Page 24 of A Rising Hope

Untraceable. Unnoticeable.

I silently reached for another dagger at my hip.

“I can’t wait for Gideon to come back so I can make fun of him for losing his wife the same day he married her,” Zora mumbled, her tone forcefully lighthearted.

I didn’t reply. Every cell in my body became alert.

“Something is wrong,” I cautioned Zora, not second-guessing the unsettling feeling in my gut.

“What?” Zora asked, not hearing me. But I was already inside her room, checking the two windows near her. “What the hell?” she growled, submerging deeper into the water, but she didn’t ask me to leave. A thought I’d usually cherish and obsess over again and again, but this time I made myself focus, shoving aside the curtains to look outside.

A few soldiers passed the nearby garden, chatting. Everything looked normal. Almost too normal.

Except nothingfeltnormal. I threw the towel lying on the chair near me to Zora.

“Get out. We have to go,” I commanded, not willing to take a chance. My eyes glued to the window, scanning for anything odd. Not allowing myself even a blink.

Something was very, very wrong. Even if I couldn’t see it.

“What? I just got in!” she protested, dipping her head into the water as she soaked her hair. “If you have to go somewhere, go by yourself. I am sick of being chained to you day and night,” she whined, massaging the potent soap in her hair, a scent she knew would make me go absolutely feral had it not been for the growing unease in my bones. “I haven’t bathed in a few days now. If you are so worried, go call on Gia to take over babysitting duties if you must leave.”

There. That seamless flash. A blink.

My eyes narrowed.

A little crackle of black amid a cloudless sky. Far on the horizon.

My stomach dropped to my feet, and my mind equipped with the sharpest armor.

“We are going,now.” I twisted on my heels. Zora opened her mouth to object, but I didn’t care.

We had a minute if we were lucky. Maybe less than a few seconds.

I yanked her body from the bath, throwing her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes, her perky bare ass near my face, making me almost forget my name.

“What the actualhell?” Zora swiftly kicked me with her leg. “Have you lost your fucking mind?” She fought me, but I held on tighter to her slippery legs, not letting go of her as I raced down to the cellar.

A heatwave rolled through the surroundings.

“Fuck,” I rasped, forcing my body to move fast. Zora froze as she felt the earth rumble beneath my feet.

“What the fuck is that?” she gasped while I melted the locks on the rusty doors to the deep winter cellar.

There was no longer light on the skyline. Sun swallowed by total darkness. The temperature was dropping rapidly as frost crept up the walls.

“Those are wild Black Shadows.” I rapidly climbed down the ladder into the deepest part of the cellar, melting the heavy iron door shut.

I summoned the strongest shield I could wield around Zora. My gaze finding hers in the dim light.

“When they come. No matter what you see or hear. You do not let go of my hand. Do you understand?” I ordered. Zora nodded. “Keep your mind as black as possible. And donotletgo under any circumstances,” I repeated, my fingers interlocked with hers, and I squeezed her hand tighter.

My heart paused mid beat, and for the first time in so many years, I felt a little tremor in my hand.

The earth shook under our feet. I closed my eyes, tethering myself only to the feel of her hand in mine.

The shadows filled each crevice, sentient and alive, devouring whatever light, whatever warmness that stood in their path until it reached the cellar.

The destructive winds shrieked and roared outside. And horror-filled screams erupted a moment later, followed by unnatural silence.

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