Page 89 of Shadow

“Fuck,” he muttered.

“What?”

He sighed. “I wasn’t ready to show this to you, but she leaves me no choice. Follow me.” He headed off in the direction of the woods, and I followed.

“Do you know where she is?”

“Yes.”

“Where is she?”

“I’m taking you there.” He pulled his phone out and sent a text before putting his phone back into his pocket.

I grunted in frustration but didn’t push it. If he were taking me, I’d be good enough with it. I jogged with him through the dense snow. It was a fair run, but before long, we came to her tracks.

I didn’t like her out here in the forest all alone. There were wolves, bears, fucking moose for god’s sake lurking. And that was just the animal population. It didn’t include any of the Chapel Crest monsters.

We stopped several minutes later, and he turned to me.

“Listen, what I’m about to show you doesn’t go past us. Understand?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You and me?”

“You’re a smart one,” he said. “Yes, you and me. For now. I’m only doing this as a show of good faith. Eventually, I’ll be weighed and judged like Shadow, and I want you to remember my kindness and trust.”

“Fine,” I agreed. I knew he was next on Sirena’s list. I didn’t see her tossing him out, and he was world’s easier to handle than fucking Bryce Andrews was. I still wasn’t sold on Andrews, but I knew…

“Perfect. Follow me.” He led us through more snow and trees until we reached a massive ledge in the forest. I frowned at it as he moved behind a pile of brush in front of it.

“Come on,” he called out in a muffled voice.

I followed him behind the pile and saw him pushing open a wooden door. I blinked in surprise that he had his own fucking hideout in the middle of nowhere.

I followed him into a decent-sized cave and stared around in wonder. The place was basically a house, albeit a rundown one. Couch. Small heaters. A hole to ventilate. A few small rooms off to the side. Lanterns ablaze.

And her.

My specter.

I went and fell to my knees in front of her as she sat by the heater on the couch, staring off into space.

“Hey. Sirena,” I murmured, cradling her face and forcing her to look at me. Her eyes flicked to my face, giving me a breath of relief that she hadn’t lost it and retreated inside her head.

A tear snaked down her cheek. Asylum came forward and sat in an old velvet chair next to the couch and watched.

I dragged her against my body and held her as she cried into my neck.

“It’s OK,” I murmured, raking my fingers through her soft hair. “It’s going to be OK.”

She pulled away from me and signed, surprising me. I hadn’t expected her to actually communicate.

I frowned as I tried to understand what she was saying. While I’d spent a fair amount of time trying to learn sign language, she seemed to have a better grasp on it than I did.

“She wants to know how it’ll be OK when her sister is knocked up by her boyfriend,” Asylum called out.

I looked from him to her.

“It will be. I promise. There are options out there. I know Sin won’t want her to abort, but she does have that option. Adoption. Raising it. There are things that can be done,” I said, desperate not to have her fall apart over this. If she did, the little kingdom we’d made would surely crumble.

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