KINGSLEY POV
The moment I saw that black smoke, all the dots in my mind snapped together like bones cracking back into place.
No.
The dark witch spirit mom told me about.
It was free.
And I—stupid, cocky, reckless bastard that I was—I’d just walked right into its trap.
I turned too late.
The smoke wasn’t smoke. It was alive. It had thoughts. Intent. Hunger. It moved like something sentient, crawling with shadows, slithering along the air like serpents spun of ink and oil. I tried to step back, to retreat, but the moment my heel touched the threshold—
It was over.
A thousand tendrils of living darkness lashed out and dragged me in. I choked, falling to my knees, one hand still inside that warrior’s side. My other arm shot up to cover my mouth, but the smoke didn’t care about lungs.
