Page 67 of Angel in Absentia
This is rather lovely. A body. I have never considered this before.
Clea was rather disturbed to find the whispers now directly in her ears, but she pushed on, knowing her mad idea might just work. Prince’s presence over her should conceal her ansra.
“Can you make me invisible?” she asked.
Silence.
“Prince?” she asked again, and her body faded from sight before her eyes.
Perfect, she thought.
“Now, don’t get too comfortable,” she whispered back as she snuck through the door, inspecting the empty hallways. There was a small part of her that was concerned that Prince might never let her go, or perhaps that he could somehow start controlling her body, but as with all mad ideas, this was an experiment. As she snuck through the halls, she reassuredherself that in most ways, Prince seemed to be a rather harmless creature.
She became convinced the risk was worth it as she eased through the halls uninterrupted, even by a passing Insednian. No one sounded an alarm. She eventually navigated back through the dungeons to find Dae and Catagard.
“Dae,” she whispered, and he jolted up from the cell wall, searching around.
Clea reached for her face and softly pulled the mask free. The ghost form fell away from her body, recoiling into the shape of her outline. Still wearing her shape, it tiptoed away.
It giggled in a distortion of her voice, a hollow, airy sound, and twirled once, savoring the stolen body shape.
Dae’s lip curled in disgust. “Monster,” he muttered as he watched it go. The ghost shivered at the insult and withered, folding in on itself until it vanished with a soft hiss of air.
Clea was disturbed herself but glanced over at Dae in offense, stopping herself from scolding him.
Dae met her eyes, sensing the scold, and whispered, “Seriously?”
Her expression softened as she unlocked the cells with the keys from the wall, glancing both ways. “He helped us.”
“Seems to be a theme lately,” Dae replied bitterly.
“Let’s go,” she barked. “Now isn’t the time.”
Chapter 21
The Vice
HE SILENCE BARELY lasted until they managed to work their way through the city and get through the walls, draped in ragged cloaks. Everything was open. Clea was surprised to see civilians wandering about rather peacefully with only scant sightings of Insednians along the walls.
“There’s not much more I can add,” Clea said. “You’ve heard the story, Dae.” Catagard had been unusually silent during the duration of their argument, the three of them now traveling with packs through the edge of the forest. “Let’s just get out of here and come up with a strategy.”
“What kind of strategy?” he argued. “Clea, he has the entire city. Do you really think going to Ruedom will help? They’ve denied us help once already.”
“Then we convince them!” Clea said, facing them both. “You saw how Alkerrai pulled in Idan out of nowhere! That must have frightened him. They don’t understand how vulnerable they are too. We have to tell them.”
Catagard and Dae both watched her quietly, and Clea sighed, searching the emptiness of the woods around them.
“What?” she asked.
Catagard and Dae exchanged glances.
“What?” she pushed louder, throwing her arms out at them.
“Maybe you should stay here,” Catagard said at last, and she stilled.
“What do you mean?” she asked, already feeling a prick of betrayal, arms lowering slowly by her sides.
“Venennin have very specific weaknesses. The more powerful they are, the stronger their vices are,” Catagard said. “You were able to convince The Haunt to help you. You have the Warlord of Shambelin willing to negotiate with you. The symbolism you have with our people, being a light of some kind, seems to be just as potent with Venennin.”
