by K. G. Reuss
I spun wildly as I tried to trace where the beast lurked. The gray around me whirled, the snarls echoing. The only choice I had was to run.
And so I did. Full tilt, hoping I was going in the opposite direction. It was no use. The creature was hot on my heels, the sound of its feet thumping along behind me.
I ran until my chest ached, each breath painful. Tears ran down my cheeks as I realized I wasn’t going to wake up from this.
With a cry, I went down, the beast done playing with its meal. Its jaws clenched on my neck. The pain from its jagged teeth was excruciating as it tore into my flesh. Red eyes. Matted, black fur. Claws as long as my fingers.
Rotwraith.
I couldn’t go down like this. Not here. Not now.
With as much strength as I had left, I wrapped my arms around the rotwraith’s neck and brought it close to my body, hoping to ease the tension of its jaws on my throat. With a fierce cry, I willed everything I had into waking up. To leaving that gray world. And I was going to bring the bastard with me.
Sixty-One
Raiden
“Calm down.” Eric’s eyes flitted over me, worry set deep in their blue depths.
“Calm down?” I growled, glaring at him as I paced my office. “I couldn’t even go to her! I couldn’t even tell her it didn’t mean anything! I didn’t kiss Amara. I would never. What Everly must be thinking right now.” My stomach twisted with worry and nausea.
“Talk to her after she cools off,” Damien’s deep voice rumbled. “Ever isn’t unreasonable. Explain to her what she saw wasn’t real—”
I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. “Her face.”
I sank down onto the leather couch, sickness churning in my guts. “The look on Ever’s face. I broke her heart. There’s no coming back from this. I’ve lost her. Why did you bring her by?”
Eric sat beside me and rested his hand on my shoulder as I stared at the floor.
“We thought the dinner would be inside. Never crossed my mind you’d be outside.”
I nodded, squeezing my eyes closed and blowing out a deep breath.
“She won’t talk to me. I tried. I-It’s over.” My heart ached at the knowledge.
“Tell her the truth.” Eric squeezed my shoulder. “Tell her you’re Shadow. Explain everything to her—”
I rubbed my eyes. “So she can hate me even more? I’m nothing but a damn liar.”
“You need to start somewhere,” Damien sighed. “I can go talk to her—”
“What needs to happen is that I need to lay it out for my father. I’m done taking his orders. I can run with her. Protect her—”
“Now you’re just talking crazy.” Damien shot a look at Eric who was frowning. “You’ll go rogue. You’ll be hunted—”
“I’ll go crazy if I don’t do something,” I snarled, getting to my feet.
“Don’t do this.” Eric followed me to the door with Damien on his heels. “Think it through.”
I didn’t answer. I stormed to the basement, barely noticing the rest of my crew watching nervously from their perches within the living room.
“What’s going on?” Sloane demanded, following us down to the basement.
“He’s gone nuts,” Damien grumbled, his face pinched in frustration as I pressed my palm to the portal. The glassy surface shimmered for a moment before the dark, rolling green fields of Xanan came into view.
“Gen?” Sloane ventured timidly. “Maybe you should sleep on whatever you’re planning. I can take your patrol shift. I can even go talk to Ever for you. Just, please, don’t do whatever it is you’re thinking.”
My eyes locked with hers, the worry in the dark depths of her eyes shining like a beacon.
“I can’t live the life my father wants. I know what I want. I’ve always wanted Ever. We belong together. He needs to know I’m not backing down on this. I’m not marrying Amara. I won’t. I don’t care what it takes, this ends now.”
“I’ll go with you,” Eric murmured. I gave him a curt nod. I knew he wouldn’t let me go alone. I also knew he’d do whatever he had to if it got to the point of no return.
“I’ll stay back and keep an eye on everything.” Damien shook his head at me. “Don’t do anything stupid. Some things you can’t come back from. This is probably one of those things.”
“It doesn’t matter. It needs to happen.”
