10. Ghosts & Angels
TEN
ghosts & angels
It’s the strangest feeling when I hit the cold, chilling water. My limbs thrash through the thickness, suspending me in the depths of the dark water. My lungs burn. It floods my nose, crashing through my senses until it devours me whole.
And yet . . .
It spits me out on the other side.
With a whoosh of water, I’m dropped free from the water entirely. I free-fall for less than a second with confusion and fear ripping through my chest. My hands and knees hit shallow water. My flesh meets the stone floor below with a terrible crack that’s nothing compared to the screaming cry that rips from my mouth. I sit there in the puddle on the floor as water rains down on me from above. Blood slides between my fingers from fresh jagged wounds across my palms. An eclipse of light is all that’s offered up from the strange ceiling above. It’s like a raining mirror above me. The surface of the mystical water above reflects the dirty water I sit in, my own face peering back at me with a reflection of pained desperation that I can feel sinking further through my chest with each passing second.
Everything outside the faint ring of light encompassing me is total darkness.
And so, I sit with a sob trailing every breath I take. I try to swallow it down and bite it back long enough to form a plan on how on earth I’ll get out of here. But there’s nothing. Just me alone in this dark hell.
“Stupid girl. How do you expect to save us now?”
The voice crawls out of the shadows, and my breath halts immediately at the sound of the unseen watcher.
It seems . . . I’m not alone after all. Why does that somehow make this worse?
“Who’s there?” I ask with as much threatening confidence as I can muster from my puddle of shame that I’m sitting in.
“Who’s there? Who isn’t here?!” the voice calls back. It’s male, but it’s youthful, full of bite and contempt. “There’s always someone to play with in the Hell Well. You’re the newest toy, but you’re not really new, are you?”
With that, a face so white it nearly glows finally comes into the faint light. Strings of wet jet-black hair hang around hollow features. He’s tall but deathly thin. The emptiest, blackest eyes that I’ve ever looked upon settle on me with a heaviness that falls straight through my stomach. He looks upon me like it’s me he pities down here in this vengeful grave.
Maybe he should.
“What do you mean?” I ask carefully, hating that I’m searching the shadows but not spotting another single soul despite the way I can physically feel them all around me.
“You tried to come here once before but the academy is very good at keeping everything below hidden. Don’t you remember?” He lowers himself, hunching down to meet me at eye level and revealing even more of himself to the light. His words cut into me on a cold chill that gnaws all the way through my stomach. But it’s the flesh that’s clawed away from the right side of his temple and skull that has me pulling back from him. He isn’t ghostly or transparent the way I was. It’s like he’s a different thing altogether.
“I—I did?” I finally manage to ask.
Those black, soulless eyes shine as the mangled skin along his cheek twists with a knowing smile. The shallow puddle of water around me begins to ripple, lapping against my knees as more and more shadows linger just at the outskirts of the faded halo of the light.
They’re getting braver. Or perhaps I’m looking weaker.
With that terrifying thought, I square my shoulders and attempt to meet the eyes surrounding me.
But there are hundreds.
“You honestly don’t remember?” he interrupts. His smirk still lingers, his attention feasting on every ounce of emotion I give him. “You don’t remember me, Keira?”
At the sound of that name hissed across his tongue, something scratches at the edge of my memories. My attention pulls back to him as fleeting flashes of the name repeat over and over again in my mind. There are damaged, faint moments in time when that name has been spoken to me, but none of them stay long enough for me to grab hold.
“Keira?” I ask slowly, and the name feels burned across my skin the moment I say it. “That’s my name.”
Dark, wicked eyes narrow on me incredulously. Rain continues to fall around us from the strange ceiling above, leaving streaks like tears running down the sharp angles of his face.
“You stupid girl,” he hisses with newfound venom. “You said you’d help and I actually believed you.” Long fingers grip around my upper arms. I’m pulled back away from him with a scream ripping from my throat. More hands cover over my body, taking me in to feed me to the shadows.
“You thought you could save us, Keira! But you can’t. Because you’re one of us now,” he whispers sweetly.
My boots lash across the floor, flinging water in my wake while my nails sink into the cold, rotted flesh of too many hands dragging across my body. Fingers shove over my lips to silence me, but I bite down hard and fast, never once letting them steal the only thing I have left: my voice.
The boy only follows the sounds of my cries as I’m absorbed into the darkness. Sick amusement haunts his hollow features. He takes his time stalking after me, and the fear in my chest grows wilder with every step he takes away from that shining halo of light because I just know . . .
I’ll never see the light again.
A crash like the ceiling caving in washes through the room. The rain pours down with vengeance as rock and water collide into the room. Bodies rush to shove me away from them, ready to give me back as quickly as they’d taken me, though among the crumbling chaos, I don’t immediately understand why. Then my damp lashes lift, and the light shining down from up above is brighter now, illuminating the inky flooded floors and the black molding cavernous walls. There, at the center of it all, stands a tall figure with enormous black wings. Scales glisten across the tips, seemingly made from shadows and magic. The water falling from above lingers in the air on glistening droplets, and the hazy light casting across his slick body molds him into a godly vision: a beautiful archangel that will forever live in my memories.
“Arcane,” I whisper his name on a jagged voice that scrapes painfully up my throat.
It’s then that I realize how different his footfalls sound as he prowls toward the boy still standing in front of me. The water clashes against his every step, sending ripples of rage all through the room. A labored clatter of endless movements scurry as bodies begin literally crawling up the walls. Long limbs reach higher and higher as hundreds of shadowy figures climb over one another to rush up the throat of the well to escape.
