Page 17 of The Unseen Hour (The Unseen Hour Duology #1)

T he other Shades had broken from their ordered lines and were floating and wandering through the flowers but not leaving the Meadow.

Was this to be my life until I escaped? Pacing and roaming listlessly until I managed to find my father? If I had to wait for the Head Shade’s return, I might as well get started.

The crowd was vast, and I wandered well past the group I’d arrived with. Father disappeared years ago, so I might need to check everyone. But the veritable sea of wispy Shades in the Meadow made it clear that would be a longer task than I’d hoped.

Nearly a hundred years of souls.

My limbs grew heavy again as the realization sank in. Charon had indicated this hour was over; he had his souls for this year. Time was probably moving forward in Emrys, and I was only just beginning my search.

My family and friends would know soon enough that I was missing, if they didn’t already.

The moon was still high overhead here, but who knew if that reflected time in Emrys?

My original idea of trying to make it here and back within the confines of the hour was laughable.

I could only hope Father was here in the Meadow and that finding him would be simpler than the presence of thousands upon thousands of souls led me to believe.

The Head Shade had warned me not to make a scene, and I had no desire for Charon to come back, with his frigid demeanor, but I wouldn’t find my father by standing around.

“Father! Calden Hipnosi!” I called out, making my way through the crowd.

Yelling hadn’t worked. The Shades only looked up occasionally, and no one responded to me. I’d had to revert to checking everyone individually after all.

I’d barely made a dent, spinning yet another person around only to be disappointed when I didn’t recognize him, when someone shouted.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Turning, I saw the Head Shade had returned. He raised a hand, beckoning me toward him.

“No,” I muttered to myself, trying to resist the pull the Head Shade’s voice created. I had come here for my father, and I had no intention of leaving without him.

Across the crowd, the Head Shade’s eyes widened, and he marched over to me.

“I’ve left him with some figures to look over, but Charon could still choose to come back at any moment. His whims at this time of year are difficult to predict, and you do not want to be here looking alive when he returns. You need to be gone before that happens.”

Was he going to try to send me back to Emrys?

For a moment I felt relief, followed immediately by a strong surge of shame.

I’d come all this way, and I couldn’t be deterred just because of one individual.

Even if they were a god. Even if they sent a chill deep into my bones that made me want to curl up and cry.

“You can’t send me back yet. I’m looking for someone,” I told the Head Shade.

Upsetting the only other living being here was perhaps not a great strategy, but I couldn’t let him stop me.

“Send you back? I can’t send you back.”

I blinked.

Couldn’t send … but he didn't know I had the Thipp’s antidote. Didn’t know how I’d gotten here in the first place. He was used to Shades. I was different.

I had to be, because if I wasn’t, then I was trapped.

“Are you all right?” He reached for me, placing a hand on Temple’s jacket sleeve. My breathing calmed.

There was still something I could do, even if I didn’t know how to escape the Ether.

“I still need to find him. If you could help, he?—”

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if anyone was with you during the Unseen Hour, they’re dead. In fact, it’d be much better for you if they aren’t down here, because then they got away alive. If they’re a Shade, you don’t want to see them like that.”

He really did look apologetic.

I shook my head.

“The person I’m looking for disappeared during the Unseen Hour years ago, but I’m convinced he’s not dead at all.”

The Head Shade leaned forward, looking more closely at me and tilting his head to the side.

“Who did you say you we?— ”

The other Shades froze around us, and a cold wind hit me. I shivered inside my borrowed coat.

“That’ll be Charon coming back. You can’t be here.”

My heart began pounding again, which could give me away as much as anything else. With a last, panicked glance at the other Shades, I admitted to myself that it could take days, if not far longer, to find my father. I couldn’t do that if I was discovered by an angry god.

“Where can I hide?”

I had no choice but to trust the Head Shade, for now.

“Come on! This way!” He grabbed my hand, yanking so hard I nearly went tumbling. I would have if he hadn’t caught me underneath my arms. He was so warm that I leaned against him until another gentle shove pushed me back on my feet.

“Steady, and move quickly.”

I stumbled after the Shade, my limbs moving sluggishly with the cold that ate at me. I might have arrived alive, but surely the temperature would finish me off.

The farther we went from the field, the more the scenery changed.

At first it was one or two clusters of short and twisted trees.

Dead and lifeless. Then, some with sparse leaves.

Soon enough we were surrounded by trees that towered above us, as tall as several buildings each.

He’d led me from the more open Meadow into a forest. Not a bad idea.

