Page 24 of The Unseen Hour (The Unseen Hour Duology #1)

“ L et’s stop here for some rest,” he suggested when we were well away from the slycat.

He’d brought us to a small creek running through the forest.

I sank into a crouch and then fell onto my backside with an ungraceful plop. Tucking my knees up and wrapping my arms around them, I stared at the bubbling creek. The steady sound of the water somewhat soothed my anxiety.

“Are there many of them, those slycat things?”

Orion shook his head.

“Not in this section of the woods. It’s part of why I stayed here.

When I first arrived, I ran into a mother with her cubs, and then several more sets farther east. I had no desire to live where there was a pack of the things, so I built in an area I saw they stayed away from.

The closer you go to the Meadow, the fewer large animals there are.

It was a balance, finding a spot away from the Shades but also away from the predatory animals. ”

I looked at him, tilting my head.

“Why away from the Shades? According to you, they don’t do much of anything. Can they be dangerous, too? ”

Orion stared at the water, unblinking.

“Not physically, but they’re a reminder. A reminder that I’m not dead but not really alive. That I’m under Charon’s authority. That I have to lead them up each year to call the souls of their friends and family to this doomed land.”

His voice was haunted.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine what he had gone through. Losing his life, losing his brothers, and then being forced to repeat the night that ruined everything, over and over. Having to take part in other peoples’ suffering.

One trip to Emrys where I was forced to try to hurt my brothers would have been enough to undo my sanity for good. And Orion had gone back to Emrys ninety-eight times after his own hour.

He was still looking at the water, watching it move over the dirt and rocks.

I reached for his arm, and he jumped, looking to where our skin touched. His breath caught.

I gave him a determined stare.

“We’ll all get out. The three of us. Together. You must be the strongest person I’ve ever met to have survived this place alone for so long. But you're not alone anymore.”

“I’m beginning to realize that,” he murmured in a rough voice that caused a wave of heat to build between my legs.

Orion leaned in, one of his hands reaching up to hold my face, and I nearly forgot how to breathe.

“Starlight?”

“Yes?” I sounded hoarse to my own ears. I felt the thrill of his touch all the way to my toes.

“You’re bleeding. You must have scratched yourself on one of the branches. Here. Let me help.”

If I was, it wasn’t the only reason my cheeks were red. I wrestled with embarrassment. What was I thinking? I had no business being drawn to the Head Shade when he was just trying to help me.

He leaned down, cupping some of the water in his hands and letting some trickle down the side of my face.

“Oh.” I was certain I was still blushing furiously. “ Thank you. I’ll just …” I reached up, wiping at my face with my bunched up sleeve. Just a few drops of red stained the fabric when I pulled away.

I was still in Orion’s clothing. Tan trousers and a flowy shirt. No vest or overcoat or intricate buttons. No dress or underclothes.

Just a single layer of fabric.

I swallowed, my throat a little too tight.

Orion wore similar attire to my own, but with darker trousers. The flowing white shirt also looked much different over his chest than mine. Not that I was looking.

“Thank you, for distracting the slycat. And for trusting me,” I offered.

“Thank you for luring it away,” he responded, breaking into a grin. “Exhilarating, though, wasn’t it?”

With a laugh, I had to admit he was right.

“Yes, it was. Much more entertaining than a summer ball!”

“Or a meeting of the lords.”

“Or being fitted for dresses.”

Some of the torturously sweet tension I felt between us melted away as he continued to speak about our home.

“I concur. Before I came here, the men’s fashions in Emrys were intricate. So much pomp and circumstance just to ride into town. I must have wasted so much of my life just getting dressed for the day.”

I nodded, thinking his outfits had nothing on the many layers of women’s fashion.

“And for what? None of it is comfortable,” I said.

“I heartily agree. Another benefit of being down here—you can be comfortable instead of fashionable. Although I’m sure many people would find that horrifying.”

I snorted, covering my mouth with my hand. I could think of several members of the nobility who might find a lack of suitable fashions more off-putting than the Shades.

It took me a moment to regain my composure.

“I didn’t expect there to be animals. Or woods. Or books. I didn’t know what to picture, honestly. I just kept thinking of who I wanted to find and tried to prepare myself for an inhospitable environment awaiting me.”

Orion’s expression drooped a bit.

“It’s inhospitable enough. Unless things have changed in Emrys, you were brought up the same as me—believing in two gods who divvied up souls when they died.

An afterlife of shadows, or light. But either way, one of peace and rest. As you can see, the Ether is nothing like that.

