Page 135 of Promise of Darkness
“What reason?” I ask.
They all look at me.
The danger of journeying into the Unseelie realms doesn’t need to be explained, but until this moment, the Morai were the target, not the danger.
“The Morai were here when the Old Ones first walked the realms,” Eris admits grudgingly. “They can’t access the power of the ley lines, but even the Old Ones stepped cautiously around them. Each visitor is granted one visit—and only one—to access their visions, in exchange for a gift of blood.”
To offer a creature your blood, hair, or nails is tantamount to offering them a means to control you, if they’re strong enough.
“They need the blood for the visions,” Thiago says, correctly interpreting my expression.
“I don’t find that remotely creepy,” I mutter, especially considering I’m the one who’s been chosen to visit the Morai.
Thiago’s used his opportunity already and said he can’t go near them. Apparently, he didn’t like what he saw, and neither did they. If they catch even a single hint he’s in the area, there may be a confrontation.
“Is she joking?” Eris asks. “She had best be joking. They make the hair on the back of my neck rise, and I’m not afraid of anything.”
“She’s joking,” Thalia says, fist clenching and unclenching around the staff she wields. Though there’s a smile on her face, I can tell she’s nervous.
“You’ll be safe,” Thiago assures me as we take our places within the Hallow. “The Morai have their own rules. They cannot harm a traveler who comes seeking answers—”
“Not until they’ve given those answers,” Eris mutters. “Getting in isn’t the problem. Getting out is.”
“Which is where you come in,” he says pointedly.
Eris glances at the sky, as if she’s praying directly to Maia. “I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but I promise I won’t do it again.”
“It’s because you’re so powerful and dangerous,” Finn tells her. “Even the Morai quiver when they hear Eris of Silvernaught is in their woods.”
Eris cuts him a look that clearly says,Die.
Finn winks at her. “I’ll hold your hand if you get scared of the dark.”
Which is the other glorious piece of this puzzle. Apparently, the Morai live in an underground cavern system.
I swallow as Thiago powers the glyphs that activate the Hallow.
I can do this. After everything he’s done for me, the least I can do is try.
“There are bats,” Eris mutters. “I hate bats.”
I clench my eyes shut. Shehadto mention it.
“You’ll be fine,” Thalia assures me, squeezing my hand quickly. “Thiago isn’t about to lose you to the Morai. They’ll have the answers you need to break the curse. Iknowit. Think of how delighted your mother will be when you defeat her.”
Bats. I give her a look.
“Trust me,” Thiago says, and then heat and power shoot through the bronze glyphs, straight into the sky, and the world vanishes in a whip crack of sensation.
* * *
We arriveat the Hallow at Scarshaven, deep in Unseelie territory. The abrupt shift from endless evening skies to late afternoon is jarring, and the hiss as everyone simultaneously draws their sword sounds ridiculously loud in the air.
The Hallow stands in the middle of a swamp, and mist clings to the air.
Everything is a rich, verdant green, and the irritatingcrick-crickof an insect chirrups through the mist. Enormous trees jut out of the water, moss clinging to their branches. The island we’re standing on features three stone bridges leading to either land or other islands. There’s no way to tell which is which, though one of the bridges has long since crumbled into fragments.
Something moves in the water.
