Page 154 of Visions & Shadows

The silence is tense as we all watch my father and Ares take hold of Roark and Adeth. The moment they disappear, Alchera pulls her hand from mine and rushes out the sliding door that leads to the backyard.

Brenna goes after her, and as the sisters step outside, I glance at Finian.

My brother looks as shocked as I feel but says, “Father knows what he’s doing.”

“Does he?” I mutter.

“Are we safe?” Dylan asks. “Shouldn’t we hightail it out of here?”

I let out a sigh as I shake my head. “We’ll leave as soon as Alchera has a vision of the next chosen one.”

“So we’re staying?” Jason asks. “No one else is going to appear out of thin air to kill us?”

I still believe Ares is a huge problem, and knowing he’s moving freely around keeps me from answering Jason.

“Let’s clean up,” Sky says. “And I think everyone can do with a cup of coffee.”

“Fuck coffee,” Dylan mutters. “Is there anything stronger in this place?”

“I’ll get the whiskey,” Doug says, his features tense with worry.

I stand frozen as the chosen ones get to work, picking up the scattered sandwiches and putting the furniture back in its place.

Finian comes to place his hand on my shoulder, then he murmurs, “If what Father said is true, then we need to give Ares a chance.”

“The shadowlands will cease to exist before I do that,” I mutter.

Alchera

My butt hits the steps outside the sliding doors, and I wrap my arms around my shins.

Still feeling Adeth’s darkness creeping in my mind like shadowy tentacles, I can’t process the devastation of what just happened.

When Brenna sits down beside me, I can’t bring myself to talk.

Roark’s dead.

I killed him.

My chest implodes with devastating guilt and grief, but I can’t cry.

When I close my eyes and suck in a shuddering breath, Brenna wraps her arms around me and pulls me against her chest. She brushes her hand over my hair.

“It wasn’t your fault. Adeth killed him,” she whispers, her tone raw with heartache.

I can’t even shake my head to argue.

It feels as if all light has been drained from me, and only Adeth’s darkness has remained.

I have no idea what happened. One moment, I was hearing Adeth in my thoughts, and the next, I watched as Roark slumped to the floor.

The time between is filled with a shadowy haze.

Brenna lets out a sob, and I barely have enough strength to wrap my arms around her.

We lean heavily against each other as we try to process the loss we suffered.

Try to process? God, I haven’t even processed all the other shit that’s happened. It feels like every time I try to rise to my feet, something knocks me down.

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