It’s got things that will ensnare you with their beauty, but it’s far from an idyllic place to spend a lifetime. ”

He looked around the forest, and I waited, sensing he had more to say.

“This place may be run by a god, but it’s a land just as real as Emrys, or Sez, or any country in Rayus.

The only thing it lacks is people, and the influence they bring.

There are no roads, or shops, or cities.

Just nature and its inhabitants. And of course Charon and the Shades.

Not all bad, but I would have traded anything here in a minute to escape my own company.

I’m not especially interesting as a conversational partner after a while. ”

He gave a forced laugh.

“Well”—I beamed at him, my expression equally forced—“now you’re stuck with me. You may soon wish you had your silence back.”

This time his smile looked genuine, reaching all the way to his eyes.

“Actually, I haven’t been in silence. And I think I know what to show you next. My favorite conversational partner, aside from myself, and now you, of course.”

He pointed to a branch overhead.

I scrunched my eyes. Then, with a flutter of movement, I saw it.

A small bird with feathers of varying dark blue shades, blending into the darkening sky. The creature hopped through the branches with ease, just a glint of black under its wings.

Orion cupped a hand over his mouth, then gave a series of sharp chirps and whistles. The bird began jumping from branch to branch, flying in short bursts on its way down to us.

“I call them tree hoppers. Very smart little birds. And they like a certain berry that grows in the woods. It’s tasty.

Perfectly safe for us to eat. I learned a lot from the animals here.

It’s a shame your first experience was with a predator, but many of them are more helpful than anything else.

You can learn from them, and they’re good company.

I leave food out for the tree hoppers and have even set up some obstacles for them to work through.

They’re quite clever, and sometimes they bring me things like”—he stopped, giving me a sheepish smile—“They’re the closest thing to friends I’ve had. ”

If he was concerned about me poking fun, he needn’t have worried. After years of friendship with Pellix, it made complete sense to me that the birds could be excellent companions as well.

The tree hopper jumped onto Orion’s outheld hand. It tilted its head and clicked its beak.

“Sorry, my friend, no food today. Visit tomorrow, and I’ll make amends.” The bird took wing and flew away as if it understood. Orion turned to me. “I know they can’t really respond, but when you’re alone out here …”

“You talk about them like they’re your friends and neighbors. I do that with my horse, Pellix, sometimes. He’s better company than most of the nobility in Emrys.”

Orion laughed.

“If things are similar to when I was there, I’m sure that’s true.

It’s the same for many of the animals here.

They’re certainly less conceited than many humans I’ve met.

I’ve always appreciated animals. We had a dog at our estate that I was quite fond of, Terris.

He was meant to help with the sheep, but in the evenings he loved to lie at my feet. Long gone now, I’m sure.”

My heart lurched. Returning to find Pellix gone would crush me. And the thought of living for decades in a forest with only Pellix for company wasn’t any better.

He must have been terribly lonely.

Orion was sitting with his legs kicked out to the side, one hand bracing him. Throwing caution to the wind, I reached for his hand, lacing my fingers through his. It wasn’t as if it was the first time we’d touched, but this was more intentional.

Orion sucked in a breath, his head whipping toward me.

I gulped.

“When we find my father, that will be even more company for you. Then, at the next Unseen Hour, we can all go back to Emrys. If whatever home you had is gone, my family will help you.”

I would do everything I could to make sure Orion had another chance at the life he’d been denied.

Orion smiled.

“Tomorrow, we can begin looking. Charon rules here, but aside from the time just after the Unseen Hour, he takes little interest in the Shades until it draws near again.”

When we returned to Orion’s home, he fixed us a plate of dried meat and bread.

“You know, you still owe me some answers as to how you have all these things,” I reminded him, finishing off the bread.

“If I tell you my secrets, are you going to tell me yours?” He smirked .

“Perhaps,” I managed. Maybe he did have a sense of humor, when he wasn’t being summoned by a god.

He offered to sleep on the floor again and give me the cot.

“I’ll get to work on a second one soon. Then we’ll both have somewhere comfortable to sleep,” he said when I tried to object.

I crawled under the blankets, warm and comfortable.

Long after his breathing evened out, I was still lying awake.

My thoughts were stuck on everyone I’d left behind.

Ambrose and his lectures, Mother and her insistence on pink.

Bram and his smile, and Temple with his somewhat haughty charm but quick wit.

When I eventually managed to push the thoughts of my family away, they were replaced by Charlotte and Thomas.

My eyes began to water.

“It will be worth it,” I whispered to myself.

Soon enough, I’d have my father. Maybe we’d even get lucky and find a way back before the next Unseen Hour.