Shadow People (The Forbidden Darkness Chronicles, #2)

Twenty-Five: Heather Hawkins

"I wondered how long it would be before you showed up."

Nearly jumping out of my skin, I turned around to see Kadin there. Not exactly the Djinn I was looking for, but it would work. As usual, I was in the middle of the cave, just below the opening at the top. Now knowing what this was—that I was actually in The Between—made me a little uncomfortable.

"Then you must know me well enough by now," I said. He was still dressed the same as earlier, and his eyes looked right through me. It seemed like he was pretty good for that. "You also must know that I'm here to set the souls free."

He nodded. "Listen, Heather. You know that I don't want to hurt them now."

"Then why don't you set them free yourself?" I asked.

"I wish it were that easy," he went on. "Unfortunately, it's not. The Darkness has a grip on me. The Darkness is what doesn't want to let them go."

Of course. The Darkness was going to continue to find a way to torture Kadin unless he managed to lock it back up. But how was he supposed to do that? If the Darkness was as powerful as he claimed, and Frostbite couldn't help him—there was no way I could.

"You got the Darkness out of here?" I asked. "How were you able to release it?"

He pointed up toward the opening in the ceiling. "That hole. There's a boulder up at the top that blocked the hole. It was able to keep the Darkness locked in for all those thousands of years."

And he let it out. Even if it was for good intentions, he should have known how dangerous the outcome could be. "Do the other Djinn know?"

Kadin nodded again. "Yes, they do. I haven't been questioned yet, so they don't know my motive. I've been on the run."

Even more wonderful. Kadin was a crazy, Darkness-unleashing, sociopathic fugitive. This kept getting better and better. I sat on a nearby rock and said, "Okay. That makes a little bit of sense now. You're even crazier than I thought."

He sat down beside me. "What am I going to do, Heather? I've messed up so bad."

That was a bit of an understatement, but I wasn't going to rub it in. "Well, I'm not going to tell you that you haven't messed up big time. You've made mistakes. Thankfully, we can move on from out mistakes." Or most of them, anyway. I wasn't entirely sure how the Djinn world worked. "What is the punishment for letting out the Darkness?"

Kadin tilted his head to the side and whispered, "Death. And eternity in Hell."

Oh. I guess they really did make the punishment fit the crime. "If that's true, then how are the Shadow People out here in the real world?"

"The Shadow People are thousands of years old," Kadin explained. "They've been that way since long before the Darkness got locked away."

I opened my mouth to reply, but the words wouldn't come out. This hole just seemed to be getting deeper and deeper, and I wondered if there was any way possible to save everyone. We were in such deep shit that maybe there really was no way for all of us to save ourselves.

This was much bigger than we initially thought.

The realization hit me, and I avoided Kadin's eyes. "We need to get them out, Kadin. Before this gets any more out of hand. All of us are in danger right now. Especially my friends and family. I can't let us all go down because of your stunt." I meant it in the nicest way possible.

"I know," he whispered. "Let's go."

He stood up to start walking down the long, narrow hall to the cage when I stopped him. "Wait." I walked over to catch up with him. "I have a question for you."