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“Since when can we trust him?” Zane grunts, instantly defensive.

“I’m not sure he can be trusted, but if this works…” My words trail off, the hope lingering in the air, saying all that needs to be spoken.

Creed passes the binder along for Eldon and Zane to read, and once everyone has memorized the text, Brax explains the prophecy we heard when my palm touched the hand.

“What once was mine was taken as yours. What once was pure was tainted with pain. What once was the heavenly divine of the afterlife was broken, tattered, and torn. What once was the Realm of Eternity became the Realm of Shadows. What once was broken will be no more.”

“It kind of makes sense, in the cryptic way that prophecies do, but there’s still a lot of guessing here,” Eldon states, rubbing at his forehead.

“I agree, but we have to start somewhere,” I answer, and he turns to me with a soft smile. His lips part, but no words come out as a shrill sound echoes around the house.

“What’s that?” I ask with a gasp, adrenaline instantly coursing through my veins as I lurch to my feet.

“Someone or something is here,” Marieta mutters, rushing for the front door with Peta hot on her heels, sword in hand.

Holy fuck.

Turning to Eldon, my eyes still wide, I find him on edge but nowhere near as startled as I am. He must sense the confusion in my gaze because he quickly smirks, stroking a finger down my cheek.

“It sounds every time someone is near, which isn’t often, but it’s usually an indicator that you are close.”

I nod in understanding, but the uncertainty of who it may be still gets the better of me and I hurry to my feet to see what or who it is. I’m halfway down the hallway when Marieta opens the front door wide, and all that’s visible on the other side is shadow after shadow.

Rushing out onto the porch, my eyes grow wider with every passing moment, moving from one silhouette to another. If I thought there were a lot here before, that’s nothing compared to now. They must have doubled, possibly tripled. At least.

“I think they want to show us something else,” Peta says from behind me. I quickly realize that he can see them now, just as Marieta seemed to know where they had been earlier.

“You can see them?” I ask, needing the clarification to calm my racing heart, and he nods.

“It seems that when they want to reveal themselves, they will,” he offers as an explanation.

My Bishops appear behind Marieta and Peta, as intrigued as I am. I turn to the silhouettes again, feeling their energy drawing me closer. I hear the creak of the steps down the porch under my feet as I swallow down the worry threatening to rise.

One shadow stands out from the rest, just like it has before in my bedroom on more than one occasion. I don’t stop moving until I’m right in front of it, dropping to one knee.

I can’t explain what I’m doing or why, but it feels right. Placing a hand on the ground where their shadow falls, my head dips as pain emits from the touch, just like in the binder.

“Show me the way. Show me the way, and I will help you the best I can. I just want my family together again,” I promise, despite hating the heroic tinge that dances over every word.

A warmth travels up my arm, almost as if it’s consoling me before it inches away.

Standing, I understand. Turning to the house, I find Marieta, Peta, Eldon, Creed, Zane, and Brax all waiting as patiently as possible for me to explain. “They’re going to show us.”

I’m not sure how, where, or even why. All I know is when; now.

“Is this a good idea?” Brax asks, furrowing his brows as he glances from me to the shadows dancing across the ground behind me. “Freeing them, I mean.”

“The shadows are just that, in this realm or another, that’s not going to change. And if they weren’t, the pain I feel for them… they want to rest, to dissolve the restlessness that consumes them. They’ve been through enough. I can’t explain it, but we have to consider the fact that they’ve chosen us to do this, to have darkness but hope for change and an unwavering belief of more, of better. They trust us to do this because we don’t want them for our own needs or cause. I just want you guys home.” My chest tightens and I tilt my face to look back at the shadows. “Returning to our world leaves them completely powerless.”

“Except at your command,” Creed states, and my nose wrinkles.

“Except that,” I grumble, aware that all necromancers before me have tried to control the shadows and create an army for a selfish war.

“And what is your command?” Marieta asks, teetering closer.

I shake my head. “I haven’t figured that part out yet. I’ve been focused on the hope that we can all be together again. The rest of the world doesn’t matter, just us.”

Eldon moves first, holding my hands in his as he peers down at me.