AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jacob speaks in a growl. “They’re not ourfriends.”
“She’s got vertigo,” Rollick clarifies from where he’s positioned himself by the wall. He glances at me. “We’re monitoring the condition. Your tentacled friend hasn’t been able to identify a physical source to fully heal it, but we’re hopeful it’ll clear up with rest.”
Nausea wraps around my gut. If Sorsha can’t even sit up without getting dizzy, there’s no way she’ll be able to fly.
The rogue shadowbloods managed to disable our most powerful ally with one blow.
With a shifting of the duvet, a figure pops into being in the other bed, her legs tucked under the covers. Pearl grins at me as if oblivious to the thin trail of essence trickling up from her arm. “And I’m going to be okay too.”
I dash to her bed, my throat constricting. I’d almost forgotten that I thought I heard her yelp during the fight. “Pearl…”
A bunch of other shadowkind have emerged with her arrival. Billy is among them, closest to the bed. He shakes his head at her with a swish of his dark brown waves and yanks a roll of gauze from his pocket. “When you jump in and out of the shadows, you lose your bandage.”
The succubus glances down at her arm while her friend wraps enough gauze around the wound to suppress the flow of essence. “The cut is almost all healed up anyway.” She meets my eyes again and lets out a laugh. “You should have seen how it looked last night.Thatwas scary.”
She doesn’t sound scared, but guilt chokes me anyway. The shadowbloodsIinsisted we try to capture could have killed my closest friend among the shadowkind.
This is all my fault. How do we come back from this?
My skin prickles with my awareness of the other shadowkind who’ve joined us in the room, the small crowd scattered around the two beds. They’re all watching my reaction.
“I’m sorry,” I say to Pearl, pushing the words past the lump in my throat, and turn toward the others. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know they’d have those weapons, or that they’d be able to use their powers against the devices emitting the sirens—I never wanted any of you to get hurt.”
I brace myself for accusations and recriminations. Instead, surprise ripples across the shadowkind faces before me.
Shanty speaks first, in a low tone. “One of the young ones like you nearly shot me. I saw you finish him before he could hurt anyone else. You killed your own blood to protect us.”
Lance pipes up from where he’s hopped up to perch on the room’s dresser. “Jacob took down one of the other shadowbloods too. You fought for us like you wanted to fight for them.”
Fang peers at me with a wary air. “I thought—I wouldn’t have wanted to kill that girl, but I saw her attacking the others, and… Aren’t you angry with me?”
I gulp air, overwhelmed by the response so different from what I expected. “I mean, I wish she was still alive, but I can’t blame you for protecting your people.”
“You protected us too,” Billy says. He flickers through the shadows to emerge at my side and takes my hand tentatively. There’s nothing but genuine appreciation in his big faun eyes as he smiles up at me. “Even when shadowkind have attackedyou, you’ve never wanted to see us hurt unless there was no other choice. I should know that better than anyone.”
Tears hit me like a punch from inside my skull. I swipe at my eyes. “I hurtyoubefore. You didn’t—”
Billy’s smile doesn’t waver as he cuts in. “You stopped. I felt you pull back—I felt how quickly you yanked away the moment you realized. It was foolish of me to leap into the middle of the fight. We all make mistakes. I might not have much experience with the mortal realm yet, but it seems to me that what should matter is what we do about our mistakes when we see the problem.”
For the first time, I fully believe that he doesn’t blame me for aiming my power at him. I’ve known all along that I never meant to do it, but it still felt like a vicious act. Like proof of my monstrousness.
What if it’s actually a sign of how human I am, that I could screw up so badly… and regret it so much?
Rollick clears his throat. “My associates aren’t looking to cast you out. But we do need to come to a decision about what to do about your fellow shadowbloods who are still out there on their rampage. Last night only culled their numbers by about a quarter.”
“Right,” I say, still grappling with my whirling feelings. “I heard we captured a few of them. What happened to those three?”
The demon tips his head toward the doorway. “We’ve got them in another room. You can come see them.”
Something about his tone makes my stomach sink. The guys join me as we head out the door—where we nearly run into Toni, who’s rushing over to the bedroom with a paper bag clutched in her hand.
She pauses and swipes at her now-rumpled bob with a slightly self-conscious expression. “Are you all right, Riva? You must be feeling better if you’re walking around. I just got into town a few hours ago—I was out grabbing something Pearl said she wanted for breakfast.”
At the mention of the succubus, a hint of a flush colors Toni’s cheeks. Huh. I can’t help remembering the little kitchen interlude I saw between the two of them back in Rollick’s Spanish mansion.
“I’m doing fine,” I say with a quick smile. “I’m sure Pearl will appreciate the food.” From what I understand, shadowkind don’tneedto eat in the usual mortal way, but a lot of them seem to enjoy the act all the same.
As Toni hustles by, Rollick leads us to the third bedroom. He pauses outside the door. “All three of them have been… difficult any time they start to come to. Lull has been keeping them unconscious with her powers to avoid any violence.”
