Page 94 of A Dusk Of Stars

The man’s smile doesn’t disappear entirely, but it does turn a bit more cordial. “Ah, I see. Well, good luck with that.”

And he moves to walk away.

“Wouldyouknow anything about it?” I insist, gently, as I walk up to the fence surrounding his house. He stops. “Why people callthisparticular village cursed?”

He doesn’t turn around, he just throws me an apologetic look over his shoulder. “Sorry, never been one for wives tales.”

“That’s alright,” I rush to say, wanting for this not to be unpleasant for him. “Have a good day.”

The man waves and goes back inside.

I grit my teeth before I turn around to face the rest of the team.

“Nowwhat?” Bane asks, and by the way he’s looking at me, I know he’s only getting firmer in his opinion on this — that I’m getting myself in trouble and that I’m doing it over nothing.

Then again, I’m still under the impression ofmyopinions onhisbehavior, so to hell with him.

Besides, Alaric and Raven are here to help me, not have me waste their time.

And there’s this heaviness in the air that’s making it hard for me to breathe, so without wanting to, I just stay silent.

“Why don’t you take the lead, Anna?” Raven asks with gentleness in her voice. ”We can walk around and see if there’s anything that catches your eye.”

“Yeah,” I say with a nod, desperately grabbing onto the idea. “That’s exactly what we’ll do. Thanks.”

I start walking, the three of them trailing me in silence as we start passing house after house, only some still in use, and by the looks of it, it’s mostly old people.

The goddamn air, I think as I keep my eyes peeled on anything that might stand out. Why is the air in this place so thin and heavy at the same goddamn time?

It makes me frown and slow down, when it becomes even thinner. I look up only for my vision to immediately blur, this vague image of a barren spot of land flashing before my eyesbefore they settle on what’s in front of me, an old stone bridge connecting one part of the village with another.

I come to a stop, gulping as Bane comes to frown at me with a question in his eyes.

“There,” I say in a low voice, lifting my hand to point at the bridge. “That’s where we need to go.”

“You alright?” he asks.

“I’m fine.”

As soon as we step foot on the bridge, the stream almost soundlessly running below, I feel my emotions get heightened to a point that’s completely unbearable.

It’s even more amplified by the feeling of something awful nestling inside my chest, the filth of the place I’m standing on seeping into my very bones.

Then there’s the flicker followed by the shadows creeping across my vision, just like there was back in Norway. My breathing starts to get shallow even before I hear the already familiar deep, male drawl boom inside my head, “So romantic, that you’d come looking for me again. But don’t worry…” It stops, making me hold my breath as my entire body starts to tremble. When it sounds again, it’s a self-satisfied whisper. “Ifyoudon’t findme, my darling,I’llfindyou.”

The voice and the words make my body swell with so much rage, it renders me blind for a moment. I feel I’m about to break somehow, and it’s going to be bad, unless I find a way to get in control,fast.

“You don't look fine tome, Novak,” I hear Bane say just as whips of electricity start shooting out of my entire body.

Whips I can't control. Whips that could potentially hurt my friends.

So I don’t answer. I force myself to focus and remember the stuff that helps me in these kinds of situations. What was that damn thing about control?

Gaining, losing... You can’t gain it unless you first lose it.

“Anna?” Raven calls out, but I can’t seem to force myself to pay any attention to the world around me.

I start flexing my fingers, feeling the electricity coursing through my veins and trying to make it run the course I want it to run.

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