I didn’t wait for a response. I stepped through the portal and rocketed toward Xanan.
The guards met us at the gates.
I snorted as I glared at them.
“Your weapons, General,” Stevens, one of the higher-ranking guards said in a steely voice.
“I am the weapon,” I muttered, stuffing my blades into his waiting hands. Eric followed suit.
“We need no reminder, General,” Stevens grunted. “The sigil is expecting you.”
“What a surprise.” I chuckled darkly, following him and his four guards in their shiny plate-mail. We made our way through the castle to my father’s study. I wasn’t surprised to find him seated and waiting, Sangrey looking at me in surprise as I walked in.
“General,” my father’s gruff voice met my ears as I barged into his office, Eric on my heels. “I’ve been waiting for you.” He stood up from behind his desk and stared me down. Sangrey was seated in front of the desk, his eyebrows pinched as he stared back at me.
“I’m not marrying Amara, so knock this shit off.” I didn’t bother with a greeting. We both knew why I was there. “Tonight the last shred of my happiness was taken away.”
Father let out a soft chuckle. “That’s where you’re wrong, son. You are marrying her, and you’re going to do it with a smile on your face. Happiness can be found in other places.”
“No.” I ground my teeth, my body trembling. I wanted to shift. To tear my father limb from limb.
“Raiden, why don’t you have a seat?” Sangrey called out to me as Eric rested his hand on my shoulder. He knew me well enough to know I was barely holding myself together.
I hauled in a deep breath and shook my head. “I won’t be staying long.”
“And that’s where you’re wrong again.” Father’s icy stare met mine. “What did I tell you about staying away from the whisperer? That display you put on at dinner was an embarrassment!”
I let out a low growl, Eric’s hand tightening on my shoulder.
“Mr. Craft, would you please ask the guards to come in?”
Eric’s eyes darted between me and my father. Scare tactics. That’s all this was.
“Do it,” I ground out in Eric’s mind.
“This isn’t going well. Just chill—”
“Get the damn guards, Eric. He’s going to need them.”
Eric turned on his heel and went out the door. Seconds later he brought four guards into the room.
“If you’d be so kind, would you please vorbex the general?” Father called out to his men. I let out a low, dangerous chuckle.
“Wesley, do you really think this is necessary?” Sangrey looked helplessly between me and the sigil.
Father ignored Sangrey and nodded to the guards. They approached me carefully as I glared at my father. Everyone in our entire world knew how powerful and very capable I was. I could probably tear through them before they knew what hit them.
But I didn’t. I held my hands out for them to bind, allowing them to nullify my powers. The feeling of the vorbex on my skin made me want to squeal in pain. I clamped my lips together, refusing to give into the terrible ache which circled through my body. Letting my father have this was a show of good faith. Or tolerance. I had yet to decide.
“Very good.” A smile touched Father’s face. “Now, you were saying?”
“I was saying I’m not going to marry the wolf. I won’t do it—”
“This is what is going to happen, Son. You’re going to marry Miss LaCroix. And do whatever the hell else I tell you to do. That includes telling the whisperer that your relationship, whatever it may be, is ove
r. You will no longer be her trainer, a little trick I was not happy with. In your place, a new trainer will be assigned.” His gaze landed on Eric.
“Who are you training, Mr. Craft?”
“I’m not training anyone right now, sir.”
I ground my teeth. Sangrey’s eyes met mine in a look which told me to keep my cool.
“For now, Mr. Craft, you’ll fill in for my son until Brighton has located another trainer for her.”
Eric nodded tightly.
“Sangrey?”
Sangrey tore his eyes away from me and focused on my father.
“See to it that we arrange a marriage for the whisperer to decent stock.”
“No!” I snarled, trying to twist my hands from their restraints. The move created a current of pain through me, but I brushed it off. I started to move toward my father, but the guards were quick to tug me back. I glared at him, my chest heaving.
