Mistress of Hours (Losian Rùin #1)

Chapter Thirty-Two

L éhiona was surrounded by a pulsing blackness. All she could see, everywhere she looked, the darkness encompassed her. Tendrils of it latched onto her skin and pulled, biting at her, burrowing deep into her bones; but she couldn’t scream. She could only watch, mute and helpless to pull away.

As more and more of the darkness dug into her, she felt her body relax. She heard the voices of others, softly at first. She couldn’t distinguish how many, but the chorus increased in volume as she listened. First, they were murmurs; after a few moments they were screams.

So many voices, screeching in anguish, begging some unseen power to save them. They were lost, confused. They called for help that wouldn’t come.

Léhiona could do nothing save bear witness to their suffering, bound as she was by the darkness. Just when she thought her soul could take no more, the darkness swallowed her whole.

She jolted, and felt the weight of Aldith’s arm draped over her. Opening her eyes, she surveyed their bedroom in the early morning light. She took a deep breath, calming her racing heart. These nightmares had become more frequent in the past months, and Léhiona didn’t know what to do about them.

She reached down to take Aldith’s hand where it lay across her waist, and her thumb brushed against something that felt wet—almost tacky. She brought her hand back up to take a closer look, struggling to see in the dimness. Still unable to see what it was, she carefully got out of the bed and padded over to the window.

She saw then that it was the sticky brown of drying blood. She glanced back at Aldith where she slept and saw that tiny droplets were splattered on her hand and wrist. Her wife was a Sangviere, so it wasn’t a cause for panic, but it wasn’t like Aldith to make such a mess when working her spells.

Léhiona climbed back into bed, but sleep did not find her again.