There were plenty of places here to hide.

The bark of some of the trees was cedar brown, and others black as pitch. The limbs were largely bare near the base of the trees, but there was what appeared to be blackened foliage farther up in the branches. Bushes similar in shade to the grass of the Meadow dotted the area between the trees.

After a lengthier trek, we were surrounded by the towering things, their trunks looming, as thick as some of the smaller shops in Emrys. The farther into the trees we went, the warmer it got, and I sighed in relief when the feeling returned to my fingers and toes.

The leaves on the massive trees were illuminated by streaks of green and blue light that had appeared in the sky, ribbons that created a dazzling glow.

“How—” I began, before feeling a tug once again.

“In here!”

I was practically shoved through a door I hadn’t even seen moments before.

The Head Shade stepped in behind me and closed the door.

He had brought me to a cottage built between the trees.

The whole dwelling was one open space. A cot and disheveled blankets were tucked against one wall.

A roaring fire in the hearth in one corner, venting smoke into the dark sky.

There was a singular chair, constructed of the same cedar that made up the forest. Against one wall was a set of wooden shelves built directly into the side of the structure, and a small water basin and some wooden bowls sat atop the makeshift counter.

The walls themselves appeared to be made of wood, with mud and dirt packed between the spaces.

It must have been built between several of the larger trees I’d seen outside, which kept it propped up at the corners while concealing it from the outside.

I edged toward the fire, craving warmth.

“Get under the blankets,” the Shade urged me, steering me toward the cot.

I’d gone a few steps when my survival instincts kicked in, along with the realization that I was very much alone and unchaperoned, with a man I didn’t know in the slightest, being led to a bed.

“I can’t do that! I don’t know who you are, or even what you are. I don’t know where I am, but I am not putting myself in a compromising position.” Technically, I was already in a compromising position, but this was a chance to gain back some level of control.

I stamped a foot, crossing my arms over my chest and doing my best imitation of Mother when she was giving an order she expected to have followed. Inside, though, I was trembling.

I was standing in front of a man, and the Shade was certainly a man, while wearing my brother’s riding clothes, of all things. My reputation would have been irreparable if anyone in Emrys had seen us.

Blasted ghosts, what must the Head Shade think of me? What would anyone else think?

I might not like the constraints of Emrys, but I’d done my best to abide by them enough that I didn’t risk my family’s reputation. It could be toppled along with my own if I wasn’t careful.

The Shade ran one hand through the back of his brown hair, tousling it.

“I’m not used to guests. I didn’t consider how it might come across. I just wanted to keep you away from Charon and prevent you from freezing to death.”

His body language was comforting as he created more distance between us, giving me an open path to the door if I wanted to run.

“This was just supposed to be a rescue mission,” I whispered, staring between the Head Shade and the door. “I didn’t mean to create a mess for anyone else.”

If Charon really would be upset to find me here, it was likely that I had put my host in a poor position as well.

“We’ll get to all that, but for now, why don’t you warm up?”

The Head Shade didn’t move, and I plopped down onto the cot. Only then did he step forward, reaching over me to pull a thick blanket around my shoulders .

After a few moments, the warmth began returning to my limbs. I was so cold that the process felt painful.

Soon enough though, the tingling passed, and comfort took its place.

“Thank you.”

He nodded in response, moving to the single wooden chair in the small cottage and sitting down.

Maybe he felt more secure since I no longer looked like I might run. He was in just as uncertain waters as I, alone with a stranger.

It was time to rectify that particular issue.

“I am Celia Hipnosi, daughter of Marquess Calden Hipnosi and Marchioness Vinia Hipnosi. My eldest brother, Ambrose, currently holds the title of Marquess. I traveled here from Fox Haven.” If he was from Emrys he’d probably recognize the name.

“Fox Haven,” he murmured.

“You know it?”

The Shade dipped his chin toward me. His brown hair had glints of bronze, and I wondered if it was as soft as it looked. It was also longer than what was currently fashionable.

I stared at him for a moment, my cheeks growing warm when he met my gaze, and I noted how long I’d been looking. I cleared my throat, trying to force my features into an expression of nonchalance.

“Now then, who are you? Are you a god, like Charon?”

He took a deep breath and let out a prolonged sigh.

“I’ve been Head Shade for so long, I can’t even remember the last time someone asked me about myself. I’m no god, just another person from Emrys who made it down here alive. I was Taken during the very first hour, and I’ve been Head Shade for nearly a century. Before that, I was Orion Holmes.”