“Hello?” I called out, expecting someone to answer me. Someone had to have brought me here. Perhaps we were found? Maybe…
No. No one found you. You aren’t home.I didn’t know how I knew that, but I did. Whatever this was, wherever I was, it was still the Netherworld. Something about the air felt too cold, too stiff.Azrael. I need to find Azrael.
I didn’t think, nor did I care, as I raced from the room. I paused for a moment when a strange familiarity washed over me as I stepped into the hall. The walls were made of a dark stone, and the floor felt so cold beneath my bare feet. They soothed the burning sensation caused by the several abrasions I had accumulated from running in the woods.
I quickly shook away the feeling and began to run—opening any door I could find and calling out his name every couple of seconds. This was definitely a castle, but I had never seen one so empty. My voice echoed in the dark halls, which were barely lit by the few torches that hung on the walls. If someonedidbring us here, where were they now? Why wouldn’t they have been there when I woke?
“Azrael!” I yelled, pleading with the shadows that he would appear. I was supposed to keep him safe. It was my job. And now…
Another door appeared, and I reached for it without thinking, when it opened suddenly. Unable to stop myself, my face slammed into a hard chest, and we both tumbled forward, falling to the ground.
“Oh, gods… I’m…” I felt horrified as I realized I had landed on top of this stranger, and quickly peeled myself away.
But then a thought flashed in my mind, causing a sense of panic.Just because they brought you here, doesn’t mean they can be trusted.It only took a second to find it this time—the flame—and I kept my arms out in front of me as the man rose from the floor.
“Didyoubring me here?” I asked, doing my best to keep my voice from shaking. “Where is he? Where is the boy I was with?”
The man straightened his back, keeping his eyes to the floor as he smoothed out his black shirt and pants. He stood as tall as Kaiden, with dark hair that was short on top. Something about it…Why does he seem so familiar?
“Look,” I warned, allowing the fire to slide down my arms, settling into my palms as it waited for a command. “I don’t want to hurt you. Just tell me who you are and where he is?—”
“You know who I am, Morrigan.”
My breath was ripped from my lungs in a long exhale.That voice.
He finally raised his eyes to meet mine, and I got the first glimpse of his face. One of his eyes shone a bright blue, with a lighter iridescent blue ring around his pupil. His left eye… was white. Not completely white, but his iris was clouded over in a way that only showed its outline. Just above his left eyebrow, a dark, black line ran through it, connecting with his eye. The line seemed to spread like vines across the left half of his face, trailing down his neck, and disappearing beneath his shirt.
Gods… He is… beautiful… in anotherworldlykind of way.
“You’re…” I breathed out, unable to think clearly.
“Yes.”
I swallowed against the dryness in my throat. “I didn’t believe it. Even when I heard your voice… When I saw you on the bridge…”
He took a step closer, closing the distance between us. “And now?” he asked.
I didn’t lower my hands. The glow in my eyes brightened the space still keeping us apart. “I don’t…” I quickly straightened my arm out, keeping him from moving any closer. “How do I know you’re not one of those monsters out there?”
“I never claimed not to be, Morrigan.”
Chapter 13
MORRIGAN
We just stared at each other, no more words exchanged for what felt like hours—though only seconds had passed.
I wasn’t sure what led me to what I did next. Perhaps just the fear itself of realizing that he had been real all along… Knowing that we had this… connection since I was a little child. It was all too much. Hearing him say my name… I’d heard it so many times, but those weredreams. Now, with him standing in front of me, I was convinced that my brain might actually explode.
So… I ran.
I turned on my heel and raced down the hall. I needed air. I needed the room to stop spinning. But most importantly, I needed tofind Azrael. This man may have saved me from my nightmares for years, but how did I know I could truly trust him? He could have been another Cain for all I knew.
His voice faded behind me, and the hallway finally came to an end. I seemed to be standing in some kind of reception hall with several other doors.Anything could be behind them. Those creatures could be in one of these rooms.
I stood still, catching my breath as I examined each of them, but before I could make a decision, black mist formed at the center of the room. It was the same stuff I had seen in the woods, and with the necroviants, but lighter this time. Now, it closely resembled Kaiden’s shadows.This… This is what took Azrael from me.
My heart felt like it had stopped beating, but my breath turned to ice asheemerged from the darkness.The black mist washim?