And still, I sit in the cold water, watching Arcane as he comes so close to the other boy, the toes of his boots touch his. He stares down on the slender figure in front of him, his head tilting slowly to one side.
“You’ve made a big mistake,” the boy tells him, his neck bent hard to meet the deadly glare that’s shining down on him. “Once you let them out, you can’t put them back i—” His threat is cut short as one big hand shoves into the side of his mouth. My confused gasp is the only sound for a single second before Arcane shoves his other hand in as well. His forearms flex.
And then he pulls.
Thick, dark blood sprays over me. Something heavy drops on one side of one of my feet and then the other, splashing red water all across my legs as I stare down in horror at the shadowy lump that will forever remain in this grave.
“Get up,” Arcane commands, his bloody fingers extending to me in a gesture of kindness that doesn’t fully register. I blink at his offer. My mind screams for me to run, but my legs never move a single muscle.
More and more of the haunting figures crawl the walls, sending debris and chunks of stone down on us with every move they make. The tunnel I fell through is nearly swallowed up from the bodies clogging the passage, many of them falling to the floor before they ever make it out. The light of the halo is snuffing out with each passing second.
“Fuck!” Arcane’s growl roars through the room, and before I can even respond, he’s grabbing me. His big hands are like spiders all across my flesh. I shove against him, and he pauses, stormy gray eyes meeting mine as he realizes I’ve shoved away from him to scatter back into the shadows of the floor.
It’s then that his mood shifts. He’s careful now as his knees hit the water, kneeling in front of me as he slowly comes nearer.
“Hey, you’re okay,” he whispers. “I’m going to get you out of here, okay?” His tone is so similar to his brother’s. It’s that tone that sinks into me, waking me up from the discord of my own mind. “Let me help you,” he offers once more, and then he extends his hand again. This time, the blood’s washed away.
The thoughts of the darkness pulling me in on greedy hands and eating me alive aren’t there anymore.
It’s just us. It’s just Arcane.
My trembling fingers lift. I reach for him. His slick hand is gentle even as he pulls me against him. The warmth of his chest seeps into me. The pounding of his heart is calming against my cheek. Strong arms cradle around me, and I close my eyes tightly to the heavy breathing that chases around the room. Wind chills my skin as the strands of my hair tangle around my face. The water falls all around us, and I’m immediately aware the moment we’re in the tunnel of the well. They’re all around us. The rotting stench of them hits my lungs, and I bury my face into the safety of Arcane’s neck. Sharp, desperate nails scrape across my arms. I lash out at the hands pulling at my clothes. I feel the light above us fall across my face.
We’re almost out.
And then it’s ripped away.
We’re dragged down fast and hard, his big wings taking too much weight, and my eyes fling open to be met with big black eyes staring at me from over broad shoulders. A thin girl with inky blood dripping from her lip clings to Arcane’s back. His wings hit against her arms, but she carries him down, deeper into the belly of the well. Bodies tumble over us as we go. Jagged nails sink into his throat, and she holds on tighter.
And I refuse to let this bitch bury us in her tomb.
My fingers dig into my palm so hard, I feel the slickness of the blood there as I rear back and make impact with the sharp angle of her skull. Again and again and again, I bring my fist down, the weight of my blows sliding from her features as soon as it lands. Long fingers tangle through my hair. She pulls at me, but I never pause. I never stop. I can’t.
Her arms fall away, giving us air as we finally soar higher. I cling to him, holding him like my savior might be stolen away from me if I let them sink their claws in. Then they’re gone. The dampness of the catacombs floods my lungs, and I greedily take it all in. I swallow down the air like I’m finally free.
But when I look down, all I see are endless bodies crawling the floors of the rubble. Chunks of the monument are scattered everywhere. The metal ring of the well lies forgotten at the edge of the water. A crumbling mess is all that’s left. We soar away from the platform, and down below is that tiny boat in the darkest water.
With just Aelix inside.
“Wait!” I scream, my attention searching the inky waves for Lila. “Wait!” I shove at Arcane, and he only briefly looks down at his brother below.
“He got Lila out! Go!” Aelix roars at us. He lifts his oar high into the air and brings it down on a shadowy figure that slithers up from the waters.
“He’s fine.” Arcane practically eye rolls as a full-blown panic attack overtakes my lungs. “He’s survived worse.”
“He’s survived worse? Like what? You!” My teeth bite into my lips with the force of the scream that rips from my throat.
“I’ll meet you at the room!” Aelix’s growl rumbles through the cave, and this time, he pulls his fist back and connects it hard with the side of a girl’s face as she pulls at the edge of the rocking boat. “Just get her out of here!”
And then the boat rears high and crashes down, dumping the passenger inside and teetering back to a hazardous state as if nothing at all ever even happened! It’s empty. And just like that, he’s swallowed up by the dark rippling waters.
“No!” That single word echoes from my throat, but not a soul pauses their chaos to listen to the heartbreaking plea. Arcane holds me tighter against him as I lash out against the hard planes of his chest with pounding fists. “You can’t leave him here!”
But he soars faster. His hold on me fumbles, and I slide down his chest. He wastes no time throwing me over his shoulder. We turn the bend, and darkness envelopes over us. The exit is just up ahead. I stare out at the fading, blinking firelight of the catacombs.
And a sick thought twists my stomach as a sob wrenches free from my chest.
This place was always meant to be Aelix’s grave.
I just didn’t think I’d bury him today.