Page 39 of To Dwell in Shadows
Selene trailed off as she got a better look at the figure peering down at her. It was a woman, but she didn’t look like a demon. At least not one she had seen so far. Her features were soft. Pretty.
Familiar.
Golden-blonde hair cut into a messy bob, large eyes, and a sloping nose.
Selene’s breath caught in her throat, and her heartbeat became a drum in her ears.
She was staring up at her sister, Cass.
Chapter 20
Selene rushed toward the gap in the floor, arms outstretched, even though Cass didn’t return the gesture. Her sister wore a billowy white robe belted with a gold braid, but her expression was hard. Selene squinted, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
“Cass?” Selene called, voice cracking. “Oh my god! What are you doing here?”
Cass’s normally expressive eyes were cold. Empty. “Rescuing you from that hole.”
“Oh, thank you!” The sound of her sister’s voice made tears prick Selene’s eyes. “But how did you get here? Did you fall through a portal too?”
When Cass stayed silent for a moment, Selene’s mind raced with all the things she wanted to tell her. There was so much to explain. But as Cass stared down at her, Selene realized something about her sister was… off.
“I died,” Cass replied. The words were cold. Flat.
Selene froze. It felt as though a sledgehammer had struck herchest. Her gaze traced Cass’s features again. So familiar—and yet, too still. Too pale. And then she saw it.
Cass’s outline shimmered. She was translucent.
“You… what?”
“Idied,” Cass repeated bitterly. “Why else would I be in the Underworld?” A sickly yellow glow throbbed around Cass’s body. It lurched and distorted with each word she spoke.
“No. No, you can’t be serious. When?”
Cass tilted her head. “Right after you abandoned us.”
The words landed like a slap.
“No…” Selene clutched at her chest, the air squeezing out of her lungs like a vise. Her breaths came faster and faster until she began to hyperventilate. “W-what happened?”
“You were supposed to protect us,” Cass cried. “You were supposed to make sure nothing bad ever happened to me!”
“I tried to,” Selene gasped. “But please, Cass, how did you die? Were you sick? Did you have an accident?”
“No. I was so upset that you left, I got into some trouble and… ” Cass closed her eyes for a moment. Her chest rose and fell as though she were taking several deep breaths. Then she raised her chin and said slowly, deliberately, “I was murdered.”
The world tilted and Selene collapsed to her knees. Her hands sank into the dirt as she doubled over, then began to vomit. Again and again until her body was nothing but a trembling shell, her insides raw. Her sobs echoed through the space, thin and broken.
This was it—her worst fear.
And it was all her fault.
Her absence. Her selfish need for escape. Her belief that choosing her own happiness over her family’s would somehow make them stronger, that they’d be forced to grow without her. But it must have had the opposite effect.
And now Cass was dead. Not just dead.
Murdered.
“I’m so sorry,” Selene whispered. She stretched her fingers toward her sister, desperate to make contact with her.
