The Shadows That Dwell Within (The Warrior Queens book #1) (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 23 - Adelaide

Terror plagued her dreams, she was on death row and her whole body ached from lying on the dungeon floor every night. But other than that...

"Yes. I'm fine" Adelaide whispered.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No" Adelaide said, her cheeks turning pink. "No. It's fine. Really".

"I get nightmares too. They're mostly about my sister. I can't stop thinking about how abandoned she must feel" Kiyan said shakily.

His words were so honest, so raw it was hard not to feel sorry for him.

"They were just dreams" Adelaide said. She meant it as reassuring, but it came out more dismissive.

"Maybe so but I believe our nightmares are trying to tell us something. They come from a part of our brain where our deepest fear is rooted. The kind we try to ignore in our waking hours".

With a jolt of shock Adelaide realised Kiyan had just quoted The Downfall of Winter. Many years ago, when Adelaide still lived with her parents, she had a tutor who gave her a load of pretentious drivel to read. But there was one gem in the pile of rubble. The Downfall of Winter was a story about two teenagers who are on the run and struggle to get through obstacles. It ended like all good love stories – tragically.

"Anya will be fine" Adelaide said remembering how Brenda's face looked when Erebus threatened her children. "There's no way your mother will allow anything to happen to her".

"It's not just Anya I have nightmares about. There are just some scenes that will never stop replaying in my head" Kiyan whispered.

"Are you talking about Terry?" Adelaide asked.

Kiyan laughed. "What can I say? He was my best friend. I owe him everything and I..."

"I know I can't take back what I did in the forest, but I am going to do everything to find your sister" Adelaide said.

"Thank you" he whispered.

Adelaide woke with a start. The cell doors opened with a clamber. But it wasn't her prison cell.

"Get up. Get out. Some anonymous person has paid your bail" a gruff voice said.

Kiyan threw Adelaide a puzzled look. Adelaide smiled back encouragingly.

"Go find your sister" she said.

After Kiyan was led away, Adelaide felt the silence descend on her like a waterfall drowning out her sanity. All that she could was stare at the wall and wait for the AIA to question her again or for them to get tired of her and execute her. Adelaide couldn't help them. She didn't know anything.

The judge's decision still echoed in Adelaide's ears long after she was returned to her cell. It seemed unfair how one man could determine her future. How was she supposed to help them find Dominic if she really didn't know where he was? One thing was for sure – she wasn't rotting in this dungeon any longer.

Adelaide waited until there was few guards in the perimeter and pressed her palms to the floor, hoping she remembered how to do the spell. Erebus got his name from the old Iraailbeon legend of a man who could walk through walls and disappear into the shadows without a trace. Being Erebus's wife had its perks.

Adelaide let the mist shroud her and walked through the bars that contained her. By drawing magic from the earth's reservoir, Adelaide was able to make every part of her an almost intangible substance. Like the shadowy mists of the lower east side of Boswick.

Had this been Concordia, she wouldn't have been able to walk through the ward they would surely put up. But this was Amiticia, where white magic was banned so they had to make do with a sort of makeshift infernal ward that was pathetic compared to the seraphic ward.