Page 123 of The Shade of Things
Rodrigo left us when Zev dragged me to the level with the dungeon, but we didn’t go into the cell I’d previously been locked up in. He pressed his hand to a spot on the stone wall and a panel slid away, revealing a narrow, windowless prison lined in iron.
The light from the corridor reached only partway inside.
Hovering on the outside of the threshold, Zev tossed me the egg-shaped orb.
I shivered, hunching my shoulders against the damp cold that wormed into the marrow of my bones.
Laurent used his claws to tear through reality to Gehenna, and the only other rifts to that dimension appeared as shimmering round circles. How would a smooth silver orb that didn’t even have any heft to it do the trick?
I manifested Delilah, viewing the seamless egg through her green vision, but it didn’t reveal anything. I sniffed it; I licked it. I tossed it on the floor, but it was so light that it merely bounced.
“Open it and call my sire,” Zev hissed.
“I’m trying.” Taking a steadying breath, I closed my own eyes, allowing only the green vision to remain. Slowly I turned the orb in my hand, and my breath caught at the tiny depression near the wider bottom. I pressed my thumbnail against it, and the amplifier flipped open into two perfect halves.
I half expected a lighter to pop out, but the insides were just as smooth as its polished case. I flicked a finger against the orb, speaking at it like a cell on speakerphone. “Hello? Kian?”
Nothing.
“Kian, sire of Zev!” I brought out my most commanding voice, with no trace of my default Canadian politeness. This was a from-the-gut issuance, defying anyone to disobey. “Come forth and join us.”
Deafening silence.
I looked at the vamp. “Is this thing work—”
All sound was sucked from the cell and shadows exploded from the orb, plunging the prison into darkness.
The orb grew heavier and warmer in my palm, pulsing in time to the trumpeting of my heart.
Suddenly, with a noise like Velcro tearing, a horizontal crack of light appeared like a crooked smile, and a wash of whispering voices cascaded over me.
My eyes watered against the stench of rotting onions.
The voices grew louder—from whispers to murmurs, still indistinct yet a lulling croon, encouraging me to own the power.
Shadows crackled between the orb and my palm like a feather’s kiss. My lips parted, dark twists dancing over my skin and the warmth spreading through my body.
All could be mine for the taking.
The orb pulsed more insistently, yet there was no trace of the estrie.
Out in the corridor, Zev gave a guttural cry wrenched from his very depths. He was a creature of darkness caught by the stark light as he howled at the loss of all hope.
Darkness and light.
An aborted game of cards.
My smile dimmed, and I scratched at the shadows on my skin.
Would this moment have come no matter what?
I held the silver artifact up.
Did the sunshine I’d seen in Poe’s game of memory represent my well-being and not the fate of the world like I’d assumed? What path would assure its life-affirming blaze?
“Bring Kian forth!” Zev roared.
Should I accede to Zev’s wishes and avoid the wrath he’d unleash at being denied his agenda? Remain silent?
Or was it already too late to save myself?
I tossed the orb into the air and caught it, snapping it shut. It fit in my palm like it belonged there, my fingers curling protectively over it.
Decision made.
