Page 38 of Darkness and Deceit
My breath catches in my throat and I freeze.
“Lilith?” Augustus’ voice is low, but alert. “What is it?”
He stops ahead—turns back with a flicker of alarm furrowing his brow—but doesn’t come closer yet. Of course he doesn’t.
I shake my head, trying to speak. I don’t know. I don’tknow.
It feels like trying to breathe underwater.
And then a blast of something hits, like a magical pressure wave slamming into my chest. I drop to one knee, gasping. My hand hits the moss-covered dirt, and I dig my fingers in to ground myself, but it doesn’t help.
My vision fractures and like a storm behind my eyes I see chains, and fire, and screaming. Flashes of shattered metal and a scream that isn’t mine.
Heat curls up my spine like fire made of memory.
You opened the door.
That voice. It’s the same as before.
All you have to do now... is step through.
Every cell in my body trembles with panic. Every instinct screams: RUN.
“Lilith!” Augustus’ voice snaps through the haze.
I feel a hand hover near my shoulder—but it doesn’t land. He won’t touch me. Not even now. Of course he won’t. He’s a Keeper. He doesn’t break rules. Not for anyone. Not even me.
Even as I fall apart, he keeps his distance. His glow intensifies like he thinks if he shines hard enough it can burn away whatever is happening to me.
I can’t answer him. I can’t even move. It’s like I’ve been caught in a current, a riptide of something ancient and alive and furious. My Shadows surge, clawing up from the base of my spine and pouring through my limbs like liquid instinct.
They aren’t waiting for permission.
Theyknowwe’re under threat.
I feel them blast out. But there’s nothing to fight. Nothing to stop. Only that voice.
Step through.
The command reverberates through my body like someone striking a gong. My mouth opens and I’m sure a scream tears its way out—but I don’t hear it. The sound vanishes into the pressure, into the pull.
Everything collapses inward.
The trees vanish.
The light dies.
The forest disappears.
All that’s left is the heat.
And then?—
Black.
Somewhere far away, I think I hear my name.
And maybe—just maybe—I hear fear in his voice.