“It’s either this or I order her death,” he said in a dangerous hiss, his eyes dull as he stared back at me.
“She’s as good as dead if you do this,” I pleaded, trying to find an ounce of compassion in him. So much had changed with him since my mother died. “Don’t, Father. I’m begging you.” I had to use a different tactic than blind rage. “Everly is a free spirit. Don’t do this to her. Don’t punish her.”
Father stared back at me, no emotion on his face.
“Do you yield?” Father’s voice was as dull as his eyes.
“I-I can’t. It’s not possible when it’s her.” I hung my head in defeat. I’d always fight for her.
“Then you leave me no choice. The situation will be dealt with. Guards, take the general to the dungeons.”
“What? No. No!” I struggled against the guards’ hold. “Don’t do this! Don’t! If you lock me up, I won’t be able to protect her—”
“That’s the point.”
I let out a growl and elbowed one of the guards in the face, sending him flailing back. Eric’s eyes were wild as he stepped toward me to help.
“Stay out of it!” I shouted in his mind. Wincing as I fought against the vorbex, I continued, “I’m not taking you down with me. Protect her. Go!”
Eric swept past the guards without a look back.
I elbowed and kicked my way through the guards. More had come rushing in as I continued to knock them away from me. It took a guard striking me across the back of the head to take me down.
My vision swimming, I collapsed to the ground. My eyesight dotted with darkness as a boot met my face.
Something was wrong with her. I felt the ache in my chest.
“Everly,” I whispered before everything went dark.
Sixty-Two
Everly
My eyes snapped open. The rotwraith was still on top of me. It had loosened its hold on my neck but had managed to sink its teeth into my shoulder. I punched it as hard as I could, already feeling its poison coursing through my veins.
It let out a growl then latched onto my arm and tore into it. I wrapped my legs around it, hoping to be able to knock it off me, but I was growing weaker by the second.
Another bite.
Another. Another.
The pain intensified.
“Sh-Shadow,” I choked out, my vision blurring.
Out of the corner of my eye, Raiden’s knife glinted from my nightstand. Weakly, I reached for it, grasping its cold steel in my hands. With as much strength as I possessed, I jammed the blade into the beast’s neck. It let out a howl of pain as it let go of my thigh. I stabbed it again and again, the blade grinding against bone. Tears poured down my cheeks. Its heavy body crashed to the floor, unmoving.
I staggered to my feet, covered in blood, and made my way to the front door. My vision was dull and unfocused. My feet felt like I had lead shoes on. It was getting harder to breathe.
The wound in my neck gaped and blood spilled from it. I wasn’t moving oxygen like I should.
Raiden. I had to get to him.
Clutching the gaping wound in my neck, I stumbled from my dorm. My body grew weaker by the second, numbness settling in. I dragged my leg because it was injured so badly. If I looked down at it, I knew I’d see something terrible. I wasn’t even sure if my abdomen was still intact considering the rotwraith had tore into me there too.
Rain poured down on me, soaking my body as I staggered through the dark. When the light from Conexus house finally came into view, I whimpered. With everything I had left in me, I made it to the door and knocked, praying it was Raiden who answered.
“What do you want?” Amara snarled, glaring at me as she peered through the smallest crack in the door.
“I-I need Raiden,” I gasped.
“He’s not here.”
“P-Please. I-I’m hurt. Brandon, then. Por favor. I n-need help—”
“Get lost, freak!” Amara hissed. “You ruined our wedding planning! Raiden doesn’t want you. He’s with me.”
More tears snaked their way down my cheeks. “Amara, I-I’m dying—”
“Good thing you can come back then.” With that, she snapped the door closed, leaving me on the front steps in the rain. There was no way I could make it to Madam Ann.
But she was my last hope. No Shadow. No Raiden. No one. Just me. Alone.
I stumbled off the front step, mud and water sloshing up my bare legs. I wasn’t going to make it. Sheer will had saved me this long. I’d run out.
