Page 35 of The Unseen Hour

I took a deep breath, willing myself to hold my nerve.

“It’s clear that you’ve got a whole life constructed down here, and I don’t mean to disrupt that, but I have no intention of staying. I’m here with a purpose. I have someone I need to find, and if I’m right he’s been down here for four years now. Once I’ve found him, I intend to go home. And I think I have the beginnings of a plan. If it works, you’re welcome to come with us.” I tacked the last bit on as a bargaining chip, although I had no way of knowing whether Orion even wanted to leave.

He must, though, with an entire world waiting for us back home. Either way, I’d made plenty of antidote, assuming that method was at all helpful. Fully prepared, that was me. Ambrose and my mother would have been so proud, and then equally disappointed that I didn’t put my efforts towards more acceptable pursuits.

“You’d be back in Emrys again,” I prompted when he didn't respond.

Orion ran one hand over the stubble on his chin.

“Finding another Shade like us would be the easiest part of what you're suggesting, and even that could take quite some time. Are you actually saying you have a way to get back to Emrys, and stay there?”

I’d mastered the art of inane conversation and providing just enough information to keep the conversation moving when it was necessary. I couldn’t do the same here. What I was asking of him was enormous, and I had to give more if I wanted something that important in return.

“I was Taken because I poisoned myself with Thipp’s root; not enough to die, but nearly that amount. It was a close call, if I’m being honest.”

His face darkened into a scowl. I was well aware of how it sounded. I’d put myself at great risk on purpose.

“I had no intention of really dying, only getting down here to enact the rest of my plan,” I assured him, “and I brought along the antidote. That’s how I hope to leave. There’s plenty for all of us. If you can guide us to the Ether’s entrance, it could work. I still have my body, and you still have yours. We just need to get home. If we can enter, there must be a way to exit, right? Well, anyway, that’s my plan. What do you think, Lord Holmes?”

I straightened my shoulders.

He blinked at me.

“There’s no need for that. Orion is just fine.”

Even without him holding my hand, I felt warmer. My use of the title might indeed be ridiculous, because I addressed Charlotte and Thomas by their first names. It was done fairly often in my time, but it hadn’t been in his.

A hundred years ago, using his given name would have been a serious expression of intimacy.

Then again, I was his only company. That could easily explain it. It probably didn’t mean anything special.

“All right. Orion. Will you help me?”

“The Thipp’s antidote is clever, there’s no denying that, but I’m not sure it will work. You can’t just waltz out of the Ether, you know. It’s not a door that you can open at your leisure.”

My shoulders slumped, but I rallied. I was here, and I had a potential ally.

“I managed to come down here just fine. I already know the location where I came in, even if I don’t know how it works. There must be a way, though.”

Because if there wasn’t, I’d be in the Ether for an eternity, and I was nowhere near prepared to accept that fate.

“Logic doesn’t come into play much in the Ether,” Orion muttered.

I was undeterred. He might be somewhat surly, but the conversation could have gone much worse.

My whole plan could have gone much worse. I could have died, or Charon could have caught me, or I could have been alone in my endeavors. This was still, relatively speaking, the best-case scenario.

“You’ve been down here for quite some time. I’d wager you’ve gleaned at least some information that could be useful to our aims.”

Orion sighed.

“You’ve got your location correct but your assumptions wrong. You think you’ll be able to exit the Ether because you’re still alive. And I’m here to tell you it wouldn’t matter. The Shades all leave the Ether once a year, and only once a year. At the onset of the hour they return to Rayus, and then come back to the Ether again when the hour is over. It’s how Charon lures souls down here. Shade song.”

I put a hand to my head. The forest spun around me.

“The Shades return to Emrys and the other kingdoms? All of them? Song. Is that … I thought I heard music, but⁠—”

“Do you need to sit down? Maybe try a few deep breaths.”