Page 25 of The Unseen Hour (The Unseen Hour Duology #1)

“ B reakfast,” Orion announced the following morning, tossing something at my head. I fumbled to catch it. Sometimes, like when I rode Pellix, I could pretend I was graceful. This was not one of those times.

I’d never excelled at any garden games that required hand-eye coordination. The last time I’d attempted shuttlecock the blasted thing had smacked me in the forehead, leaving an ugly red welt. Ambrose and Mother had relented after that, content to let me watch everyone else.

Playing the piano and horseback riding were the only times when I was able to demonstrate any real grace with my movements.

I took a tentative bite out of a round and purple fruit—and then a much larger one, when I realized it was both sweet and tart.

“Delicious,” I admitted.

Orion smiled.

With the adrenaline from the first few days wearing off, I was less focused on sheer survival and growing constantly more aware of how comfortable it felt spending my time around Orion.

How natural.

A man whose poetic brother had captured my attention with stories of his adventures; something Orion had already shown me plenty of in person. Maybe the three brothers had been similar.

“Here, try this one.”

A second fruit was lobbed at my face. I barely managed to shield myself with a blanket. The fruit smacked the thick threads and rolled down to my lap. I lowered my hands to find a pear— my personal favorite fruit. I bit into it eagerly, the juice sticky on my chin.

“Do the other Shades have to eat?” I questioned between bites. At least I was mannered enough to not ask with my mouth full. Mother would be so proud.

“No, they don’t. Another exception reserved for you and me. I have found, though, that I need far less than I ate in Emrys. The garden here has plenty of fruits and vegetables,” he informed me.

“Garden?” My ears perked up.

“Yes. I didn’t get around to showing you yesterday, since our animal encounter took more time than anticipated. It’s just around back.”

As soon as we'd finished our breakfast of fruit, he led me around the trees that held up the small home, and I saw the cleared patches of dirt between the trees behind us. Just like his house, it was hard to spot unless you went under the branches looking for it.

“And there’s food year round?” I questioned. “Even without sun?”

I’d already decided that the more I knew about this place, the more likely we would be to succeed. But I also wanted to know because I liked listening to Orion tell me about the Ether.

It was a bit like living in an adventure story, if not for my knowledge that the entire place was little more than an enormous prison.

“The soil here is very fertile. It does rain, but you’re right about the lack of sun. Either way, I’ve never had a problem.”

My own gardener would be envious from his toes to his teeth if he knew.

Our estate boasted a convenient proximity to town that in no way detracted from the sprawling views, but the openness had made it difficult to protect certain plants from the weather.

Scopshaven had a greenhouse, but I knew our gardener, Thestle, would have sacrificed a lot for this kind of natural environment.

“Does Charon eat?”

“Not that I’ve seen. Why?”

“Then why would he have fruits?”

“The same reason he has animals and plants, I suppose. He has fields of flowers and a forest of trees, as you’ve already seen. He is not Death, and he enjoys living things. With there being all sorts of creatures in the Ether as well, it stands to reason they’d need something to eat.”

“And it’s all safe to eat?”

Orion frowned.

“Much of it. What I told you about observing the animals helped me a lot, but I’ve made a mistake a time or two. It turns out half-Shades can still make themselves quite ill with the wrong supper, but overall I’ve been lucky.”

I was torn between insisting we leave for the Meadow and my innate curiosity. My stomach growled, making the decision for me as I plucked another pear.

“How did you get seeds here to grow things like pears? Did Charon procure them for you? ”

The frown that was already becoming all too familiar clouded Orion’s face.

“No. I figured it all out myself. Some things I planted already existed in the Ether, but I brought back seeds to grow the others.”

Along with his supplies.

He swept his hand out at the gardening tools. Several were clearly handmade, but there were others that must have come from Emrys.

“You’ve been asking how I supplied myself here. I promised to be honest, but I’ll admit to being a bit ashamed as to how I acquired everything.”

“Ashamed?”

He nodded.

“I stole it all. During the hour, Shades can’t touch and hold things the way people can.

That’s why barring the doors keeps them out.

But I’m not a typical Shade. A few years in, I figured out that I could grasp things.

It took practice. As far as I can tell, it’s driven by intent and desire.

