AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her brows knit together. “This isn’t the first time you’ve done this, is it?”
“I have been using my talent to cover reaper kills for centuries. This is the most overt demonstration of Killian’s quest for power to date.” He surveyed the field, littered with dead bodies. “I fear it won’t be the last.”
Dannika glanced at the detective. He was barking orders at several officers and directing the coroners. “What do we do now?”
“We need to return to the caves and report to Maddock.”
The pain associated with her molecules separating, her skin ripping from bone, and the strange security of the dark pathway was a welcome reprieve from the macabre death scene at that soccer field.
Raine shrouded her and protected her as they raced through the dark streams that made up the shadow network. The wrenching feeling and abrupt halt as he exited the pathway made her stomach flip, but it was getting easier. She didn’t throw up, and she recovered from the disorientation much faster.
They walked outside the caves, where Maddock was overseeing a combat trial between two younger clan members. He didn’t turn when they stopped beside him.
“The reapers killed over thirty men. Killian oversaw the attack himself,” Raine said.
Maddock turned with black eyes. “That’s a massacre. How do we spin that to the humans?”
“I’ve suggested it was an organized terrorist attack. I will make the necessary arrangements, but we can’t continue like this. Killian said he did this for Dannika. He wanted her to go with him.”
Maddock’s eyes bored into Dannika. “What’s Killian’s interest in you?”
Dannika nibbled her lip. “No idea, but I don’t want any part of that freak show.”
Raine glanced at the fighting shadows. “Maybe her blood is poisonous to the reapers. They have been watching us, perhaps they know.”
“We are yet to test that theory,” Maddock said.
“They don’t want to hurt her. Perhaps it can work to our advantage.”
Maddock’s eyes roamed over Dannika. “That’s interesting, isn’t it? They kill over thirty people, but won’t threaten Dannika.”
Raine shook his head. “It’s concerning. I had planned to wait a bit, but I’m going to have Darren rune Dannika now. The reapers have already proven they will attack us here. If she needs to enter the shadows, she needs those maps.”
“She has not passed a single trial. Runes are earned, not given out like cheap pieces of jewelry,” Maddock snapped.
Raine stepped up to Maddock. “She is getting the Rune. This is my decision, not yours.”
Dannika put her hand on Raine’s arm. “What is this all about? What runes?”
Raine’s eyes softened when he looked down at her. “I want Darren to give you map runes. The caves. The city. The outlying areas.”
“I can’t travel the pathways without you. I don’t know how to use the maps yet,” Dannika said.
“I will teach you. If the reapers come for you, you’ll need an escape route.”
Maddock huffed. “She is a fledgling. A reaper will enter the pathway and follow her. She’s too inexperienced. Too slow to evade a reaper.”
Raine’s eyes met that of his leader. “I also want her to have maps of the other clans. Darren has made them for the cougar and bear clan. We have access to all of them.”
“I don’t trust her.” Maddock held up his hand when Raine growled. “It isn’t just her. I don’t trust any fledgling until they prove themselves. You know this.”
“Killian is trying to acquire her. This situation is unprecedented,” Raine said.
“By your own admission, he won’t hurt Dannika. Until we learn who her mother is and why Killian wants her, it’s not safe for the clan to give her access to all the pathways.”
Raine’s eyes flickered black. “She gets them or we are leaving. I’m done with your lack of trust in me.”
Maddock stepped back. “I trust you, Raine. Your specialized talent has been invaluable in keeping the humans out of this war.”
