A strange, ethereal blue light settles over us, from nowhere in particular, illuminating the ancient walls of a long, narrow bank and the single river running through it. The ground squelches likemud beneath my slippers, and our breaths frost in the air as tiny snowflakes dart and dance across a winter’s breeze. In the unnatural calm, my bones stop screaming. For just an instant, my panic ebbs with the river. “This doesn’t feel like the castle anymore,” I whisper to Arion.
“No,” he agrees. “It doesn’t.”
This—ithasto be it. If not Abysses, then an entrance. If not an entrance, then a clue. The ground contracts under our feet as if breathing, as ifalive. In and out and in and out. I shiver in the cold.
Amaya drops next, landing like a cat on her feet beside us. Then Vesper. Gavriall. The crew. Even that damned cursed skull hits the riverbank with a gleeful, “She will die. He will die. We must all die, die, die, die.”
Vesper brushes the mud from her skirt as the others catch their breaths and take in the glimmering chamber.
“Where are we?” Gavriall’s eyes dart to the river, then to the glowing blue moss etched into the walls. “Is this Abysses?”
“How can it be?” Vesper turns in a slow circle, blade still drawn, her voice more muted than usual. “There’s nothinghere.”
“I don’t see a path either,” Amaya says, stomping forward and slinging mud on the rest of us. “And that river could go on for miles.” She stops short, craning her head to peer around us in every direction. She needn’t bother. There is only water here—water and that eerie blue light. Her eyes narrow as she reaches the same conclusion. “Where is—anything? How are we supposed to know where to go?”
Arion takes my hand. “Only one way to find out.”
The cursed skull cackles again, louder now.“Mind your step! Follow the death!”
“She is on my last nerve,” Gavriall snarls. “Either shut your grandmother up, or I’m going to punt her straight into that gods-damned river.”
Amaya glowers at him, baring her teeth on a snarl and flexing her hands. But—she hesitates again, glancing at her fingers and shaking her head. “My magic. It’s not…” She tilts her head, scowl deepening. “It’s notworkinghere.” Her gaze snaps to Arion. “What the fuck ishappening?”
“Does it look like I know?” he growls.
They descend into a heated argument. Each of them. Fighting like animals as those whispers thread through the air above me—all around me—like a hundred invisible spiderwebs. Ensnaring me. Brushing my arms and cheeks and legs. I close my eyes and try to concentrate. The voices aren’t loud, but they are insistent.
Save us. Help us.
Vila, please. Vila, help.
They’re not only in my ears now—they’re in my bones. They’re fuckingeverywhere.
A phantom touch pulls at my sleeve with enough force that I stumble. A curse flies from my lips. Immediately, Arion ceases any remaining arguments, and his attention centers on me. “Zephyra? What is it? What’s wrong?”
The voices build now, and they’re not spiderwebs any longer. They’re spiders. Crawling in my ears, burrowing in my brain. Louder, louder,louder—
My knees buckle. Their wordsscream.
SAVE US. HELP US.
VILA, PLEASE. VILA, HELP.
I cry out, scratching at my ears. “Too… loud,” I manage on a broken sob. My brain rattles in my skull, pressure building behind my eyelids until I think I might implode. Bile stings the back of my throat. The voices don’t stop. I cry out again, and Arion drags me back into his arms. He clasps my fingers tight in his. “What is it? Tell me how to help you.”
HELP US!
“The… the voices,” I manage through clenched teeth.
The sight of him wavers before me until I can see only his wings—a blur of white and gold. I force myself to blink, to focus, but my eyes open too slowly, as if I’ve been submerged in amber. Something invisible pulls at my hair. My feet. My clothes. They’retouching me. I can’t see them, but I can hear them. I canfeelthem. A chorus of haunted voices.
“Your mermaid is hearing voices now?” Amaya asks as if from very far away.
But Arion’s finger brushes my ear, and when he draws back—blood. There isbloodon his finger.My blood.I realize it distantly, even as my vision narrows on his beautiful face. His gaze has hardened. Even though he’s dying. He’s dying as we speak, with minutes left, and he’s concerned aboutme. Goddess. The phantoms don’t need her help.Ineed her.
Vila, help me, I think, joining the others in my mind. Attempting to swallow the sound of their pleas with my own. I shove out of Arion’s arms and trip over my feet. But something—not Arion—catches me before I can fall. It shoves me forward.
Go, go, GO!They shriek now, clawing at me.This way. This way. Save us. Save him. Save yourself. SAVE US!
