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I stared up at the wall again. Palace guards. Royal storage. Magical protections. Probably enchanted death traps. And here I was, about to go in with a rogue I barely trusted and a system I didn't understand.
"…You're insane," I muttered.
Ravyn just winked. "That's what makes me fun."
She pointed to the top of the wall. "Climb over and toss me the rope."
That was it? No plan for the guards, no way to avoid the wards?
I was about to argue when something cold and familiar brushed against my senses. A soft chime echoed in my mind.
> [Shadow Sync: Active]
You may now step into connected shadow zones within direct sight. Range: 10 meters. Energy cost: Minimal.
A grin tugged at the corner of my mouth.
"Actually," I muttered, grabbing the rope from her hand, "I've got something better."
I took a breath, placed one foot on the shadow cast along the wall… and vanished.
It wasn't like stepping forward—it was like falling sideways into darkness, like my body had become liquid and the wall was just a thin veil I slipped through. For a brief moment, I was nowhere, and then I was standing on the other side of the wall in silence.
I looked down at my hands, blinking. No pain. No fatigue. Just… there.
"What the hell?" Ravyn whispered from the other side, her voice faint but shocked.
I tossed the rope back over. "Told you I'd manage."
She climbed quickly, and I half-expected her to chew me out for not telling her about my new ability. But when she landed beside me, breathless and brushing dirt off her pants, she just smiled.
"That was… hot," she whispered. "You're going to use that. We're not wasting something like that."
Then she pressed a small obsidian stone into my palm. A whisper-crystal. Communication magic.
"Keep that on you. If we get separated, talk through this. If you get caught, don't come back to help me. Move."
She didn't have to tell me twice.
I slipped into the nearest patch of shadow, the cool magic wrapping around me like a second skin. The palace was quiet this deep in the night, but not dead. Guards walked in pairs, their boots clicking against marble floors. Every now and then, a torch would flicker, casting long shadows along the walls—each one a gateway.
I moved fast. Shadows were everywhere in this place.
> [Shadow Sync: Success]
Location shift complete.
I emerged in a narrow hallway lined with busts of past kings. A guard turned just as I arrived. His brows furrowed, squinting at something—me, maybe? My form was still half-solidifying from the darkness.
He took a step forward.
"Did you see that?" he asked his partner.
I didn't wait. I melted into the next pool of shadow before they could get close. This time, I landed behind a tapestry, breath held.
This power… it was insane.
Ravyn's voice echoed faintly from the whisper-crystal. "You still moving?"
"Yeah," I whispered back. "Almost ran into a guard. They didn't see me."
"Good. Get to the vault. East wing. Find the lion statue. There's a door behind it."
"Copy that."
I moved again. Each time I stepped through the shadows, I felt more attuned, more confident. Until I wasn't.
It happened fast.
I stepped into a shadow near the lion statue, just as two guards rounded the corner. One caught sight of my foot vanishing into the darkness.
"Intruder!"
Shit.
I burst from the other side and sprinted. The palace erupted in chaos behind me—shouts, running feet, the sharp blare of an alarm bell echoing through the stone halls. Magic flared to life in the corridors, golden glyphs floating in the air. Wards.
I didn't know where I was going anymore. I just moved. Shadow to shadow, step to step.
Until I reached one that felt… off.
I dove in without thinking—and landed hard in a room I didn't recognize. Unlike the clean corridors and vault-lined halls, this place was different. Lavish. Velvet drapes. Cushions. Soft golden lighting. A canopy bed. Incense curling lazily in the air.
And then, as I turned—
A soft click of heels on marble.
I froze.
She stood there, half in silhouette.
Tall. Curvy. Her body wrapped in silks that clung to her like a second skin. Hair cascading down like black ink. Eyes sharp, narrowed—and studying me.
Then it hit me.
The stories Ravyn told. About the princess who lived in the upper levels of the palace. Beautiful. Obsessive. Supposedly locked away from the public because of… urges.
And now I was in her room.
She took a slow step forward. "Who are you… and how did you get in here?"
I opened my mouth, panic setting in, but I couldn't say anything fast enough.
Her lips parted, breath drawing in as if to scream.
I lunged.
My hand covered her mouth as gently as I could manage, pressing her back against the wall. "Please," I whispered. "Don't scream. I didn't mean to end up here."
She looked up at me, wide-eyed, her breath warm against my palm.
Knock. Knock.
A voice called from behind the door. "Princess Azariah? Is everything all right in there? We heard the alarms."
I froze. She didn't.
She gave me one long look—then turned her head.
"I'm fine," she called sweetly, voice muffled through my hand. "Just dropped something. No intruders."
"Very well," came the muffled reply. "Stay inside. We'll handle it."
When their footsteps faded, I pulled my hand back slowly, ready for a slap. Or magic. Or a scream.
But instead, she smiled.
"I don't know who you are," she whispered, "but you owe me now."
I took a step back. "Look, I wasn't trying to—"
She stepped forward.
"You broke into my room." Another step. "Touched me." She grinned. "You could've killed me. Instead, you touched my lips. That's intimate, you know."
I backed into the edge of her bed. "This isn't—"
She pushed me gently.
I sat.
"Relax," she purred. "You're cute. And it's been… far too long since I had someone fun to talk to."
"I'm not here for that," I muttered.
"You're not here for anything anymore," she said, voice low. "You're trapped. Alarms are sounding. Guards are everywhere. You'll die if you go out there. So…" She climbed onto the bed, one knee on either side of me. "Might as well make your last moments worthwhile, hm?"
I tried to shift back, but her hands pressed to my shoulders. Firm. Commanding. Her hips lowered slowly into my lap, and she tilted her head.
"You smell like the outside. Like smoke and steel. Like danger."
I swallowed. "Princess, I—"
She didn't let me finish.
Her lips crushed against mine, hot and hungry. The kiss wasn't gentle. It was desperate. Possessive. Like she had been waiting for someone to get close enough to touch, and now that I had, she was going to devour me.
My hands hovered in the air, unsure of what to do. But she didn't give me a chance to think. Her fingers tangled in my hair, pulling me deeper into the kiss, grinding her body into mine.
"I'm not going to hurt you," she whispered, breaking the kiss only to move her lips to my jaw, my throat. "Unless you ask me to."
"I… really shouldn't be here," I muttered.
She giggled. "And yet, here you are."
I'd gotten into this palace expecting death.
This wasn't death.
But it was dangerous in a whole different way.
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