Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 7

the room.
    Rafferty turned, and his eyes seemed too bright for the dimness of the room. He stared at Corin for a moment, as though expecting Corin to say something, but Corin stayed quiet. Rafferty had definitely turned the windows darker, but that was unnatural. How had he done that? Was it related to the apple? Was Corin asleep and dreaming?
    "Do you know why you're here?" Rafferty asked. Corin couldn't read his expression, shaded as he was in the darkened room.
    "To learn humility and respect," Corin recited, obediently repeating the words that were drilled into them every week. "To serve the priests. You."
    "No," Rafferty said, shaking his head. His too-bright eyes were pinned to Corin, and Corin fought the urge to squirm under the weight of Rafferty's gaze. "You've noticed the shadows."
    "The shadows?" Corin repeated, unable to keep the skepticism from his voice. "There are shadows everywhere."
    "Don't be an idiot," Rafferty said, scowling at Corin. "You're too strong not to have noticed."
    "Strong?" Corin repeated, wondering if Rafferty was feeling all right. Perhaps he'd fallen ill and was hallucinating, dragging Corin into his strange visions?
    "Strong." Rafferty sighed, the pensive look slipping over his face. "Everyone has some measure of spirit energy; you have a great deal of it, more than some of our highest priests. Priests are taught to shield against the shadows, like I did there," Rafferty gestured towards the door, "but since you don't know how, the shadows will have been following you, trying to get close to you."
    "You mean the demons in the shadows?" Corin asked, furrowing his brow. Maybe the priests had learned he was skeptical of that line and were trying to scare him into believing? Rafferty, with whatever he had done to the windows and door, could probably try to fool him with his tricks. The apple, too, maybe?
    "Yes," Rafferty said. "You don't believe a word I'm saying."
    Corin hesitated and then shrugged. He was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to say that.
    "They're real," Rafferty said quietly, his eyes sliding half-shut. He looked eerie, his face mostly shadowed and his eyes still glowing slightly. He continued quietly, his voice a raspy whisper in the quiet of the little room. "They're very real, and they want to be free of the shadows."
    Corin shifted in his seat uneasily then stood, crossing over to the window still draped in darkness. Rafferty watched him, not saying anything as Corin approached the window. Corin touched the glass, surprised to find it felt normal despite the dark tint to it. "What is this?"
    "No one can see in," Rafferty said. "It blocks anyone on the other side from seeing into the room."
    "Wouldn't that attract attention?" Corin asked. He'd be curious if he looked at a window and saw darkness where it wasn't supposed to be.
    "The room looks normal from the outside; they can't see us, is all," Rafferty clarified, his eyes opening fully again. They were glowing, Corin noted, and he swallowed hard, wondering what that meant.
    "You don't want anyone to know we're talking?" Corin guessed because he couldn't think of any other reason for Rafferty to block the windows. He'd probably done something similar to the door if that was the case.
    "No," Rafferty said. "If they knew I was speaking with you…" Rafferty trailed off, frowning. "But you don't believe me, so why would you believe…"
    "Believe what?" Corin asked, not liking the ambiguity of Rafferty's statement. It sounded like there would be bad consequences if they were caught talking, but Rafferty hadn't said anything that Corin would consider worthy of punishment.
    "They're going to kill you," Rafferty said, his tone completely matter-of-fact. Corin stared at him, wondering if he'd misheard. "I need your help to stop it."
    "What? Why?" Corin asked, his brow furrowing. "That doesn't make any sense."
    "It happens every year," Rafferty said. He turned to face Corin squarely, holding out his hand. "The demons are bound to do no harm and to stay in the shadows, but the binding needs to be renewed every year."
    "How do they renew the binding?" Corin asked, suddenly sure he didn't want to know the answer to that, but he couldn't keep from asking.
    "It takes spirit energy," Rafferty said, and Corin connected the dots.
    "Which I have a lot of," Corin said, feeling light-headed all of a sudden. "But—if it's done every year, why hasn't anyone noticed? Everyone here is a gossip; they wouldn't keep it a secret."
    "No one but