Page 99 of Wraithwound

Lena considered. Cross had proven to be a skilled warrior, and she trusted his ability to take on the wraith if he needed to. “All right.”

Lena washed quickly and sorted through the clothes Jade had left for her when she’d first arrived. In the pile, a flash of iridescent fabric caught her eye. She held the garment up and realized it was opalsilk. The same fabric that’d made up the stitching on the skirt she wore to Neema’s funeral.

It was stunning. The white pearlescent fabric slipped through her fingers, light turned fluid. She slipped it on knowing she’d likely never get to wear anything as exquisite ever again. Elegant in its simplicity, two thin straps crossed at the center of the deep “V” that exposed most of her back. The shape at the front mimicked the back but in a more modest sense. She paired the dress with soft, pointed flats. She likely looked ridiculous, but she had no intention of letting anyone see her in it. She’d throw her cloak over the top to conceal it but would take delight knowing she was wearing something beautiful. Her life had been too ugly for too long.

When she was ready, she checked in with the eleuth, who blinked at her wide eyed.

“You like it?” she asked the creature, half turning to show off the back.

The eleuth sat up on its hind legs and chittered softly. She took that as a yes and summoned the courage to knock on the adjoining door, making sure to pull her cloak together at the front.

When Cross pulled open the door on the other side, she was surprised to see he wasn’t wearing his leathers. Instead, he had on a white, loose linen shirt tucked into beige trousers. A small dagger hung from his belt, and he’d pulled half his hair back. Lena frowned at the dagger.

“It will be enough,” he said. “And I’ve set up other precautions should the wraith attempt to take over.”

“All right,” she said nodding.

“Ready?”

Lena followed Cross out of their rooms. They walked in silence through winding corridors she’d never seen before, the crystals in the walls becoming scarce the further they went. Then, he stopped and pulled on her hand gently.

“This way,” he said and disappeared into the wall.

Lena blinked. She reached out, placing both hands on the wall to discover a slit in the rock. Peeking behind it, she realized it was a hidden passageway, designed to give the appearance of an uninterrupted corridor. Cross gave her a nod of approval, a hint of amusement in his eyes as she slipped into the tunnel behind him. Cross had to turn sideways to move through the narrow tunnel, and even then, his chest and back scraped along the wall. Lena fared better and managed to avoid the roughhewn stone as she too navigated the narrow space.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“You’ll see. We’re almost there,” he said.

After a few more turns, Cross disappeared yet again. Lena followed, ready to be out of the enclosed space, but when she walked out of the hidden passageway onto an expansive ledge, the air froze in her lungs.

Before her was an entire universe of stars. No, not stars. Crystals. Thousands of them. They winked in and out of a stone ceiling hundreds of meters above her. Walking to the edge of the ledge, arms slack at her sides, Lena marveled at the crystal sky above.

“Are you . . . glowing?” she heard Cross ask from behind.

Lena turned, wondering what Cross was talking about when his eyes flared in awe and his lips parted. It took her a moment to realize Cross was staring at her. When she looked down, Lena gasped in surprise at the opalsilk, which was indeed glowing. Tiny lights seemed to wink in and out of her dress where the cloak had fallen open, exposing the material to the crystals above.

Cross took large strides, closing the distance between them. Lena tilted her head back and met his eyes, the golden flecks brighter than she’d ever seen before.

“May I?” Cross asked, lifting his hands to her cloak.

Lena nodded, unable to tear her gaze away from his. Pulling it off her shoulders gently, he let it fall to the floor and took a step back.

“You look like starlight,” he said awestruck.

Emboldened by his words, Lena turned slightly, just as she’d done with the eleuth, to show him the back of the dress. Cross looked utterly speechless as he stood there taking her in. She realized just then that her wraithwound was on full display. Instead of moving to hide it or covering it back up, she let him see it although he didn’t seem to take an interest in it.

“It’s the opalsilk,” she said softly.

The words seemed to break him out of the spell, and he cleared his throat.

“It’s very beautiful.”

“It is,” she agreed, unsure of why the words stung. Opalsilk was indeed very beautiful. “Uh . . . how did you find this place?”

“I think it might have found me,” he said.

Lena thought back to her experience in the library and decided there must be some unspoken magic in The Whispers.