Page 127 of The Unseen Hour

“We must bring them to justice! This cannot stand,” I insisted.

“You will seek revenge? Tell me, small human. What will you do when you find them? Alert the constabulary? Call for a trial?”

“Rip them apart with my bare hands!” I swore.

Death laughed, and I lunged. Orion held me back.

“This is the furthest thing from humorous! How dare you!”

Death raised a finger, all signs of laughter gone.

“Careful, little human. We are familiar, but there are some things I will not tolerate. I did not mean to insult your grief. I merely meant to point out the glaring error in your plan.”

“And that would be?” I demanded.

“Take it from me, as someone who knows. To cause Death, you must be willing to kill. You’re angry now, but ask yourself, are you a killer?”

I sagged in Orion’s arms.

No, I wasn’t.

I’d never killed, but I’d learned a lot during the year I’d spent in the Ether. What the gods were willing to do, and what I was willing to do.

“I’ll do whatever it takes. But I need to know who they are.”

“I’m not denying you, but I need you both focused solely on your work with the Shades, not a vendetta. Free the Shades first. When you have succeeded in ending the Unseen Hour, and I have Charon handled, I will give you a name. I promise you that.”

It would have to be good enough. There was only so much bartering one could do with a god, and I needed that name.

“Until the hour,” Death said, before disappearing in a flash of lightning.

“Come on, Starlight, let’s head home.” Orion wrapped an arm around me, looking as defeated as I felt.

We were on the verge of a great victory, but it didn’t feel that way.

All the reading, and deciphering, and sneaking, and planning, and searching.

My father hadn’t been in the Ether at all.

CHAPTER 51

The remaining weeks passed by quickly, and with each day, Orion’s mood grew worse. He was as kind and compassionate with me as always, but then he’d get quiet and moody, and retreat into the woods.

Charon hadn’t summoned him at all, and with the Unseen Hour so close, he expected it any day.

When the moment finally arrived, I almost expected it to reduce some of his tension. That was the only roadblock left—whether Charon said anything that indicated he knew what we were up to. After a kiss goodbye, Orion readied to meet the god, his expression gloomy.

“One more hurdle. Survive this last bit, and then we can go home,” I reminded him.

He lifted my hands in his and kissed my fingers.

“I won’t let him ruin this for you, or for us,” he assured me.

Without his restless energy in the cottage, I fell into the same tense mood myself. It was as if the situation demanded anxiety, and at least one of us had to fulfill the requirement. I was too jumpy to read. I needed action.

With Orion keeping Charon busy, there was one other thing I’d been considering for some time, and the Meadow would never be safer.

We’d spent nearly a year searching for my father with no success, but somehow I knew it wouldn’t be as difficult to find the people I wanted to see. When I reached the Meadow, I headed directly for the area in the sea of Shades where I knew the oldest souls tended to congregate.