Shadowblade academy 2 da.., p.29
Shadowblade Academy 2: Darkness Rising, page 29
“No. I owe you an apology, child. I can see now. You did not harm me in that evil prison. Your body did not come into contact with mine. You simply . . . oversaw.”
Quentin gasped in horror.
“Desmona,” I said, my voice cracking from sadness. “What happened in the prison?”
“Isn’t it obvious, child?” She glanced over at the baby in Jace’s arms. “I was raped by the demons.”
I slapped a hand to my mouth, unable to keep the sorrow and pain from twisting my face.
For some reason, Desmona gave me a small, encouraging smile. “Do not fear, child.” She reached out to place her smooth palm against my arm. “I am renewed. Alive. My Kolpoden Grove will grow to unimaginable strength now.” She spoke to Levia behind me. “I believe I have you to thank for that, Dragoness Queen.”
Levia had donned scraps of armor, though most of her skin still showed. “No,” she said simply. “I kept dryad alive. Vera Hargrave did the thing. Returned your rightful soul.” She nodded curtly, unwilling to take credit for Desmona’s recovery.
The dryad’s smile grew wider on her serene face as she refocused on me. “Thank you, child.”
“What’s next?” I asked. “What will happen to the baby?”
Her smile wavered. “I’m unsure. I must think on this.”
“Should be killed,” Levia said, “so it not grow into evil.”
“No!” screeched Dr. Merryman behind us. “It can’t!”
I faced him with a wicked scowl. “You wish to run your tests on it.”
“This is a supernatural breakthrough, Miss Hargrave. Don’t you understand?”
Professor Limfel, the Turned expert from Briarwitch Academy, said, “Dr. Merryman is correct. We could glean much from this creature.”
“It is not your decision,” I said forcefully. “It is up to Desmona to decide what happens to the baby.”
“Well, not exactly,” said a new voice.
Alaric Cane shuffled through the parting crowd of the remaining students. The lanky headmaster neared us, then stopped at the foot of Desmona’s bed. “Shadowblade Academy law dictates people are not allowed to leave here, lest they be punished. While we’ve never had a live birth on this campus, the fact remains.”
“You can’t be serious, Headmaster,” I spat. “You can’t shackle her here. The baby isn’t a student. Neither is Desmona. Those rules only work for students.”
“Even so. If I were to claim this creature for the Academy, I would be within my right—”
“I’m disappointed, Vero Cane,” Levia cut in. “Do that and I strike you down where you stand.” Her four mates crowded the space behind her.
Around me, my four Glovemates did the same.
Jace said, “I’m with them, Alaric.” He rocked the demon baby in his arms. “This is no time to justify Academy bylaws.”
Alaric changed his tune in a heartbeat, realizing he was outgunned. He chuckled and pumped his hands out in surrender. “You misunderstand, everyone. I was not implying I’d actually do what Academy law gives me the power to do. I’m simply saying—”
“Bullshit,” I grunted. “You want the baby as a science project just as much as these Briarwitch nerds do. Or you would have stayed quiet when it was mentioned. This ‘marvel of our society’ is not a specimen, Headmaster. It is a living, breathing being.”
His eyes gleamed with rage. “Do not attempt to try and understand my inclinations, Miss Hargrave. Or my motives.”
“So what’s the answer?”
Alaric shrugged. “Desmona has come and left this Academy once before already. As long as she keeps what she sees here to her grove and nowhere else, I have no problem allowing her to leave—”
“With the child,” I said.
He ignored me, gritting his teeth. “Though I would highly recommend not disposing of this whelp on a whim. As Professor Limfel has said, we can learn much from it.”
Desmona spoke up. “The child will be raised with me, in the forest. It will not see the likes of human or supernatural civilizations.”
Alaric said, “And what if something comes for it? An evil presence—the same I believe has been haunting this world for years?”
“Then I will fend it off.”
“And I will help,” Jace added.
Alaric pinched the bridge of his nose. He glared at Jace. “What if it is the rightful father?”
