After Eden’s burial, aching from the despair that had crawled inside my chest, I cried into my knees and cursed the monster who took my sister from me. The Light Legion said her soul was lost.
And where do lost things go?
Down to the darkest part of the Dream Realm—where the Shadow Bringer lived.
And what does a Shadow Bringer eat?
He ate Corrupted souls, weak and shivering as they wandered down, down, down to his shadowed lair, forgotten and abandoned by the light. He devoured souls buried deep beneath the dirt and its worms.
I bit down on my sleeve, letting my anguish run fast and deep. It had been my idea—not Eden’s—to dream. I had decided that our village was stifling us, and I wanted to escape. I was sick of the darkness Corrupting our people and the duty my parents held.
Only once, I had begged.
Eden had considered my request seriously, glancing at the vial of liquid between my fingertips. “They check every day,” she whispered. “They’ll know we didn’t take it.”
“We can pour it out of the window.”
Eden shook her head, dark curls like snakes upon her pale nightgown. “The snow would stain. And they’d hear the window opening.”
“Down the floorboards, then. There’s that crack, over there—”
“If we missed, they’d smell it on the wood.”
Wind snapped against our window, rattling the glass. An omen, maybe. But if it was, we missed it.
Or decided to forget.
I threw off my blanket, a wicked plan forming. “We’ll pour it in my tea. In the morning, I’ll wash the cup like I always do. The color will hide it perfectly.”
Eden’s eyes had sharpened at this. Brightened, even in the dark.
“It will be only once. Please, Eden. Think of what we’ll see—what we’ll do .”
But once became a word forgotten.
At first the dreams were beautiful, filled with the adventure I craved and the comfort Eden desired. They made us feel alive—made us feel like we had a purpose beyond our desolate village in the middle of the woods. They made us forget a harsh winter and early spring filled with our brother’s cries and gave us nights to cherish after days filled with chores and our father’s tedious rules. But one day, for Eden, the dreams weren’t any of those things. They weren’t beautiful, lovely, or safe. They became what we were warned against.
I stifled a scream into my pillow, sobs wracking my chest. I was selfish. Horrible. Unforgivable . Worse than the monster that now had his claws around Eden’s soul. The Shadow Bringer hadn’t been real—not truly—until he was.
Then how does a girl get revenge?
She must wade through the shadows and kill the monster that lived there.
