Page 14 of The Spark that Ignites (Shattered Soul #1)

But with Vesper’s chest blocking her vision, Emmery was left blind to the danger. Yet the quality to that animalistic noise, froze every muscle in her body and she prayed if she stayed motionless, a rodent playing dead, it would lose interest.

Vesper lifted his fist to his mouth and blew into it. When he opened his hand, the air warped and obscured them in an opaque mist as the beastly snarls rose with each predatory footstep. Despite the mist, Vesper used his body as a shield between her and the threat.

The realization sank into Emmery as his magic devoured the air and camouflaged them. Vesper wasn’t trying to hurt her. He was protecting her. Protecting from whatever that was.

Slowly, he slid his hand from her mouth and Emmery’s breath thinned. Would his magic hold? What would happen if it failed? There was no reality in which she wanted to find out. Between the earth trembling growls and plummeting temperature ... no beasts in the human realm compared.

Her body quivered as she retrieved her pocket watch and pressed it to her ear. Tuning out the growls, her panic subsided with each steady tick.

Leaning her forehead against Vesper’s chest, buckles digging into her skin, Emmery borrowed his strength. She wasn’t sure why she did it but also didn’t care if it was weak or sad or completely illogical. She needed it.

Her head bobbed with his hurried breaths and his earthy, comforting scent drowned out the noxious death with cool, night winds and daffodils like those outside her cottage. Peace and life.

As the creatures stalked closer and scented the air, Vesper’s muscles strained as he contained the pocket of mist. A single wrong turn of the wind could expose them, and she refused to discover the consequences. Surely, they’d be torn to pieces.

A feral growl, too close to block out, threaded a chill up Emmery’s spine and her eyes flew open and locked on the ground. Scattered along the forest floor were bone shards, either remains from the war or the beasts’ prey. Maybe both.

The watch slipped from her fingers, and she clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle her gasp. Resting against her boot was—

Gods help her. It was a human skull.

A whimper slipped through her fingers and Vesper tensed, tucking her head under his chin, maybe to keep her quiet or to silently assure her he wasn’t about to let anything bad happen.

She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed for life.

Prayed for anyone or anything to save them.

The gate was so close she could taste it.

Was it about to be ripped away like everything else?

But with each agonizing second, the rumble dulled, and the growls grew distant. Emmery’s numb hand quaked as she tucked the watch into her tunic, straining her ears for any sign of the beasts. The forest answered with that same eerie stillness.

Removing his hands from the tree, Vesper stepped back. His mist dissipated with the ebbing thrum of his magic and retreated inside him.

Emmery’s gelatinous limbs failed and a tremor from the unforgiving mixture of cold and fear overtook her body. Cursing softly, he planted his hands on her shoulders to stop her swaying and gently squeezed.

She couldn’t think through the adrenaline flooding her veins.

Vesper bent and held his face level with hers, searching her eyes like the night in the alley and to her relief there wasn’t a hint of sarcasm in his expression. He glanced over his shoulder before returning to her. “You alright? They’re gone now.”

Emmery nodded mechanically though her heart threatened to implode. She spoke into her sleeve, “You weren’t joking about the monsters.”

The corner of his mouth turned up. “Not so tough now, are you?”

“Aren’t you scared of them?” she barked, muffled in the fabric.

Vesper responded with that increasingly annoying nonchalant shrug.

Giving his chest a shove that barely rocked him, she huffed, “ Ass .”

Vesper inhaled, his nose scrunching and narrowed his pale eyes at her. “Are you hiding something from me?”

She spoke with as little breath as possible. “What do you mean?”

He snagged her canteen, opened the lid and took a whiff. “Bloody Hollow, is this ... whiskey ? You’ve been drinking this since dawn.”

Emmery couldn’t help but feel the equivalent to a misbehaving child from his scolding. Biting down on her lip, she cursed inwardly. “Did you want some?”

It took no convincing for Vesper to take a taste.

He winced, shook his head, and shuddered.

“That’s bloody strong. Did you mix it with moonshine?

It’s no wonder you can’t walk straight.” He took another pull and replaced the cap but shoved it in his pack before she could snag it.

