Shadows and Shade Box Set

by Amanda Cashure

  Her rounded face, smooth cheeks, and thin lips are frozen in fear, and they look far too familiar. Someone I know familiar – but like from a memory too old to properly recall – and the darkness can’t hide the horror in her eyes. Bile rises in my throat as I clench my blade in my fist and turn to vomit.

  “Shade, get down,” Roarke shouts.

  But I can’t look. Can’t run or dive for cover. My stomach heaves, and lunch starts coming up. I drop to my knees, trying to get myself under control, which is damned near impossible while throwing up.

  Crap!

  Something soars right past me and sizzles into the stream. An arrow – and it was on fire!

  I brace myself against the ground, twisting to look past Roarke, past the body, up the boulders, and into the forest. Another arrow pierces into the stones nearby – still burning.

  “Get behind me,” Roarke orders. “Now! Kitten, move!”

  I clamber over the stones, staying low. Almost curled in a ball on my knees kind of low. My bare toes overhang the path, dangling in the icy flow of the water, but I barely register the sensation against the rush of adrenaline.

  An arrow hits the stones to my left, skidding to a stop. The flames are still alive.

  Then the air is lit up with flames and the sharp reflection of Roarke’s blade as he spins it in wide arcs. Bits of arrows clunk to the ground, sliced in two, but none of them extinguish. In a few beats, we’re surrounded by light that both pushes back the night and invites whoever is shooting at us to get a really clear view of all our vulnerabilities.

  The arrows don’t stop, and Roarke’s movements are a blur of unnatural Saber speed. It’s impossible to follow the slice of his sword until he suddenly pauses it mid-swing. The guy isn’t even panting, and he doesn’t look at all intimidated by the three dark shadows that drop from the trees beyond the boulders and saunter towards us, moving with a feminine sway. They’re giving up on their arrows, or maybe they’ve run out. I hope Roarke just destroyed all of them. Wooden shards litter the ground, fletched in red and white feathers, tipped with metal barbs, and coated in something that makes them burn.

  I adjust the ankle of my pants, making sure I can get to my darts nice and easily – if I need them. Though, I am behind Roarke, and he just might be more badass than I thought.

  He lowers the tip of his sword toward the stones, glancing back at me with a smile on his lips and excitement painted in his dark eyes.

  “This will be more fun,” he says, like it’s a melody, and he’s about to sing a song.

  Yes, Roarke, because kneeling on the ground, scared shitless, is always my idea of fun. Me and this guy need to seriously improve our standards.

  But not now. Three deadly Sabers are walking our way, and we just need to survive.

  All three women have their hair tied back in tight braids. Two blondes and a brunette in thin leather tunics that taper down to V’s at their waists. Several straps and belts run across their chests. They’ve taken a leaf out of Killian’s book on the number of weapons a single person can carry, and they’re really flaunting it.

  They step from boulder to boulder until one of them is on the path to the left, one on the right, and the other in front of us – standing up there on the boulder next to the dead body. Some of these boulders I wouldn’t even be able to climb across, and they just casually walked down them like a set of stairs.

  “Well, this one would have to be Seth,” the blonde woman on our left says, which makes no sense – unless Roarke just Allured them into thinking it. She walks toward us with some serious swagger in her step, running an exaggerated hand over her braids. Flirting – but I don’t think she even knows it.

  “It’s not the Alpha, that’s for sure,” the one on the right says, smiling and running a finger across her lips.

  The woman beside the body crouches down, resting her elbows on her knees. My guess is she’s their commander.

  “Not the one with the scar,” she says. “And not the AllureSeed, either. I don’t feel persuaded or seduced.”

  Roarke’s watching them all, his head moving slightly as his gaze traces over each one. I glimpse his wicked smile each time he looks to the left, his head turning far enough for the expression to peek past his long hair. His fingers massage the hilt of his sword – but everything about him oozes smooth confidence.

  “Pleasure to meet you, ladies,” he says, his voice dripping with hypnotic temptation.