A deadly mien overtook Jace’s features. He looked ready to lash out at the headmaster, superior or not. “I have a feeling the ‘father’ was killed in Asberald City, by my Glove.”
“But you don’t know that.”
“The demon responsible for such an atrocity gave up any claim to the child once he defiled Desmona to obtain it. He has no right, and I only wish he would show his face in the Kolpoden Grove.” He cracked his knuckles to make his point.
It gave me hope to see Jace standing up for Desmona. We all backed her. Like the “father” of Desmona’s child, Alaric Cane didn’t have a leg to stand on in this argument. He was simply trying to conspire, as usual.
Horror dawned on me, replacing the hopefulness as truth of the situation came into sinister focus. “Desmona, if you were violated by these Leatherwings—these demons—you might not have been the only one.”
“No, child, perhaps not. I suspect the Asberald City prison was a breeding facility of sorts.”
“Fucking hell,” I muttered, rubbing my temples, trying to get the grim thought out of my mind. My head spun. “Someone needs to check on Genevieve Jade.”
“I’ll do it, princess,” Sunny said behind me.
I gave him a curt nod.
Queen Levia tilted her head at me. “You are princess, Vera Hargrave?”
I blushed. “Erm, not exactly. Not like you.”
“I see. And the Forbidden Orchard?”
“My Glovemates and I will still go there. Tomorrow.” I looked back at my men, to see them nodding in agreement. “The issue is more prudent than ever now, if the Orchard is anything like Asberald. It needs to be stopped.”
“Very good,” Levia said, bowing her head slightly.
I smiled at her, thinking of her words from our meeting earlier that evening. “We don’t go back on our promises either, Queen.”
She returned my grin and pounded a fist to her chest in a salute. “You have spirit of dragon inside you, Vera Hargrave. This is good.”
Chapter 41
Coralia
IT WAS HARD TO SLEEP that night, but I managed to get a few hours of shut-eye. There was something about Levia Sunfall’s dragon flame that really did it for me, igniting my body with feel-good chemicals that helped me mellow out after my arduous trip to the Spectral Realm.
I had to wonder what the hell had happened there. Was that “body double” I saw of myself really . . . me? Or something like my alter ego or evil doppelganger?
Every time I went to the Spectral Realm, I came out with more questions than I had before. I hoped to do some research after all this was over to dig up whatever I could find about the parallel world.
Next morning, I had to give another sappy farewell to my roommate and kitty cat. They seemed to be doing just fine together. In fact, Charli had slept through the entire gold dragon incident from the night before.
She was not happy about it.
“I can’t believe I was out so hard that I missed a freaking dragon on campus! You’re talking scales, wings, the whole nine yards?”
“Yep.”
“Dang it!” She smacked her little fists on her mattress as I peeled on my fae-tech dojo gear—the black onesie that fit like a wetsuit and left nothing to the imagination. Jace Hudson, who was apparently back in control of the Gable Training Facility, had let me borrow it for this occasion.
“It’s okay, Charli, I’m sure Queen Levia will be back.”
“She was a queen too?!” Charli flopped back on the bed in a whoosh of pillows. She stared at the ceiling. “It’s not fair. I blame you, Brucey. I wouldn’t have slept so hard if you hadn’t worn me out.”
I had a million lewd and comical responses I could have lobbed at her from that, but I resisted the temptation.
Mr. Kittenson meowed and pawed at Charli, who piled the little guy onto her body. “I’m just playing,” she squeaked. “I’m not mad at you.”
I smiled. Yep, they would definitely be all right without me. “Love ya, Char. I’ll be back before you know it, okay?”
“That’s what you said last time.”
“And I came back, didn’t I?”
She grumbled. “Took a while.”
When she sat up, I smothered her in a hug. “I promise.”
“Okay. I love you too, Cor Cor. See you soon. Things are about to get a whole lot more boring here without you. Jeez, the one day you show up and half the school gets to see a real-life dragon. And I’m not one of them.”
I tilted her chin. “Don’t pout, girl. You’ll get over it.”
Then I winked at her and left the dorm, but not before strapping my Oblyx Steel sword on my back.
