67. Vera #2
She chuckled. “Careful, Vera. I might think you actually like me.”
“Shut up,” I mumbled, squeezing her tighter.
“That’s more like it.”
“I’m glad you’re not dead,” Sloane said from the side, “but this isn’t over yet.”
Tessa rolled her neck along her shoulders with a pop. “Of course it’s not. Everett owes us big time for this.”
My lips tugged upward as we trudged toward an archway ahead. “And I bet you’ll never let him forget it.”
“Not a chance.”
We crossed beneath the arch, our steps sure and spirits higher than they had been moments ago.
But then everything stopped. One second I was walking, and the next, an invisible force pushed my legs, resisting my every movement.
Sounds came to a halt. Water dripping from stalactites hung midair, stretched thin like beads of glass tied to a thread.
I tried to look at Tessa and Sloane, but my neck would barely move.
Time was frozen. I could see each individual strand of hair whipping around my face in slow motion, hovering in place as they slowly, slowly, slowly fell. Rocks that our feet had kicked up now floated above the ground, caught in a trance.
My heart thudded sluggishly in my chest. The only thing still moving at a normal pace were my eyes. I scanned the area, struggling to form my lips into a spell—to do what, I had no clue yet—when the weapons appeared.
Dark fissures split the air, and blades of obsidian slid from the cracks.
Their tips twirled unhurriedly, deliberately, until they pointed straight at us.
One leveled with my eye, another with my throat.
I begged my body to move, but it was like my limbs were dragging through thick oil.
The harder I pushed, the heavier it became.
My breath quickened, ragged and desperate in my ears.
The blade pointing at my eye inched closer. It seemed to move faster to the beats of my heart, now close enough that I had to cross my eyes to see the tip. My pulse spiked again, and I could’ve sworn the other blade sped up, too.
A tremor slipped down my spine. I saw my frenzied gaze in the reflection of the smooth obsidian surface, eyes flaring bright gold. Panic crackled through me, and the blades moved again.
Think, Vera. Think. I took another staggered inhale, and the dagger at my eye kissed my eyelashes. Coldness from the surface washed over my cheeks.
I took a deep, measured breath, and their movements stopped. The cavern itself leaned closer, listening to my every breath, my every heartbeat.
Slow your heart.
When I panicked, the blades sped up. They were feeding off my fear. I wanted to fight and scream and yank myself away, but every sign of terror only made them move faster.
Everett’s face flashed in my mind. Just breathe, sweetheart.
I felt his steadiness. I felt the grounding weight of his hand at my waist. Slowly, I breathed out. My heart pounded, but I forced it to match the rhythm of my breaths. In and out. In and out.
The blade at my eye hovered, cold metal dragging my lashes when I blinked.
But then it drifted back. Sweat beaded at my temple as I got my breaths under control.
I fought the urge to flinch, focusing only on the silence.
The stillness. With my next exhale, both obsidian daggers clattered to the floor.
Time sped back up. I slammed into the ground mid-step, gasping at the sudden change. Beside me, Sloane and Tessa were still stuck in their frozen states. Sloane’s eyes were blown wide, cheeks red as two blades slowly pierced her neck.
I jumped up and swatted them away. The enchantment over her broke, and she staggered into the nearest wall.
“That’s it.” She dragged in a breath. “I hate these people.”
Tessa snapped out of hers a moment later.
A bead of blood bloomed at her collar from where one of the blades nicked her, but her Shifter magic healed it in an instant.
This time, she gave no lighthearted quip.
Her face was ashen, her dark eyes scared.
She took in a ragged breath and shook her shoulders.
“Come on,” I said shakily, taking both of their hands. “We finish this together.”
There was a door at the end of the hall, and I somehow knew this was it. This was the end. Everett waited for me beyond that stone.
I straightened my spine and stalked toward it. A rolling mass of strange shadows flickered in front of the door, like storm clouds gathering over a sea. Lightning flashed in its depths, illuminating shapes for half a heartbeat before they vanished.
Inside the cloud, I thought I heard whispers.
Wind rushed past my ears, like a hundred beings drawing breath at the same time.
I stepped closer, and lightning sparked again.
In that brief second, I saw them. Countless faces with mouths split open in agony.
They looked just like the faces we saw in mine and Dom’s spell: the victims of the High Elders.
I conjured my own shadows, but they shrank away from the strange darkness before us, twisting up my arm to get as far from it as possible. Reaching out, I slowly slipped my hand into the storm cloud.
Sloane jumped forward. “Wait, Vera, no—”
Searing pain jolted up my arm. I tried to yank it away, but the spirits pulled me deeper into the heart of the storm, clawing at my skin and clothes and magic. My phoenix half screeched in anguish—but it wasn’t my anguish. It was theirs. The lost Pyraethis.
The foreign shadows crawled toward me and buried themselves in my chest, forcing me to feel everything they felt. Their collective grief, their pain, their suffering. They were so alone. So lost. They just needed someone to bring them justice.
I stopped fighting and stood still in the center of the storm. Wind, shadows, and lightning whipped around me. Ghostly faces with cracked lips and hollow eyes rushed in and out of view as they swirled in the storm cloud.
“I see you,” I called, taking a step forward. Sharp wisps of shadows tore into my skin, and streaks of blood ran down my arms. Through the haze, I saw the outline of a door.
“I’m here now,” I forced out. “Please, let me through. Help me end this for all of you.” I stretched out a bloody hand and pressed my palm to the door.
At first, nothing happened.
But with my next breath, the shadows collided in on themselves in a wave, and golden light burst from the door.