Preview of Blinded/ In Plain Sight/ Arcane

He had the most expressionless, stern face that I'd ever seen. We stood in the center of that deserted room filled with dust and open air, looking out to the world below. Black, liquid-like forms of humans fought, maniacal and seeming to have no souls, no wills. The never resting souls of the nearly dead.

"They're called Shades," he said, "Remnants of Nameless."

"What Lucifer really wants."

He nodded, his curly hair bouncing as he did. "He'll give them power in exchange for their negative energy and the slow destruction of their soul, giving them nothing they want in return. He wants to build an army."

"An army?"

"Yeah, an army. He needs you out of the way – I mean, Abel's already gone, and so are Esther and your mother. Jedidah."

My throat was dry. "I know."

He cleared his throat. "There are ways to stop him, Ebony – ways to destroy the Shades."

I looked up. This was the first time the Shadow had taken off his mask, but it was not truly him – merely a glamour. Somehow, his mess of brown ringlets and big, brown eyes seemed familiar to me, from long ago. Maybe I remembered something from long, long ago, when my first name was still only Gabriella.

I couldn't figure out what it was, though.

"Oh?"

He nodded again, looking me in the eye. "Light. Darkness. You kill them with extremes. Fire and all of the other elements seems to weaken them, but light and darkness are the only things that are known to kill them."

"So you and I have to do it."

"Exactly."

"And once that's done?"

"Lucifer's done for. We'll get to him; find a way inside – end him."

"And just… live normally?"

He shrugged, shoving his black gloved hands into his pockets. "I guess so. Maybe… you should travel or something after all of this, get your mind off of it all… you need to forget, ease the pain. Forget about Abel."

"I… can't."