Kelly Creagh [Nevermore 03] Oblivion (ARC) (pdf)

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. Through the blue doors.For now, the worlds blend and part at your whim.Use it toyour advantage.Go somewhere safe.Somewhere hidden.Isobel blinked up at the tall figure standing over them.But Reynolds s piercing stare was not aimed at her.Andneither was his command.Rising, Varen brought Isobel to her feet. W-wait, Isobel murmured through numb lips, butReynolds had already turned toward Lilith.Taking Isobel s hand, Varen tugged her in the oppositedirection.328 OBLIVI ON Wait, Isobel repeated, louder this time, and she won-dered why neither of them seemed to have heard her.Or werethey choosing not to listen?Before Varen could drag her any farther away, Isobelsnagged Reynolds s sleeve. Come with us, she managed to blurt when his headsnapped toward her.Reynolds glared sternly at Varen, ignoring Isobel alto-gether. Keep her safe, he said. I have bought us only time.And precious little at that. I said, Isobel snapped, pulling harder on his sleeve, heranger at being snubbed helping to jolt her back to her senses, come with us.Reynolds scowled, but when he glanced to where Isobelgripped him, the knit in his brow softened. I ll not be far behind, he assured her, this time meetingher gaze full on.Isobel hesitated.Then, deciding to believe him, to trusthim�.�.�.she let go. GOOORRRRDOOOOOON, Isobel heard the demonhowl.Isobel looked to where Lilith lay like a spider in tar, alllimbs and joints.Her body, reduced to bones, crackled as shemoved, her sword-pierced rib cage dripping sludge. Gordon is dead, Isobel heard Reynolds say in a monotone,his words echoing through the corridor as he placed the tip of hisother sword beneath Lilith s putrefied chin, drawing her holloweyes to his. As I shall continue to wager you very soon shall be.KELLY CREAGH 329Isobel kept her gaze on the two figures as Varen drewher toward the blue double doors Reynolds had told themto take.CLUNK came the sound of the push bar, loud in Isobel sears as Varen collided with it.He pulled her with him beyond its boundaries, and asthey shot through to the other side, Isobel s eyes flickered up.Countless figures now populated the endless crisscrossingnetwork of stairs most of them cloaked, all of them men.Lost Souls, Isobel thought, meeting the stare of one who,unlike the others, had channeled his focus on her instead ofLilith s writhing form.Then the door swung shut, blocking the sight.Music boomed, bass thumping the floor beneath the solesof their shoes like a thundering heartbeat.Colored lights blazed.Streamers and balloons red andpink.People everywhere.As Isobel s vision adjusted, she slowly began to registerthe faces surrounding them as�.�.�.familiar.Boots squealing on glossed hardwood, Varen skidded toa stop, halting Isobel with him.Though the music pounded on, those dancing nearest tothem lowered their raised arms. Oh my God, said someone nearby, inciting the unani-mous withdrawal that came next.Bumping and jostling into one another as they retreated,Isobel and Varen s classmates formed a wide circle around thetwo of them.330 OBLIVI ONSmiles fell.Faces paled.And as the shock of their sudden presence rippled its waythrough the gymnasium, through the attendees of TrentonHigh s annual Valentine s Day dance, it dawned on Isobelwhat had just happened.They were back.37Neither of Ingress or EgressNo one spoke.No one moved.For five fleeting seconds, they all just stared.Then from the midst of the crowd rose a sweater-sleevedarm.Its hand held aloft a cell phone.Flashing bright white,the device snapped Isobel and Varen s photo.When a second flash sparked, Isobel whipped her head inthat direction, her damp, clotted hair swinging.A third flared right in front of her face.Then a fourthfrom behind.Even over the throbbing music, Isobel could hear thedigitized clicks of the cameras, the pings and chirps of phonesreceiving alerts.With the rise of the discordant chimes came murmuringand pointing fingers.Isobel heard their names repeated againand again, growing louder with each utterance as the shellshock in the room began to thaw. Move! a voice roared above it all, and Isobel turned, herheart thrumming.Scanning the sea of cell phone lights, she searched for thesource of that brash voice, recalling in the same instant thetext she d sent earlier before crossing into the dreamworld.332 OBLIVI ONAt first Isobel saw only the wide eyes of the cameras.Then, wrestling between a pair of clinging couples, some-one broke through. Isobel! Gwen shouted, throwing off the hood of theoversize black-and-white checkered sweater Isobel recog-nized as Mikey s.Slung across one shoulder, Gwen wore her patchworkpurse, and in one hand, her own cell glowed.Isobel had just enough time to register the ash-smearedforms on its screen before Gwen rushed her.Isobel released Varen s hand to catch her friend. I m glad you re alive, Gwen said, her voice high, pinchedwith fear. So I can kill you.Though Isobel wanted to return Gwen s fierce squeeze,to tell her how relieved she was to see her, her thoughtsswarmed around the photo she d glimpsed on Gwen s cell.Had someone texted the photo to her? Or had the snap-shots already splashed their way across the Internet and all ofsocial media?How many more minutes how many more secondsbefore those images found their way to Varen s parents? Toher parents.To the police�.�.�.She and Varen couldn t afford to get caught, to be hauledoff in different directions.Not now.Not without first sever-ing their ties Varen s ties to the other side.To Lilith.Taking Gwen by the shoulders, Isobel parted their embrace. Gwen, listen to me [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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