Page 133 of Somnium

Cadi’s lungs burned as she sprinted up the deserted stone steps of the temple, taking them two at a time and ignoring the way her muscles screamed in protest. In the last few months her commitment to regular spin classes had fallen by the wayside, and she was definitely paying for it now.

The train ride from Sera’s had been absolute torture. Each stop on the way had felt like it took twice as long as normal before they’d gotten moving again, and Cadi was pretty sure she was at risk of developing an ulcer from the amount of acid roiling in her gut.

She bent forward when she reached the top and pressed her palms against her knees, her back heaving with the effort to catch her breath, then pulled her phone out of her back pocket to check the time.

6:15.

The rite was almost over.

Surging forward, she gripped the thick metal handle and tugged open the outer door. The heavy wood moved slowly, its weight resisting what little strength she had left after her sprint, but she managed to create a big enough gap to squeeze through. When the door slid shut behind her, she blinked in the eerie stillness of the dimly lit narthex.

Cadi pulled the handle of the inner door, but the damn thing didn’t budge. She muttered a curse under her breath when she remembered that the doors could only be opened from the inside once the Rite of Dedication had started. Visions of Sera strapped to the altar being sacrificed in Oneirios’s name flashed through her mind. She needed to get inside.

Her eyes snagged on the hall to the left of the doors, the one that she knew would lead her to the sacristy. If she couldn’t get in through the main doors, she’d just have to slip in the back way.

Taking off down the hall, she wove through the corridors, trying to stifle her ragged breaths and the echoes of her footsteps as she raced toward the main sanctuary.

Her steps slowed as she rounded the last corner and the raised dais came into view, bracketed by rows of bodies all standing, watching the spectacle. The sound of the priest’s chants grew louder, and the familiar smell of lavender nearly overwhelmed her with every step that took her closer to the entrance.

For a moment, she hovered at the mouth of the corridor and scanned the crowd, trying to understand what could have possibly made Elias so concerned that he’d sent her that message. But everything seemed …

Normal.

Still, Cadi had to be sure.

As quietly and carefully as she could, she slipped into the crowd, searching for Sera as she wove her way deeper. Just as she angled her shoulder to wedge herself between two minotaurs, someone’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist hard.

Cadi clamped her palm over her mouth to stifle the surprised squeak that she had almost sent bouncing off the stone walls, then whipped around to find Sera staring back at her. Cadi let out a breath. Sera was okay, she was safe. But then why had Elias⁠—

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Sera hissed.

The panic twisting her features and the sharp edge to her voice sent a chill through Cadi’s body. Sera was fine. But something still wasn’t right.

“Elias texted me saying you needed help. Then no one was answering my calls, and I was freaking out and … Sera what’s going on?”

Her friend’s brows pinched together. “Elias? But he …”

Sera froze. Her eyes snapped to the dais, then back to Cadi as a jagged breath caught in her throat, and her hands began to shake where they held her.

“Cadi, you need to leave. Now.”

“But I⁠—”

“Don’t argue with me. Move!”

Sera’s grip on her wrist tightened, and Cadi hissed through her teeth at the twinge of pain as her friend tugged her through the crowd. Cadi startled when a powerful boom echoed through the hall, the steady rhythm of drums signaling that the end of the rite was drawing near.

Sera tried to pick up her pace, dragging Cadi behind her, but the crowd seemed to close in, bodies pressing tighter and making them fight for every inch they gained toward the doors.

Just a few more feet.

Pain flared in Cadi’s shoulder, and the room tipped as she pitched to the side, nearly knocked to the ground by the impact of someone slamming into her. Sera pulled her upright, her head whipping around on high alert.

“Are you okay?” she asked, already resuming their path.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Cadi replied, though she barely got the words out before someone else collided with her. The impact sent her stumbling sideways and tore her wrist from Sera’s grip. Once could have been an accident, but twice felt intentional. Cadi tried to turn, but the movement was interrupted when she was knocked again, forcing her even further into the crowd.

The bodies around her seemed to surge and shift as one, carrying her like a wave. Hands grabbed her, though she couldn’t tell how many. Maybe four, maybe forty. They pushed and shoved, and she tried to escape the raging pull, but they were relentless, sending her tumbling in every direction at once.