Fallen 2. Torment(23)

soothed. "That's very normal. Shadow-glimpsing is not done without great cost. It takes

energy to look back even a few days, but to look back millennia? Well, you can feel the

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effects yourselves. In light of that"--she looked at Steven--"we're going to let you out

early today to rest."

"We'll pick up again tomorrow, so make sure you've done your reading on

disapparition," Steven said. "Class dismissed."

Around Luce, students rose slowly from their desks. They looked dazed,

exhausted. When she stood up, her own knees were a little wobbly, but somehow she felt

less shaken than the others seemed to be. She tightened her cardigan around her shoulders

and followed Miles out of the classroom.

"Pretty heavy stuff," he said, taking the stairs down from the deck two at a time.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Luce said. She was. "Are you?"

Miles rubbed his forehead. "It just feels like we were really there. I'm glad they let

us out early. Feel like I need a nap."

"Seriously!" Dawn added, coming up behind them on the winding path back to

the dorm. "That was the last thing I was expecting from my Wednesday morning. I am so

conking out right now."

It was true: The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah had been horrifying. So real,

Luce's skin still felt hot from the blaze.

They took the shortcut back to the dorm, around the north side of the mess hall

and into the shade of the redwoods. It was strange seeing the campus so empty, with all

the other kids at Shoreline still in class in the main building. One by one, the Nephilim

peeled off the path and headed straight to bed.

Except for Luce. She wasn't tired, not at all. Instead, she felt strangely energized.

She wished, again, that Daniel were there. She badly wanted to talk to him about

Francesca and Steven's demonstration--and to know why he hadn't told her sooner that

there was more to the shadows than she could see.

In front of Luce were the stairs leading up to her dorm room. Behind her, the

redwood forest. She paced outside the entrance to the dorm, unwilling to go inside,

unwilling to sleep this off and pretend she hadn't seen it. Francesca and Steven wouldn't

have been trying to scare the class; they must have intended to teach them something.

Something they couldn't come right out and say. But if the Announcers carried messages

and echoes of the past, then what was the point of the one they'd just been shown?

She went into the woods.

Her watch said 11 a.m., but it could have been midnight under the dark canopy of

trees. Goose bumps rose on her bare legs as she pressed deeper into the shady forest. She

didn't want to think about it too hard; thinking would only increase the odds of her

chickening out. She was about to enter uncharted territory. Forbidden territory.

She was going to summon an Announcer.

She'd done things to them before. The very first time was when she pinched one

during class to keep it from sneaking into her pocket. There was the time in the library

when she'd swatted one away from Penn. Poor Penn. Luce couldn't help wondering what

message that Announcer had been carrying. If she had known how to manipulate it then,

the way Francesca and Steven had manipulated the one today--could she have stopped

what happened?

She closed her eyes. Saw Penn, slumped against the wall, her chest aproned with

blood. Her fallen friend. No. Looking back on that night was too painful, and it never got

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Luce anywhere. All she could do now was look ahead.

She had to fight the cold fear clawing at her insides. A slinking, black, familiar

shape lurking alongside the true shadow of a low redwood branch a mere ten yards in

front of her.

She took a step toward it, and the Announcer shrank back. Trying not to make any

sudden moves, Luce pressed on, closer, closer, willing the shadow not to slip away.

There.

The shadow twitched under its tree branch but stayed put.

Heart racing, Luce tried to calm herself down. Yes, it was dark in this forest; and

yes, not a soul knew where she was; and okay, sure, there was a chance no one would

miss her for a good while if anything happened--but there was no reason to panic. Right?

So why did she feel gripped by a gnawing fear? Why was she getting the same tremor in

her hands she used to get when she saw the shadows as a girl, back before she'd learned

they were basically harmless?

It was time to make a move. She could either stand here frozen forever, or she

could chicken out and go sulking back to the dorm, or-Her arm shot out, no longer shaking, and took hold of the thing. She dragged it up

and clutched it tightly to her chest, surprised by its heft, by how cold and damp it was.

Like a wet towel. Her arms were shaking. What did she do with it now?