I spin on my heel and rush back the way I came. My face feels hot, but shivers creep across my shoulder blades and breathe icy plumes down my spine, urging my feet faster. Once I’m out of the gardens, I launch up the wall onto the nearest ledge, unable to shake the sensation of multiple eyes watching my retreat.

I’m halfway across the ridge of a roof when a quiet whistle sounds behind me. Dropping, I grip the ridge with one hand to keep from sliding and flatten my back to the tiles. A knife soars past me, moonlight catching the blade in a flash of silver. I’ve only a second to wonder if what I’d sensed in the garden followed me out before a shadow rises in my periphery and a sword swings for my neck. I roll, using the momentum to slide off the roof. The curling eaves slow my descent long enough for my fingers to catch the edge of the roof and swing myself over.

My attacker is fast on my heels as I shimmy down a corner column and drop to the ground. The moment my feet touch dirt, I shove away from the stone to avoid another swipe of a long blade.

I edge backward, toward the bone palisade, as my attacker lands in a crouch on the ground. As the figure straightens, his silhouette appears to be that of a man’s. He’s tall and wiry, concealed head to toe in formfitting black. I can’t even make out facial features. He attacks again, shockingly fast, and I only barely dodge. The night helps to disguise his movements.

My neck stings as his blade kisses my skin. Then he grunts and staggers back. Embedded in his upper arm is a knife, the same one he’d thrown at me. My gaze flicks up to see Saengo crouched on the roof, braced against the side of a nearby tower. She slips behind the tower and out of sight again.

The darkness of my attacker’s disguise wavers long enough to reveal luminous white hair. Shadowblessed.

He isn’t wearing black. He is wearing shadows. They settle seamlessly over his form again as he fades into the shadows of the castle. Only his slight movements reveal where he is. Even his sword has been stained a dull finish that doesn’t reflect the light.

It would probably be smarter to stay where I am, exposed by the moonlight, and force him to come to me. But while I don’t have his abilities, I, too, have been taught to become a shadow—and I do not fear them.

So I step forward. I feel his gaze on me. It’s a different sensation from the one in the garden maze, the one that tugged at my core to venture deeper, whispering of dangerous secrets.