I had a feeling I’d be needing it where I was going.
“I CAN LEAD YOU GUYS to the outskirts of the Forbidden Orchard, but once you’re inside, you’re on your own.” Jace Hudson paced in front of us. None of us saluted him or gave him more attention than usual, because he wasn’t our Wrist or leader. He was just a dude telling us what he knew.
Yeah, I might have held a little grudge over how things had transpired with Jace and the Academy.
“How can you lead us there?” I asked.
“I tracked a path when I was living with Desmona.”
“Living with her?”
“Erm, near her. Oops.” He sighed and scrubbed a hand through his trimmed beard. “After I left Waichee, I stayed near the Kolpoden Grove. When I found out about the darkness corrupting Des, I sought out the Orchard. That’s when I shadowmapped a path there.”
“And to be clear, you won’t be joining us inside?”
He cocked his head. “Unless you want me to?”
“Nope,” Sunny barked. He definitely had the Glove’s consensus. “You’ve done quite enough, Wrist. Thank you.” The word “Wrist” dripped with sarcasm. If I held a little grudge, Sunny’s was massive. But it wasn’t the only thing about Sunder Conway that was massive—he was a man of boisterous, arrogant proportions.
“Right,” Jace mumbled. I almost felt bad for him as he started to walk away. “Let me know when you’re ready, and I’ll send you on your way.”
We were in the safe familiarity of the Gable Training Facility, away from prying eyes. My second term was starting in two days, but as long as everything went swimmingly in the Forbidden Orchard, I’d be back before sundown.
I wasn’t sure exactly what we were looking for there. Some source of dark power, I assumed. Something that looked like it could be used as a corrupting device, or a brainwashing device that gave Quentin, Desmona, and Genevieve amnesia.
Speaking of Vivi, Sunny had checked on her early this morning. He somehow convinced her to get checked up by a doctor. The coast was clear: She didn’t have a demon fetus residing inside her.
Thank the spirits.
Now if we could just get her mind firing off again—maybe even revert her back to the bitchy, snide bully I had come to lovingly hate. That version of Vivi was much preferred to this dazed one.
All things in due time.
I had to focus on the mission at hand. Staring out at the half-circle of my Glovemates, an eerie sense of déjà vu washed over me. I felt like we were preparing for my Ghost final again—our dangerous trek inside Asberald City where this had all started.
Hopefully, by day’s end, we would finish the story in the Forbidden Orchard.
I swallowed hard and calmed my nerves, taking a few deep breaths. “How do you all feel about this?” I asked once it was just me and my Glovemates.
My eyes went to Dax first.
The panther shifter frowned. “I’ve given it a lot of thought, M’shyok. My days of blindly trusting Shadowblade Academy are over. I will return here, because I haven’t yet become a shadowblade, and I wish to do that. But I can never look at Jace Hudson or Alaric Cane the same again. That trust has been broken.”
My face sank.
“That being said, I will do this—not for them, but for my people. For us. For any other woman that might be suffering at the hands of these despicable monsters. Someone needs to stop them.”
“And you think we can do it with the five of us?” Sunny asked, snorting.
I rolled my eyes. “I was going to ask your thoughts next, Sunny, but clearly that’s not necessary.”
He shrugged. “We’re undermanned and probably outgunned. Sounds like a normal day at the Academy. But once we’re back, I’m going to yell at the budget committee or whoever sets these things up. Mark my words.”
“So you’re in?”
“What kind of a pussy would I be if I wasn’t, princess?”
He was already giving me a headache, so I just rubbed my temples and nodded. “I’ll take that as a yes. Venn?”
The Unseelie fae gave me a lopsided smile. “You know I’m in, hun.” With a wink, he added, “as long as we get some spicy time once it’s all over.”
My cheeks burned. He had become too comfortable with what we had going, and I needed to let him know. But I didn’t have the heart, because the truth was, I would probably want some “spicy time” with the ravenous fae after we came back. Plus, I got the impression he was also mentioning his deepest desires to get a rise out of Sunny, which I was always on board with.
