My hackles rose a moment before something hit me from behind, taking me down. I hit the fragrant earth and flipped onto my front to find myself staring into stormy gray eyes.
Devon placed a paw on my chest to hold me still.
“Fine, you win.” I stared up at him. “You got me.”
His chest rumbled, and then he licked me. His tongue was rough and warm as it laved the side of my neck, and a shudder ran through me.
He locked gazes with me again, and I froze because there was carnal hunger, and my body responded, heart rate picking up, blood heating.
Hell, no. This was Devon. In wolf form.
He licked me again, softly, behind my ear. I turned my head to the side, biting back a moan. But then reality asserted itself.
Devon was a friend, nothing more. This wasn’t him, this was his primal self. His beast.
“Stop.” I pushed at his head, knocking it to the side.
Devon growled, and fear skittered up my spine, but then he was knocked off me by another body of fur.
Aidan and Devon rolled across the moss, nipping and snarling. I stood and backed up.
Maybe this run had been a bad idea.
The crack of a twig pulled my attention away from the wolves. There was someone else here with us. Someone else in the forest. A shadow darted through the trees. Too small to be a cadet, too large to be a hobblood. What the heck? I gave chase, blurring and catching up to it in a second. I slammed into the creature, taking it down. It thrashed and kicked, clawing at me to get away.
Fuck, it was strong, but not as strong as me. I managed to get an arm around its throat and squeezed.
“Stop fighting.”
The creature grew limp in my grasp. “Kill me, go on, you bitch. Do it. Fat lot of good it will do you. They’re coming whether you like it or not.” It laughed. “And you don’t understand a word I’m saying.”
“Actually, I do.”
The creature tensed.
My mind was whirring. This was a creature from the other side. A minion of the fomorians. His skin was leathery and black, his body wiry and toned. No clothes. No mud to protect him from the mist.
“You came through the mist.”
“Fuck you.”
I flipped him onto his back, pinned him to the earth by his throat, and bared my fangs. “Answer me, you little shit.”
Shadows fell over him as Devon and Aidan flanked me.
His eyes grew wide. “Don’t hurt me, please. I was just gathering information.”
A scout. “You can withstand the mist.”
“Yes. Special, I am. Special.”
A new breed of fomorian creature? This was not good. How much intel had this creature taken back? This probably wasn’t his first trip over. Had he set the trap that had injured Lloyd? So many questions.
“Let me go, damn you.” He wriggled in my grasp.
My lips curled in a sadistic smile. “Oh, you’re not going anywhere, creepy creature. You’re coming with me. We’re going to have a chat. Whether that chat is pleasant or not will depend on you.”
* * *
I slapped the fomorian spy hard enough to make my hand sting.
He let out a string of curses.
“Do you want to die?” I pressed the tip of my blade to his cheek. “Answer me. What are the fomorians planning?”
“I don’t know,” he sobbed. “They don’t tell me their plans. I just get the information. That’s all I do. That’s my job. That is my purpose.”
“What did he say?” Hyde asked.
I reiterated.
“I think he’s telling the truth,” Hyde said. “Look at him. He’s no soldier.”
He was cut up, bleeding, and bruised. I’d gone to town on him, Brady’s face in my mind, his expression as he was forced to walk away burning a hole in my memory.
I shook my head. “Nah, there has to be more.” I cut him again. “Why doesn’t the mist hurt you? What are you? Are there more like you? Answer me!”
“No, I don’t know. I don’t know. Only me. Only ever me.”
I went to cut him again, but Hyde grabbed my wrist.
No,” he said. “No more.”
I yanked my arm from his grip. “You’re not in charge here, Hyde.”
His eyes flashed with anger. “And if you continue like this, you won’t be either. Think, dammit. You think he’s strong enough to withstand the torture you put him through and keep his mouth shut?”
I stared at the whimpering mess of a creature then sheathed my blade. “You want to live?”
“Yes, yes, yes,” he sobbed.
“Then you’ll do what I say. You’ll take me to the fomorian camp. You’ll get me to Brady.”
He looked confused.
“Hey! Do you understand?”
He nodded enthusiastically. “Yes. I’ll take you to camp.”
I jerked my head in a nearby cadet’s direction. “Patch him up, and reinforce his ties.”
Hyde followed me toward the forge, where I proceeded to wash my hands clean of the creature’s blood.
“You could have killed it,” Hyde said.
“I know what I’m doing.”
“Do you?” His tone was soft. “Justice, you’re blinded by your love for Brady. Right now, that’s all that’s driving you.”
“And you’d just be fine? If I were taken, if I were out there being held by fomorians, you’d be cool, calm, and collected?” I jabbed a finger at his chest, not giving him a break to answer me. “Like fuck you would.”
I turned on my heel and strode away from him.
Luckily for him, he didn’t follow me.
* * *
Devon found me staring out at the night from the top of the rise. My body tensed, and anger flared through me. His wolf had pinned me and licked me.
I rounded on him. “What the fuck was that, eh?”
He stood with his head bowed. “I’m sorry. The wolf … It likes the way you smell.”
“The wolf. Not you?”