I let out a soft chuckle as I fell to my knees in a muddy puddle past Conexus house. I’d wanted out of my life a hundred times since finding out what I was. But now? All I wanted to do was survive and take out every last vile beast my new world had to offer.
My face collided with the wet earth, my body stilling. The poison had set in, and I couldn’t fight it any longer.
This was it. I’d been chasing death for so long. But I didn’t have to. It found me.
Sixty-Three
Raiden
Father had me beaten. My eyes were nearly swollen shut. I had broken ribs which screamed in protest as I tried to breathe. Blood ran from the cuts and gashes on my face and body. The vorbex stopped all magical abilities, healing included, adding to its pain scale.
The pain of my torture wasn’t as bad as the waves of sickness which came over me when I realized something was wrong with Everly. She needed help.
The nausea in my guts churned hard. Sweat beaded along my brow. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
The pull I had for Ever grew, overwhelming me. I let out a shriek of anguish at the vorbex on my wrists. The walls of my cell were lined with the ability-stopping material as well. I couldn’t get to her.
She was hurt. Agony. So much pain.
“Help!” I shouted hoarsely. “Someone! I-I need help!”
I bellowed myself hoarse, the light inside me dimming as Ever’s condition worsened. All the fullness I’d felt in my body at her existence began to recede, making me insane with desperation.
“Please! Please, someone!” My voice came out in a rasping croak. I banged my fists against the vorbex until my bones splintered and blood oozed out. Fat tears fell from my eyes as I slid down the wall, helpless.
My heart ached. The pain was overwhelming as everything within me clenched tightly, the inevitable emptiness making me gag. I sat weeping for what felt like an eternity, trying to cling to the last bit of light from Everly. I was going to lose her.
“Raiden,” Sangrey’s voice called out to me.
I snapped my head up and focused on his dark form.
The rattle of keys in a lock made hope soar. A moment later, his footsteps came toward me and then his warm hands were on mine.
“Go. You’re free.” The vorbex restraints fell away from my wrists, and I staggered to my feet.
“T-thank you,” I stammered weakly.
“Don’t thank me yet. You need to find her. Save her.”
Sangrey’s form blurred before my swollen eyelids, but I nodded, letting the pull to her guide me.
I didn’t need a portal. I had her. My soul knew the way.
Sixty-Four
Raiden
“Eric. Damien!” I shouted at the rest of Conexus in my mind as I fell to my knees in the middle of Dementon’s campus.
I expected to come right to Ever, but it seemed our combined weakened state had thrown me off course.
“Raiden?” Damien called out. I felt Eric stir along with the rest of my crew.
“Ever. She’s hurt. Find her.”
“I’m at her dorm right now with Adam and Jared.” Eric sounded sick.
“Is she there?”
“There’s been a struggle. A dead rotwraith,” Jared answered. “Ever isn’t here though. There’s so much blood.” He choked on his words.
“We’ll find her. Chloe,” Adam shouted. “Put that nose to work, baby girl. She’s bleeding out somewhere.”
“On it,” Chloe called out.
“Damien and I will search the west side of the grounds.” Sloane was no-nonsense, but her voice wavered.
“Amara, check the infirmary—” Eric started.
“S-she won’t be there.”
“Mara, where is she?” My stomach twisted.
“She was here,” Mara whispered. “I-I thought she was lying. I thought she was only trying to get to you, Raiden. I’m so sorry.”
“What. Did. You. Do?” I ground out. I pulled myself to my feet and stumbled in the direction of Conexus house. The pull was leading me that way.
“She said she was hurt. Dying. She said she needed you. I-I made her leave.”
“Which way did she go?” Damien demanded.
“I-I don’t know. I shut the door on her and didn’t bother to l-look,” Amara’s voice cracked.
“I’ll check the yard,” Amanda called out.
“For your sake, you better hope she’s still alive,” I growled at Amara. I felt her flinch at my words. “Report back to me immediately if you find anything.”