“Drink some water, you delinquent. You’re probably severely dehydrated. ”

“I’m barely buzzed. It’s merely ... taking the edge off.” Though her words were steady, unapologetic, her cheeks burned with shame.

Skepticism creased the lines of his face as he tossed her his canteen and crossed his arms over his chest until she swallowed a mouthful of water.

Emmery clipped the canteen to her pack and shot him with a saccharine smile. “Happy?”

“Ecstatic.” He returned a knowing grin before his luminous gaze swept their surroundings. “We need to keep moving.”

“I’m certainly not waiting for those things to come back.

” Emmery rubbed her arms, willing warmth back into them as her teeth chattered so violently, they threatened to shatter.

She didn’t think she could hate anything more than the human lands, but she loathed this damn forest. They couldn’t get out soon enough.

Noticing her hands, he offered, “Take my cloak.”

“You’ll be cold,” she protested but he slid it from his shoulders and wrapped it tightly around her.

She resembled a swaddled infant but his body heat clinging to the fabric penetrated her chilled bones.

Emmery bunched the ridiculously long garment around her neck to keep from dragging along the ground, murmuring her gratitude though Vesper gave it no mind.

As they continued through the woods, she lost all sense of direction along with her concept of time. Vesper assured he knew the way, but her chest wound tighter at each hesitation.

“When you crossed before, did you come this way?” she asked, glancing at the maze of trees behind them. If something happened, there was no way she could find her way back alone.

He stepped one way, pivoted, and went the opposite, nearly bowling her over. Vesper shifted her aside and motioned for her to follow. “It’s the only one I know.”

Emmery wasn’t convinced.

As they meandered through the forest, Vesper didn’t whistle or hum and despite her earlier protests, Emmery really wished he would.

She startled as the ominous silence shattered from singing.

But it wasn’t Vesper.

The melody pawed at her, caressing her mind with dainty fingers. Where was it coming from? She searched her surroundings but there were only trees and shadows.

The singing was faint at first, so faint she blamed her imagination, but as it rose Emmery unravelled like a spool of thread.

The voice stroked her ears, and the familiar song tugged at her chest. Her flesh prickled, coming alive like never before, and she longed to dance to the enchanting rhythm as she drifted away, her consciousness slipping, soul a fluid thing seeping from her body.

“Do you hear that?” she whispered, her own voice foreign in her ears. The melody trickled down every vein and tendril of hair, her body swaying with it. Surrendering to the call, her eyes fluttered closed, and her steps drifted toward the music.

Vesper’s sharp tug on her arm snapped her out of the trance. “What are you doing?” he asked, a stupid smirk curling his lips.

“ Oh . I—” Emmery dragged a hand down her face, blinking the haze away. “You heard that, right? That song? It sounded ... familiar.”

He snickered. “You mean the sirens?”

Red stained her cheeks, and she yanked her arm away. Her control had fled with the music like a flock of sheep running from a wolf. If Vesper wasn’t there, she would have happily skipped her way right into the siren’s waiting arms. “Why didn't it affect you?”

“I’ve heard a few siren songs in my time. I’ve always been immune.” He shrugged. “Also, they were singing to you, not me.”

So, they knew she was in the forest when they were nowhere in sight? That couldn’t be good. Her spine stiffened. “How do you resist it?”

“Think of something foul like an unpleasant memory. I’m sure, like me, you have an abundance of those.

Pain helps too.” His bizarre casualness as he spoke of these creatures like they were an everyday vermin or pest, caught her off guard.

Maybe Karynthia was more dangerous than she wanted to believe. The thought filled her with dread.

Emmery shivered as she pondered what might have happened if she followed the siren’s song. From what she recalled of fairytales, the beautiful but wicked creatures had jagged teeth and sharp claws. Maybe they fell into the flesh-eating category.

Vesper whistled an off-key tune, drowning out any remaining melody leaking through the trees, clearly for her benefit though he didn’t acknowledge it. “The good news is we’re almost at the gate. The sirens are a last resort to catch anyone who shouldn’t come through.”

The song came to an abrupt halt as the Iron Gate emerged.

It rose well past the treetops, seemingly touching the sky and stretched just as wide, disappearing into the mist. The closely packed bars, resembling razor blades, glimmered with ferocity.

