The Cursed Threshold

t as though it had been dragged through ice. Blinking, she realized she was lying on the cold, damp floor o

g as he pushed himself up. "

She scrambled to her feet, her eyes darting

choed from t

She gripped the leather-bound book in her hands

e but determined. "Stay close," he said,

vier, thick with the stench of decay. The walls seemed to

Tess cal

e clearly, trembling wit

allowed them, and the floor beneath their feet felt uneven, as tho

w him, Tess nearly c

ed by the swirling mist. His small frame looked impossibly fra

stepped into the chamber, an invisi

ding against the unseen

e pale and tear-streaked. "

arrier, but it had no effect. "What is th

t figure cloaked in shadow. Its hollow eyes burned with an ot

illing echo that reverberated thro

holding up the book.

y at the sight of the book,

eaction. "Tess, th

hands trembling. "But it's importa

voice filled with rage. "That

tighter. "What is this

oss the chamber. "This is the threshold. The place between

nk. "Noah didn'

" the figure said. "T

oice firm. "Then take me in

ing his offer. "A trade," it said, its voice d

treaming down her face. "We

d with strange symbols and cryptic text, but one phrase stood ou

t say?" Mark asked

g in her throat. "It says we hav

d. "What does that

igure lunged toward Noah, its

rantically. Her eyes landed on another glowing p

gaze shifted to the book in

ifying. The figure recoiled, shrieking

as the chamber began to quake, crac

the book. She didn't understand their meaning, but as

wisted, the figure's s

"You cannot und

ecited the words. The book's glow enveloped her, and

and Tess ran to Noah, p

he fire poker with all his strength. The weapon passed through the figu

ish it!" M

t, reciting the final l

afening scream as it dissolved into the mist. The symbols o

herself falling. She clutched Noah tightly, her heart r

floor of the basement, Noah safe in her arms. Ma

altar gone. The door at the top of the st

aid, his voice bare

ming down her face. "We'

Tess glanced back at the e

hake the feeling that the hou