Page 110 of Unraveled
“He’s in there because of you.” My voice shakes with fury and I turn to Irene. “And you. Be glad that I’m not as horrible aseither of you, or you’d already be stone, just like him.” I point at the scientist that remains paralyzed, his body now made of smooth marble.
Naheli’s lying on the ground and tilts her head to greet me. Her expression says nothing, but I can see the edges of her body are slightly fuzzy and fading away. Which has to mean Ash is hurting badly.
She tilts her head to me and growls loud enough I hear Irene’s shaky breath in the background. Unlike my sister, I can read the spirit’s emotions.
I climb onto her back using her folded leg, and hold on to the fur on her shoulders. It doesn’t take long for the mist to turn into a saddle right under me.
The cool mist that makes my wolf friend wraps through my fingers like ropes.
I turn to Irene before leaving, knowing well I may not see her again. “If for once you want to do something for me, then you have to help him.”
I pointed at Finley, hoping she understood he mattered, even in his betrayal.
When my sister nods Naheli runs. The trees part to move out of our way. We jump off boulders and large hills, and we ride through the night under the stars.
At twilight, I don’t slumber like most beasts, and I have no one here to ask what that means.
Chapter 37
The glowof the veil is blinding as we break out of the thickness of the canopy and into a clearing outside Penumbra. The gas lanterns twinkle in the distance, bathing the streets of the city beyond in light.
The wind howls in my ears as the wolf moves faster, and I tighten my hands on the cool mist of my saddle’s horn.
“Naheli, Ash doesn’t want you to step inside Penumbra,” I begin as the shield’s milky-white membrane, separating us from the citizens inside, grows near.
I never thought I would ride through the forest on an ancient spirit, but then again, things have drastically changed. Naheli doesn’t slow, and I prepare myself for impact as she leaps into the veil with a howl.
For a time, we are suspended in a heavy substance that burns all over. We’re pushed and pulled in multiple directions, and the scent— It claws at me. The curse rejoices at the surrounding death, and that horrible feeling brings tears to my eyes. I glance down at my hand, and even though most of my arm remains hidden under my cloak, I feel the dryness of my skin going all the way up to my shoulder.
Mist bursts from Naheli, sending stars out to form a shield around me. A web of small cracks opens the wall, like it did the night Ash broke through, leaving a hole just large enough for us to cross.
We land on a wet cobble road, and for the first time since we left Irene behind, I hear the ancient spirit panting. Even though there’s a crack in the veil, no alarm rings to warn the city the shield is broken. At least when we cross through the streets, we find them desolate.
“Naheli, stop.”
She doesn’t.
The scientist quarters peeks out from behind the smaller homes at the edge of town. “If the guards see you running through the streets, they’ll warn the city, and they might kill Ash before we make it to him. Let me off. Sink into the shadows or become something less... magnificent.”
She slows down, turning her head to glare at me with her four amber eyes. I guess she doesn’t like to be told what to do.
The city is dark, and most everyone has gone to sleep for the night, giving us the perfect cover. I point at a narrow alley to our left and Naheli rushes for it, stopping only after we’ve dived into the maze of passageways. There are a few flickering gas lanterns on the streets, but not enough to reveal us.
Naheli’s misty body shrinks to the size of an actual wolf, and she loses two of her eyes. She’ll look convincing to anyone who isn’t looking too intently at the fact that small shimmering stars float around her. I don’t have time to worry about what-ifs when Ash may be dying right now. The veil stretches up to the sky, undeterred by the fissure Naheli made.
Unlike the last time I came to the scientist quarters, we go through the back door, where there are fewer chances to run into someone. I fish Irene’s keys from the depths of my pocket, and it takes me a couple of tries before I find the right one. Themetal door leads us to a long hallway and narrow steps up to an unknown location. Irene told me to go to the basement, but how do I get there?
Judging by the area of the city we crossed through, we should be on the eastern side of the building.
I move to the stairs, but my eyes drop to Naheli when she whines. She tilts her head in another direction. Down into the depths of the corridor.
Footsteps creak on the floor above, their voices muffled, and I know this place is crawling with scientists who may or may not be strixes. Naheli’s body shifts to mist, and she goes through a narrow door at the end of the hall.
I follow the wolf down stone steps that take us to underground tunnels. The cavernous ceilings haze with distance, and we follow the serpentine underpasses that lead us away from the main building. Moisture skims the rock walls, and my steps squelch with the mess of mud on the ground.
We’re getting closer to Ash. I can feel it in the pit of my stomach. The farther into the ground we go, the angrier the wards and more aggressively the spells leech away every ounce of warmth remaining in my body.
They command silence.
