Shadowblade academy 3 da.., p.4
Shadowblade Academy 3: Darkness Falls, page 4
“Maybe you’re more necessary to Waichee’s success than they gave you credit for, kitty cat,” Sunny said.
I understood he was trying to boost my morale, but his words pained me. I wasn’t part of Waichee any longer—I’d been exiled from my homeland by my own mother, which stung more than anything.
“Could she have gone to try and strike a deal?” Quentin asked.
I bared my teeth, growling. “With demons? She would never!”
Quentin’s palms came up in surrender. “No, no. I didn’t mean maliciously, Dax. I meant to stop further bloodshed from visiting her village.”
“A truce? As an ambassador of the village?”
“Perhaps.” Quentin shrugged.
“I doubt it. My kinsmen would never surrender to those foul beasts after what they’ve done to our forest.”
“All this speculation will get us nowhere,” Donovenn cut in.
“The faerie’s right,” Sunny muttered. “We need to go to the source. Guessing Riann’s motive for going near the Forbidden Orchard will get us nowhere.”
“The source?”
“Your mother. Keep up, kitty cat.”
My upper lip twitched. “Stop calling me that, Sunder.”
The vampire tilted his head. “Or what?”
“Here we go again,” Donovenn mumbled. He put his hand to his forehead and turned, leaving our circle.
Before I could step up to Sunny, Jace Hudson moved between us. “Enough. Stop acting like kids. Are you boys, or men?” He spun on Sunder. “Don’t goad Dax.” Then, to me, “And don’t take his words so personally. You know how Sunny is.”
“Hey,” Sunny whined, “I feel like I got the bigger brunt of that chastisement.”
“That’s because you’re the bigger dick,” Jace answered.
“I definitely have the bigger—”
“Shut up.”
Quentin and Venn chuckled. I cracked a smile, and then Sunny did.
“There will be no fighting in the Kolpoden Grove,” Desmona announced. “This place is my sanctuary. It can be your sanctuary too, children, if you’ll cease this dick-measuring contest.”
“Literally,” Donovenn added.
Sunny broke out in laughter. “Hell, I didn’t expect that tongue from you, Des. I like it.”
“Didn’t you say Ardith can understand you?” Quentin asked, poking the dryad with a smirk.
And was that Desmona . . . blushing?
There’s a first for everything.
Donovenn spread his hand out toward the dryad. “Wait, why does she get to call us ‘children’ but we can’t act like it to each other?”
“Because she’s old as fuck and can do or say whatever she wants,” Jace said.
Desmona’s pointed eyebrows arched. “What was that, M’yrku?”
The big man shrank before the slight tree spirit. “Sorry, hun. I didn’t mean anything by it. I probably could have said that more eloquently.” He bowed his head in embarrassment.
Desmona squared her shoulders, tilting her chin haughtily. I had a feeling Jace hadn’t seen the last of her wrath, but it would come when we weren’t around. “We’re getting sidetracked,” she said.
“Indeed,” I agreed. “I suppose you’re right, Sunder. I need to speak with my mother. That’s the whole reason we came here.”
I checked the sky. The moon was bright, tendrils of light poking down through the canopies.
I wasn’t sure what I’d do if Coralia was hurt. Every minute wasted was agonizing. And now Riann was missing too.
My first love and my last love, both taken from me.
I couldn’t allow that. Riann might have found her place with my brother, but she didn’t deserve to be assaulted by the Leatherwings. No one did.
“When should we go?” I asked.
Sunny shrugged. “There’s no time like the present. Let’s see how stealthy your panther really is, eh?”
I SLUNK THROUGH THE woods like a shadow. My feline eyes saw through the darkness better than my human form ever could.
It didn’t take long to get from Desmona’s Grove to Waichee Village, but that wasn’t the difficult part. Once I reached the perimeter of the village I needed to be incredibly stealthy.
Guards surrounded the entrances into the village. I climbed a tree, my paws biting into the bark, and peered out from atop a branch, gaining an aerial view of most the village.
