Faith ran down another narrow alleyway, then another. When she reached the road, she glanced back, stopping to catch her breath for a moment. She didn’t see Vallen, but he might not be far behind. She tried to think of where to go but had no idea. Faith didn’t want to risk leading Umbris or Vallen back to the house. Hannah and Bradley might be there with Suzie, or they might be at their own house. Faith heard someone coming down the alleyway and started running again.

There weren’t many cars out this late. Faith crossed the street easily, but that meant Vallen wouldn’t have any trouble crossing either. She continued to run, into the alleyways. At last she reached the harbor. She hadn’t meant to go there, but she had gotten lost in the twists and turns of the alleyways. She seemed to have lost Vallen.

Faith stopped at the harbor wall to catch her breath. Rain continued to pour down, but there hadn’t been any more thunder. She didn’t see any lightning in the dark, cloudy sky. There was no one at the harbor this late, but that could be a bad thing. She had to go somewhere. Somewhere Vallen wouldn’t find her.

Water rushed up and over the harbor wall, grabbing Faith and pulling her against the wall. It wrapped around her throat and tried to pull her over the low stone wall. Faith grabbed into the metal railing on top of the wall, holding on as tightly as she could. She gasped, but no air was getting in. Hands grabbed her from behind, by the shoulders. Faith was pulled back from the railing. The water let go, dropping back into the harbor.

Faith quickly turned to face whoever it was. It wasn’t Vallen. Hew Farrant wore a long, dark coat. It and his short light brown hair were soaked from the rain. His eyes were light blue for a moment, then dark gray again. Massive waves tossed against the docks. Now wasn’t the time to wonder what Hew was doing there. Hew grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the harbor and up a narrow street. He let go when they were out of sight of the harbor, but he didn’t stop walking.

“There’s something in the water,” he said.

Faith hurried after him. “His name is Umbris. He’s taken over Riley.”

Hew frowned. “We’ll talk more at the house.”

What house? Faith followed him further up the road to a small house. The lawn was well kept, and the siding looked to have been painted fairly recently. Hew had a key, but the inside of the house was almost…cozy. Did he live there?

“This is your house?” Faith asked.

Hew nodded. “I’ve been here four years.”

The deep chairs were warm colors, much like the rug under them. Faith shivered, entirely soaked through from the rain. Hew took his coat off and hung it on a rack by the door that was a lot like the one at Faith and Riley’s house.

“You don’t have a coat?” Hew asked.

“I had to leave in a hurry,” Faith said.

Hew sat in a chair and nodded to the other. “I take it any explanation is going to take a while?”

Faith hesitated.

Hew sighed. “I’m not your enemy, Faith. If Riley is in trouble, I would like to help him. I owe him that at least.”

Faith sat in the other chair. “My boss wanted Riley and I to go with him and his girlfriend to an island, to talk to a possible client.” She told Hew what had happened on the island, that Westby was Umbris, and what had happened with the wyvern and Vallen.

“Then that’s how you ended up at the harbor,” Hew said. “I would have thought you’d be avoiding the harbor knowing Umbris is out there.”

“I didn’t intend to go there,” Faith said. “I was trying to lose Vallen and I got lost. Umbris might try to control you too.”

Hew laughed. “He can try, but I doubt he would succeed. Haven’t you noticed it’s raining out? And it’s night.” He didn’t have scales or white hair. “I have control over what I am. I imagine it was Riley’s lack of control that let Umbris in.” His smile vanished. “I might be able to help Riley, but we’ll have to find him first.” He stared at Faith for a moment. “I think I know where Umbris will go next.”

“He wanted to know how Riley and I defeated Quivis,” Faith said.

Hew nodded. “He doesn’t want to meet the same end. Quivis was powerful, I doubt he could have left Suzie without leaving a trace. I suspect he left a part of his power in her. Not his consciousness, but his power.”

At first Faith hesitated, but Hew was her best chance of surviving against Umbris and getting Riley back. “I think you’re right. Suzie has dreams about the sea, and sometimes she can control water, to an extent.”

“If I thought of it, then Umbris might come to the same conclusion after Riley tells him of Quivis’s defeat,” Hew said. “Umbris will be after Suzie, either seeing her as a threat or a possible ally. If Umbris isn’t in the rain yet, then I think Suzie will be safe as long as she’s far from the sea. Where is she?”

“She’s with her grandparents. They have a house near the water,” Faith said.

“We’ll go in the morning,” Hew said. “That will give the storm a chance to stop. And maybe Vallen will give up or come to his senses.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Faith didn’t want to wait to go to Suzie, but neither did she want to lead Vallen to her. “If Aellis finds out Quivis left part of his power in Suzie, he’ll be after her too.”

“And he won’t see her as a possible ally,” Hew said. He stood. “Tea?”

Faith nodded, still shivering hard. She followed him into the kitchen. Neither of them said anything while the water boiled, or while they drank the tea at the small round table in the kitchen. Hew showed Faith to the spare bedroom and the bathroom. Faith got dried off, then tried to sleep. The nightmare was waiting. She was sinking into the dark abyss, with red feathers drifting down through the water all around her. The water rushed into her mouth, nose, and lungs. Every breath was water.

