Page 122 of Every Shade of Shadow

I let off a deep sigh, knowing her question has caught me off guard. “He knows my feelings about what happened to Cassandra, and honestly? I’ve been too preoccupied with these murders to dwell on it.”

Lily bounces her head from shoulder to shoulder. “Makes sense, and you don’t think he’s involved with the murders, don’t think he’s Mortis?”

“No,” I answer, the confidence in my tone rising. “He’s a lot of things, but—” I almost say ‘he’s not a killer’ before I realize that yes, this is precisely what he is, or was, professionally—just like my parents, which a concept I still cannot wrap my head around. “He’s not the murderer,” I finish, “or Mortis.”

“How can you be so sure?”

How much to tell her. That’s the question. “That picture in his chambers? He was with friends. There was a note on the back saying they were hunting Mortis.” I gulp. “I don’t think his friends survived.”

This is speculation, but I’m sure of it.

“Fuck,” stammers Lily. “Probably explains why he’s so broody, you’re sure?”

“I’m sure,” I nod, a lie.

Help.

All of a sudden, there’s no scent in the air. There’s no ambient noise. I can’t hear anything. I am frozen to my spot, standing next to a silent, not moving Lily. Before either of us can verbalize what’s going on, a bright flash forces me to squeeze my eyes shut. Light continues to pour through my closed eyelids as they roll up.

Instead of a garden and trees, I find myself looking at a small shed, but everything’s gray and washed out, like the world’s made of ash.

There are tools lining the far wall and in the corner of the shed, a familiar figure.

It’s Ava.

She’s in jeans and a sweater staring at another figure—a robed, hooded individual—maybe eight or ten feet away. Whoever they are, they’re much taller than Ava. They raise their arm and I see an ashen knife not unlike the one that was drawn across my throat when I shared consciousness with Sabrina.

Tension tightens in the back of my neck.

Wind and sound return and the scene before me vanishes to be replaced by Lily’s concerned face.

I move on reflex and grab her arm, which seemed fast headed in my direction.

“Were you about to…slap me?” I slur.

She lowers her arm. “Jesus, you’re back. I thought you were fucking petrified or something.”

I reach up to my head. “I think I had a vision?”

Lily looks confused. “But you’re not a sightwalker.”

Actual sightwalkers being incredibly rare. I shake my head. “No, no, not like a vision vision, but real-time, or the future, like Ava’s in trouble, reaching out to me.”

Lily’s eyes go wide. “Ava?” She grabs my shoulders. “What did you see?”

“Mortis, I think. He had a knife, and they were in a shed, with tools, but everything was weird and shadowy…”

“I know where that shed is.” Lily almost blurts it in one full sentence. “Come on!”

She sprints off down the pathway, her purple hair blowing back past her shoulders.

Ava’s talent in divination is a thing. I don’t know enough about projections, but what I saw seemed more in line with Shadowcraft. Or maybe it’s a mix of both, which really doesn’t matter at all because the point is, Ava is in danger.

We clear a grove as I do my best to run alongside Lily, heading for the corner of the garden.

It’s taking too long. By the time we get there it’s going to be too late.

Help.

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