Page 45 of Shadows of Nightshade
Didn’t he know that ordering someone to relax pretty much had the opposite effect?
I eyed the jar while I waited for the deep tub to fill, wondering what exactly the bottle held. It smelled of lavender and rose, mixed with other scents and salts I did not recognize. It seemed handmade, though, which made my heart warm just a little more.
Distantly, the doorbell rang, and I tried to swallow past my rising anxiety. It was probably Titus and Miles. Soon, all four of them would all know about my past with Finn.
Why was it so embarrassing?
I wondered how Damen wouldtell Titus. Maybe he’d told Julian already. I wanted to go and watch. How would he present the details? Would he feel sorry for me?
It was probably best that I didn’t know. I was sure to overanalyze every reaction.
Besides, it didn’t matter. Damen had ordered me torelax.
I turned off the faucet right before the tub was almost completely filled and poured in Damen’s herbal concoction. The inside of the tub turned a purple-blue color, and smoke-like lines curled through the water as the powder dissolved into a shadowy foam.
The house was quiet as I lowered myself into the hot water, and I soaked—as per Damen’s instructions—long after twenty minutes passed and the temperature began to cool.
I knew I was procrastinating. I wanted to give Damen time to go over… everything, but I also wanted to give the boys a chance to either come to terms with it or leave.
I counted my breaths as I waited, and as my focus had returned, I realized thatallsounds had vanished—even the ones I could normally pick up.
I jerked up, pulling my head from my folded arms.
This was not a good sign.
I had to get out of here.
I stepped out of the tub and grabbed a towel before crossing the cold ceramic tiles to the bathroom door.
It was possible—but not very likely—that this was only my overactive imagination. Even so, a sense of foreboding in the air caused my skin to crawl.
White hot fire radiated through my palm as I closed my fingers around the doorknob. I screamed, stumbling backward as I cradled my hand against my chest.
The pain was overridden as another realization came to me. I’d screamed—yet there was no sound.
I tried to shout, but my voice came out silent. A chill began to radiate through me. What was happening? Maybe Damen’s experiment hadn’t worked, or it had, and I was now dead?
If he killed me—even accidentally—I would haunt him.
The atmosphere grew heavier, and my panic thickened. There was something evil taking over this space, surrounding me from every direction. It was the same presence that’d scared away the visitor in my room.
And now, of course, I was trapped in a bathroom with it.
The short bursts of my breath frosted the air. It was so cold, terrifying…
Dark.
It was impossible to see anything, even my own hands.
“What do you want?” I tried to say. But still, there was a silence so profound that I feared I would never be able to hear anything ever again. Terror didn’t have the opportunity to consume my thoughts, though, before a noise finally broke through the air.
It was the harrowing sound of a low, pained moan. My blood chilled.
“Who’s there?” I asked, and this time, my voice had returned. Although that wasn’t much comfort, because now there was only me and the unknown.
A woman’s voice sounded through my head, whispering, “Run away, run away.” And then, before it could fade away completely, “Please help.”
The message was the same as before, but with a conflicted note. I clutched the towel to my chest as I desperately tried to see through the dark.