He ran a hand over his head. “Fuck, Justice. You’re an attractive woman. You smell fucking amazing, and my urge to protect you, my warm feelings toward you, got intensified for a minute. I’m sorry I crossed the line. The full moon can have that effect.”
He looked so miserable and contrite that my anger melted.
I sighed. “Things got a little muddled for me too for a minute.”
“You liked it?” He stepped closer, his breath warm on my cheek.
I turned my head to look into his eyes. “Yeah, it felt good. But we’re friends, Devon. Just friends.”
“No,” he said. “We’re more than friends. We’re a team. A unit.” He smiled. “I promise to keep my wolf in check and not lick you again.”
I relaxed and gave him a sideways hug. “Thank you.”
“Justice!” Lloyd came jogging up to me. “Academy called. The runes are ready.”
My heart skipped a beat.
Looked like I’d be heading into fomorian territory sooner than expected.
Twelve
My skin burned where Latrou etched the rune. This was no simple inked drawing, this was a brand into my skin like the one the violet-eyed man had drawn, except Latrou used weaver power to do it.
We’d gathered in the ballroom now that it was empty. The weavers had retired for the evening. Their training was done, and tomorrow, they’d be allocated to troops in the mist. Yeah, the plan was coming together.
Orion was perched against the podium, his inquisitive gaze on Latrou as she drew the rune. Why he had to be here was a mystery. The other council members didn’t seem to be interested. In fact, the fucking council was keeping well out of the way. I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Baron. Just as well, because if he spoke to me, made any kind of negative comment, I’d forget he’d raised me and punch him.
Kash stood to one side, rubbing his forearm where he’d already been marked. The symbol looked like an intricate knot. Latrou finished marking me and studied her handiwork.
“It’s good.” Helseth beamed at her.
The two women exchanged a fond look.
“That’s it?” Orion asked.
Latrou sighed. “No. Now we activate the runes.” She ran a thumb over the mark as it sank into my skin. “Yes, this is good.”
“You must link hands.” Helseth ushered me and Kash together.
Kash took my hands, and my palms began to tingle. “Do you feel that?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, good.” Helseth clapped her hands together. “That means it’s working. Patricia, would you like to do the honors?”
Madam Latrou inclined her head. “Why, thank you, Judy.”
“Can we please get on with it?” Orion drawled.
Latrou bristled. “You don’t need to be here for this, Mr. Winterlock. This is weaver work.”
Orion opened his mouth to retaliate then snapped it closed. “My apologies. The last few days have been trying. I’d like to watch.”
His words were contrite, but his tone was terse.
Latrou smiled, obviously choosing to take his words at face value despite his contrary tone. “In that case, you may stay.”
The weaver master placed one hand on my shoulder and one on Kash’s. She closed her eyes and began to chant. It was too low for me to catch, but her amulet lit up bright purple. Her fingers tightened on my shoulder, and then a shock ripped through me, and I was no longer standing in the ballroom. I was in the darkness beyond the weave. It coiled and pulsed, calling to me, but there was another call that was stronger.
A call to my soul.
Kash.
“Indigo?” Kash floated to my right.
He wasn’t ethereal this time, but so solid I was sure I could touch him. He drifted toward me, and then his hand gripped mine.
I looked down at our entwined fingers. “I can feel you.”
He pulled me toward him and wrapped his arms around me. Our threads drifted close and then touched, sending another shockwave through me.
“Wow,” Kash said. “This is … something.”
His face was highlighted by the glow of the weave, his features soft, beautiful.
I kissed his neck, his jaw, and then the corner of his mouth, but he turned his head, and his lips connected with mine. Desire flooded me at the contact, and then we were kissing, open-mouthed and hungry.
“I assume it worked?” Orion’s tone was dry.
Shit, we were back. Or had we even left?
I broke the kiss but couldn’t tear my eyes from Kash’s face.
“It worked,” Latrou said. “All you need to do to communicate with each other is enter the weave’s orbit and call out to the other person. They will hear you.”
“And this fomorian guide …” Orion said. “How can you be sure he won’t steer you wrong once you cross the mists?”
He had a point. I looked to Latrou. “Is there a truth rune? Something that would force the creature not to lie.”
“We have runes, but whether they would work on a fomorian …”
“We have to try.”
She grabbed a notebook and sketched out the rune. “You’ll need to cut it into the creature and seal it with ash.”
We had plenty of that around. “I can do that.”
“Here.” Helseth passed me a sprig of green herbs. “Crush it and smear it over the mark to activate the rune.”
I pocketed the items. “Thanks.”
“Well.” Orion pushed off the podium and sauntered to the exit. “You best be off. Try not to die.”
He exited the room, and Latrou let out an annoyed huff. “That man…”
“Hush,” Helseth said. “Orion doesn’t forget a slight. He may be stepping back from leading right now, but once we get back to the mortal world, he will make everyone who questioned him pay.”
Latrou stood taller and lifted her chin in defiance. “I appreciate your concern, but I don’t work for the council. I don’t work for Orion. I work for the Academy, and I answer to Brunner.”
“Who answers to the council on many things,” Helseth reminded her. “Just … be careful.” She was looking at me now. “Be careful out there, dear. I hope you bring back the poor boy who was taken.”
