Erador leaned back on the garden steps and stared at the cloudy sky, hoping for rain to touch him and help him feel more than his misery. He was getting nowhere using Shade to spy on Yuni and without Aminria’s help, he was alone. Shade contorted into his smallest size under Erador’s legs; he didn’t have a shadow to hide in when it was cloudy. Erador wished he could feel safe by crawling under something, but he no longer fit comfortably under his bed where he used to read.

  His gaze wandered to the dungeon path in the trees over the garden walls. A vindictive murderer was free and he could come for them or maybe he already had. Erador couldn’t destroy the bloody memory of Emera from his mind. When it crept up too often, he blamed Shade for reminding him.

  Erador pulled the card from his pocket he had found in Eli’s clothing. He touched the illustration of the bat hanging from the tree. Pain swirled in his chest and crept to his throat.

  His nose gathered a cherry wood scent on the wet breeze. He shut his eyes to allow comfort to penetrate his body as light footsteps stopped on the step next to him. Haven leaned toward the card, her pigtail braids brushing the stomach of his shirt.

  “You kept it?” she said.

  Erador lowered the card. “Why not? It’s a good luck charm.”

  Haven sat on the step next to him and took the card. “You miss him.”

  Erador sat up and dipped his head so Haven wouldn’t see his frown. “We all do.”

  “And I thought Judgment would be gone first.” She held out the card. “How has he lived this long in his condition?”

  Erador took the card and lowered it to his leg as a drip of water hit his forearm, but it had no impact on his feelings. He was more concerned why his father hadn’t ended his own life after suffering, even if it was a sin and he would be thrown in the pit for it. Some days Judgment seemed worse but Sescina helped by healing his sores to a smaller size. Erador had grown comfortable knowing no matter how bad his father became, he would live another day.

  “Must be because he’s really a god,” Erador said with sarcasm as he played with the corner of the card.

  Haven held back a laugh and stretched out her legs as she tucked her hands under them. “When we were children… did you see someone in your room at night?”

  “No.” Erador’s eyes widened. “Who was it?”

  “You’re going to laugh.”

  Erador shifted closer. “I won’t.”

  Haven touched her neck. “I couldn’t see their face well, but they didn’t quite look like a person. It felt like it didn't belong here.”

  Erador shifted, looking toward the garden. “Did this happen more then once?”

  “Yes.” Haven bit her lip and touched the wooden ram necklace. “Taurin told me I had been dreaming, but other children saw it too.”

  Erador’s tense posture dropped. He knew what it was like to have his eyes play tricks on him, especially after his attack. “Maybe you were dreaming.”

  Haven shot him a glare. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”

  “I’m not saying you didn’t see it, but… how do you know it was real?”

  “Other children saw it.”

  “Maybe they spread stories to scare each other and you worked it up in your head.”

  Haven crossed her arms. “You’ve never seen anything strange in that manor?”

  That would’ve made it more exciting. The manor was empty now, with nothing but the same halls and the same books to read. A warm sensation trickled through his skull as Shade peeked from under his legs and nudged a dark shape in his mind. A shadowy, thin figure hovered over his bed and was gone by the time Erador fully opened his eyes. It was similar to his nightmare the other day when Aminria came to his room.

  “No,” Erador said, stiffly, trying to prevent fear from slipping in his tone. “I saw nothing.”

  Haven curiously looked to Shade who hid under Erador’s legs. Erador tried to contain his composure when she stared too long, and pretended to be interested in the clouds as a few drips of water wet the step. He wished it would pour, so he could use it as an excuse to go inside and get away from Haven’s prying golden eyes that shined in the dull atmosphere. Like with his scars, she knew he was lying. He didn’t want to fuel her fantasies and make those memories his reality when he was already battling enough.

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  Haven broke the silence. “Don’t you remember when Paradins went missing in the night?”

  Erador slowly relieved the breath he’d been holding. “They probably left.”

  “They took nothing with them and left without an explanation.”

