Only a trick.
“No.” A sobbed hitched in her chest, weak and useless. Lux kicked out at the root reaching for her unbound foot. Her boot hardly moved.
The icy grip held her by the upper arm now, her entire limb gone numb in its embrace. The fissure widened with a horrid crack, frost and darkness spilling out in puffed breaths. The root triumphantly gripped her ankle, winding to the knee. Unable to move any longer, Lux stared into the yawning abyss before her.
Lucena.
Her name wafted over her like the scent of rot.
Lucenaaa.
Something broke inside her. Interesting really, as she didn’t think there had been anything left inside to break.Foolish. Foolish to believe it’d been her parents’ soothing voices from the Beyond, floating upon the breeze. Because it wasthem. All along, it had been death’s own coaxing call.
Darkness curled around her face, cool tendrils stroking her cheeks. Lux glared back, defiant, her blood hot, then cold and dripping into her boots. And though it sounded too alive, too warm, for this place, a warbled shriek filled the air.
Crow—
Dark wings dove from above and into the chasm. Unwavering, a heart met its end.
The fissure snapped closed. Icy fingers retracted. Roots released. And a satisfied shiver swept through the dark leaves that never fell to the forest floor. Lux collapsed, her knees aching and bruised, her head bowed before the tree, and with the shocked eyes of a person embracing death only to be cast back to the living, she finally found the strength to lift her chin. She scanned the wood.
The bodies.
They were gone.
Chapter twelve
Riselda wasn’t home whenLux stumbled down the stairs, reaching for the stool to rest her head in her hands.
She took several steady breaths before lowering quivering fingers to her lap.
“So stupid. So, so stupid…”
Her vision faded to unfocused colors and shapes, the lone lamp flickering weakly. Night had fallen and she had missed dinner, but the thought of food now only sent her stomach roiling.
A quiet tap, and the room sharpened.
A gentle knock came again upon the door. She wasn’t used to the type, and especially not at night. Warily, she rose. Her knees buckled, and she steadied herself on the table only for the wood beneath to send her reeling back over the forest’s memory. Lux shook herself.
“Quit it, you ninny,” she chided, climbing the steps.
The door creaked open against her hand.
Honey-colored hair tumbled into Shaw’s eyes as he stood on her doorstep. Eyes that widened in shock at her state and then at the door being slammed in his face.
Lux strode back down the steps.
“Necromancer! I need to speak with you.”
His muffled voice reached her ears, and she rolled her eyes. Now he wanted a conversation? She huffed a humorless laugh, stoking the fire. He could yell through the night for all she cared.
A fist pounded on the wood. She ignored it.
Until it creaked.
Her jaw dropped, the poker falling to meet hungry, meager flames. “How dare you!” She charged around the corner, glaring up the stairs at Shaw closing the door behind him.
“How dareI?At least I had the consideration to knock first.” He quirked his lips as she stomped up the steps.