Almost everyone slept, with tents closed. Even atop the canopy walkways, the treehouses were dark. Shuttered. It was the dead hours of night.
The guards were still attentive, with stone-ensconced torches lighting up their bodies like little bubbles of light. The torches put a target on the guards’ backs.
I recognized a few of them as Cyrus’ men.
I launched from one tree to another, barely making a sound, and landed like a five-pound cat on a jutting branch, rather than a two-hundred pound panther. I scurried across its length and gazed down at another angle.
My eyes lit up when I spied Topo the weasel shifter.
One of my trainees.
I prepared to jump from the tree to greet him, then froze at the last moment as a second man came to join him—another of Cyrus’ posse.
I hissed and snuck down the trunk, bounded away from the village, and circled it. I knew every route this place had to offer and hoped I’d find one of the secret pathways unguarded.
My hopes weren’t high. The village was on high alert, undoubtedly since Riann had gone missing.
“Hey, stop!” a voice called behind me.
My animal spirit took over. I suppose I can’t control death’s schedule. I spun, ready to charge the person who had discovered me. I would try not to kill them, but that was difficult to manage once my animal took over.
I lunged at the silhouette, knocking them onto their back. I pounced on top of them, pinning their arms above their head as I growled and bared my fangs.
They stared up at me with frightened eyes, knowing their doom was imminent if they made one wrong move. I clamped a paw over their mouth.
They squirmed.
Then my brain twitched. I recognized the bright, feminine eyes, frightened but ready for a fight. Always ready for a fight.
Ailey Kin. The spritely bobcat shifter—another trainee.
Before she could try to scream past my paw, I shifted into my human form so she could see my face. “Ailey, it’s me.”
Her scared eyes narrowed with recognition. Her squirming body settled. I lifted my hand slowly from her mouth. She murmured, “Dax Kin?”
The girl’s face reddened and I slanted my head, wondering why she looked suddenly timid and embarrassed. My eyes bulged as I realized my cock rested on her middle. I was naked from shifting, on top of her, and had her arms pinned.
A blush came to my cheeks. I quickly sat up and stood, helping her up with an outstretched hand. “Erm, my apologies.”
Ailey blinked up at me. “O-Oh, it’s a big—not a problem.” It wasn’t very often the bombastic shifter stumbled her way though a sentence.
“I, uh, see why everyone likes you,” she whispered, flashing me a coy smile.
“Likes me? I’ve been exiled.”
“Well, Riann. Once upon a time. And your girlfriend Coralia.”
“Ah.” I shook my head of the abrupt animal urge that sprouted inside me. “Ailey, I need your help.”
Her posture stiffened. “How can I be of service, Dax Kin?”
“I need to see my mother. Can you allow me to enter Waichee without alerting anyone? I will tell the chieftess I snuck in. Your name will not be mentioned.”
It took her less than two seconds to answer. “As far as I’m concerned, you’ve called Waichee your home longer than I have, sir. And also . . . fuck Cyrus.”
I flared my nostrils savagely. “Thank you, Ailey.” I noticed her gaze falling back to my southern bits, her eyes going half-lidded in a dreamy expression.
I shifted into my panther and took off into the bushes toward Waichee Village.
IT TOOK TEN SLOW MINUTES to meander my way to my mother’s tent. Despite all the guards on duty, I kept to the darkness and was almost impossible to see when I was trying to hide at night.
I slipped past the tent flap. Though I made zero noise, my mother was already leaping out of bed and grabbing a spear next to her, then leveling it at me. Her reflexes were still razor-sharp.
I shifted and put my hands up. In front of my mother, I wasn’t ashamed of my nudity—no shifters of Waichee were because we’d all seen it so often. It surprised me Ailey had given me that much notice, in fact, like she’d never seen me naked before. Maybe she hadn’t.
“Mother,” I said slowly.
The spear wobbled, then came down as my mother straightened, unbending out of her fighter’s stance. She swiped her braided hair over one shoulder. “Dax, is that you?”
