Page 45 of Ira

In a matter of minutes and just a few steps, we’d gone from one realm to a very different one, and my skin itched a little with the panicky need to go back. The faint whirring of electrical equipment and the quietthud, thud, thudof the heavy bass from whatever Harlow was listening to felt immediately more foreign to me than anything in my life in the shadow realm.

And then there was Verner. Ghostly, incorporeal Verner.

In this form, he was basically a giant floating cloak with hands.

“Go back,” I whispered, reaching out to touch the edges of his form. I’d never touched a Shade in this form, and I was surprisedto find that I could feelsomething, though it was as light as a feather beneath my fingertips.

Without giving myself another second to chicken out, I knocked on the closet door to announce my presence before turning the handle, finding it unlocked.

I’d only briefly met Harlow Miles in the shadow realm, and I’d never been to her apartment—Harlow had originally come to the shadow realm with the first group of us, but hadn’t been able to handle the medieval way of life. She was some kind of tech expert, and Astrid had been working alongside her to wage a subtle kind of war against the Hunters from afar. Though that had probably gone on hold, now that negotiations were open again.

“Oh,” Harlow said, blinking owlishly as I stepped out of the dark closet and directly into her computer room. Despite my instructions, Verner floated into the room behind me, keeping away from the small pool of light around Harlow’s desk that was generated by neon light strips. “I wasn’t expecting guests.”

“I’m sorry for dropping in without any warning.” I glanced around. “It does seem very trusting of you to put your makeshift entry to the in-between directly next to your workspace.”

She shrugged. “It was here or my bedroom. Anyway, come in, take a seat.” She pulled out a rolling stool from beneath her desk, lounging back in an enormous office chair that dwarfed her slight frame. “Meera, right? We met in the shadow realm. I remember you—you were the quiet one. How can I help?”

The quiet one.

The quiet one who didn’t rock the boat and didn’t do confrontation. The dull one. Thesadone.

Not anymore.

“Are you willing to lie to Astrid about seeing me here?” I asked, tipping my chin up to meet Harlow’s gaze.

She snorted. “Fuck no. Astrid is the scariest person I’ve ever met.”

That was probably fair, though she could be bribed with jerky and pickles. Or frightened away by the merest hint of an emotional conversation.

“Okay, then I don’t need help. Just directions out of your building.”

Her eyebrow rose up to her short black hair, which was dyed green at the ends. “I don't know how to tell you this, but you have a Shade hovering right next to you who is going to implode if you go outside right now—it’s the middle of the day.”

“Yes, well, he’s not staying.”

Harlow looked over my shoulder, and I felt an odd, proprietary urge to stand in front of Verner, blocking him from her view. “Does he know that? He’s sticking pretty close to you.”

I turned, giving Verner what I hoped was an encouraging smile. It was so unsettling seeing him in this form, and not being able to communicate with him. Honestly, it hadn’t really occurred to me—the others who’d been back to the human realm had all been able to communicate via their mating bond. Apparently, the bite worked as some kind of antenna, and I didn’t have one.

Verner’s form rippled, and I realized with a start that I was rubbing my neck and quickly dropped my hand.

“You need to head back now, remember? Just like we talked about,” I said encouragingly, my face hot.

Verner was still for a moment before slowly—and deliberately—shaking his hooded head.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Don’t be difficult. You said you would.”

He shook his head again. Actually… had he said that? On reflection, I couldn’t remember him agreeing to leave. Thenagain, it didn’t really matter. I could just walk out into sunlight and he’d be forced to concede defeat and go home.

I didn’t feel great about that option, but itwasthere.

“Look,” Harlow began placatingly, holding her hands up. “I’m not going to lie to Astrid because I value my life, but I don’t necessarily have to tell her everything either. Why don’t you chill here until nighttime? We can hang in the kitchen. I’ll make it dark enough for your friend. You can eat whatever human realm snacks you’ve been craving—don’t bullshit me, you’ve got to be missing processed sugar, right? Ooh, or we could order in. Do you like wings?”

I blinked at her as my brain tried to catch up to how we’d landed on that question. “I’m a vegetarian.”

“Oh.” She pursed her lips. “Fries then?”

“I’m not hungry. And I really have to go—I haven’t got long.” The more time I spent here, the more difficult it was for the ex-Hunters in Elverston House to cover for me.

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