Page 239 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
“Well, that was surprising. Who knew Harlan Shackley had a heart!” Eravin pulled his hand back, probably to shoot more of the power at Kase—but instead, a chain with a pendant locket that glowed blue wrapped itself around Eravin’s throat. Kase could barely see anything through the haze of pain.
At the same moment, golden light burst into the tunnel, blinding everyone. It took a moment for Kase’s pain to abate enough for him to see clearly. Eravin stumbled, trying and failing to rip the locket from his throat. He tripped over something, finally flinging the locket away, before falling headfirst into the golden light. The light cascaded over him like a waterfall, hiding him from view the further he fell.
And then he was just…gone.
The rest of them were left in the company of nothing but silence and light.
The person on top of him rolled off, and Kase, trying to control the pain in his side, pushed himself up with quaking arms. Sweat dampened his hairline.
His father’s staccato breathing met his ears. Harlan’s face was pale, which made the black veins only stand out in stark relief. His military jacket hung in tatters at his chest, where a wound was growing like a large spider, Harlan’s blackened veins making up its legs. Too many legs. His father struggled to take each breath.
Kase scrambled over to him, as did his mother and Jove. Tears flooded his mother’s cheeks. She gasped, “Harlan!”
Kase could only stare as the black poison spread further. The center of the wound turned gray, almost necrotic, like it was burning to ash.
Stowe, Zelda, Saldr, and Fely joined, all lending their hands to the task of trying to save Harlan’s life. Kase barely understood what they did—could barely comprehend the sight before him. Their efforts were a waste—even that Zuprium dust Saldr threw at his father.
Kase opened his mouth and closed it. He did it again. Words wouldn’t form. He breathed too heavily as the gray spread to the spider legs.
“Why?” Kase managed to choke out. “Why did you save me?”
His throat wasn’t working properly. It was too tight.
His father looked at his mother, hand reaching out for hers. She clutched it to her chest. “I wasn’t the husband…” He looked at Jove then at Kase, his gaze piercing all the way into his soul. “…or the father you needed. But even if I don’t…deserve…your forgiveness…I can do this. I can do this for you.” He took in a staggering breath. His mother squeezed her husband’s hand with the strength she had left. Jove leaned forward, his hands pressed to the ground, the whites of his eyes showing. Harlan watched them all, the light in his eyes dimming.
“Harlan,” his mother sobbed, “wait, please wait—”
Harlan’s fingers closed weakly over hers; his mouth had gone stiff, losing function. But Kase had the senseless, impossible thought that his father might be trying to smile at her. “You are…have always been…formidable. But…no debating…with this.” Harlan traced his fingertip over the curve of Les’s chin. Wiping a tear. “I…I love…”
But his last breath ended before his last words did. One hand fell to his chest, limp; the other lost its grip on Les’s fingers, but she clung on, kissing it with a strangled sob.
Jove wrapped his arms around her, murmuring in her ear, but Kase…
Kase could only stare.
All the times his father had shouted at Kase, demeaned him, hit him…all of the horrible memories he’d pushed to the back of his mind…each one replayed in his head as he watched, numb, waiting for his father to open his eyes and roar at him for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. For not seeing Eravin’s blow coming.
He couldn’t dredge up any good memories, nothing that suggested the man lying dead in front of him deserved his forgiveness.
There was no grief. No guilt. Just…numb.
After a moment, as if from a distance, he watched his own hand reach over and close his father’s eyes. If not for the wound that had now gone entirely gray, his father might’ve only been sleeping.
But he was dead. Dead—and Kase was not.
He wrapped his arms around his mother as sobs wracked her body. She didn’t release her husband’s hand. Neither he nor Jove let go; if they didn’t hold her together, she might very well fall apart. Kase would, if it was him, if it was Hallie with a colorless crater in her chest and lungs empty of breath.
When Ana had died, his mother had held him like this through her own tears.
The thought shook the icy stronghold of numbness keeping him together; he steadied it with a deep, forceful breath.
One he only drew thanks to his father.
He was going to be sick. He swallowed the bile that had risen in his throat. It tasted bitter.
Several minutes went by before Skibs finally spoke. “The Gate is here. If what he said was true, Hallie should be in it. Butit’s not like the others—it doesn’t lead anywhere in this timeline, or any others. This Gate leads to Valora, the Realm of Souls.”
Unable to aid Harlan further, Stowe stood and helped Zelda up. “Is there a way to bring her back?”
