Page 140 of Fallen Nocturne

He drops to his knees before the woman. She cups his face tenderly between her hands.

“It’s me,” she whispers.

The trader says her name again, softer this time, as though it is something precious. “Bernadette.”

We scream until our throats hurt, but he cannot hear us. Or perhaps he no longer wants to. He reaches out and touches her face. “Oh, my Bernadette.”

The woman’s mouth opens too wide, stretching past any natural hinge before splitting sideways across her face. She closes it around the trader’s head. He vanishes between her jaws before either of us can look away. His body drops hard to the road.

She swallows once.

Then she turns.

Her borrowed face settles back into a gentle smile as she looks directly toward our hiding place. “You should have stayed quiet, girls.”

Blaire shakes beside me.

The creature glides toward the thorn bush.

“What is your name?” she asks, her gaze settling upon me.

Blaire clamps both hands over her mouth.

We know better than to answer. Names are power among the fae. A true name should never be given freely, because the wrong creature can use it as a chain.

My knees are trembling but I plant my feet. "Tell me your name first," I say.

The woman crouches before us.

“Why, mine is Bernadette, of course.” Her smile reveals row after row of narrow teeth. “Come now. It is rude not to tell me yours.”

Blaire presses herself against my side. Her pigeon burrows beneath her hair, trembling so hard that its tiny claws catch in her dress.

We are going to die here.

The thought fills my mind with a strange sadness. No one will know what happened to us. Rainer will search, but he will never find anything except two small sets of footprints beside an empty road.

I force myself to stop trembling.

“Are you a shapeshifter?” I ask.

Her head tilts. “Shapeshifter?” She laughs softly, as though the word is too small for her. “No, little nameless girl. Shapeshifters borrow faces. I can become anything.”

She leans closer, her smile widening.

“Men have crossed oceans for me. Kings have opened gates.” Her dark eyes gleam. “Mothers have walked into the dark because I called with the voices of their children.”

Blaire makes a tiny sound beside me.

The woman’s gaze flicks toward her, pleased.

“I have been bride, daughter, sister, saint.” Her teeth show again. “I can become anything a heart desires.”

Her shadow falls over both of us. “Would you like me to become your mother, little nameless girl?”

“No.” I force myself to look at her. “But can you really become anything?”

“Anything.”