Page 87 of What Blooms from Death

But at what cost?

Dozens of hungry stares lifted in my direction.

My bleeding shoulder burned and ached. Panic clawed at me, but I forced it back long enough to assess the situation. The wraiths were circling closer, their forms becoming more defined in the haze of the dim evening light. Their eyes glowed faintly, like the embers of the dying fires they carried, yet they focused intently on me.

One of the wraiths lunged forward, faster than I expected, its form flickering like smoke. I tried—and initially failed—to possess it with magic, to drive my will into its fading essence. The black-rose bracelet rattled with the effort, shaking so intensely I thought it might break, but I held my arm steady until I felt a cold, foreign energy stabbing through my arm. I clenched my hand into a fist, trying to grab that energy as I’d grabbed other things by using this possessing power. But it felt different against my palm, this time; like trying to grasp mud—solid one moment, squeezing through my fingers the next.

Nevertheless, I managed to bend the will of the wraith enough to throw it off balance, sending it tumbling away from me.

Countless more moved to follow its attack.

The group was not as listless as it had first appeared. Now that I’d drawn their attention—their hunger—they swarmed with purpose, their movements swift and synchronized. But they were also smart enough to stop and consider their tactics when I lifted my palm threateningly in their direction, ready to throw more aside as I’d done with the first.

One of them stepped out beyond the others, raising a hand and gesturing to them, issuing commands. A leader. As he spoke to the other wraiths in a harsh, booming voice, I spun furiously back toward Kaelen.

The sovereign of Erebos was watching me with a strange, slightly mad gleam in his eyes, one of his scythes in hand. His gaze drifted between the streak of my blood staining the blade, to the drops of scarlet that had splattered the ground.

“They’ve been aware of your magic since I brought you into my home,” he said. “Hungering for it.”

“Youbastard.”I took a furious step toward him, shadows flying around me as I did. “You said you wouldn’t force me into anything!”

He sheathed his weapon with a slow, deliberate motion, as if indifferent to the growing chaos around us. “Iam not forcing anything. But the citizens of Erebos grow desperate, and I am bound as their leader to toss them a bit of hope every now and then.” He motioned to the trail of my blood.

His idea ofhope.

This man was beyond desperate.

“What they do with you is up to them,” he said.

My gaze darted frantically around, seeking escape routes but finding none; the wraiths were closing in from every direction. Too many of them.

Far,fartoo many.

“Or perhaps you can figure out a different plan?” Kaelen continued, his voice flat. “Go ahead: Tell them you have nothingto give, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Maybe they’ll leave you in peace. Maybe you can continue on your way, ignoring the plight of my citizens.”

I glared at him, my fury building. “You’re out of your fucking mind.”

“I’ve made my case and asked my favor.” His eyes stared past me, focused on nothing in particular, like an executioner resigned to his duty. Whatever doubts he might have had about my sentencing, he lifted his hand and signaled for the carnage to continue.

The motion was chillingly casual.

The crowd of wraiths needed only this slight wave of Kaelen’s hand to surge forward once more, into a blur of shadows and hunger and fading, flickering flames.

I immediately lost sight of Kaelen within the mayhem. I could do nothing except try to push my way through the swarm, fighting for breath, for balance, for some way out of the madness.

Occasionally, I managed to grab hold of one of the wraiths with my magic, shoving it aside and clearing a path. But for every one I threw back, three more converged, cutting off my path just as quickly.

Horrific memories of Lake Nyras flashed in my mind. I felt the weight of those ghostly shades pressing me underwater all over again—except these ghosts were much heavier, much more violent. Much more hungry.

And Aleksander wasn’t here to save me this time.

A cold hand clawed into the wound on my shoulder. I screamed, and with it, more ribbons of darkness exploded outward—an automatic defense mechanism that only led to more of my shadows finding their way into the flames the wraiths carried.

One after the other, those flames burned brighter, hotter, higher.

My turquoise bracelet rattled again. I gripped the beads tightly, tucking my head toward my chest, trying to keep from vomiting in response to the pain radiating through my shoulder.

The swarm of starving dead around me swayed and groaned, a sea of insatiable hunger. Until suddenly…it parted.

---