Darkness shadowed me completely. I could barely make her out through my human eyes. “It’s me. I’m sorry to wake you from your slumber.”
“Why have you come here, son? How did you—”
“The ‘how’ is not important, Mother. You shouldn’t be surprised by it. I’m your son, after all.”
A rare smirk came to her lips, but it quickly faltered as she likely realized her place.
I was an exile. By her orders.
“I’ve heard Riann is missing.”
“How did—”
“Again, not the important question.”
She ambled toward me, still holding her spear. That little detail didn’t escape me. It hurt my heart to think she might believe I was still a threat. “Fine. What is it you want?” Her voice became stern—the typical battlefield commander on full display.
I had hoped to find a moment of vulnerability and understanding with her, alone in her tent, but I should have known better than to expect that from my severe mother.
I had inherited the same cold, detached demeanor from her.
“I want to help,” I said. “My entire Glove does.”
“Your allies are here?”
“Hidden safely away, yes.”
“This is Waichee business, son. Besides, you are banished. You know I can’t go back on my word. It will make me look weaker than I already look.”
“You don’t look weak, Mother.”
She scoffed. “Don’t be naïve, Dax. Not for my sake. We both know Cyrus has a growing group of supporters.”
“Yet you allow his ambitions to swell?” I spat, guffawing in disbelief. It stunned me to know she took Cyrus’ underhandedness in stride.
“He’s also my son, Dax. What am I supposed to do? All men have ambition.”
“He’ll destroy this bloodline, Mother.”
“Not if we get Riann back. Sometimes I suspect she’s the only one holding him back from trying something terrible. The only one keeping him docile.”
I carded a hand through my hair, sighing. “I’m sorry you’re in that position. Why did you agree with him and exile us then?”
“Because your people did kill humans, son. It was to protect you, as contrary as that might sound in your ears. It pained me, but it was the right thing to do at the time.”
“Yet it opened you up to more hostility from Cyrus.”
Her lips firmed. “I’ve been dealing with your brother before you showed up, and I’ll continue to once you’re gone. Have you forgotten you’ve been at Shadowblade Academy for the past two years?”
I gave her a lopsided smile. “True. I don’t doubt your prowess, Mother.”
“Thank you. But you’re stalling.”
“It’s good to see you.”
For a moment I hoped she would say the same. But she wouldn’t lie: It wasn’t good to see me in these circumstances. Not when I was breaking her code of conduct. It hurt to admit she’d always been a chieftain first and a mother second.
I still didn’t want to see her get wounded by Cyrus, of course.
“How can we help?” I asked. “We can do it behind the scenes if we must—if it will help your cause and reputation. But I must get Coralia out of the Forbidden Orchard. I will do anything to rescue her.”
“Ah, yes. I heard the girl went missing after your banishment. The one you love.”
“Yes.” I wouldn’t deny it this time. A lot had changed since Fionne had asked me that question—“Do you love her?”—when we’d first arrived here months ago.
She put her spear down and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. She looked tired, and not just from me waking her. Her spirit seemed bone-weary. Her posture, her attitude. I was so used to seeing this woman strong and in charge. Unflinching and unyielding.
Is this what she becomes when she steals away at night? When she finds time by herself?
Oh, Mother. What have your sons done to you? What has your station done to you?
Finally, she exhaled slowly, as if making a decision and resigning herself. “We are planning a covert raid on the Forbidden Orchard.”
My heart plummeted to my stomach. I reeled. “Without knowing what’s in there? That’s foolish, Mother! And you’re not a foolish woman.”
“I know. But it must be done. We are losing ground against the demons with each day the Orchard stays corrupted and spreading. Soon, our home will not be ours.”
I understood her urgency. I felt the same. “Who will be part of this raiding party?”
“I will lead it with our best soldiers. Cyrus will join with his loyal men.”
I snorted. “Cyrus and ‘loyal’ don’t belong in the same sentence together, Mother.”
“Even so. That is the plan.”
“When?”
“It’s scheduled for tomorrow night.”
