Creeping Shadow (The Rise of Isaac, Book One) by Caroline Peckham Page A

someone who might be able to help but we'll have to go through the Gateway."
    Oliver pulled away from his grandfather, gazing at him in astonished horror. "You're mad. She needs a doctor. She could die ." The word left a bitter taste in his mouth and he felt his shoulders begin to tremble as he pressed his palms into the carpet, readying to stand once more.
    Ely grabbed his arm again, not letting him get up. "I know it sounds mad and I wouldn't tell you at all if it weren't a life or death situation. But I need to get her to Aleva."
    The word rang a bell in Oliver's head but he couldn't place it.
    May screamed again.
    "Hold her still for me, Oliver," Ely said, firmly.
    Oliver didn't move, the rhythmic beat of his pulse sounding in his ears like a war drum.
    " Now ," Ely commanded, his eyes blazing at him.
    Oliver wordlessly did as he was told, staring wide-eyed at the man. Ely rolled up his sleeves and waved his hands slowly over her body. May struggled beneath Oliver's grip but he held her firm.
    A light appeared, glowing orange and warm from Ely's palms. Oliver blinked to try and clear his eyes of the strange hallucination he was having but the vision didn't fade.
    Incredibly, as Ely's hands hovered over May, the veins receded and flowed back into the black, pulsing patches dotted across her body. They paled and decreased in size before flowing like water towards the largest patch on her chest.
    Ely pulled away, out of breath.
    The remaining mark faded slightly and stopped pulsing, resembling a large bruise.
    Oliver fell back, gasping and looked at Ely in shock. "H-how?" It was all he could manage to get out.
    Ely pulled a half smile through his deep breaths then said, "I told you so."
    May groaned and her eyes refocused as she looked up at Oliver.
    "How do you feel?" he asked gently.
    "I'm okay. What happened? Did I fall out of bed?"
    Oliver smiled with relief and pulled her into a hug. "You're fine now, you lunatic."
    "I'm not a lunatic," she said, her voice muffled by his t-shirt.
    Oliver laughed. Relief swept through him in a wave, washing away the fear in an instant. Ely patted him on the shoulder and squeezed May's arm.
    "I think you two had better come downstairs for some hot cocoa. We need to have a little chat.
    Ely exited the room and Oliver pulled May to her feet. They followed their grandfather down to the kitchen where two steaming cups of cocoa were waiting for them. They took seats around the breakfast bar and waited for Ely to speak.
    "We need to talk about that mark, May. But first it's best if I give you some information that will help you understand."
    "What mark? What's going on? What happened?" May asked, her brow furrowing anxiously.
    Oliver described how he had found her on the floor covered in the strange bruises and how Ely had somehow saved her. She looked just as unbelieving of the story as Oliver would have been if he hadn't witnessed it himself.
    She looked down at her chest where the remaining bruise was peeking out above her top and touched the mark in shock.
    "Am I going to die?" she breathed, sounding panicked.
    Oliver squeezed her arm. "No chance."
    "Of course not. I wouldn't let that happen. I have a friend, Grelda Grey, who's a specialist in curses. There isn't a curse she can't cure, trust me," Ely said confidently.
    "Curse?" May said in confusion.
    Ely nodded and ran his finger slowly around the rim of his mug, letting out a breath that sounded as though he were relieved. "There are other worlds. Seven in fact, including Earth."
    " What? " May said.
    She caught Oliver's eye and the expression on his face silenced her.
    Ely watched May for a moment, running a hand up into his beard and scraping his fingernails down the skin.
    When she said no more, he continued. "It's called an intraverse: a universe within a universe. It's been named Heptus. The worlds are connected to each other in what you can imagine as a spiralling string."
    He waved his finger in the air and a glowing, blue spiral