Shadows in the Dust
Valenticia's POV~
The beam from my flashlight quavered, slicing through the damp shadows of the Clawford estate, with sharp fear each time it flickered that it might conceal Gregor’s spies. The air was dense, tasted of wet earth and old oak and my breaths came shallow and ragged, each one an effort to fight the dread constricting my chest. Who’s here? I said to myself, the words swallowed by darkness. I felt cobwebs slap my sweater again, snaring the sleeves, and my heart rate increased, antidote vial and my mother’s note—find Marrow—spiking heat into my skin, a promise I couldn’t unmake. There was a scuttle and I stopped, the light catching on a rat, its beady eyes shining like two stars as it shot from behind one of the wine racks. I felt relief, unsettled, tremblin
