Soulceress (The Mythean Arcana 2) - Page 66

She stood on the other side of the room, staring at a huge painting on the wall. She shook her head, then turned and walked across the room. He met her near the basement doors, his steps faltering slightly when the familiar surge of Aurora’s sickness weakened his muscles and churned his stomach. Shite. Time for more pills.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

“Yeah. Let’s keep working our way around the compass until we find the right building.” Her gaze wouldn’t meet his and her voice was distant. She’d been closed off all day, ever since she’d retreated last night.

They made it through the basement and out of the building without incident. He popped a pill in his mouth and swallowed it dry, hoping it would work. He couldn’t be

weakened when he faced Aurora or he’d never get his soul back. He’d have to live like this, a deteriorating mess of weakened muscles and worthless stomach. And he’d thought not having his soul was bad.

The street was silent once again as they made their way east, though the sun had moved across the sky and was on its way down over the tops of the buildings. Warren kept his gaze glued to Esha’s back.

After a while, he noticed that the mysterious shade was still following them, floating along behind. Esha kept glancing back at it as well, making sure that her eyes never fell upon him.

“The building is going to be right around this bend, I’m almost sure of it.” Esha pointed to the curve in the narrow street ahead.

When they rounded the bend, the street once again opened up onto a great square. The city was a bit like Venice, with its windy streets and open squares, but creepier and without the canals. Warren didn’t like it.

“That’s it.” Esha pointed to an ornate building that sat across the square as the museum had. This one was far grander, however, a stone monstrosity accessible by an enormous flight of stairs.

They made their way across the square, and Warren tensed as they neared the stairs, expecting more shadows. When the wave of nausea hit him, he almost stumbled.

Nay. He’d just taken a pill. This shouldn’t be happening. He swallowed hard and forced the nausea down, but it did little good as his muscles trembled.

They reached the base of the stairs and began to climb. When nothing swept out to stop them, the tension in his chest eased slightly. The souls must have been protecting the treasures and had no reason to be here. It took two of them to push open the great wooden door. Damn it, normally he’d have been able to do it alone.

“This is it,” Esha whispered.

Again, the space was huge and silent, the windows streaming beams of light onto the brightly colored marble floor. The back of his neck twitched, and he turned around.

A horde of shadows, these darker and more human shaped than the last, hurtled at them up the stairs. He spun around and pushed Esha out of the way, back behind the wall so that she was out of the path of the shadows.

“Hide!” he yelled, but before he could turn to fight the shadows, something wrapped around his arms and legs and dragged him out the door. He struggled against the bonds, twisting around to see that shadows had caught him from behind. He strained to reach the dagger but his arms were held tight.

“Warren!” Esha hurtled out of the doorway. She ran down the stairs after him. His fear for her had been for naught. The shadows weren’t attacking her.

She shot a blast of power at them, and they released him.

Warren crumpled to the ground, then surged to his feet. Before he could get his dagger, they rushed back, reaching for him once again, gripping his arms and legs with iron bands of strength that they shouldn’t possess. From the corner of his eye, he saw the mysterious shade fly forth.

It charged into the group of shadows, scattering them. Esha’s blast of power took care of the rest. In a flash of white light, they were obliterated.

“Esha, are you all—” Warren’s knees collapsed out from under him once again, his muscles turned to jelly.

“Warren!” Esha fell to her knees by his side. “You’re so white. Are you okay?”

“Pills,” he gasped. “Left pocket.”

“For what? What’s wrong with you?” She scrabbled through his pocket and pulled the pills loose.

“One.”

She pried the cap off and handed him one. He’d just had one an hour ago, damn it. They weren’t fucking working anymore. He blinked up at Esha, who was running her hands over his body, looking for injuries. The sky was darkening behind her head and long shadows stretched across the square.

“We’ve got to get you back to the house,” she said.

With her help, he struggled to his feet. His stomach still lurched like a ship on a rogue wave, but his muscles held long enough for him to stumble back to the house. Rage welled within him at being unable to move, to fight. This wasn’t him, damn it.

It felt like hours had passed by the time they got back. Full dark had fallen, but a wave of Esha’s hand lit the lamps in the entryway. He groaned in relief when he collapsed on the bed.

Tags: Linsey Hall The Mythean Arcana Paranormal
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