Page 124 of Shades of Silver City

“It was free!” The girl giggles. “Some guys in masks were handing it out downtown.”

Reed laughs, and it’s a dry, empty sound.

And then it’s as if time slows down and speeds up all at once. The air around him, a faint teal hue, begins to waver, slowly desaturating before me.

It fades from a blue-green ocean to a cloudy sky.

Paler and paler.

“No,” I whisper. “No. Not you, you son of a bitch!” I want to reach out and slap him for being so fucking stupid. I want to hug him, tell him I’m sorry for turning my back while he was clearly struggling. But the way the color is leaching from his soul-shade tells me it’s too late.

I turn to the girl, gripping her shoulders.

“Ow!” she says. “The fuck is your problem?”

Ignoring her, I take inventory of her soul-shade—a bright, strong magenta. It seems to be holding steady. I inspect her nostrils, searching for any sign of the sparkling powder. “Did you take any of that?”

“Not yet,” she says, wiggling out of my reach.

“Don’t,” I say, my voice as cold as a corpse. I wanted confirmation that the dreamdust was responsible for killing souls, and now I’ve got it.

But at what cost?

The girl goes still, studying me for a second. Whatever she sees in my expression must affect her, because she gives me a slow nod. I release her, and she pulls away, darting out of the kitchen and toward the front door, taking her bright aura along with her. I don’t bother watching to see if she leaves.

I don’t care.

Turning to Reed, I catch him as he leans forward to snort more of the powder.

“Stop!” I yell, grabbing his arm and yanking him back. “It’ll kill you.”

Reed whips toward me, a hollow smile on his face. “Tasia,” he slurs. “I’ve missed you.”

Sluggishly, he loops his arm around my waist, dragging me close to his body, but I push him away. He stumbles backward into the counter. A dark laugh comes from him, and quicker than I expect, he lurches for me, wrapping his fingers around my throat.

“Ree—” My voice sputters out as he cuts off my oxygen.

“Didn’t you miss me?” he asks, his voice becoming steadier. The aura around his body is fully grey now, a depressing fog that hangs over him like a storm cloud.

It’s too late for him.

I choke, my lungs burning for air.

My vision starts to go black.

It’s not too late for me.

Using all my force, I bring my knee up into his ball sack. He doesn’t double over the way I expect him to, but he does release me for long enough that I’m able to turn away and try to run.

In an instant, he catches me by the waist. I scream as he spins us both around and presses my front against the fridge. Instinctively, I throw my head back, hoping to slam it into his nose, but I only hit air. He must’ve dodged me. I wiggle and thrash, desperate to break his hold.

The dust seems to have given him some sort of abnormal power or insensitivity to pain, because Reed has never been this strong. No man can bounce back from getting his ball sack hit that hard.

“Tasia? Reed?” Stace asks, her voice higher-pitched than normal. “You guys okay?”

Reed keeps his hips pressed against me, pinning me in place. His other hand toys with my throat, squeezing hard enough that I can only let out a strangled gasp. “None of your fucking business,” he says, his tone devoid of emotion.

“Tasia?” Stace asks again.

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