Page 77 of The Unseen Hour

Orion may have loathed what happened during the Unseen Hour, but he sounded certain when it came to the power the Shades possessed. Since my first day in the Ether, I hadn’t heard him sing. Hadn’t heard his voice take on that enticing quality, although I still found him just as tempting.

“Do Shades not carry anything at all, then?”

He pointed at his neck.

“Only our voices.”

I hadn’t yet attempted the Shade song. I hadn’t wanted to. In Emrys, I’d performed for my family and close friends. I’d been told my voice was lovely, but it didn’t seem the sort of hobby that one used to strike fear into the hearts of mortal men. Besides, I’d always been better at the piano.

Death gestured toward Orion.

“You should show her. I’ll actually need her to sing for my plan to be successful.”

I put a hand to my throat. Why should either of us need to sing, if breaking the Unseen Hour was the entire point?

Before I could protest, Orion nodded.

“It may be better for you to see it now and understand how it works. Then it won’t take you by surprise during the hour.”

Whether I wanted to hear the song or not, I did trust Orion.

“All right,” I agreed.

Orion let go of me, backing up several paces. He cleared his throat, then opened his mouth, and as he did I lost all sight of blue in his eyes. They were as deeply grey as the fog that covered Emrys during the hour. A sound reverberated from somewhere deep within him, echoing with such force that he might as well have been yelling up from a well, or a long tunnel.

It was a single note at first, long and clear. Then, it changed into a beautiful melody. Haunting and mesmerizing. No words, but they were unnecessary.

I had always had a fondness for the theatre. I cherished the times my brothers had accompanied me to the opera, or to see an orchestra. I particularly liked stringed instruments. There was something about them that carried me through an emotional journey along with the performers. When they plucked and played the strings of the instrument it felt like they were pulling on my heart, tugging me toward feelings I’d not yet explored.

Some moments I’d spent with Orion were the closest I’d come to the same sensation. As if something was physically pulling my heart closer to him.

That was the sensation the Shade song caused. I was drawn to it, focused solely on the music. I envisioned rides on Pellix, soaring through the fields. The smell of the gardens in spring. The feel of pages turning beneath my fingers as I sat uninterrupted in the library. The sound of the piano keys under my fingers.

Orion’s voice cut off without warning, leaving me off-balance. I stumbled forward, shaking my head to clear it. I threw a hand out as I began to fall, and it landed on Orion’s chest. As I pushed against him to right myself, his hand came up, grabbing mine and holding it in place.

“You’re warm,” we said in unison.

I pulled my hand back.

No need to stumble about like a lovesick fool in front of an actual goddess.

Not that I thought Death shared the same morality as the people in Emrys. She’d made no commentary on the situation between the two of us. She focused only on the Unseen Hour and Charon, and I liked her all the more for it. But I wanted her to see us as capable, not distracted.

My feelings for Orion had been growing, and I enjoyed his company, but the song brought out something else entirely. It had pulled me toward Orion without thought or reason. I would have walked off a cliff if he’d been on the other side.

“The Shade song is dangerous,” I said.

With Death looking on, I tried to ignore the fact that I’d been close enough to catch the scent of crisp winter air and snow that clung to Orion in spite of his warmth.

“You smell like the cold. Normally you smell like fresh earth and rain,” I commented.

Death let out a trilling laugh.

“You two have become quite familiar, I see. It’s because he used the song. He probably smells however he did on the night he ended up here. You see what I mean now? The Shade song makes people lose their reason. It’s why people go quietly to their doom instead of running, screaming through the streets and away from the Shades. You’d hear the victims otherwise.”

I winced.

“But why would we need to use it? I thought we wanted to end this entire abomination.”