I have to really want something, and focus on it, to be able to grasp it.

I never told Charon. I was afraid he’d send me into homes.

I try to take only what I need, but I will say my definition of need blurred a bit over the years. ”

“Like with the books.”

“Yes. Exactly. Not strictly a need for survival, but believe me, it was necessary for my slipping sanity at the time. A way to feel like I was connecting with another person, even if it was only through their words.”

That statement spoke to my heart. He needn’t have justified it to me.

“I’m always watchful during the hour. You’d be surprised what people leave outside while running for shelter.”

My mouth dropped open.

“Do you think less of me?” he asked .

“Not at all. It was incredibly clever, figuring that out. You did what you had to do. I was just wondering how many items people have chalked up to misplacement or thievery over the years that were actually brought to the Ether.”

He ran a hand through his hair, and I stared at the muscles of his forearm when his sleeve slid down his arm.

“I also have taken items from the Shades here, on occasion. That has been rare, and only when I truly did need it. Like the cloak I took to cover you. I just don’t want you to think of me as nothing more than a common thief.”

“Oh, you’re anything but common.”

Extraordinary, even . I was in serious peril of finding myself entranced by yet another Holmes brother.

After breakfast, Orion led us back toward the Meadow.

He’d given me the choice of exploring more of the woods or facing the Shades. I felt I’d been delayed from my search long enough.

It was nice, freeing even, to express my opinion with no restraint. I didn’t worry about whether I would offend Orion. He’d not once reacted to me as if I were too loud, too opinionated, or too much in any way.

He’d let me use his first name, and his home. Not at all what I would have imagined a man from his time to be like.

I would have wagered anything that Orion wouldn’t have assumed I wanted to get married without asking me personally first. Wouldn’t have bartered with my brother for my hand when I was perfectly capable of deciding such things myself.

That particular secret was burning a hole in me.

Not that I’d kept it hidden on purpose. Bellamy was far from my top priority. I also hadn’t chosen him. My stomach soured, anxious thoughts tugging at my mind when I remembered my unwanted fiancé.

Surely, assuming I was deceased would be enough for him to call off an engagement?

I’d hated leaving my family and friends behind, but with Bellamy? Getting away from him would be an unexpected positive outcome of this entire affair.

“Almost there,” Orion said, holding back a tree branch for me.

We exited the forest, and almost immediately I felt the world grow dimmer.

Surprising, considering the Meadow that held the Shades was technically lighter, with no foliage overhead to block the sky, and the strange floating orbs that lingered among the Shades.

But the floating souls somehow dulled the whole area.

Orion was right. The Shades had no real life in them, and this was merely a holding place for thousands and thousands of people in between Unseen Hours.

“What if this is a bad idea after all? Why would my father be among the Shades? Surely he’d be in the forest with you, not here? How would he survive here, where Charon could find him?”

The truth was, I was almost afraid to look. If I found him but was wrong about the state he was in … I wasn’t sure what I would do.

“The woods are large. Perhaps your father has stayed away from me for the same reason you were hesitant to trust me. I’m Head Shade, after all.”

“Perhaps.”

I still didn’t move. I knew I needed to. It was foolish to come all this way and stop now. I’d already looked for him when I first arrived. But now, somehow, the plan felt more real.

A couple of the orbs floated in our direction .

“Do you know what these are?” Orion asked, tone light.

I shook my head. “I tried to figure it out when I got here, but I haven’t a clue. I thought they might be lightning bugs in a jar, but I was wrong.”

“You were close. Watch this.”

Orion placed his palm under one, guiding it gently closer to me. Then he reached his other hand up and stroked a finger over the top of the sphere.

It burst open, the flower-petal soft casing reshaping into two large, luminescent wings.

I gasped.

“It’s a moth!”

He smiled, watching my reaction.

“Mostly they float. I think they trap the air inside their wings somehow? Use the heat and light they produce to stay up? But they can fly.” He pushed his hand up, and the creature flitted away before wrapping itself back into a sphere.

“Not as clever as the birds, and they mostly stay in the Meadow. They’re warm, though.”

“And beautiful,” I said.

“Yes, breathtaking.”

I turned to see him looking at me.

“Ready, Starlight?”

He held out his hand, and I took it, letting him lead me toward the Shades.