Faith, Hew, and Vallen didn’t say much while they waited there through the day. The sky was full of dark clouds when it was almost six, but it wasn’t raining yet. They got back in Hew’s car. It didn’t take long to reach the university, a big, old brick building. Vallen covered his face as much as he could with the hood of his coat before they got out of the car.

“Is she a professor?” Vallen asked on the way to the doors.

“She is,” Hew said. “She’s a professor of archeology.”

The three of them went inside, Hew leading the way to Heather’s office on the third floor. He froze in the doorway. Past him, Faith could see something was very wrong. A woman, who appeared around Faith’s age, sat slumped behind the desk at the center of the small room. Her head rested on the papers in front of her. There was a window behind her, the light of sunset streaming in.

Her desk was piled with papers and books. Her long dark brown hair had partly come loose from its bun. Her glasses, big and round, lay cracked and broken on the desk in front of her. She and everything on her desk were soaking wet. She was too still and pale. They were too late.

“Heather.” Hew’s voice was a pained whisper. He hurried over to her, but he didn’t touch her.

“Umbris must have gotten here first,” Vallen said.

Hew nodded, frowning hard.

Faith could tell Heather had meant a lot to him. He had cared about her a lot. Faith didn’t know what to say, and she knew there was nothing she could say that would help.

“She’s holding something,” Vallen said.

Hew leaned closer. “A key.”

Hew carefully removed the key from Heather’s clenched fist, sliding it into his pocket. He turned away from Heather. It looked like it took a lot of effort for him to look away. His expression was one of hardened determination.

“The notes will be at her house,” Hew said. “Hopefully Umbris hasn’t gotten there already.”

The three of them left the university, getting back in Hew’s car. He drove to a street away from the water. There were medium sized houses back there. Faith knew even this was close enough to the sea for Umbris to reach. And the form of Westby could get him further inland, but how far? The three of them got out of the car without a word, following the well kept stone pathway to the front door. Hew tried the door. It was locked. That was something, but it didn’t mean Umbris wasn’t there.

Hew took the spare key from under a nearby rock and unlocked the door. The front room had several dusty boxes in it and two wooden crates. A door to the right of the front door led into an office filled with more boxes, crates, books, and papers. The desk was even more covered with books and papers than the one at the university had been. Shelves of books lined the walls. Hew started looking through the drawers of the desk. Faith and Vallen stayed in the office doorway.

The light through the window next to the front door had gotten dimmer. The clouds were getting darker. Rain spattered against the glass of the window. A creak came from upstairs. The stairs ended at the doorway into the office, but it was too dark on the landing to see much. The creak came again, closer to the stairs. Faith looked at Vallen. He was watching the stairs. A quiet, familiar laugh came from upstairs.

“Umbris is here,” Faith whispered, though it was likely Umbris already knew they were there.

Hew took a stack of papers tied with twine from a drawer in the desk. “Let’s go.”

Faith’s feet felt wet and cold, even through her shoes and socks. She looked down. The floor was covered in water. It was dripping down the stairs. Faith, Hew, and Vallen ran for the front door. As Faith turned to shut the door, water rose up off the floor and rushed at her. She slammed the door shut, hearing the water hit the door with a splat on the other side. It seeped out around the doorframe.

The three of them ran to Hew’s car. He pulled away from the curb quickly, but it was raining too hard to see if Umbris was following. The rain came down only harder as Hew drove back through the streets to the hotel. The three of them went up to their room. Vallen took off his wet coat.

Hew sat at the table with Heather’s notes, looking through them. Faith and Vallen sat on the edge of the one bed and waited. Hew had closed the curtain, but Faith could still hear the rain hammering against the glass. Would Umbris follow them? At last Hew made it to the end of the notes.

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“Umbris is from a world beyond an abyss in the sea,” Hew said. “The abyss is the way to Umbris’s world, but the way is supposed to be closed.”

“How hard will it be to open the way and send him back?” Faith asked.

