Shadow Market

Chapter Six

Second chances:

"Raven, you don't have to go." I sat up, my head swimming from the pain. She looked at my arm, which was black all the way to my elbow. 

"We will be fine, Lene." Dante hitched the bag higher on his shoulders and blew me a kiss. I tried to protest, but the pain had me passing out again. Before my eyes closed, I saw the two of them slipping out the door under the cover of night.

Dante and Raven

"Alright, remind me why we're doing this again?" Raven whispered from behind me. I decided to take a different approach to the mansion this time. I figured the guards would have secured the second-story window. 

"Because Lena's depending on us," Dante replied, rolling his eyes. "And because you lost a bet."

Raven snorted. "I didn't lose a bet. I graciously agreed to help."

"Sure you did," Dante said. "Now, let's get in and out." 

Raven peered over the roof, and I saw a flash of fear. "You're not afraid of heights, are you?"

Raven shot me a glare. "If we die, I'm haunting you."

"Noted," I replied, suppressing a chuckle.

"Ladies first." I handed her the rope and waited.

To my chagrin, she propelled down the wall with grace and ease. I am not going to lie. It pissed me off. Raven squeezed through the attic window like a slinky cat. I followed behind her, landing in a crouched position on high alert. I doubted they had security cameras in the attic, but after the other day, who knew?

Once inside, I retraced my steps through the mansion, each creak of the floorboards making Raven wince. "Seriously, how does a place this expensive have such noisy floors?" 

"They probably spent all the money on the security system," I whispered back.

We descended into the basement, the same dimly lit corridor stretching out before us. The air was thick and musty, and the oppressive silence was broken only by our soft footsteps.

As I approached the vault, Raven pulled out a small pouch. "Alright, this should keep the runes from flaring up again." She sprinkled the contents over the glowing symbols, watching them dim.

I got to work on the combination lock, "If this doesn't work, we'll blame it on you."

Raven crossed her arms. "You're a real charmer, you know that?"

I winked. "I try."

The lock clicked open, and we both held our breath as I swung the vault door wide. The small, glowing orb sat on the pedestal, pulsing with dark energy—the soul.

Okay, let's grab it and get out of here," I said, reaching for the orb.

"Wait," Raven said, pulling out a small box. "We need to contain it properly; the dark energy will be less than cooperative." 

"Fine," I muttered, gingerly placing the orb into the box. I closed the lid, and the room seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as the dark energy was contained.

"Let's move," Raven whispered, her eyes darting to the corridor.

We hurried back through the basement, but as we reached the top of the stairs, I heard voices approaching.

"Quick, hide!" I hissed, pulling Raven into a small alcove.

I pressed myself against the wall, holding my breath as two guards walked past, discussing their plans for the weekend.

"Did you hear about the new guy?" one guard said, chuckling. "He got stuck in the laser grid for ten minutes before we found him."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Some security system," she mouthed.

Once the guards were out of earshot, we slipped out of our hiding spot and made our way to the window. As I climb back up to the roof a feeling of hope bloomed in my chest. Maybe, just maybe, I could pull this off.

Raven followed close behind, her eyes darting around as we moved. "I can't believe that worked," she whispered, a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Don't get cocky," I said, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. "We're not out of the woods yet."

We reached the roof and carefully made our way across the tiles, avoiding the security cameras. As we approached the edge, I glanced down at the drop. It wasn't exactly a safe descent, but we didn't have much choice.

We climbed down the side of the mansion, using the vines and window ledges for support. When we reached the ground, we quickly made our way back to the fence. I lifted Raven up and followed behind her. We had done it. We had retrieved the soul and gotten out without getting caught. 

We hurried through the night, keeping to the shadows and avoiding any attention. As we approached Raven's apartment, the weight of the orb in my bag felt like a ticking time bomb.

As we slipped into the apartment, Raven closed the door behind us and let out a long breath. "That was intense," she said, leaning against the wall.

I chuckled, setting the bag down on the table. Raven's eyes flicked to the bag. "Yeah, but what do we do now? We can't just keep collecting these things." 

"You won't have to." We both spun around at Lene's voice; she stood in the doorway looking much better. Raven ran over and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Your arm, it's better." I was relieved the black skin was almost all gone, only a tiny tip on her fingers.

Lena smiled, though it was tinged with exhaustion. "Yeah, it seems like the curse weakens when the souls are collected."

 Relief washed over me, and for the first time, I allowed myself to acknowledge just how much Lena meant to me. Seeing her in pain had been torture. Now, with the black skin on her arm almost entirely gone, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders.