Page 104 of Vervain

“Have you heard anything?” Olivia asks Serun.

“Nothing. So, whatever happened here was recent enough not to alert the Undercity.”

“Right…” Olivia’s excitement to visit her home finally burns out, turning into defeat.

My fingers twitch, and I reach out to comfort her, but hesitate. Memories melt against my chest, and the hand that tried to reach for her grabs the locket instead. I grip it as tightly as I should have held Emily’s hand.

I look ahead, narrowing my vision, hoping to see something, but it’s pitch black. Nothing stands out, only black on top of black until it suffocates me.

“What do you see, Serun?” I ask, too afraid to speak above a whisper.

“A boathouse, and a shopping district further down the ramp and deeper into the city. We are on the outskirts where most would go to hire boats or other items for the beach.”

Other items? I’ve never been to a beach before. We had sand on our paths, but there was far less of it.

My hand goes to my chest, wondering if I should bring out my light. Serun squeezes my hand tighter, drawing me closer to him and moving his arm around my waist, his shadows tenderly covering my pale skin until I’m hidden inside them.

“There’s one!” Olivia’s footsteps quicken, crunching in the sand. Hers is the only other I can hear. Serun, as always, is silent. “Looks in good condition too.”

“Good.”

There is a creaking sound, like groaning wood, and the whir of magik being pulled. Metal rattles, and I remember the chains on the cage that held me.

Has it only been a little more than a week since then? I’ve pushed it down and now share a bed with the man who forced me to become his consort.

Things are different, though. So much has changed.

“I’ve untied it. You can lift it all the way up now, Lord Serun.”

“With ease.”

I can’t see shit—especially with Serun’s shadows encasing me—only hear something being moved.

“Pir avacen,” whispers around me, and my ears bend back, searching for the sound.

My hand balls into a fist, fingernails digging into flesh as grains of sand slip when I turn, creating a louder noise than what Serun and Olivia are doing. Then, a deep inhale comes from above, and wetness slips down my cheek.

Sucking in a breath, I rest my hand over my heart, bow and say, “Fink hon.” A pulse of warm light bursts from my chest. Serun puts himself between me and the echo launching down from the cavern wall. He flicks his sword to the side, and a wash of blood splatters across the sand.

Nearby, Olivia has the chain looped around her arm, frantically dragging it up the ramp. Behind her, as my light slivers across in tendrils, illuminating cavern walls, sand-covered buildings, and the city below the boathouse, my eyes widen. A mass of glowing yellow eyes and shadowed bodies move in the night. Hundreds of them climb over one another, frenzied, with hunger slipping from slick wet mouths.

Serun lifts me with one arm, saying, “Come, darling. No time to sightsee.”

“Joking at a time like this, surrounded by creatures that could kill us?” I grip his shoulders tightly.

“Only Olivia should be worried.”

“What?!” Olivia barks.

Serun chuckles his response, seemingly not caring about the hoard of echoes scrambling for us, drawing closer. Serun’s shadows slip away from his shoulders, but before I can see him, my light fades. Gargled cries and the squelch of meaty flesh rise from behind us.

“Shit,” Serun mutters.

“Wha—” My stomach flips when Serun tosses me up and out of his embrace. Another pulse of light bursts from me, and as I soar, Serun is below, fighting off echoes while Olivia drags the boat up the ramp.

Penumbra appears just in time, scooping me up in their arms, and we touch down on the boat. Olivia gives a final grunt as we emerge outside and into the moonlight.

I jump out, grab the side of the boat, and push it with Penumbra’s help. My light fades, plunging Serun into the darkness behind me. My teeth grit, and my heart pounds at leaving him behind, but I know I will just get in his way.