  Erador twisted his lip up. “So, you think this thing took them?”

  “Demon. I think they knew about it and told us not to talk about it. Maybe it was caused from Lucrethia's dark history.” Haven hugged herself. “I couldn’t sleep well because I thought it would come for me, but I stopped seeing it after Judgment became sick.” She leaned her head sideways on her knees. Her curious eyes made his stomach roll, and he had to look away. “I knew when it came, even if I didn’t see it.”

  “How?”

  “I would be sweaty and hot.”

  Erador shivered at the cool breeze. Haven didn’t as if the memory of waking in bed had consumed her. He knew that fear, when he wasn’t aware of his surroundings because he was panicking. His heart was racing, and his skin had become so sensitive that he could feel every hair raise on his body.

  “How often did it come?” Erador whispered.

  Haven raised her head. “Every week.”

  “You told no one but Taurin?”

  She shook her head. “Who would believe it?

  Her untrusting stare caused a stab in his gut. As an older child he didn’t believe in fairy tales, so he couldn’t blame her for not telling. Erador wished she’d told him because he could’ve made her feel comfortable with someone else in the room—he knew how it felt to be scared and alone.

  He tried to think of that memory from his childhood Shade forced on him, but all he could remember was his fear for this shadowy monster that looked like Slen. It was a nightmare. He usually woke sweaty when the night was too hot or when he had a nightmare about Slen.

  “Are you scared you’ll see it again?” Erador said.

  Haven set her chin on her knees as she stared into the garden. “If I think about it when I’m trying to sleep.”

  “If it’s any help, I doubt it will come. You said so yourself you haven’t seen it in years.”

  Erador tried to sound convincing and played it off that the demon left like the rest of the Paradins. He couldn't fathom why some being would leave after it had been haunting the manor for so long.

  She frowned. “With the Raven free, don’t you worry?”

  Haven appeared questioning rather than worried, as if she were searching for something she could relate to. But Erador didn’t turn his head to acknowledge her feelings. It’d been almost two months since the Raven had been freed. The only horrific death was Emera and he blamed Hawth for that.

  The Raven could be hiding and regaining his strength so he could destroy what little people were left in Lucrethia. He could also be gathering allies. Tales of the Raven affected Erador as a child, and made him keep the candle lit in case he wanted to flee into the Shadow Realm, but that was before his attack. Now those stories felt more like the tales Eli and Loma told him about the Seniths. Erador knew he should be worried, but the Raven didn’t seem like a threat. He was one man. What could he do?

  “I don’t,” Erador said.

  Haven leaned closer. “Do you think the Raven did those things?”

  “What? Kill Lucrethians and sabotage my father’s name? Yes,” Erador said. “Why would you think he didn’t?”

  Haven played with the tip of her braid. “I’m not saying the Raven hasn’t done wrong… but they never told us why he sabotaged Lucrethia.”

  “He was vindictive like Sirith.”

  Haven shook her head. “There has to be more to it. There has to be a reason why he hates your father. Judgment isn’t innocent either.”

  Erador furrowed his brow. “What are you saying? My father made the Raven do it?”

  “No.” Haven nudged her heel on the step. “I just don’t think we’re getting the full story.”

  “I saw the messages in his cage, Haven,” Erador said. “The Raven wants to kill us. He hates all of us, not just my father.”

  Haven sighed and rubbed her hand down one of her braids. “I know, but—”

  “Then go ask the Raven.”

  “I wish I could.” Haven frowned. “Not one of us tried and he was right there. Maybe we could’ve reasoned with him… made him understand.”

  “You can’t reason with a murderer. Why don’t you ask Absolution why he killed her? According to my father and every Lucrethian, she was the purest. Even children were seen as sinners.”

  Haven frowned. “I guess you’re right. It was foolish of me to think that.”

  She rose and Erador grabbed her hand. “Don’t say that.”

  Haven slipped away and went up the steps. The sky poured and Erador shivered from the drops that hit his skin, and it only made him feel more pain.