Page 30 of The Unseen Hour

“Send you back? I can’t send you back.”

I blinked.

Couldn’t send … but he didn't know I had the Thipp’s antidote. Didn’t know how I’d gotten here in the first place. He was used to Shades. I was different.

I had to be, because if I wasn’t, then I was trapped.

“Are you all right?” He reached for me, placing a hand on Temple’s jacket sleeve. My breathing calmed.

There was still something I could do, even if I didn’t know how to escape the Ether.

“I still need to find him. If you could help, he⁠—”

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if anyone was with you during the Unseen Hour, they’re dead. In fact, it’d be much better for you if they aren’t down here, because then they got away alive. If they’re a Shade, you don’t want to see them like that.”

He really did look apologetic.

I shook my head.

“The person I’m looking for disappeared during the Unseen Hour years ago, but I’m convinced he’s not dead at all.”

The Head Shade leaned forward, looking more closely at me and tilting his head to the side.

“Who did you say you we⁠—”

The other Shades froze around us, and a cold wind hit me. I shivered inside my borrowed coat.

“That’ll be Charon coming back. You can’t be here.”

My heart began pounding again, which could give me away as much as anything else. With a last, panicked glance at the other Shades, I admitted to myself that it could take days, if not far longer, to find my father. I couldn’t do that if I was discovered by an angry god.

“Where can I hide?”

I had no choice but to trust the Head Shade, for now.

“Come on! This way!” He grabbed my hand, yanking so hard I nearly went tumbling. I would have if he hadn’t caught me underneath my arms. He was so warm that I leaned against him until another gentle shove pushed me back on my feet.

“Steady, and move quickly.”

I stumbled after the Shade, my limbs moving sluggishly with the cold that ate at me. I might have arrived alive, but surely the temperature would finish me off.

The farther we went from the field, the more the scenery changed. At first it was one or two clusters of short and twisted trees. Dead and lifeless. Then, some with sparse leaves. Soon enough we were surrounded by trees that towered above us, as tall as several buildings each. He’d led me from the more open Meadow into a forest. Not a bad idea. There were plenty of places here to hide.

The bark of some of the trees was cedar brown, and others black as pitch. The limbs were largely bare near the base of the trees, but there was what appeared to be blackened foliage farther up in the branches. Bushes similar in shade to the grass of the Meadow dotted the area between the trees.

After a lengthier trek, we were surrounded by the towering things, their trunks looming, as thick as some of the smaller shops in Emrys. The farther into the trees we went, the warmer it got, and I sighed in relief when the feeling returned to my fingers and toes.

The leaves on the massive trees were illuminated by streaks of green and blue light that had appeared in the sky, ribbons that created a dazzling glow.

“How—” I began, before feeling a tug once again.

“In here!”

I was practically shoved through a door I hadn’t even seen moments before.

The Head Shade stepped in behind me and closed the door. He had brought me to a cottage built between the trees. The whole dwelling was one open space. A cot and disheveled blankets were tucked against one wall. A roaring fire in the hearth in one corner, venting smoke into the dark sky. There was a singular chair, constructed of the same cedar that made up the forest. Against one wall was a set of wooden shelves built directly into the side of the structure, and a small water basin and some wooden bowls sat atop the makeshift counter. The walls themselves appeared to be made of wood, with mud and dirt packed between the spaces. It must have been built between several of the larger trees I’d seen outside, which kept it propped up at the corners while concealing it from the outside.

I edged toward the fire, craving warmth.