And with his seven cut-away Shades back inside his body, Henry is mortal once more.
The man straightens and charges for Inana.
The light continues to sway.
Left.
Right.
Left.
Right.
I step along a path of shadow, my eyes locked on Inana’s. Her wrath is mine and mine is hers.
Right.
Left.
I’m just behind Henry now, and all I can think is how I want to reach inside his body and tear out his heart. Claw it from between his ribs. Rip it to shreds.
Kill him.
I’m going to kill him.
I stretch out my hand, impossibly long in the narrow sliver of shadow. My fingers meet his back, and he freezes. Stiffening.
I glance at my hand.
My fingertips are made of shadow.
I suck in a breath and sit upright, a sound tearing through my throat that might have been a scream.
Or a hiss.
Or laughter.
What the fuck was that?
Visions from the nightmare flash in my mind’s eye, vibrant at first but fading with every breath I catch. The end of the dream lingers the longest. Haunting me.
I blink several times to clear my eyes, my mind, my thoughts. The cave takes shape around me, replacing the jail cell. My eyes fall onthe roaring fire, the fading daylight streaming through the mouth of the cave. Then Inana.
Gods, Inana.
She’s still tucked in my arms, facing me, her face twisted in agony. Tears stream down her cheeks.
I lightly shake her shoulders, trying to snap her out of the nightmare. I call her name, shake her again, but she only whimpers.
I raise my voice to a shout. “Inana!”
Her eyes fly open, and her body goes still. For a few moments, she just lies there, staring up at me with wide eyes while she heaves sharp, strangled breaths. I pull her closer, staring down at this fierce and beautiful woman. How could I have let her experience that nightmare? Why didn’t I fight harder to free myself—and her—from it earlier? Staying in that dream was useless. I learned nothing helpful, only confirmed what I already suspected: Henry Berkham was made mortal when his Shades entered his body, drawn by the blood that seeped from the wound Inana inflicted.
That’s no surprise. Henry would have undergone his Absolution ritual after he arrived in Dunway, performed by the priests who escorted him there. Which means his cut-away Shades would have lingered nearby. The ritual only sends them away from their original body to the nearest, darkest sources of shadow. Which is why, in unprotected villages without silver walls, newly appointed dukes must light their braziers as soon as possible, to push their Shades even farther away and keep them from getting close enough to reverse the Absolution. The dukes may not know that’s the reason, but it is behind the instructions they receive upon accepting their appointment. Regardless, that’s how his Shades found him so quickly once they smelled his blood.
Yet I still don’t know how Henry died. Or how much of the nightmare I can take as fact.
In the dream, Inana was stabbed in the abdomen, but she bears no scar. I would know. I worshipped every inch of her body this morning.
