Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 540(@250wpm)___ 450(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 540(@250wpm)___ 450(@300wpm)
Kipp makes another choked sound in the silence of the room.
“It’s a lot, isn’t it?” I press my sleeve to my nose to muffle the scents. My skin is crawling, but I ignore it. “I need to be close to do this, though. Maybe…maybe you and Arrod watch the doors from the other side?”
The slitherskin all but runs for the door, cracking it open and slipping back out. Arrod remains steadfast at my side, but it’s clear from the way he holds himself that he’s not breathing through his nose. “I can take it. It’s just a bit of rot. Do what you need to do.”
I nod at him, my heart fluttering with anxiety.
Time to begin.
The moment I unclench and relax against all the sensations that have been threatening to overwhelm me since we got close to the temple, the strange power washes over me. It’s like being sucked under water. My skin prickles so hard it feels like it’s trying to come off my body, but I force myself to relax, to allow the sensation to move through me without fighting it. I open my eyes slowly….
Three spirits shimmer into place in the air around us.
They’re not people. Not really. More like foggy blobs with vague people-like faces. It’s as if they don’t know how to hold themselves together without flesh, and so they slip and slither in the air, with only the barest sense of limbs or a head. There are eyes, though, frightening in their darkness, like two holes punched in parchment. And all three sets of eyes are focused on me.
The babbling of the dead fills my head even as the spirits reach for me, drifting forward.
They can’t do anything to you, I remind myself. They’ve been here this whole time. They’re just now realizing that you can see them, that’s all. I force myself to relax, to study each of the amorphous faces to try to determine which one is Hemmen. The babbling in my ears gets louder, their words nonsense, and they take on a more desperate edge with every moment that passes.
“Any luck?” Arrod asks from his spot at the door.
I ignore him and focus on the three spirits in front of me. “Let me talk to Hemmen.”
Two of them surge forward, trying to get my attention. They reach for my face and hair, their strange words more frantic, even as one of the spirits hangs back. Somehow, I sense that’s the one I’m looking for, but I’m not going to get anything done with the other two flooding the room with chills and strange, incomprehensible words. My head throbs and I feel dizzy, and I know it’s from them overwhelming me. “Please stop,” I whisper. “I can’t handle this. Not all of you at once.”
They continue to talk, ignoring my words, and their tones take on a frantic edge, which makes my heart beat faster. I need help. I need…something. A guiding hand. A mentor. Help. I can’t do this alone.
Strangely enough, I think of Raptor and the impressed way he always regards me, like I’ve managed to surprise him repeatedly with my cleverness. I imagine his heavy hand on my neck. Not steering me, not demanding, just reminding me that he’s nearby and he’s with me. And even though he’s not here right now, imagining that weight helps me focus.
If I want to do this, I must manage it on my own.
I take a deep breath. “I can’t concentrate if you all talk at once. Let me speak to Hemmen first, and then I’ll talk with each of you, I promise.”
The babbling dies down to a low, unhappy murmur, but the spirits slide backward, retreating to their biers and hovering in the air, waiting. Their dark eyes watch me fervently, almost hungrily, but I ignore them and focus on the third one, the least defined, the one with the most blurred edges. “Hemmen? Will you talk to me?”
He drifts forward, and there’s no urgency in his strange babbling thoughts as they flow into mine. Instead, they’re filled with different emotions. Reticence…shame.
“I’m not upset,” I say softly. “I want to help you. It’s not right that you were taken advantage of like this. I want to fix it. I want to find the person who did this so it won’t happen to anyone else. Will you speak with me?”
The spirit of Hemmen moves closer, all smoke and black eyes, and the smell of rot grows stronger. I fight the urge to cough and concentrate on what should be his face.
He speaks again, but I shake my head. “I can’t understand your words. We’ll have to communicate another way.” I hold both my hands out, palms up. “Can I ask you yes or no questions? If it’s a yes, touch this hand.” I curl my left hand into a fist. “If it’s a no, touch the other one.” I wiggle the fingers on my right.