Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1) - Jay Kristoff Page 0,116
into Mouser’s hall a week ago, and damned if it wasn’t still there…”
Mia rolled her eyes. “Four Daughters, what are you babbling about?”
Jessamine’s grin was sharp as new steel. She reached into the collar of her sleeveless tunic. Drew out something that spun and glittered in the dim light.
“O, nothing important.”
Mia felt a sickening lurch in her stomach. A spasm of pain. A blinding flare. And as she staggered back, one hand up to shield her eyes, she made out the shape of three circles, rose gold, platinum and yellow gold, glittering on the end of a thin chain.
O, Goddess …
Mouser’s Trinity. The holy medallion, blessed by Aa’s Right Hand.
Mia staggered away as Jessamine stepped forward, smile widening. Terror washed over her in cold waves, Mister Kindly flinching in her shadow. And though the suns only gleamed a little in the light from the stained glass above, to Mia that light seemed blinding. Burning. Blistering. As Jessamine continued advancing, Mia stumbled to her knees, mouth filling with bile. Tric snatched up his training sword and snarled.
“Put that bloody thing away, Jess.”
The girl pouted. “We’re just having some fun, Tricky.”
“I said put it away!”
The girl took another step toward Mia, the suns gleaming. Tric raised his training sword and Diamo stepped to meet him, sledgehammer hands twitching. The boys fell to it, Tric swinging the wooden blade with a sharp crack into Diamo’s forearm, the Itreyan grunting with pain and lashing out with a fist. The pair fell into a scuffle, knuckles and elbows and curses. But all the while, Jessamine was advancing, Mia scrabbling back across the stone now, puke bubbling in her throat.
She was helpless. Mister Kindly’s fear spilling into her and doubling. Tripling. She bumped into something hard at her back, realized she was against the wall. Eyes closed against that awful, burning light. The darkness around her writhed, withering like flowers too long in the sun. And as Jessamine stepped closer and Mia felt the light beating down on her like a physical weight, her heart thundering so loud it threatened to burst from her chest, Mister Kindly finally tore himself loose from her shadow.
He tore himself loose and he ran.
“Mister Kindly!”
The shadow bolted across the floor, hissing as it fled. Along the stone. Down the stairs. Disappearing from sight as Mia cried out, terror flooding over her in crushing waves. She aimed a feeble kick at Jessamine’s legs, the girl laughing as she stepped aside. Mia could hear Tric shouting. Her pulse rushing in her ears. Pain. Dread so black she thought she might die. And just as it became too much, just as that awful light threatened to burn her blind …
“What in the Mother’s name is going on here?”
Jessamine turned, the light eclipsed by her body. Through the nausea and burning tears, Mia could see Shahiid Solis standing in the training circle, massive arms folded, white eyes fixed on nothing at all. Tric and Diamo picked themselves up off the floor, Jessamine slipping the necklace back inside her tunic. With the suns out of sight, the pain wracking Mia’s body abated almost immediately. But with Mister Kindly gone, the fear remained, creeping like a greasy tide through her innards. She swayed to her feet, pulse pounding, looking about the darkness. She could see no sign of her friend.
“I asked a question, Acolytes,” Solis growled.
Ignoring the Shahiid of Songs, Mia skirted around the wall, away from Jessamine. Blind eyes turned toward her footsteps, but she made the archway, dashing down the stairwell on trembling legs. She heard Solis roar, demanding explanation. Tric called after her, but she ignored him, stumbling down into the dark.
“Mister Kindly?”
No answer. No sense of her friend. Only the fear, that long-forgotten, crushing weight of fear. Her hands were shaking. Her lip trembling. He’d left her, she realized.
He left me …
“Mister Kindly!”
“Mia, stop!” Tric called, pounding down the stairs behind her.
The girl ignored him, charging off through the twisted hallways and into the stained-glass gloom, calling the shadowcat’s name.
“Stop!” Tric grabbed her arm.
“Let go of me!”
“This place is a bloody maze. He could be anywhere.”
“That’s why I have to find him!” She turned and yelled to the dark. “Mister Kindly!”
“He just had a fright is all. He’ll come back when he’s ready.”
“You don’t know that! Those suns, that bitch, they hurt him!”
“So what’s your plan? Wander around in the dark looking for something that’s made of darkness? Think for one minute!”
Mia blinked hard. Tried to catch her breath. Struggling with the