The darkness of the abyss crept in around her until it was all she could see. Faith awoke coughing up water again. It was still night, but she didn’t hear any rain or thunder. She did hear the front door open and floorboards creaking. Faith got up and put her shoes on. She wasn’t ready for more running, but there might not be a choice in another moment.

Faith opened the bedroom door a crack and looked out into the short hall. In the dark living room, she barely saw Vallen walking past the hall. He was still wearing his coat. Hew stepped out into the hall. His room was closer to the living room. He glanced at Faith, then motioned for her to follow. The two of them moved along the hall slowly.

Vallen went into the kitchen. Faith and Hew headed for the front door. They left the house, running down the street. Hew turned down a narrow alleyway and Faith followed. Everything was wet, but the rain had stopped. They continued further into Billen. Hew seemed to know where he was going. Faith had quickly lost track of the alleyways they had gone down and where the main roads were. At last Hew stopped.

“Either he didn’t see us leave, or we’ve lost him,” Hew said. He sat, leaning against the wall of the building behind him. “We’ll find your daughter in the morning, and we’ll make sure Vallen isn’t close behind us.”

Faith hesitated, then she sat beside Hew. It was a warm night, despite how cold the rain had been. She watched both ends of the alleyway, but no one came down it. The night was quiet. The two of them took turns sleeping and keeping watch, but Faith didn’t sleep much. She expected Vallen to find them at any moment, and she was worried about Suzie. As soon as the sun was up, Faith and Hew made their way toward the harbor.

There were lots of people out already. Faith didn’t see Vallen in his coat among the crowd, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t there. She and Hew stayed well away from the harbor wall. Bradley and Hannah’s car was parked at the curb out front their house. Faith glanced back again. They had left the crowds at the harbor behind. She and Hew were alone on the sidewalk.

Faith and Hew approached the front door of the small house together. Faith pressed the button for the doorbell, her heart pounding hard. Had Vallen followed? Was Umbris nearby? Was Riley? The door opened, with Hannah on the other side. She smiled, then she looked at Hew and frowned, likely noticing he wasn’t Riley.

“Faith, is everything alright?” Hannah asked.

Bradley joined Hannah in the doorway. “Where’s Riley?”

Faith hadn’t thought of how to explain things to them. When what had happened with Quivis had happened, she had told them everything. She knew they would believe her, but that didn’t make this any easier.

“The owner of the island wasn’t as he seemed and Riley is in trouble,” Hew said. “Suzie might be in danger.”

Bradley and Hannah stared.

“Why is Suzie in danger?” Bradley asked, his tense voice not matching his calm face.

“Can we talk inside?” Faith asked, not wanting to stand there too long with Vallen out looking for her.

Hannah opened the door further to let them inside. They went to the living room.

“Where’s Suzie?” Faith asked.

“In the kitchen,” Bradley said. “We were cleaning up after breakfast.” He stared at her, waiting for an explanation.

Faith told them about Umbris, and why Umbris might want Suzie. Bradley and Hannah looked at each other when she was done. They looked as worried as Faith was.

“And this Umbris has control of Riley?” Hannah asked.

Faith nodded. She hadn’t mentioned Vallen. There might not be time. “Can you take Suzie away from Billen? Somewhere away from the sea until this is over?” She didn’t know how long that would be.

“We can do that,” Bradley said without hesitation. He had an arm around Hannah’s shoulders, keeping her close. “We’ll leave this morning.”

“Mom?” Suzie’s quiet voice came from the kitchen doorway on the other side of the room. She tensed when she saw Hew.

“I’m here to help your mother,” Hew said.

“Who are you?” Hannah asked.

A loud sound came from the kitchen behind Suzie, as though a pipe had burst. At the same time, the front door was flung open. Bradley was closest to the kitchen. He pulled Suzie out of the doorway as water rushed toward her. The water hovered in the air in the doorway. Umbris. Faith glanced at Vallen, who was standing between them and the door. The back door was in the kitchen. Both ways out were blocked. The hood of Vallen’s coat had fallen back, his amber eyes making it clear he wasn’t there to help them fight Umbris.

The water that was Umbris moved closer to Suzie. More water rushed out of the kitchen, forming a wall between Suzie and Umbris. Umbris pulled back sharply. The wall of water fell to the floor. Vallen took a step closer to Faith. His wings were definitely bigger now, pulling against his coat. He reached for Faith. Hew kicked Vallen hard in the stomach, taking him by surprise. Vallen stumbled back, against the living room wall.

“Run!” Hew said.

Bradley lifted Suzie into his arms. He, Hannah, Hew, and Faith ran from the house. Hannah had grabbed the car keys on the way out. She and Bradley got into the car with Suzie.

“Go,” Hew said. “Get her away from the sea.”

Hannah looked at Faith.

“Go,” Faith said.

Bradley started the car and pulled away from the curb fast. Faith looked back at the house, back at the open door. She could barely see Vallen slumped at the base of the wall he’d hit. He hadn’t hit it hard, but he appeared to be unconscious. Hew headed for the house and Faith followed. Vallen didn’t open his eyes.