Page 100 of Aïdes the Unseen
The puppy froze, one paw lifted mid-scratch, nose twitching. A low sound, not quite a growl, started in his throat. A warning.
I straightened, the warmth of Irina’s skin still clinging to mine like a benediction. The room felt the same, but the edges had begun to fray.
Energy, ancient and familiar.Wrong.
“Graven?” she asked quietly, as I moved her from my lap so I could get between her and whatever tried to get in.
I didn’t answer her. Instead, I reached for the perimeter of the space where I’d woven threads of shadow, defenses carved from memory and shields buried into the stone and steel as well as the earth. Something pressed against them.
No.Manysomethings.
The first voice came through my communication system, crackling over an intercom I rarely used but then my cell phone had been left in the other room. The sound was compressed, and clipped but definitely Mara.
“Containment breach in Grid E. Tether resonance increasing. I’m rerouting the upper sweep to?—”
Static blasted out, sharp and painful.
“—they’re probingyou, not the facility. You need to move.”
I stood, already pulling my awareness back to us. Irina followed me to my feet. Sheet wrapped around her, she was a picture of feminine beauty but her confusion already gave way to readiness.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Not what,” I said. “Who.”
The second signal came as I dragged on a pair of slacks. This time it came from below. A ripple of pressure through the deepest current, the silent river beneath the river, where names and memory are buried.
Mnemosyne.
She didn’t speak. She never had to.
Her voice arrived like a memory.“Graven. Hold the core steady. She’s beginning to see too much, too fast.”
I clenched my jaw. “That’s not mine to control.”
“Then brace her.”
I was already reaching for Irina and she flowed into my arms. Even gods didn’t argue with Titans. Not for long.
It wasn’t Mnemosyne I feared. Not really.
The third presence,hers, descended like frost through velvet. I felt it before I saw her. The moment stretched. The walls breathed wrong. Even the light shivered sideways.
The dog whined. Tail tucked, he darted behind us.
Then I knew.
Before the veil tore, before the scent of winter roses and distant thunder crept into the room, I recognized exactly who had come. Not a god. Not a soldier or even an echo. But her.
The one I couldn’t bar.
The one who walked through locked doors and oaths alike
She stepped through the breach at the foot of the bed. Still dressed in red, wearing a crown of broken time. Her voice slid into the room like silver over a blade. “Darling,” she said in that ancient whisper. “You’re losing her again.”
I didn’t look at her. Not yet. Focusing on Irina, I tightened my arms around her. She stared at the figure, brows drawn, breath held, her soul alight with confusion, heat, and fury. She knew the ancient one.Not from this life. But somewhere far older.
Somewhere deeper.
