A Plague of Shadows Read Online Free PDF Page A

she still checked her hands over from time to time, to make sure no shadow was stealing over her flesh, threatening to choke out her spirit like seemingly happened with the bees.
    “Is it something we should be worried about?” Leona asked. Abagail wasn’t sure if Leona had actually heard what was wrong with the bees, or if she just wanted to be part of the conversation.
    “I guess we will just have to wait and see. I’ve never heard of it happening to a hive, but I can ask around in town tomorrow.”
    “You’re going to ask in town?” Abagail asked around a mouthful of food. “They see darklings everywhere. I doubt that would be helpful. And if you ask in town, that might encourage the Light Guard to start snooping around here!”
    “Come on Abbie, you might work like a man, but at least you can behave like a lady at the table,” her father complained, his eyebrows creasing together.
    Abagail slowed down, and sat back in her chair, taking her time.
    “Yes, I have to go get some supplies,” Dolan said.
    “Can I go?” Leona asked.
    “I have to get up early, if you think you can be ready.”
    The rest of dinner passed with idle chatter, and though Abagail wanted nothing more than to rest after she’d ate, thoughts of the shadow she’d seen in the forest wouldn’t let her.
     

 
    It was early the following morning when Abagail woke up. She hadn’t slept well, though she couldn’t remember what had kept her sleep fitful. Most likely dreams that were already lost to her waking mind. She stretched awake and noted that the house was silent.
    They’re already gone, Abagail thought with a yawn. There were morning chores to do, but town was a ways off, and they likely wouldn’t be back for a while. Abagail was just starting to doze off when a pounding came to the front door.
    She groaned, hoped it was just her imagination, and decided to ignore whoever it was. She had just started to close her eyes again when the pound came once more.
    “I’m going to kill whoever that is,” Abagail promised herself. She tied a house coat over her naked flesh and padded down the wooden hallway. The house was oddly silent without anyone in it. Through the poorly insulated wooden walls she could hear the bees buzzing outside and the chatter of birds.
    “Come on Abbie, I know you’re there!” Rorick’s familiar voice intruded on the silence of the house.
    At the husky timber of his voice, Abagail’s heart hitched. She didn’t care what her emotions said, or how excited she was that he was there at her door, she still promised to kill him for waking her up when she should be sleeping.
    “What do you want?” she called from the middle of the living room.
    “The day is before us, what more could I want?”
    “Well, I want to sleep!”
    “Get your lazy ass out here. I will build Hafaress’ Hearth back up while you get dressed,” Rorick said, and she heard his feet thump away from the door and off toward the fire.
    Abagail peeked through the front window. His golden hair glowed in the light of the morning sun. She smiled despite her previous threats of killing him, and hurried back to her room. He would have to wait while she washed up, though she’d pretend she had just thrown something on, Abagail never went around Rorick without being clean.
    Still, he was right, there was a whole day before them, and for a moment she’d forgotten about the dream, the darkling, the strange illness with the bees, and the room she’d seen upstairs. She slipped into a pair of trousers and a shirt, making sure it wasn’t the same ones she’d worn the day before.
    Nothing could be done about her short hair, but she still ran her fingers through it trying to make it look a little less rumpled from sleep.
    When she opened the door, Rorick was sitting on the porch, chewing on a long stalk of grass and staring off into the woods. He seemed not to notice her, so Abagail watched him for a moment. It was only when she was around Rorick that