As the light expanded, Esha made out the edges of writhing shadows. The Chairman hissed when one leapt out toward them, but they were still a good twenty feet away. Hadn’t the shadows been farther from the entrance the other night? Yes, definitely.
Yet these shadows were big and strong enough that she could almost get a feeling for the nature of the evil. She breathed deeply and exhaled with a shudder.
“Chairman, come here.” Contact with her familiar would amplify her powers and possibly allow her to figure out where the shadows were from.
The Chairman wound himself around her legs, staring intently, ceaselessly, at the shadows. His citrine eyes glowed, and when Esha closed hers, images and feelings began to fly at her from the tangle of shadows. Desperation, fear, rage, and a sick kind of joy made her stomach turn. Souls gathered and writhed around one stronger force.
Images began to form behind her eyelids—not of a person, as she expected, but of a place that was gloomy gray, broken only by details of black and red. A river. A boat, with a ferryman standing in the bow, punting his way across the river. People—no, souls—huddled behind him in the boat.
She focused harder and her effort drew her farther into the world her vision had entered. A great beast rose before her, like a dog with three heads. It guarded a gate, allowing some souls through, but keeping others from leaving. A great force had gathered behind him, pushing to escape, the souls reaching out to her, almost touching her with cold and clammy claws of misery and desperation.
She sucked in a bracing breath and went deeper into the vision, passing wandering souls and desolate trees. She caught a glimpse of fields and made it into a copse of trees before a shock of power hit her.
She stumbled backward, gasping, desperate to leave the vision. She was near the source, but the power was too great. If she stayed until she was too weak, she’d be trapped. Forever.
Trembling, she focused her power with an effort that felt like she was crushing her organs, and ripped herself from the vision.
She stumbled back into the wall. Screamed. A huge figure bore down upon her, humanoid in shape, but details of its form were indistinguishable from the endless dark that surrounded it.
Terrified, she threw her fireball at the figure. As it glanced off its cheek, it illuminated his face.
“Warren? What are you doing here?” she cried.
Had he come from the shadows? What the hell had he been doing there? She hadn’t seen him when she’d gone in.
“Gods damn it, Esha. I told you no’ to come back here.” A red welt streaked across a glass-sharp cheekbone where the fireball had grazed him. His face was all hard angles, a beautiful composition of living sculpture animated by rage.
When he reached her, he grabbed her arm and jerked her toward him, forcing her to look up to meet his eyes. She hated the vulnerability of the stance, particularly with him. She rarely had to tilt her head to look at anyone. She stood nearly six feet tall, but Warren towered over her by at least six inches.
“Why did you come back here?” He all but growled the words, his full lips curving in a snarl.
Heart thundering in her chest, she pushed him, her hand making no dent in the firm muscle of his chest. He didn’t budge an inch, so she shoved harder.
“To do what you were supposed to. Damn it, Warren, you didn’t even—” Her words were swallowed by the fear that leapt into her throat when the shadows expand and pulsed menacingly behind Warren’s back. She swore that a great black claw reached out. “We need to go, Warren, now.”
“No’ until I’m done with you.” He shook her arm, sounding like he wanted to punish her.
What did he intend to do? Turn her over his knee? She wouldn’t necessarily argue, but now was so not the time. The portal was expanding and shrinking repeatedly, its energy growing by the second.
“Warren, this is bad. We need to go. Now.” She looked around for the Chairman. “Come here, Chairman, we’re getting out of here.”
The cat was at her side in an instant. Strongest together, he never left her side in times of trouble. The Chairman twined himself around her ankles.
“Warren, wrap your arm around my waist.” She shot him a look that said, Do it or regret it.
“You want to aetherwalk,” he said, wariness in his voice.
“Yeah, trust me, I’m the fastest way out of here and you really want to get out of here right now.”
Warren hesitated, but once again, her face must have spoken volumes and he wrapped his arm around her waist in a kind of embrace. Trying to ignore the feel of his arm around her because it would break her concentration, she closed her eyes and focused on her flat.
When her eyes snapped open, they were standing in the middle of the room. The Chairman untwined himself and sauntered off. Warren’s eyes were still closed and she took a second to appreciate the feel of his arm wrapped around her. Strong, but not bulky with too much muscle. Perfect. It felt so good just to be held.
Regretfully, she tapped his shoulder.