Page 64 of As Darkness Fall
Fred didn’t repeat himself, just settled into a comfortable stance, ready to wait for as long as necessary. My teeth ground together as I tried to force myself to do the same. Why the hell did we have to wait? This was his realm. Couldn’t he just open the door for us?
And if hecouldopen the door, why was he so uncomfortable with the idea of going home?
My mind started to wander down that line of questioning, but before it could go far, Aaron sucked in a sharp breath.
“Stay close,” he said, taking my hand. “Whatever you do, don’t get left behind.”
I glanced over at Vir to see him staring at Aaron and my hands, a low growl escaping his lips. He didn’t like seeing the vampire touch me.
Because he thinks that I belong to him. I really need to disabuse him of that notion. I belong to no one, and he needs to stop thinking he has a claim on me.
Maybe it was petty and childish, but at the time, I couldn’t think of anything better to do. So, I stepped closer to Aaron. Basking in the slight cooling effect his presence had on my Soulbond with Vir. Being this close to the other half of the bond left Aaron’s impact muted, no matter how near I stood. But something was better than nothing.
“Ready when you are,” I whispered.
“Yeah,” Aaron muttered. “Sure.”
Then, he ran toward the black spot on the wall. I cringed and tried to shy away, not prepared to run into a solid wall, but Aaron’s hand tightened around mine, giving me no choice as he pulled me along behind him.
“Ahhh,” I managed to get out before we plunged into the darkness–
Aaron muttered a word I did not recognize.
And out the other side we came.
I came to a stumbling halt.
“Keep running,” Aaron snapped. “Or–”
“Hey!” I barked as hands wrapped around my stomach and lifted me clear off the ground. “Pawsoff,buster!”
“Relax,” Vir said as we immediately slowed. “It was either that, or I run you over. You stopped right in front of the exit.”
Oh.
“Oops,” I muttered, slapping at Vir’s hands, which were starting to slide precariously high up my stomach, all while I slid farther down his. It was not a recipe for anything I wanted to recreate here in public.
“Quiet,” Aaron hissed as his team fanned out around him. “Both of you. Noise will attract attention.”
I looked at Aaron, confused. “I thought just my being here would bring attention to us. Wasn’t that the whole spiel? A living being in the Realm of the Undead, or the dead, brings notice?”
I kept my voice low, despite the irateness of my tone, which was spurred by a stronger-than-ever reaction to Vir’s hands on me.
“Yes,” Aaron whispered. “But slowly. The realm itself will react to you. Noise carries far in here, however. It will bring us attention much quicker. If we’re lucky, we’ll get in and out before that happens.
I kept my mouth shut. It was better not to voice such statements as “I think we all know that’s not how our luck works” and similar things.
I glanced at Aaron’s eyes, seemingly more vivid here in his homeland, and knew he was thinking the same.
His homeland. Right. We were in the Realm of the Undead.
Dragging my attention away from the others, I swept my gaze across the blasted landscape in front of us, rather surprised at what I saw. It wasn’t dark and scary like the Direen was.
“It’s so bright,” I whispered, trying to come to terms with it, given how at odds it was with my expectations.
There wasn’t much in the way oflight, but everything in sight was in shades of white, cream, and ivory. Even the ground was a bone-white color, the rock and sand the same all the way through.
To our left, a giant cliff face rose high above us, running for miles in either direction. It was a creamy color, more white than what was underfoot, but still with the vaguest hints of yellow. Almost like French Vanilla ice cream. It was the best way I could describe it, though it didn’t do it justice.
