Page 52 of Wicked Curses
With that, he closed the door behind him.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX
Sahira spentthe next couple of days focused on work and reading through the books she borrowed from the library. Elsa had told her one was a really good read while the other two were more boring than dirt, but Sahira was determined to get through them.
She also trusted Elsa’s taste in books and looked forward to some entertainment. Over this past week, she’d come to learn the witch loved books and didn’t care about Sahira’s half-vamp status, or at least she didn’t seem to, as she was the only witch who openly talked to her. Elsa always smiled, waved, and hurried over to greet her when Sahira arrived at work.
When new immortals came into the library, she talked with them as she sought to learn more about her new reality. None of them had any useful information. A few had theories about what was happening here; some even believed it could be a warped reality or alternate universe.
Some believed the symbols were for protection; some were sure they were a curse. Others thought they meant nothing and could be right, while others believed they meanteverything.
None of their theories sounded more or less crazy than anything she’d already considered. One thing was clear: nothing they said gave her answers; they only raised more questions and confusion.
Her lack of sleep and growing hunger didn’t help with that. Every night, she stayed up and read until she passed out. And every night, she woke to the certainty that something was in her room watching and touching her.
Last night, cool fingers brushed her face and ran down her shoulders before she rolled over and leapt out of bed to confront it. Laughter trailed it as the creature disappeared from her room.
She still hadn’t glimpsed anything more than shadows, but unless Cole controlled those shadows, they couldn’t laugh. And this wasn’t Cole’s doing; she was certain of that.
She was too tired and starved for blood to handle anything properly, but she didn’t know how to stop it. She’d cast a protective spell around her room that should have kepteveryunwanted thing out, but whatever this was, it had waltzed right through her magic.
Last night, she’d set traps around the room too. One would stab anyone who stepped on it, another would lower a net on her intruder, and finally, she’d spread glass around her bed.
The thing had come, but it hadn’t set off any of her traps, and not one drop of blood littered the glass. She hadn’t expected shadows to bleed, but something had to be controlling them.
This entity had intruded in her room every night, but she still hadn’t gotten a good glimpse of it. Last night, her candles were blown out before she woke.
It had to be Orin. She had no idea how he was doing it, but he had to be controlling the shadows and unleashing them on her. It could be one of the other dark fae here, but most of them ignored her, and the few who didn’t had no reason to torment her this way.
Orin did.
Rubbing her eyes, Sahira yawned as she hugged her books to her chest and climbed the steps to the pub. She opened the thick door to raucous laughter and music.
Immortals had packed the pub for the past couple of nights. She hadn’t been down there to drink again, but she’d seen Zeth and Radagast in the crowd. She waved to them and said a quick hi to Fred when he plopped on her shoulder.
Before returning here, she’d grabbed some bread and salted meat from the mercantile and ate it on her walk back. She usually ate the same thing every morning during her walk to work.
Once, there was cheese from goat’s milk, but that was a few days ago. Her new staples weren’t the best, but she didn’t like eating in the pub with so many other immortals andOrin.
When she felt eyes on her, she glanced at the bar to discover Orin standing behind it. He had a glass and towel in his hand while he watched her. She didn’t acknowledge him as she trudged up the stairs to her room.
Every piece of her was exhausted; she swore even her hair was ready to sleep as she slipped into her room, locked the door, and leaned against it. Before leaving this morning, she’d removed the traps from last night; they’d proven useless, so there was no point in keeping them out to clutter her room.
She placed her new books on the dresser and opened the shutters to look out the window. Since her nightly guest had started arriving, she’d taken to closing the shutters while she slept, too, but it did nothing to keep whatever it was out.
Resting her elbows on the sill, she inhaled the earthy aroma of the realm. Sand drifted through the streets as the wind kicked up. The immortals on the road ducked their heads against it.
Sahira’s attention shifted to the immortal in the one tower she could see from here. They stood beneath the bell. Immortals had excellent vision, but if the scarogs came at night, they’d have less notice about their approach than if they attacked during the day.
She should probably be worried about the impending arrival of the beetles, but she didn’t have it in her. There was far too much for her to worry about already.
All she could think about was how to keep that thing out of her room, and she was completely out of ideas. She should ask Belda for a new room, but the immortals here would see her as weak if she couldn’t even protectherroom.
She had enough issues with the witches, who continued their catty looks and snide remarks, without making herself a target for others too. And as much as she liked Zeth, Radagast, and Elsa, she didn’t trust anyone enough to tell them about this.
Tonight, I’ll stay awake. Tonight, I’ll see it coming.
She’d vowed this to herself many times over the past week, and every night, she failed. It was impossible to stay awake when she was already functioning on so little sleep. No matter how much the thing frightened her or how hard her adrenaline pumped, eventually, exhaustion won.
