The Night by Felicity Heaton Read Free Book Online Page A

body aflame with tingles and shivers, with an inexplicable lightness the likes of which she had never felt before. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to the kiss, surrendering completely to him and her feelings, and drawing everything she could out of it. It was her strength and her power. This feeling was more powerful than magic.
    The doors slammed and Zane pulled away.
    She looked straight into Zane’s eyes as he stared at the door, a frown on his face. She could feel the power growing in him, the magic coming to the surface and tickling her skin where he was touching her.
    “Come,” he said, taking hold of her hand and leading her up a set of steps that spiralled around the wide circular room and seemed to reach up to the heavens themselves.
    She followed without question, her lips and body still buzzing with his kiss and feelings that she didn’t know what to make of. With each window they passed, she looked out onto the world. Each step brought them higher but it also seemed to bring the dawn closer. Every view from the castle showed the sky growing brighter, changing the landscape.
    There was a moment of quiet and then a tug at the base of her stomach. She frowned and ignored it, pushing away from it and forcing herself to remain where she was. Zane needed her now. She had to save him. She didn’t care about anything else.
    She looked at his back as he took step after step with careless ease. She could sense no fear in him. Her sister was right. He had managed to find his courage.
    Suddenly there was a door in front of them and the steps were no more. The intricately carved white wood almost shone in the strange light between night and day. There would be repercussions for what she was doing. It was against natural law to suspend the dawn and dusk. Mother Gaia would be angry. 
    Zane looked over his shoulder at her and she thought he was going to say something, but then he turned away and opened the door. He let go of her hand as he stepped through and the loss of contact had an impact on her that she hadn’t been expecting.
    She felt weak.
    Tired.
    It was a struggle to walk but she followed him into the expansive room. Midnight black banners with silver embroidered edges hung from the back wall, stretching high up into the vaulted ceiling and flanking the throne-like chair directly in front of her.
    Zane was already striding towards it and she hurried to catch up. Magic slowly circled his hand and she could sense how weak it was. There was something about this place that dampened everything, but at the same time heightened something else.
    Looking above her, her eyes widened when she saw a magnificent blue glass dome, its panels decorated with symbols of the night and the heavens, and of the stars. In its centre was a single star, spreading silver rays out that cut through everything else in the dome. From the star hung a black shard of crystal.
    Celene shook her head and raised her hands.
    Magic faltered around her fingers, broken and distorted.
    A chill swept over her, fear bubbling to the surface and making her sick. She had never felt such a feeling before. It consumed her, driving her mad with hissed words of defeat, of death.
    “Zane... we must leave,” she whispered.
    He turned to look at her, and as he did, someone shimmered into being behind him. A beautiful woman stared at her, eyes black as midnight and hair white as snow. Her gaze narrowed and Celene felt a stab of pain in her heart.
    Pain.
    True pain.
    Raising her hands, she held them in front of her, muttering words to protect herself and frowning when nothing but a fragile shimmering blue disc appeared. It wouldn’t protect her for long. She was too weak here.
    “What’s the matter?” Erikka said with a look of amusement.
    Celene looked up at the dome and cursed the stone hanging there. It was drawing all her power, all Zane’s power, and feeding it to Erikka. It was stealing their strength.
    “Leave her be, Erikka.” Zane’s voice