Page 54 of Tethered to the World
Xander stood protectively in front of her, his body tense as he scanned the crowd. “Where?”
She edged around him, easily spotting the altered students. “You don’t see it.”
Confusion swirled in her mind. Some sort of danger must have triggered her to see things from the afterworld, as if the afterworld was somehow seeping into real life, but she couldn’t pinpoint the threat.
“Show me.”
She hesitated, twisting her hands together as she dithered. “I’m not sure—”
“Do it.” He slipped his hand between hers without any qualms.
She clutched at him, debating the wisdom of pulling him farther into her world. The afterworld wasn’t a forgiving place. If anything happened to him, she would never forgive herself.
He squeezed her hand reassuringly, waiting for her to look at him. “This is important.”
Resolve took over his expression. While she knew the team urgently needed a clue to help with the case, she couldn’t help wondering if he’d asked because he wanted to know more about her.
Thatshewas important.
Trusting her instincts, she called up the darkness from where it prowled restlessly inside her, waiting to do her bidding. It wanted to prove to the others that she was someone who deserved to be respected and worshipped.
A trace of dark particles rose from her skin, then swirled down her arms. Xander followed her gaze, and his eyes widened in shock. The tiny strand of dark fog clung to him as it snaked up his arm, curling around him almost possessively, before slipping under his clothes to skate along his skin in a caress.
He shivered, then locked eyes on her, his breathing rough as he pulled her closer. Then she saw the particles slide up his neck like vines, gliding along his jaw before they splashed into his eyes like a puff of dust.
He gasped, his hold tightening as he pulled her into his embrace, ducking his head down to bury his face in her neck. Every muscle in his body tensed, and he grunted as if she were gouging his eyes out.
Horror clawed up her insides, and she shook off his hold, reaching up to cup his face. Tears streamed down his cheeks as she tipped his head up, his unfocused eyes darting back and forth as if he couldn’t focus on anything. A liquid black swirled together with the teal color, and she slipped her hands along the back of his neck to hold him steady.
“Give the shadows a chance to work. I won’t let them hurt you. Focus on me.”
He turned toward her voice, blinking rapidly, then gave a jerky nod. “Aye.”
Whatever he saw held him captivated, leaving her suddenly bashful. Not wanting to examine his reaction more closely, fearful that he was seeing more than she was ready to reveal, she turned his head toward the crowd. “Do you see them?’
He obeyed reluctantly, but instead of letting her escape, he latched onto her fingers, tucking her close to his side, then stilled as he surveyed the students. “They’re…what…how?”
“Think of the darkness as the breath of Hell. You’re seeing into a space between this world and the next, like peeking in a window to the afterworld. You mustn’t stay for long or you’ll become tainted. It will weaken you.”
He glanced at the students, the way their beasts flickered in and out of existence like ghosts superimposed over their human form, a quick flash, then gone. When the creatures caught them looking, they would hiss or roar, but they would all do the same…run in fear to escape her attention.
Then she touched his arm, drawing his attention to the people gathered behind the Mill. “Look.”
An iridescent blue seemed to throb in their veins with every heartbeat. Instead of just a few, more than a dozen shifters were infected…with something. They gathered in the corner, yelling and cheering as they pitted themselves against each other in a vicious fight, as if testing their strength and dominance.
There was something unnatural in their cheers, a malice in their laughter.
They wanted more than blood—they wanted to annihilate each other.
“We need to find the others,” his tone was grim, but when he tried to walk he staggered, a look of surprise plastered on his face.
She quickly caught his weight, not liking his sudden pallor. “You must release the shadows.”
The darkness was eating away at him faster than she expected, and she cursed her own stupidity. She wanted so much to fit in with him and his team that she stupidly risked his life.
“What do you need me to do?” Xander didn’t panic, just waited patiently for her instructions, as if the life wasn’t literally draining out of him.
She quickly covered his eyes with her hand. “Blink away the magic like you got dust in them. Demand that it leave.”
