Page 27 of The Unseen Hour

I, however, was no Shade, and I did not intend to fail due to starvation or succumbing to the elements before I located my father. Not after coming this far.

“Excuse me,” I said, quietly at first and then louder when the Head Shade didn’t respond. “Excuse me! What do you mean ‘new Shades’? And where is the Ether? And what are the options if we do need shelter and food? Or sleep?” I’d intended to ask only one question, but once the first had spilled out, so had the others.

I clamped my mouth shut as the Head Shade turned toward me, a frown on his face and his grey eyes flashing. The ridiculous thought that he was even more handsome when he was incensed entered my mind, but I dismissed it when he started moving in my direction.

He shoved back through the crowd until he was face to face with me again.

“Keep your voice down,” he urged me. “Now that we’re here, you will be in the presence of Charon at any moment. You don’t want to draw his attention, trust me.”

He’d said it with a glance to each side, and a worried look that told me it was a bad thing. But from what he’d told us earlier, didn’t he work for Charon? Besides, the deity of this whole place was even more likely to have answers than the Head Shade. I’d spent my whole life praying to Day and Death, even if I hadn’t been convinced of either’s interest in my world. I was already in the Ether, and if addressing a god was the next step in finding my father, I’d gladly take it.

The Head Shade turned away from me, but I couldn’t afford to let him dismiss me.

I followed him.

We walked in silence for a few moments before he turned again.

“What do you think you’re doing? Go back into the crowd and try to blend in!”

“I’m not trying to frustrate you, but you’re the only one who will talk to me and I need your help. You see, I came here to⁠—”

“Came here? On purpose? Are you completely mad?”

I took a step back, his words hitting me like a slap. Not that he was wrong; it’s what many people would have thought if I’d told them my plans back in Emrys.

“I had to. But now that I’m here, I can finish what I came to do and then I’ll be on my way. If you don’t want Charon to know about me, that’s fine. If you could tell me what I should be doing in this place as a not dead, dead person?” I faltered then, still questioning the status of my own mortality.

Being dead would ruin all my plans.

The Head Shade sighed.

“You’re not dead. Not technically. But unless you’d like to be, I advise you to keep your head down and stay near the back of the group.”

“Why? What’s going to happen if I stay at the front?” Was there something dangerous here? Something aside from the god?

While I wasn’t a soldier by any means, I was strong. I rode Pellix and hiked through the hills around the estate. I lifted heavy things in the garden. I wasn’t skilled, but I wouldn’t be going down without a fight.

“Maybe I can help,” I offered.

“While I appreciate the offer, the only person in danger here is you, and you’re in way over your head.”

I gave him a good look then, waiting to see if he was the threat. But he just kept watching me, blue flecks in his eyes glinting. When I lowered my arms, he spoke again.

“Please. Hide now, and I’ll promise some answers later. It would be better if we had something to conceal you.”

I debated whether I should listen to him or take my chances when Charon arrived. I was drawn to the Head Shade, but that could merely be because he was the first and only person here to speak to me.

I was in an unfamiliar place, and he was someone who looked refreshingly alive. A reminder of everything I was trying to return to as soon as I found my father.

But if the Head Shade was to be trusted, then Charon was a god. Likely the god responsible for this hour, or the damage it wrought. And if that was the case, then he really could be trying to protect me from an angry deity who wouldn’t like finding a living soul in his realm.

The Head Shade came upon a gentleman I judged to be several years Ambrose’s senior.

He reached out and pulled at the cloak the man wore. It came loose with no sign of protest from its former owner.

“Just going to borrow this, if you don’t mind,” he told the man.

The Head Shade passed it to me, and I hesitated before taking it.