A World in the Shadows

Chapter 15, Lyra

CHAPTER 15

LYRA

“Hey” I whispered. I’d pulled Ethan into the courtyard garden, and I leant against the wall, looking at him. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked, moving to stand in front of me. “I’ve been so worried about you” he added, lowering his voice. 

“Look, it’s a really long story.” I whispered, leaning my head against the wall. 

“We have time” He whispered. I sunk against the wall, gathering my dress in my arms so I didn’t crush it under me.

“I got a ticket from my friend Emily. She did charity work for Ammon.” I said. He nodded.

“But how did you know to come here? How did you know I’d be here?” he asked. I sighed. 

“I didn’t. But I researched Ammon and asked people... and well, here I am” I finished, and Ethan sat down beside me against the wall. 

“You did that to find me?” He asked, tilting his head to face mine. His pale brown hair was ruffled effortlessly across his head, and it looked really good, even though I knew he’d probably slept in it. I realized he was smiling at me and I cleared my throat.

“To find Jenna” I whispered. The smile dropped from his face and he looked at me calculatingly. 

“I didn’t leave you. You know that, don’t you Lyra?” He said, looking at me. He looked so sure of himself, and I bit my lip. 

“I know” I said.

“You look so beautiful” he whispered, looking at my eyes. I smiled, but didn’t say anything. “Seriously” He whispered. He picked up a strand of my hair and twisted it between his fingers. “I did say bright purple would look better, but this... you did well” he finished, grinning at me. I laughed.

“You’re one of the first people to have seen my natural hair colour in four years” I said.

“No way!” He muttered. “Never dye it back” I grinned. 

“Look Ethan, where are you? Where does Ammon have you? He’d never let you leave like this, and he’d punish Jenna if you did. I need to be able to get to you.” I said. He sighed.

“That’s the thing, I don’t know. I’ll know how to go back because the GPS is programmed to always drive back there, but the castle itself doesn’t have any address that I know of.” He finished, and I slammed my hand against the wall behind me.

“Perfect” I groaned. He grabbed my wrist and forced me to look at him. 

“Lyra” He whispered. “It’s okay. You’re going to figure it out. I know you will. Ammon has connections everywhere. There’s got to be a link” I sighed when he had stopped talking. There it was again. Links. Everything seemed to come back to that. “I seemed to remember being dragged out here in the middle of a dance” I laughed.

“Are you sure, I have no memory of that” I whispered sarcastically. He laughed. and helped me up, leading me inside, still gripping my hand. We walked in to the middle of the dance floor, and in the maze of couples, swirled and turned in beat to the music. “Jenna taught you to dance, didn’t she?” I murmured. He smiled and spun me around before pulling me back against him. 

“How did you guess?” He asked, smiling. I laughed.

“I taught her how to dance. You’ve got her flair” I said. He laughed. “She just loved it so much though. Well, ballroom dancing that is. Not compared to contemporary, but she said it made her feel like royalty. She’s a million times better than me now”