Page 19 of Acedia

Lucas huffed but didn’t object, and I tried to say as little as possible, not wanting to annoy him. Even though he’d been nothing but kind in the time we’d been hiding out here, I still half expected him to pinch me the way my brothers did if I said the wrong thing.

I couldn’t have slept more than two hours last night—my nerves had been relentless. What if I was making the wrongdecision? Was I putting too much faith in Lucas? He seemed kind, but maybe his intentions weren’t pure and I was just too ignorant about the world to realize it.

Lucas pushed a towel into my hands the moment he was done, and I roughly dried my hair as best I could over the basin. Despite the circumstances, there was a small frisson of excitement penetrating the cloud of nerves.

This was the most interesting thing I’d ever done.

I’d spent my entire life listening to movies and stories and songs about going on adventures and chasing dreams, assuming that I’d never go anywhere beyond the confines of my attic.

And while this experience wasn’t quite as romantic as the ones I’d heard described in stories, it was still the start of a new chapter for me.

The start of a moment in time that would either make my future or break it.

“Alright,” Lucas exhaled. “Let’s do this. You’re due to meet Astrid soon—she’ll take you through to the shadow realm. I don’t really know how, I assume a Shade helps with that part.”

“Are you sure you won’t come with me?” I asked, nervous both about going to a new world by myself and for Lucas. The silence from Moriah had been eerie. Lucas seemed to think she’d assumed I’d run away and had simply chosen not to look for me, but I knew I couldn’t be that lucky.

“I’m definitely not welcome there,” Lucas said firmly. “Though it’s horrible to think that I’ll never see you again.”

Was it? I had assumed that Lucas would be glad to see the back of me.

Maybe once I was in the shadow realm, I could convince them to come back for him. He seemed very remorseful for calling in the higher-ups when he found Verity—surely that had to count for something.

“Have you heard from my brothers?” I asked.

Lucas made a quiet noise of discontent. “They asked if I’d taken you and I said I didn’t know anything about that, and they had no further follow-up questions. I believe they’ve returned to Denver now, though your parents—sorry, Moriah and Giles—are still in town.”

“Looking for me?”

“I’m not ruling that out, but I haven’t heard anything specific through the grapevine, if it helps. If they’re looking, they’re beingverydiscreet about it.”

They didn’t have a choice if they wanted to keep my existence a secret.

I shouldered the small backpack of things I was taking with me, and held onto the elaborate contraption Lucas had attached to Tilly—it was some kind of handle and harness contraption that she was very begrudgingly wearing.

If I said anything at that moment, I might have burst into tears. Lucas was a stranger to me, and yet he’d repeatedly shown me more kindness than my family ever did.

That’s not kind, I scolded silently.It’sbecauseLucas is a stranger that he can be so patient with you. You haven’t become a burden to him yet.

“It’s a short walk to the meeting point,” Lucas murmured, gently gripping my elbow as we headed outside, the wind immediately chilling my face.

“Is there anything I need to know before I get there?” I asked, wishing I had a coat on to ward off the chill.

“Almost certainly,” Lucas replied. “I don’t know where to begin. The Shade king’s name is Allerick—he is married to Ophelia Bishop, the exiled Hunter that your mother sent over to the shadow realm to secure the treaty. Or to lure them into a false sense of security. I’m not really sure—the reports we received were pretty mixed. Astrid defected to help her sister, and took some other exiled Hunters with her.” He was quietfor a long moment. “That wasn’t the story that we were told at the time, but that’s the information I’ve gathered after spending several days with the Councilors.”

He sounded so quietly betrayed by that, and I had no idea how to respond. Was it such a surprise for him to find out they’d been lied to? Perhaps I had an advantage in that respect. Through the vents, I’d heard Moriah tell someone one thing in their presence while saying something entirely different the moment they left my life.

“You’ll probably fit in just fine with the ones who have already gone over there, Iris. They all didn’t fit in the Hunters’ mold for one reason or another.”

That bolstered my confidence slightly. How lovely to start off with something in common.

Lucas’s steps slowed, pulling me to a stop with him. “Can you walk the rest of the way alone?”

“I don’t know,” I replied honestly, taking a steadying breath. “I’m not used to doing things on my own. Tell me what to do.”

Lucas grabbed my wrist and pressed my palm against a rough brick wall. “Follow the curve of the building. Astrid should be waiting for you in an alleyway down the side of it. I’ll wait here for a little while too—to guard the entry and make sure she actually shows up to collect you.”

“You won’t come with me?”

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