Page 44 of Immortal Consequences (The Souls of Blackwood Academy #1)

August

August. I think I’m dying.

He would have done anything to stop it. To save her. And a piece of his own soul was a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things. He owed her that much.

As the world around him melted into a dizzying display of colors and shapes, August swore he heard Wren’s voice echoing somewhere in the chaos, calling out to him like a siren song.

His fingers intertwined with the core of his soul, the loose ends coming undone and fraying at the seams. He had felt the edges of a soul before, when reaping lost souls to the Other Side, but this was different.

This was his own essence. His entire soul threaded in the palm of his hand.

August.

One wrong move, one small twitch of his finger, and he’d risk destroying himself. August fought against the pressure building in his chest, the darkness swirling in his head. An emptiness hovered in the horizon, an inviting nothingness calling out to him. A void. A ticket out of his suffering.

August.

He could let go. It sounded inviting, a sweet release from the torment of his past. But August knew that destroying himself wouldn’t destroy the damage he’d already left behind. He needed to be there to pick up the pieces. He needed to be there for her.

“August!”

Olivier’s voice snapped him back to reality, the room around him rushing in with unwavering clarity. And before he could lose himself to the void again, August ripped his hand out of his chest, a silver sphere hovering in the palm of his hand.

His soul.

Or a fragment of it, at least.

He wasted no time, lunging forward and pressing it into Wren’s chest.

The reaction was instantaneous.

Her body jolted upward as Olivier held her down, gripping her shoulders. She began to convulse, her body seizing violently, her head slamming against the wooden floorboards with every sudden movement.

August dove forward, cupping the back of her head with his hands. He dragged her body up toward him, cradling her in his arms.

“Come on,” he muttered, cursing under his breath. “Dammit, Loughty. Wake up.”

Olivier looked on in horror. “Is it…is it working?”

August gritted his teeth, beads of sweat dampening his curls. He could feel the tremor in her body beginning to slow down, the shock slowly subsiding.

“I think so.”

When she finally stopped trembling, August gently set her down, brushing a strand of auburn hair away from her face.

“What do we do now?” Olivier whispered frantically.

“You do nothing. You don’t want to involve yourself with this.”

“And you do?”

August tensed. He met Olivier’s gaze, unflinching.

“No,” he rasped. “But I have to.”

And then, without warning, Wren’s eyes jolted open as she breathed in a strangled breath, hands clawing at her body.

“Shit!” Olivier cursed and staggered backward. “She’s—she’s awake.”

“Loughty.” August held down her hands. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

“What—” Wren gasped, looking around, clearly disoriented. “What’s going on? Where am I?”

“Do you remember what happened in the Ether?” August asked.

He hoped she did. Parts of it, at least. He needed to know details.

He needed to know who’d done this to her.

He would rip them limb from limb. Make them beg for mercy.

There would be no sweeter sound than hearing them howling in agony.

No greater pleasure than watching them suffer.

Wren’s face was still pallid, but the color was slowly washing back onto her cheeks, as if life itself had been breathed back intoher.

“I was walking in the Ether,” she whispered, voice shaking. “And then something attacked me. It looked like a shadow, but…it was alive.”

August swallowed the bile rising in his throat.

“Did you see anybody else?”

“No.” Wren shook her head. “Maybe. I don’t think so. It all happened too fast.” She winced and hoisted herself up onto her elbows. “I fell somewhere. I was in pain, but…I don’t know. It all gets a bit blurry from there.”

August let out a shaky breath. “I think I know what happened. But you have to promise to remain calm.”

Her face hardened.

“August. Tell me.”

He sighed.

“You fell into the Shadow Lands.”

Olivier gawked in disbelief. “ What? The doors to the Shadow Lands are locked. There’s no way—”

“I know what I saw.”

Wren pressed a shaking hand against her chest. “How long was I out?”

“Not long.”

Olivier’s eyes drilled into his face, the unspoken words rattling between them.

Tell her. Tell her what you did.

But August couldn’t. If he told Wren the truth, that he’d harbored a piece of his soul inside her, it would completely rattle her. Send her flying off the handle. And he needed her to remain focused for the rest of the Decennial.

He needed to keep her safe.

“We should tell Headmaster Silas,” Wren muttered, attempting to sit up. “He’ll know what to do.”

August shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a—”

A sound echoed in the distance, cutting him off. Muffled voices were approaching, closer and closer by the second, and then the door to Bonestrod burst open and three familiar faces looked back at them.

“What the hell are you doing here?” August bristled.

Irene, Masika and Emilio stood before them. They all seemed equally out of breath, their chests rising and falling rapidly. Irene was the first to break the silence, stepping forward with an exasperated sigh.

“We were following this one,” she said, motioning to Emilio, who flinched at the sound of her voice. “We found him a few minutes after appearing back in Blackwood. He was sprinting around like some madman.”

“I saw Olivier running in the distance.” Emilio scratched the side of his arm. “He looked…scared. I thought something might have happened.”

Olivier blinked at him. “And you decided to follow me?”

Emilio flushed. “Yeah. Of course.”

Olivier practically melted into a puddle on the floor.

“My little knight in shining armor.”

Masika’s eyes drifted toward Wren.

“You look like you were run over by a freight train.”

“Thanks.” Wren gathered herself onto her knees. “I feel like Iwas.”

Emilio stepped toward her. “You really do look awful. What happened?”

“Something attacked her,” August interjected. “She was in the Ether and a darkness led her into the Shadow Lands.”

Irene blanched. She turned to look at Wren with a surprising hint of envy. “You crossed into the Shadow Lands ?”

“I guess so.” Wren rubbed her head. “Though I don’t remember much. It’s all a bit jumbled.”

“How is that possible?” Emilio’s eyes widened in concern. “I thought the Shadow Lands were guarded so Blackwood students can’t find them. We shouldn’t be able to locate them, let alone accidentally fall into them.”

August shook his head. “The doors to the Shadow Lands aren’t guarded so we can’t find them. They’re guarded so whatever is inside them can’t find us. ”

“And how are we sure this thing that attacked Wren didn’t happen to follow her back to Blackwood?” Masika asked.

August snapped his head toward her. “What did you say?”

Masika rolled her eyes. “I said—”

A piercing roar cut through her words. The six of them collectively tensed, mouths agape and bodies rigid.

Something was circling them, drawing nearer, the unmistakable sound of shadow magic crackling through the air.

Another roar echoed in the distance, closer and closer, whirling around them in dizzying circles.

August looked at Wren. Their eyes met.

And then the darkness swallowed them whole.