No gold or rainbows. No splendour or overwhelming sense of relief.

The sinister presence emitted a bone rattling pulse of magic and sent a cold sweat sliding down Emmery’s back.

Guarding the gate was a lanky creature, easily twice Vesper’s height.

Dressed in moss covered robes that may have once been white, it stood unnervingly on two feet, its body bowing.

Its front talons, spears of bone in the form of hands, dusted the forest floor.

Thick, grotesque antlers the colour of aged parchment punctured through its hood and skeletal bones peaked from the exposed bits of its face.

The creature's snout twitched as they approached. If it was a mask, Emmery couldn’t tell but whatever it was incited a visceral fear.

What was that thing ? It emitted raw power like the gate.

“Follow my lead,” Vesper ordered, his voice low. “Don’t speak unless spoken to. The Guardian is particular about manners.”

They stepped into the yellowed light emitting from the lantern at the Guardian’s feet.

Blood splattered the ground and gate, as if something collided with it and shredded to ribbons.

Had people tried to outrun the guardian or was it a desperate attempt to escape the forest creatures? Either way, the blood appeared fresh.

Its unseeing milky white eyes slid in their direction. “ Children of the Fallen and Hollow . It is a pleasure to see you again, Vesper Merikh and Emmery Hawthorne ,” the monster snarled.

The Guardian’s voice rattled against the walls of Emmery’s brain, and she gritted her teeth against the discomfort though Vesper appeared unfazed.

Emmery narrowed her gaze on its cloudy eyes. How did the Guardian know her name? Was it some sort of seer? It looked too vicious to be anything but a predator. Gods, it could mince her with one swipe of its claw.

Vesper bowed at the waist, an arm crossing his chest to rest two fingers over his cavae . “Guardian Kaah. The pleasure is ours.”

Emmery mimicked him, fixating on the rusty stained leaves at their feet. More blood.

“Please graciously grant us passage,” said Vesper, calm, cool, collected.

With a hideous breath, Kaah’s gaze flicked to Emmery. “ Do you have the payment? ”

Emmery stiffened, daring a peek as Vesper stepped toward the Guardian.

Shoulders tight, he fished a stone from his pocket no larger than a walnut.

It swirled with the colours of a summer sunset—the only thing in this forest that didn’t make her skin prickle.

Kaah’s eyes lit up as Vesper dropped it into a gnarled hand and its bone claws twisted around it.

Guardian Kaah inhaled deeply like it could consume the power the stone emitted.

Whatever that stone was, it had to be special if it swayed the Guardian to betray the god’s wishes.

“ You may pass .” The Guardian’s jowls peeled back revealing a mouth of sharp teeth and once more its voice rang, lingering after the words were spoken in Emmery’s mind. “ Do come again. It has been far too long since I have had visitors .”

Vesper bowed once more. “Our eternal gratitude, Great Kaah.”

The Guardian ambled aside as the gate screeched open, pulled by invisible ropes and Emmery’s heart leapt into her throat.

This was it. The moment she’d dreamed of and yet, whether it was the forest or the probing stare of the Guardian, her chest remained tight. Weary of this new world. But this was a chance at a new life.

No longer would she have to hide or fear.

Surrounded by people like her, she could have the permanence of a home and finally belong.

Her heart strained at the thought, wanting it so damn badly.

Because so much of her life had been wasted.

All she had to do was complete this bargain and then . .. she would finally be free.

Emmery held her breath, studying the ground, as they approached the gate and a new light sparked in her chest, unleashed by the opening of this door.

“ Leave your presence unknown .” Gaze lingering on Emmery, Guardian Kaah flashed a cruel smile. “ I will know if anything is disturbed .”

She swallowed the lump in her throat and kept to Vesper’s heels.

The gate shrieked, a violent cry of metal on metal, and Vesper grasped the neck of her cloak, yanking her forward as the Iron door swung with malicious intent.

They narrowly sidestepped the sharp edges as the gate slammed shut, knowing the consequences would have been far worse than a haircut if they’d been struck.

A revenant wind lifted Emmery’s hair as it sealed them on the other side.