Page 26 of Into the Abyss
From fifty feet ahead of me, Erin careenedaround a corner of rock and raced down the path toward me.Unprepared for her sudden appearance, my foot froze in midairbefore falling to the ground. Amalia staggered a few steps back,and her hand flew to her mouth when Erin skidded to a halt in frontof me.
Erin’s almond-shaped, dark blue eyes widenedon me. Her normally sleek, short black hair was a disheveled messaround her beautiful face.
“Where am I?” Erin demanded in a tone morestrident than I’d ever heard from her before. “I’m not supposed tobe here.Wheream I?”
“You know you’re not supposed to be here?” Iasked, unable to keep the surprise from my voice.
“Does this look like a place I should bein?” she demanded and gestured at the rocks surrounding us.
“No, it doesn’t.” But after Mara, I hadn’texpected anyone to see through this place.
“What am I doing here?” she demanded.
“Erin—”
“How do you know my name?”
Words failed me when I realized that thoughshe knew she didn’t belong here, she hadn’t completely broken freeof the control the jinn held over her mind.
“Who are you?” she demanded of me.
“My name is Magnus, and I’m a friend ofyours.”
“A friend? I have no friends. Not since thewar. All I have is my family.”
Her voice trailed off as she frowned at therock walls. “Am I atthewall?” she asked.
After the gateway opened, humans and demonsbuilt a wall dividing the central areas of the country devastatedby the opening of the gateway from the outer regions of the countrythat weren’t as severely affected. Erin volunteered to work thewall when she was sixteen and had stood guard there. Months ago,she left the wall behind to join us in eradicating what remained ofour enemies in the Wilds.
“No. This is not the wall,” I said.
When Amalia moved closer, she drew Erin’sattention to her.
“We can help you,” Amalia whispered.
“How? I’m not… something iswrong.”Erin dropped her head into her hands and slapped at the sides of itas if she were trying to batter the answer into it.
“Don’t.” Grasping her hands, I steppedcloser and held her palms against her temples as her shouldersheaved with her breaths.
Erin was strong, capable, loyal, and one ofthe most intelligent humans I’d ever come across, but her brainwasn’t processing any of this right. Unlike Mara, who was convincedit would get better or she could change something, Erin knew noneof this was right, but she couldn’t figure out what was wrong, andit was screwing with her mind.
“I can only live where there is light, but Idie if the light shines on me. What am I?” Erin murmured.
“What does that mean?” Amalia asked.
“It’s a riddle,” I explained. “The skelleinsare always trying to stump her with them, but they haven’tsucceeded yet.”
Erin’s head lifted, and her eyes bored intomine. “WhatamI?”
“I don’t know the answer,” I admitted.
“A shadow. I’m a shadow of who I was. Ashadow in this place that is nothing but shadows, but there are noshadows here,” Erin babbled. “It’s not real. It’sallreal.But it’s not right. Something is wrong here. Not right. No shadows.No shadows in this land.”
I could feel her mind unraveling further asshe struggled to grasp what was real and align it with what thejinn had done to her.
“We hurt without moving,” Erin whispered.“We poison without touching. We bear the truth and the lies. We arenot to be judged by our size. What are we?”
“I don’t know the answer, but I am yourfriend,” I said.