I said, “Your forwardness knows no bounds, Venn,” then turned to Quentin with an expectant look. “Dreamwatcher?”
His kind, handsome face was strangely somber. The rest of us had come with high energy levels, which was exactly what I’d hoped my pep talk the night before would prompt. But Quentin looked lethargic. Not excited to be doing this.
We all dealt with nerves differently.
“I want to discover more about my condition,” he said at last, nodding slowly, as if trying to convince himself as much as anyone else. “If this will lead to answers, then I’m all for it. We just need to make sure we watch each other’s backs while we’re out there.”
“Are you getting a bad feeling about this, Quen?” I asked.
“Are you not?”
I pouted. “I’m actually feeling pretty good about the whole thing.”
Luckily, my little barb brought out some chuckles from the guys. Because the truth was, I felt exactly how Quentin did. I just didn’t want to show it. If I was stepping into a leadership role, I wanted to give the outward appearance of confidence, even if I was rattling with fear on the inside.
Once the four of them were spoken for, I turned to Jace, who stood off to the side examining his hands. “We’re ready.”
“Wait, hold up,” Sunny said. He put his hands on his hips. “What about you, princess? How do you feel about this mission?”
Shit. I had hoped to avoid my own thoughts on the matter. I bit my bottom lip and glanced at each of them in turn. Boy, my Glovemates were some attractive motherfuckers. The way they stared at me with varying degrees of interest, excitement, and longing made me weak at the knees.
“I’m not gonna lie, guys. I’m a bit scared.” There went my shield of overconfidence in one fell swoop. “But I know I’ll have you guys to watch my back, and that gives me comfort. We can do this thing, and we’ll be back before the mess hall opens for dinner.
“And I agree with what you’ve all said. I want answers, for all of us. I want to punish these Leatherwings for what they did to Desmona. I want to stop the spread of the blight near Waichee. I want to get Levia her Oblyx Steel so she doesn’t harass us or burn our world down.
“This isn’t about the Academy, in my mind. It’s about protecting civilization and stopping this growing plague of demons from stamping our lands and destroying our people. Imagine what we might discover. Imagine what we might be able to stop.”
I let out a deep breath and nodded, signaling I was done. Apparently, I’d had more words brewing inside me than I’d realized.
After a brief pause, Venn bowed his head. “You have a way with words, Coralia Hargrave.”
“Yeah, I’ll admit your pep talks are better than mine,” Sunny added. “I would have just said, ‘Let’s fucking do it.’”
I clapped and gave him a wicked grin. “All right then, boys. Let’s fucking do it, shall we?”
Chapter 42
Coralia
WE STOOD BEHIND A COPSE of ash trees, staring off into the ubiquitous black fog ahead. It was like a squat, cylindrical wall that went fifty feet in the air, covering everything but the tallest trees in the area. It looked like a storm cloud had been tugged from the sky and placed in a quarter-mile area in the Appalachian rainforest. I was surprised no satellites or human aircraft had noticed it to investigate.
Jace’s shadowgate had plopped us right on the doorstep of the Forbidden Orchard.
The fog here was different than any I’d ever seen. Dark energy swirled inside. It looked fucking dangerous. No sunlight seemed to pierce through its murky veil.
And what did no sunlight mean? No shadows.
“Fuck, that’s imposing,” I mumbled to my group. I bunched my hands into fists to keep them from shaking.
Sunny smiled at my side. “Having second thoughts, princess?”
I let out a “pfft.” “Don’t tell me that doesn’t scare the shit out of you, asshole.”
He shrugged. “We’ve been through worse.”
Had we though? Because this looked pretty grim.
“All right, guppies, enough chatter. Goggles on.” It was Quentin who brought us back to our senses.
Jace Hudson had provided us with night vision goggles for the occasion, since we weren’t sure what we were getting ourselves into. He had said, “They might not work, but it’s worth a shot,” to which I asked, “How did you get them?” and he smiled at me. “Luciano Rockford isn’t the only one who has deals with humans, Miss Hargrave.”
