past to get under my skin, but they never did get the details quite right. That’s not to say they didn’t affect me, though.
    Could I walk out of an illusion? Any step I took could lead me in the wrong direction which might’ve been the illusion’s intent all along.
    “You’re giving her exactly what she wants. The both of you in the same place. She won’t make another bargain, Darian. If you go back, you won’t ever leave.”
    “Why don’t you shut the fuck up, Az?” I’d sworn not to engage, but it was too easy to fall victim to the false reality. “I wouldn’t be in this mess if you’d just left me alone to begin with.”
    My name carried to my ears on a long drawn out whisper. Azriel’s dark gaze held mine as I tried to turn toward the sound that seemed to surround me.
    “Stay with me.” The coldness in his eyes gave way to longing and his lips curved in a sensual smile. “We can be together here. We’re the same, Darian. We’re meant to be together.”
    If that was the truth, not Xander, his own ambitions, or the entire supernatural world would have kept him from me. Instead, he’d left me. “You’re a liar, Azriel. You’ve always been a liar.”
    “Daarriiaan!”
    Again the whispered voice intruded into my consciousness. I broke the hold of Azriel’s gaze and looked over both of my shoulders. “Tyler?” A ghost of sensation danced along my left arm as though invisible fingers gripped me tight. I leaned in to the contact and let out a sigh at the reassurance I felt. “I got out of here once, Azriel. I’ll get out again.”
    “Who says you ever left?” The kernel of doubt planted by his words rippled through me in a wave of fear. I swallowed against the lump that rose to my throat and willed myself to calm the hell down.
    “No.” I refused to believe it. I’d smelled Ty’s scent when he came to get me. Felt the icy chill of his magic. It pulsed from my ring now to remind me of its presence. “You’re not real,” I said with finality. “Now leave me the hell alone.”
    A surge of power shot up my arm and I gasped as though emerging to the surface of frigid water. Darkness permeated my vision and I coughed as I tried to fill my lungs with air. Power vibrated through me and I shook out my hand, desperate to banish the sensation and at the same time grateful for the clarity it provided me.
    “Get it the hell off of me!” I said through pants of breath. I pulled at the ring but it wouldn’t budge. I couldn’t control the power, had no idea what it even was.
    “Darian.” Tyler spoke low in my ear, his words meant for me alone.
    “No!” I shook the remaining cobwebs from my mind as I gave the ring another tug. “It’s too much, Tyler. I don’t know how to handle it.”
    “You have to calm down.” The urgency in his tone caused me to still. “Breathe through it and let the magic work.” I took several slow breaths and Ty relaxed beside me. “That’s it. Don’t panic. Don’t fight it. It’s the