Page 21 of The Unseen Hour (The Unseen Hour Duology #1)
He was right. The Shades, for all they looked like people, did not behave like them. Even as blurs in the distance, I noticed how they didn’t appear to engage with one another beyond clustering together.
“What does make the Shades interact?”
Orion ran a hand over his neck.
“During the Unseen Hour, they come alive, so to speak. It’s as if …
as if all the longing and grief and fear that they must have felt when they arrived are bottled up all year.
When the Unseen Hour arrives, Charon sends them to the world, and it’s all unleashed.
The closer we get to the hour, the easier it will be to get a response from them.
After they call the new souls down, that’s when they’re most deflated.
It would be hard to talk to any of them right now. ”
My eyes widened, and I threw a hand over my mouth.
“The Shades? Are they the ones who … ”
“Yes. Using Shade song, as I mentioned earlier. Charon’s fog covers the Shades during the hour, so they move around Rayus virtually unnoticed, unless you hear one.
All Shades sing. I don’t think they can help it.
My theory is they’re drawn to the ones they once loved.
Shades from Emrys go to Emrys, those from Mejje to Mejje, and so forth.
There are even Shades that haunt any ships unfortunate enough to be caught on the seas. ”
Ships like the one the king was on when he disappeared.
The need to scream was growing. I’d stuffed down the terror of my arrival the previous day, but now it was being brought viciously to the forefront of my mind. Using the souls of our loved ones to attack us.
As for the Shades—if the hour was when they were most aware, did they know? Did they have to watch, helpless to intervene, as they lured their neighbors and friends to their deaths?
Orion took my hands in his, the resulting warmth distracting me from my terror.
“The Shades lure the souls, thanks to the magic they derive from Charon and this realm. I used to love music,” Orion reflected.
“I attended every concert. I followed the news of every new cellist, or singer—anyone with talent. After hearing the Shade song, though, I could go without ever hearing music again.”
Something in my heart broke. I loved music as well. I remembered when I’d first met Orion, how even his terse voice had sounded like a melody.
“Do you sing, too?”
Orion looked at the ground, purposefully away from me.
“I command the Shades and sing the new souls back here once they’re already deceased. I can resist singing in Emrys, but I have to call the Shades.”
“Why? Why not resist? Surely you could?—”
Orion put a finger to his lips.
“Charon,” he whispered. Not seconds after he spoke, a chill ran through me.
Orion pulled on my hands.
“We need to go. Now.”
He led us back into the woods, where the trees grew thicker again.
The chill of Charon’s arrival had sent goosebumps running up my arms, and the fear in Orion’s voice had me moving all the faster.
We were well away from the cold when it registered that my hand was still in his.
It wasn’t like this was the first time I’d held hands with a man. I’d had men escort me, and I’d of course danced with them, but running through the woods together was somehow more intimate.
I wondered if his hands would feel just as warm caressing my face, holding me around the waist as we danced, sliding underneath my borrowed shirt.
Cursed ghosts.
It had to be the Ether. I was otherwise alone, in an unfamiliar place. I was away from Emrys and all its constraints. That had to be what had my mind thinking such ludicrous and scandalous things. And mere months ago I’d thought myself nearly in love with the mere memory of a different man.
Then again, Orion wasn’t a memory. He was very real.
“Why are we running?” I asked, pulling my hand away, and immediately regretting the empty chill that spread through my fingers.
“I intended for us to be gone before Charon arrived. Normally I have a warning before I see him. Getting this close to the centennial hour, he must be growing excited, changing up his routine. ”
“Where does he stay the rest of the time? Could another not-Shade like you be hiding there?”
“I’m not showing you Charon’s residence. I’m not even sure I could, and if I did, could you promise you wouldn’t run straight in looking for your father?”
I scowled at him, but had to admit the truth.
“I would if I thought there was a good chance of finding him. I didn’t go through all this, and come all this way, only to be denied.”
“And I’ll help you as much as I can. But I won’t risk you to Charon unnecessarily. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
He glanced over his shoulder as if he expected Charon to materialize behind us.
For all I knew, he could.
“You barely know me,” I countered once I saw that we weren’t being followed.
The blue in his eyes blazed.
“I know enough. I just mean … I haven’t had anyone real in my life for quite some time. I don’t want the first person I get close to put in any more danger than absolutely necessary.”
For a fleeting moment I thought the look on his face was one of longing.
It certainly mirrored the expression that men wore at balls when they were gazing at women I knew they wished to be with.
The sky was transiting from orange and purple back to green and blue. I put it up to a trick of the light.
“Why look out for me? You’re close to Charon; you’ve admitted as much. Why work against him for the sake of some woman you’ve just met?”
“I might be close to him, but I have just as much reason to despise him as any victim of the hour.”
It made sense, and yet …
“You could still work against him without me, though. You don’t owe me anything. Wouldn’t this just be dangerous for you?”
With every word I uttered, Orion looked tenser. His jaw twitched, and he began to pace.
“I have to help you. You’re the only one I can save. All the others who made it here like us are dead.” Orion clenched his fists. His voice was anguished, and the wild look in his deep grey eyes told me he was haunted by whatever he remembered.
The problem was, he’d previously told me that, as far as he knew, we were the living Shades.
I was trapped in the Ether with a liar.