Hearing Brady referred to as a boy was strange, but I suppose to Helseth, that was exactly what he was.
“I don’t intend to fail.”
She smiled kindly. “No, we rarely do. But a wise leader knows when to retreat to fight another day. Remember, there are many souls that depend on you here. They need you to come back, whether you find the boy or not.”
Lloyd had said the same thing, but I wasn’t ready to say the words. Wasn’t ready to accept that I could come back empty-handed.
“I’ll be with you,” Kash said. “All you need to do is call.”
I hugged him. “When this is over.”
“When it’s over …”
I left him with the weavers, but the mark on my arm meant I was taking him with me. Athos waited outside, ready to take me back into the mists and beyond.
Thirteen
We were halfway into sector two when Harmon slowed and clutched at his chest.
This had happened to Brady. Why hadn’t I connected the dots sooner? It was the fomorian gene inside him that was causing the reaction. Harmon was too fomorian now, his DNA too much like our enemies, and the mist was hurting him … just like it had hurt Brady.
Brady’s DNA had been too fomorian also. Was that why they’d taken him?
I pulled Harmon to a stop. “You need to go back.”
“No,” Harmon said. “I’m coming with you.”
“We still have another half hour of mist to go. You won’t make it. Not when we reach sector three. The mist is much thicker there.”
He shrugged me off and continued to walk. “Halfway point. Rather go forward than back.”
“It’s killing you.”
“Don’t care.”
Fuck.
Hyde looked back from up ahead. He had the leash to the fomorian creature in his hand. A leather-like material that was the same feytech that our holsters were made of. The creature had the rune on his shoulder and was bound by it. The mutinous look on his face would do him no good.
“You okay?” Hyde asked.
“Harmon needs to go back.” I grabbed at the big guy’s arm.
“I can make it,” Harmon insisted through gritted teeth.
No, Athos said. He won’t. Listen to the beat of his heart.
Harmon’s pulse was sluggish. Weak.
I can take him across fast, Athos said. We’ll meet you on the other side. He focused on Harmon. Come, friend, we will cross swiftly.
“I’m heavy,” Harmon said.
And I am strong.
“Harmon …” I touched his arm. “Please.”
He capitulated with a nod and then climbed up onto Athos.
Hyde looked from them to me.
“They’ll meet us on the other side. Keep going north.”
Athos nodded and then set off. He was a dot in the distance in less than ten seconds.
“Why didn’t we bring more hounds with us?” Hyde mused.
“Because they’re more use to the others back at base. If there is a mass AM outage, the hounds can get them back and forth between posts faster than they can run.”
“Good point.”
We picked up the pace, and the creature whined.
A few weeks ago, I may have felt empathy for him, but not anymore, not now. He was a spy, and this was war.
“How far is the camp from the edge of the mist?” I’d asked this question before, but I needed to know if the rune was working. I needed to hear his answer again.
He groaned and pressed his lips tightly together, resisting the impulse to speak.
“Answer me!”
“Two hours on foot. Two hours to camp.”
“What direction?”
“North.” He spat the word and glared at me with his bulbous eyes. His dark skin was alm
ost silver in the moonlight. “Whore!”
I flinched.
“What did he say?” Hyde demanded.
I told him.
Hyde yanked hard on the creature’s leash, and he made a gagging sound.
“Insult her again, and I’ll cut off your fingers.”
The creature whimpered and curled his fingers in and held his hand to his chest.
“It was a good idea to leave while it was night,” Hyde said to me, dismissing the creature. “Better to infiltrate the camp during cover of night.”
The thought hadn’t crossed my mind. I’d just wanted to get going. To get Brady back.
I didn’t correct him, though. “Yes. A good idea.”
Look at us making small talk and ignoring all the shit that simmered beneath. Urgh. I picked up the pace, eager to get into fomorian territory, kick some fomorian ass if I got a chance, and kill whomever I needed to in order to get my mate back. My brain turned to tactics.
The creature had told us there were several camps but hadn’t been able to give us any details on location. He did tell us the camp he’d come from was small. A scouting camp, he’d said. Probably the bastards responsible for hitting the AM posts. The plan was to infiltrate, search for Brady. If he wasn’t there, then we’d capture a fomorian soldier. Someone who might know more about the fomorian setup.
It was a weak plan, one that could be derailed by way too many factors, but it was all we had.
“Whatever we find, we’ll deal with it together,” Hyde said.
His tone was soft.
I glanced across at him to find him watching me.
Our gazes locked, and a spark passed between us, the damn spark that wouldn’t die. A lump formed in my throat.
“We should pick up the pace.” Sector three closed in around me, the mist stinging my eyes. Almost there.
I fell into a jog.
* * *
The mist thinned and then ebbed until it was gone. I sucked in a breath, sweet and heady. It hit my brain with a zing that sent energy coursing through me.
This was fomorian air. This was fomorian soil … but there was no soil. There was hard-packed earth, cracked and hungry for rain. It stretched out ahead of us, a landscape to rival the mist, dead and unforgiving.
Shadow Master: The Nightwatch Academy book 4 Page 7
