Page 63 of As Darkness Fall
Aaron snorted. “I think we both know she’s not entirely human. Or shifter, for that matter.”
I stiffened.
Did Aaron know? How could he make a comment like that and not know?But he wasn’t there, in the temple, with the energy. He couldn’t possibly know. Unless…
“You know,” I said, staring at Aaron. It wasn’t a question. “But you weren’t there.”
Vir didn’t flinch as I turned my gaze on him, struggling to keep my cool.
“Why?” I asked, my voice hoarse. My privacy had been violated, and I wasn’t happy about it.
“Because,” Vir said quietly, “he’s known you longer.”
“Not by much,” I spat. “What does that have to do with anything anyway?”
Vir shook his head. “Still longer than me. I had to know if you’d exhibited any signs of abilities before then. Anything that might give a clue as to what you are.”
“Signs,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Something like randomly appearing in a different realm, despite being passed out or knocked unconscious? Signs like that?”
I’d dreamt of Vir long before I’d actually traveled to the Direen. That was no secret; Vir had known that. After all, he’dbeenthere when dream me had arrived.
“Something like that,” Vir acknowledged unapologetically. “We need to figure out what you are.”
“Iknowwhat I am,” I snarled, furious at him.
“You do?” Vir asked, surprised.
“Yeah,” I said, pushing past him. “I’m a fool for thinking that you would respect me and keep something like that to yourself.”
I stormed up the sewer tunnel, my movements partially fueled by anger but equally spurred on by fear.
Despite his violation of my privacy, I’d been hoping that Vir would have an answer. Something that could tell me what I am. Why I could do the things I’d done in the temple, but he couldn’t, and neither could Aaron.
And that scared me.What am I? Who am I?
Did anyone know?
Chapter Thirty-One
Despite Aaron’s misgivings, we continued on, moving swiftly through the darkened sewers. As he put it, “this is the smartest time to be this stupid.” Whatever that meant.
I thought that the idea of robbing Hades was actually diabolically clever. After all, who would expect such a thing? Everyoneknewthat Hades was a volatile, temperamental son of a gun and that you didn’t want to get caught by him. Or so they told me. I had no choice but to believe them, given that, unlike my main companions,Ihad never met Hades.
And if we do things right, I never will. Unless I get sent there at the end. Wouldn’t that suck?
So far, I’d put off dealing with the little things like contemplating my future in the afterlife. Would it be this one or true Hell under Lucifer, which apparentlyalsoexisted. As did, it seemed, every realm that was powered by human belief. Which is why I didn’t want to bring the subject up. I knew I had literal days’ worth of questions that would keep Aaron and Vir occupied, and we simply did not have time for that. Not yet.
“Here.”
The voice broke through the quiet and was loud enough to make me start in surprise. I came to a stop alongside Aaron. He was facing the sidewall, where a chunk of concrete was missing, revealing nothing but blackness. Even the blue light Vir was casting didn’t penetrate the wall.
“This is it? Our entrance?” I asked quietly.
Aaron nodded, still staring, fixated on the spot.
I opened my mouth to get us moving, but a hand on my elbow stopped me. It was Fred. He’d come up on my other side and was gently shaking his head. I frowned.Patience,Fred mouthed at me, moving his lips slowly so I could follow in the dark.
There wasn’ttimefor patience, I wanted to yell back. Lars had my parents, and every minute we wasted watching the wall was a minute longer that they would be suffering. I had no idea what he was doing to them, but he’d had them for three-quarters of a year now. They needed to be freed.