I shook my head. “Mother, I don’t like this. I have a bad feeling. You can’t go in blind.”
Another irregular smirk. “Then you’ll have to be our eyes, won’t you?”
Chapter 6
Venn
THE GLOVE WAS READY to do what we needed to rescue Coralia. Jace was on board. It made me happy to see our former Wrist taking part in the action, harkening back to a simpler time when we were Hudson’s Glove.
That seemed like such a long time ago.
I missed Coralia terribly. I’d been lucky enough to get closest to her out of all the guys. Though they were coming around—even Sunny—and learning what I’d known for a while, I still felt a sense of pride at being her first mate.
Cor exemplified courage and resilience. She wouldn’t wilt at the hands of the Leatherwings. She’d put up a damn good fight if it came down to it. If still alive—which I knew in my heart she was—she’d be plotting her escape and biding her time while waiting for her four knights in shining armor to arrive.
Coralia Hargrave was no damsel. But some situations required help, and that’s what we were here for. Her Glovemates were meant to help unlock her full potential, fight alongside her, and, yes, protect her. We had failed in that last requirement, and were determined to make amends.
The four of us slept on the ground outside Desmona’s forest island, surrounded by trees, staring up at the wing-shaped canopies as the moon flooded in overhead.
I wagered none of us got much sleep. I sure didn’t.
The plan was to loiter on the outskirts of Waichee Village, far enough away we wouldn’t alert any guards. By nightfall, Dax would sneak back in and ask his mother where we were needed for the raid. We’d join the party once they’d left Waichee, en route to the Forbidden Orchard.
Though exiled from the village, we were technically free to roam the forest outside it. Chieftess Fionne couldn’t do much to stop us joining them as long as we could find their route.
I loved it when loopholes worked in our favor.
I awoke after sunrise to a pair of big white alien eyes staring down at me.
“Spirits above!” I gasped, crab-walking until I bumped into a tree trunk. “Ow.”
Ardith, the little demon girl, stared at me unblinkingly, head tilted to the side, as if debating whether to curse my soul or eat my heart.
“You’re one creepy toddler, girl,” I groaned, rubbing the back of my head where I’d smacked it.
I slowly rose to my feet.
As Ardith approached, my muscles tightened. She reached out with a tiny, pale-gray hand.
I scanned left and right. Sunny and Dax weren’t around, and Quentin was over a few trees away on a bathroom break. I had no witnesses.
I stared down at the girl’s little hand. Then, hesitantly, I took it in mine.
A ripple ran through my arm.
In order to succeed, fae, you will face great sacrifice. The devastation of that sacrifice will be more severe than the reward.
You will not come back from this the same man.
Air shot out of my lungs. I ripped my hand back like I’d touched a hot stove. “What the fu—” I cut myself off, realizing that, even if she had telepathic powers similar to my fae mind-link, she was still only a child. “What the heck was that?”
She reached out again. Groaning, I took it, and the same jolt ran through me.
Trust your heart and your steel. You will question whether it was all worth it. Stay strong.
Not everyone will return from this venture.
I pulled my hand back. The thoughts flowing through my head sounded ancient and arcane—eloquent and old rather than the babbling of a toddler.
“Okay, you little Riddler. Are you saying we’re doomed to fail?”
Ardith shrugged.
Then she scampered away.
“Hey!” I called out, but she had already rounded a tree and disappeared toward the Kolpoden Grove.
I scratched my head. “Weird kid.” I committed what she’d said to memory.
Leaves rustled and Desmona came bounding into the clearing, followed by Sunny and Dax. She held a wooden bowl of what looked like soup or oatmeal.
I narrowed my eyes. “You said Ardith couldn’t talk.”
“She can’t.” Desmona handed me the bowl. “I never said she couldn’t communicate, Donovenn Gable.”
More technicalities. I frowned as I took the bowl of food. It smelled odd and looked like twig porridge.
“What did she tell you?” the dryad asked.
“That people are going to die. That this might not be worth it.”
