A Shade of Vampire 43: A House of Mysteries(50)

He mixed the ash and his blood together, and when he’d finished he looked back up at us.

“We will meet the Daughters in the mists that surround Eritopia. The mists can be deadly if you do not show enough caution,” he warned. “When I tell you to, you need to all hold hands, to be connected to me at all times. Under no circumstances must you let go—do you understand?”

We all nodded silently.

“If you let go, you will be lost—doomed to forever wander in the mists between the rest of the In-Between and Eritopia, never existing in either space. The shape-shifters also inhabit the mists, though these are slightly different—more deadly than the ones Serena encountered in the swamp. They are shifters who have changed form too many times, and as a result have been driven mad, unable to reclaim their own identity. They will call to you, trying to separate you from one another. Pay them no attention. They can’t harm you if we’re together.”

I felt sick. The thought of facing those shape-shifters, but in a deadlier state than the ones I’d already encountered, was terrifying.

“Don’t worry,” Draven replied, more softly, his gaze directed at me. “They can’t harm you. I promise, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

I nodded. I trusted him.

Draven picked up the cup again, and moved over to the flame. It was the same, ever-burning fire that I had seen The Shade in. He placed the bowl in its center, the flame completely consuming it from sight.

“Connect to one another,” he commanded, moving forward to take my hand. His skin was warm next to mine, his grip firm and reassuring. Bijarki joined the end of the ‘line’, taking Vita’s hand. I was furious, but before I could complain, the room shifted and blurred in my vision, eventually melting away till all I could see was darkness, and gray, swirling mists.





Phoenix





I closed my eyes against the mists, feeling a brief but intense suction-like sensation as if my entire body was being forced forward against my will. When I opened them again, we were all standing on cracked, red earth. Without letting my grip on Vita or Field go, I looked around, expecting to see evidence of a portal, but behind me there was nothing except a wide, empty expanse with nothing breaking up the line of the horizon. In front of us there was a large sandstorm barrier, following the earth in a straight line as far as I could see, and as tall as the plantation house so it was impossible to see what lay beyond it. The barrier whipped and screamed as the wind blew hot, grit-filled air in our faces.

“What is this place?” Field murmured.

I stared at the huge sandstorm in front of us, guessing that Draven would be telling us to walk through it, but wishing he wouldn’t. I couldn’t help but feel, though the barrier was only sand and wind, that it was furious—that it wanted to rip and tear and destroy anything that crossed its path.

“Remember what I told you!” Draven shouted out over the noise of the winds. “Whatever you do, don’t let go.”

He moved us forward, looking back to ensure the link hadn’t been broken. Vita’s grip was like a clamp, her eyes wide as we approached the wall.

“Don’t worry,” I murmured to her, thinking immediately what a stupid thing it was to say—there were plenty of reasons to be worried.

The sand slapped at my face like a whip, tearing at my hair and the loose shirts we’d been wearing from what the girls had managed to scavenge in the attic. It felt like my skin would blister from the onslaught—any exposed flesh felt like it was being burnt by both the intense heat and the grains of sand.

I lost sight of both Vita and Field. I looked down, squinting at where our hands were clasped, but I could only see their fingers and wrists—beyond that, they were swallowed by the barrier. Once we were inside the sandstorm, the ferocity of the wind had died down, so it no longer felt like it was roaring at us, but the density of the sand didn’t let up. I soon felt I was completely lost and alone. No wonder Draven had told us to hang on tightly to one another—it felt like I could be lost in here forever, completely disorientated and never finding a way out.

We kept moving forward. I started to hear a strange whistling noise, as if it was coming from everywhere at once. I tried to tune into it, to listen more closely, beginning to distinguish strange voices and sounds.

“Can you hear that?” I called to Field and Vita.

“Yeah,” Vita replied, her voice muffled, but Field didn’t reply.

“Field?” I called, but he remained silent. I tugged on his arm, to get his attention. He tried to yank out of my grip but I held on tight.

“Field, are you okay?” I yelled again.