RISING SHADOWS (Shadows Book 2)

Chapter 33

My boots crunched the frosted earth as we walked in a sombre procession towards Pagnall. I took in the night, a starless shroud of inky-black and wondered if it would be the last one I'd ever see. Does Chaos even have a sky? The weight of silence hung heavily from my shoulders. Rafe strode beside me, his fingers and the back of his hand occasionally grazing mine, a reminder that he was here with me, that he alone now understood the need for my silence.

"Something feels off," Arden murmured.

I knew exactly what he meant. Ever since we'd set off for the town, the shadows seemed to whisper of an unseen dread. The hairs on my arms and the back of my neck prickled.

Fawn nodded, her eyes wide and reflecting a distant glow that should not have been there.

"Riley?" Rafe's voice cut through my thoughts, but I only offered him a tight-lipped nod. What use were words when my mind was a panicked mess.

As we drew nearer to Valestone's border with Pagnall, cruel orange brushstrokes painted a nightmare across the sky. Flames licked the heavens, dancing with tendrils of smoke as they spiralled upwards.

"Fire," Fawn said, stating the obvious, but her voice quivered. "But why?"

My instincts screamed inside my body, my magic flaring in response to an unknown assailant.

"You sense it too," Rafe's voice was a low rumble.

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. "Something is very wrong."

"Should we go back?" Fawn's suggestion was so tempting and words of my reply tasted like ash in my mouth.

"We can't. Something is waiting for us."

The fires beckoned. With each step, the heat grew more insistent, a physical entity pressing against my skin. The scent of scorched timber and despair filled the air, cloying and thick.

"Can you feel that?" Arden asked, his voice taut with anxiety.

"Feel what?" Callan asked.

"Power," I explained. "A twisted form of it." As Pagnall loomed ahead, consumed by flickering shadows and cries muffled by distance, I knew that whatever sacrifice the night demanded, I would pay it. I would face the darkness head on.

The border of Pagnall loomed before us, a threshold pulsing with an energy that felt akin to a poorly tethered beast, I reached out, my fingers grazing the invisible barrier, and recoiled as if bitten. A shiver of revulsion crawled up my spine. "It's a ward," I whispered.

"Like our dome?" Fawn asked.

"Yes and no."

Arden lunged at the barrier only for it to fling him skidding backwards on his arse. "What the- It's keeping us out!"

"Let me try." Callan stepped forward, and crossed easily through the unseen wall. He turned back to us, a mix of confusion and concern etching his features.

"Shouldn't be possible," Rafe murmured, his voice carrying the weight of foreboding. His hand rested on the hilt of his dagger, eyes scanning the darkness. "Unless..."

"Unless it was designed that way," I finished, my heart sinking as the pieces started to fall into place.

At that moment, Kat's mother emerged from the direction of the town accompanied by a shadow that moved with predatory grace. The moonlight caught the figure's pale skin, illuminating the stark contrast between hunter and prey. Mrs Andrews wore triumph like a mantle, her eyes gleaming with smug satisfaction.

"Riley," Rafe said under his breath, "that is a vampire."

My pulse quickened. "What have you done?"