Chapter 65
The moment August crossed the veil, the tightness in his chest vanished. The heavy silence of the Hollow Dark seemed to welcome him back, its numbing chill like a comforting embrace.
He studied his hands, turning them slowly. The blackened veins stretched to his fingertips, still filled with whatever was coursing through him. But here, he didn’t feel like he was dying. No pain, no tightness.
He couldn’t die, he reminded himself. Not here. This place belonged to him, and he to it.
August’s feet easily carried him forward, his weight no longer a burden.
He was strong here. He belonged.
Unhurriedly, he walked, taking in the city, the dull, grey buildings, the dead vines reaching across their faces. He ignored the sea of anchored mists. They couldn’t hurt him. Nobody could.
When he finally reached the edge of the market square, he stopped, marking the spot where he’d first collided with Felix, then the place where he’d ripped open the tear to save him.
It felt like another life. Another person.
His gaze drifted to the spot where Lottie had bled out beside him. Right before Felix put a bullet through his chest.
But that was all on the other side of the veil. All that pain, it was there, not here.
Here, there was only peace.
August pulled in a slow breath, then sank to the ground, the cold numbing his thoughts and chasing away any recollection of why he’d come.
The second August disappeared, Felix started counting, his finger tapping nervously against the gun in his holster. With every passing minute, the tapping grew faster.
The alarm bells fell silent at ten, leaving behind a dreadful, suffocating stillness.
The anxious nausea kicked in at fifteen.
August should’ve made it to the square by now. The tear should be gone. What was taking him so long?
He wasn’t coming back. The realization hit like a blow at twenty.
It had been too long.
Felix pushed abruptly off the wall. “Godsdamnit, Aesling. Where are you?” He reached out, fingers nearly touching the writhing darkness.
The tear felt alive. And hungry. Like one of those tendrils would reach out and drag him in.
What was he supposed to do? Marlow would be back soon. They’d have to leave, get out of the city before the Watch or the ministry closed in. Plan the next steps somewhere safe.
But August had risked his life to save the city. To save everyone. Felix wasn’t going to be the one to run away. He wasn’t leaving August inside the Hollow Dark.
He shook his head. You’re a damned eejit, Felix. If August was dead, he’d have no way back out. He’d die in that place. Alone.
No, August was alive. He had to be. Because Felix wasn’t dying today.
One last steadying breath, then he stepped forward and through.