Blakeshire (Insight #9)(68)

“Well, that’s a bunch of crap.” My statement was based on nothing less than a gut feeling. I was pretty sure that as powerful as that Donalt guy seemed to have been, he would not need something like this to do such a thing—especially if he used The Realm; that place connected all worlds. This was something else, a distraction or piece to a puzzle—definitely not the whole truth.

“Figured you’d say that. They kinda freaked out when I went to see if it was saltwater. I was assured that it wasn’t by Stella; she knows this looking glass better than anyone.”

“Does she,” I murmured as I started to unbutton my dress. I had spotted what I thought was a passageway under the water. It reminded me far too much of what I had seen that octopus lingering near.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Going for a swim. I want to see what’s under it, why it’s spinning.”

“Are you mad? You haven’t swum since you were, like, nine.”

“True,” I said with a smirk.

That’s what sucks about fear: it robs you of the things you love. I was obsessed with swimming when I was girl. It was the only sport I’d ever participated in. I was good at it. Fish in the water, as my mother would say. After seeing that vision, showers were as close as I got to depth when it came to water.

“But some things you never forget.”

“This is not what you are looking for—both places I think we were in are in different wings, and you have no idea what’s in that water,” he argued as my dress fell and I tucked the locket into my tank top.

“I’m hoping there is an octopus that is guarding something.”

“You’re insane.” He glanced at the water, then at me. Knowing that there was no way to talk me out of it, he fell back on his classic words of caution. “Stay clear of the rings; we don’t want anyone in the string to get hurt because you are experiencing a current lack of fear.”

“Sure thing,” I said with a wink before I rolled my shoulders and positioned my body for a dive.

I was in the water within the next breath. It was like bath water. I could feel the waves the rings were creating flow over me. It felt good to swim, really good. I kept to the edge of the pool, far from the rotation, but the deeper I went the more the pool narrowed.

I thought about turning back, but just as I reached the bottom of the rings I found my dark passageway. I kicked as hard as I could and swam through it.

I felt the water rushing over me and knew without a doubt that something was feeding this pool of water. Seconds later, I emerged in another pool. Needing air, I struggled to find the surface. When the surface finally broke, I found that I was in nothing more than another stone room, one that was tightly closed in. I pulled myself up on the ledge so I could catch my breath.

There was a dim light in here, but I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. When I looked up, I saw that some of the square stones above were illuminated.

There were other passageways that led out of this room, four that I could see through the darkness. There were stairs leading into the water, which made no sense at all.

I wasn’t sure that I wanted to explore those other passages just yet. I knew Aden thought I was still under water. I wanted to go back for him, for his peace of mind, not mine. But I had to catch my breath first.

At least I had found one answer: Aden and I could easily find passages like this and follow them to where we needed to go without the watchful eyes of the evil souls that walked this palace.

A rush of icy air moved past me. I could swear the dark shadows of the room had shifted. A deep growl emerged as an echo in the room.

So much for not being alone anymore. Time for a face-to-face with the evil man that had tormented the man I love.

I leered. “Why don’t you just show yourself? You know I’m not afraid of you.”

Your greatest weakness is always your greatest strength. I had feared the whispers and shadows that my friends and I had faced for longer than I cared to remember, but that fear had taught me something about the dead: when or if they choose to manifest, they are weak. Their thoughts are scattered, usually on some kind of loop. The anger or thoughts they believed in their last moments are the ones you hear, and those lead you to some kind of understanding.

I was sure that this ghost was far more powerful than the dead I had helped in the past, but my gut told me that if I managed to get him to appear I might have the upper hand; if I didn’t, it would be a war of energy—only I would be the blind one in that battle. Judging by the amount of stones around me and the water at my feet, I knew that would not end well.

The echo turned into a laugh that I suppose I should fear.

“I have a bit of a tight schedule, so if you want to chat, come on with it,” I taunted, hoping he would be foolish enough to take the bait.

I stared at the shadows, looking for any movement at all. Then all at once, I knew something had taken form. I could feel it breathing next to me. Slowly, my gaze moved there to find a man who was nothing less than a horrid sight. Half of him was gone, and what was there was charred at the edges. The undamaged flesh looked thousands of years old.

It took all I had not to reach over and rip what was left of him apart, especially as my mind played back everything that I knew he had done to Drake and his family. But I was smarter than that. I was going to lead this ghost to believe I was harmless, that I was no threat to him in any way—and from that point I would plan my next play.