Page 93 of The Unseen Hour

“Ry, what if you sing? Do you think that could help? Death did say the baton was tied to the Shade song. Maybe you’d … feel something?” I turned away, blushing. I knew only the barest bit about Shade song, and that it was a sore subject.

A gentle hand turned my cheek so I was staring into Orion’s eyes. Even in the darkness I could see the blue flecks glinting.

“You are brilliant! Maybe stand far off, though? I don’t want to risk you coming to harm.”

I shivered, picturing myself walking directly into the sea.

I moved well away from the area, back past where the rocks began. Even then, I could hear some of the clearest notes as Orion sang.

I did my best to resist, but when the music stopped I found myself halfway across the beach.

“I think I’ve found it!”

I ran, stumbling through the sands to where Orion stood.

“This one. This has to be it.” He pointed to one of the rock piles.

The stones were larger than any of the others, and arranged in a pattern. The biggest, a tall rectangle rounded at the corners, was placed at the back, with other rectangles curving around it to form an arc that served as the backdrop to what appeared to be a stone altar.

The cavern had crystals surrounding the healing pool. This place had a stone box.

“There’s writing on here. I’m certain of it. Feel,” Orion insisted.

I knelt down, running my hands over the stone lid. He was right. Etchings of some kind. I’d have given all of the money at Scops, taken it from under Ambrose’s nose, to be able to read it. For just one lantern, or one of the floating orbs that lit the Ether’s meadow.

“I’m almost certain the baton is inside. I can feel it. We’ll just have to wait for it to get brighter so we can read it.”

“Think it could require a key?”

“No. There’s nothing I felt on it that would be a keyhole. Only the writing.”

I wasn’t convinced, but it made as much sense as any other theory. And I trusted Orion. If it was important to him, we would try it.

I looked around the beach. It appeared empty, but I couldn’t shake a wary feeling.

“This time, let’s not linger by the altar, just in case,” I insisted.

We trekked back to where I’d stood while Orion sang and then rested, waiting for the sky to lighten and give us our answer.

CHAPTER 39

The beach was awe-inspiring under the purple and orange lights of day. The sands stretched on for what seemed an infinite length in both directions before they disappeared into fog. The water extended the same way in front of us, waves as far as the eye could see. The shore, and the shallower waters, were dotted with the black rock formations we’d seen the night before.

Orion passed me a handful of jerky. We’d been saving it for the beach. I gnawed on my piece.

“I’ve been thinking. You should try to read the box and open it. I’ll stand watch near the stones so nothing can sneak up on us from behind them. We don’t want another incident like at the canyon, and Death said you should carry the baton,” I reasoned.

“And what if wild animals do rise from the seas? You’re not fighting them alone.”

I threw my head back, trying to get my unruly, sea-air soaked hair out of my eyes.

“No. I’ll give a signal for us to make ourselves scarce if I see anything suspicious. But you’re the one with the Shade song. You should be the one to open the box.”

“All right. I’ll work quickly, and then we’ll leave as soon as we have what we came for.”

“Deal.” There would be no arguments from me on that front. The beach spot, like the cavern, did have an eerie sort of beauty to it, but I wasn’t planning to stay and see if Charon had more guards.

The light confirmed what we’d been able to make out in the dark. The formation we had focused on was notably larger than any other. The stones were placed in an arc shaped like a crescent moon, and I paced its perimeter, making sure no one could sneak up on us from those directions.