Seeing Light (The Seraphina Parrish Trilogy) Read Online Free Page B

would’ve thought you’d arrive much sooner.” She pulls me to my feet.
    “You could’ve saved me the trip by just telling me the truth when you had the chance.” I brush bits of debris from my body and straighten my jacket.
    “You weren’t ready,” she says in her thick accent. “But I can see that you are now.” She looks me over but doesn’t engage my eyes with her painful dark fire the way she used to. Instead, she waves for Perpetua and me to follow her.
    Behind the altar, between two icon statues, spiral stairs twist their way into the earth. We follow Terease as she descends into the silent darkness, away from the frustrated roar of the Reaper and the crackling and popping of the burning church.
    Below, the air is musty and chilled. A spark flicks to life, igniting a blaze that burns at the end of a torch. Terease holds the light high, leading us through an ancient corridor. Niches line the walls; several lead to private rooms for worship, while some hold ancient statues and primitive altars. Other areas are catacombs, several empty and some filled with the dead.
    When we reach the end, we enter a low room with a circular domed ceiling, beneath which an elongated stone box sits centered. Terease hands me the torch, and she and Perpetua squat down on either side of the tomb and grip the lid of the sarcophagus. With great difficulty and the gritting of teeth, they push the stone slab to one side. It screeches its resistance, rubbing stone against stone, and an opening appears.
    “Come.” Terease waves me forward. She climbs into the stone box, which I can see hides another set of stairs that descend deeper into the bowels of Nocturna.

::5::
The Prophecy

    Terease’s hand reaches up and I pass her the torch. With free hands, I lift myself onto the stone box, swing my legs over the ledge, and let my feet drop inside, settling them on a step. Inhaling deeply, I stand and descend the stairs.
    Below, the cavern is unnatural, manmade, and cut into stone. Wood beams support the walls and ceiling much like a coal mine.
    “Where are we going?”
    “We have to travel deep underground so that the Reaper cannot sense us,” Terease explains.
    The cavern funnels into a smaller corridor where the land declines steeply, leading to more stairs. Water trickles down the rocky walls making the uneven floor slippery, and a few times I slip and grab on to Perpetua to right myself. The farther we travel, the more the temperature drops. A dewy layer of nervous sweat covers my skin.
    Finally we enter what could only be described as a bunker, a cot-lined room filled with tables, maps, radar equipment, and a mishmash of gadgets for who knows what. It’s a command center, looking very much like the inside of a World War II submarine. Many people are working, some are chatting and eating. Gauging the group, I realize that, like Terease, the Reaper has not taken most of these people’s souls. I can tell by their eyes; they’re bright and alive.
    Terease leads us behind a curtain to a space that is simple, but as private as it will get in this cramped bunker.
    “Sit,” she commands and then drops herself into a deep-cushioned chair, waking a sleeping Animate cat that lays curled on the back. She reaches and grabs a canteen of water from a hook on the wall and offers it to me. Gladly I take it and unscrew the top before throwing my head back and chugging the liquid. When I’m done, I pass it to Perpetua.
    “I just saw Bishop’s family. Do you know why they’re here?” My voice catches and I want to break down again at the thought of them weakened and soulless, but I remember Mona’s plea to stay strong.
    “They entered the city several hours ago. I tried to reach them before the Reapers but failed. When I arrived, I found the three on the beach, but only after the Reapers had fed on their souls. For their safety, I put them up in the home of an ally.” She relaxes in her seat, resting her pale hands on the chair’s wide