One Dark Window (The Shepherd King, #1)

by Rachel Gillig

“Know that you are loved, and that you always have a place here,

You are more special than you know. And it pains me to think I might have hurt you.

I felt tethered—wrapped in an invisible string that tied me to the Captain of the Destriers.

I saw the world through his gray eyes—felt the weight of his responsibilities and treacheries—as if they were stones sewn into the fabric of my dress.

And even then, no one had ever held me so tightly—as if they needed me in their arms as much as I needed to be held. As if nothing else mattered but to hold one another. As if we had all the time in the world.

But I was more than willing to lose myself to his touch, just to be certain.

I pressed my head to his chest, lost to the sound of his heartbeat against my ear. It stretched on and on, an eternal beat, a false promise.

When he looked at me, I felt seen, known. There was a line between us, drawn by fate and magic, that stretched out over space and time. Ravyn and I had walked that line our entire lives, unaware we were headed straight for each other.

“Be safe,” I whispered to the wind as Ravyn Yew disappeared beyond the gate. Had I known they’d be the last words I’d say to him aloud, I might have chosen them differently.