“Very hard,” Hew said. “According to the notes, we need the blood of a wyvern and some of mine or Riley’s to open the way. That’s the easy part. The blood would have to be drawn with an old ritual dagger. The notes don’t say anything about where the dagger is. Even if we could find it, we would still need a stone from the other side of the abyss.” He took the key from his pocket, the one he’d found in Heather’s hand. “And I don’t know what this key goes to, but it looks very old.”

A silence settled over them.

“Is there at least a picture of the dagger?” Faith asked.

“No,” Hew said.

Vallen hesitated. “I remember seeing an old dagger at Sky and Sea. It’s in a locked glass box. It could be the one we’re looking for.”

That was something at least. Hew looked a little less hopeless.

“Worth a look,” Faith said, “but what will we do about the stone?”

“Aellis knows about that,” Vallen said. “Through him, I know about it too. I saw it when he had control of me. Umbris has a stone from the other side of the abyss, a stone he keeps close because it’s a part of his world.”

“Then we’ll only have to go to his home and steal it,” Hew said with a sigh.

“At least there’s a chance of getting it,” Faith said. “We’ll just have to go after the stone last.”

There were any number of places Umbris could have hidden the stone in the house on the island. It might not even be in the house. If it was with Umbris himself, Faith wasn’t sure they could get the stone. She tried not to think of that possibility, tried not to lose what little hope she had. They had to at least try. Something came to mind from when she and Riley had searched the house. The attic bathroom, with the old tub full of water.

“I think I know where the stone is,” Faith said. “When Riley and I were there, we found a locked bathroom in the attic. There was a tub full of water with a stone in it. It looked like an ordinary rock from the sea.”

Hew smiled a little. “That could be it. We’ll leave for Sky and Sea in the morning.”

Vallen frowned. “I think Aellis knows how to stop Umbris, not just by putting him to sleep. I almost saw it when Aellis had control of me.”

“I doubt Aellis will just tell us how to do it,” Faith said.

Vallen nodded. “Hopefully sending Umbris back to the abyss will work.”

“According to the notes, he will be drawn to the abyss when the way is opened,” Hew said. “Then it’s a matter of us getting out before the way closes.”

The room was cramped with the three of them, but it was better than sleeping in the car or an alleyway. Hew let Vallen have the bed so he could spread out his wings. Faith went to take a shower. It had been much too long since she’d done that. Even the warm water did little to dampen all that had happened. The water cooled off and she turned the knob further.

When had Umbris gotten to Heather? If they had gotten there sooner… The water was getting cold again. She hadn’t been in there that long. Faith tried to turn the knob further, but it was turned all the way to hot. The water certainly wasn’t hot. It was getting colder by the moment. Faith shivered, then reached for the knob to turn the water off.

The water coming out of the shower head changed direction suddenly, wrapping around her throat like hands. Faith could feel the cold fingers pressing into her neck. She pulled against the water, but it moved with her. She gasped, darkness closing in. Faith reached for the knob again as she fell to her knees. Umbris squeezed only harder. Her hand closed over the wet knob. Dark spots flared at the edges of her vision.

Faith focused as hard as she could on that knob and turned it. The water above her turned off. Umbris fell away from her as the water slid down the drain. Faith gasped, breathing in sharply, then coughing hard. For a moment she didn’t move, staying on her hands and knees, catching her breath. What if Umbris came back? She stared at the drain, but the water didn’t come back. That didn’t mean it wouldn’t. A knock on the door got her to her feet.

“Faith! Are you alright in there?” It sounded like Vallen.

“I’m fine,” Faith said, but her voice shook.

She got out of the shower and dried off quickly, putting her still damp clothes back on. She left the bathroom as quickly as she could. Vallen was sitting on the edge of the bed. Hew was at the table by the window.

“Umbris attacked,” Faith said. There would be bruises on her neck later. She could still feel where Umbris’s fingers had been.

The two of them were on their feet swiftly.

“He must have gotten into the plumbing,” Faith said, her voice raspy. Her heart was still pounding.

“We’ll leave tonight,” Hew said. He took the twine wrapped notes from the table.