  My heart skips a beat, and in my head the words translate to come closer. I resist the urge, but the women don’t – can’t. They close in around us, jumping from the boulder or walking down the path, not stopping until they’re within arm’s reach.

  “It’s an honor that you want to cooperate with me. Is this your work? It’s rather impressive,” Roarke Allures, nodding towards Eydis’ body.

  “We didn’t make the mess of her chest – that happened after we felled her. We’ve been waiting to see if the thing comes back. And it happened that you two came instead,” the commander says.

  “So you thought you’d fire on us?” Roarke asks.

  “Rumor is, that one has a price on her head,” she says.

  She lifts her sword and points past Roarke to me. I flinch, seeing the polished steel so close to my guy, to his unprotected leg. Is this how he got himself hurt last time? I know he was questioning a ShimmerSeed – but was he this reckless? I like his legs still attached to his body, thank you.

  “Whose rumor?” Roarke asks. He doesn’t seem to care that she could cut his leg off right now.

  Just thrust her blade downward, and… I swallow against the mental image as Roarke’s words sink in. Not the ones he’s said out loud, but the ones that Allure through my skin – Put your weapons down.

  They obey. Their expressions stay neutral – self-assertive even. Do they not realize that they’re under his spell?

  My fingers begin to obey, relaxing their grip on Killian’s blade – before I snap them tight again.

  Come on, Shade. Stay alert. Defend yourself for once.

  Roarke’s voice is so smooth and silky that I’m using more of my energy trying not to fall into complete lust with the guy than I am trying to survive. I’m winning, but these women are not.

  The blonde starts to unbuckle her weapon belts, dropping them to the ground one at a time. The scent of a rose garden on fire hits the back of my throat, but on my next inhale it’s gone. Roarke makes a wickedly seductive sound that could almost be a laugh if it wasn’t all heavy with motive and a reaching sense of desire, but he doesn’t move.

  A feeling bubbles up inside me. One that has nothing to do with these women and everything to do with Roarke. Not jealousy, though. We’ve been ambushed, and there’s a dead woman nearby, so I am definitely not feeling jealousy right now.

  “The Crown’s orders,” the commander says, stopping to run her tongue slowly over her teeth. “Anyone who brings her back alive – damaged is fine, but able to talk is essential – will walk away with ten thousand gold pieces and the Cobalt Castle. I was thinking about removing a leg – can’t escape on one leg.”

  I jerk my legs closer to my crouched body. I would rather keep my legs, both of them. Especially since I currently only have one functioning arm. Only having one leg would be a death sentence.

  Roarke’s shoulders tense, and he adjusts his grip on his sword, but his smile doesn’t falter.

  “So you’ve been following us?” Roarke asks, his magic sliding deep under my skin and ordering everyone who hears it to get naked.

  Killian’s blade slips from my fingers, and I awkwardly start working at the buttons on my shirt.

  “We haven’t been following you,” the commander says, unbuckling her leather chest armor from the side in three well-practiced movements. “We were Sealed to annihilate Eydis.”

  She pulls it over her head and drops it to the ground. They all do, and within a few heartbeats, they all have their tunics off too. In another heartbeat, they’re pulling at the tie
s on their breastbands. Their expressions are calm, with smiles that lift their pretty cheeks, and gazes full of seduction.

  “Show me your seals?” Roarke asks.

  They all hold their hands out. The burnt marks of their seals have begun to dissolve, but I can’t tell how long they have left.

  “So no one suspected we would be here?” Roarke asks. “We weren’t part of your orders?”

  “No,” the one on the left says, drawing the word out in a low raspy tone. “Your orders were to patrol the border, everyone knows that.”

  “Who delivered the assignment order? Who was the Sealer?” The order, Tell me everything is woven into the under-fabric of his question.

  I suck my bottom lip into my mouth, and even with Allure heavily poisoning the air, I manage to stay quiet, helped by the distracting pull of a nearby jasmine vine filling the breeze with the sweet scent of spring.

  I’ll deal with the fact that it’s autumn later.

  “Sealer Corym. Three triunes were dispatched to remove three of the northern border Potion Masters. Sealer Flynn and Sealer Zen sent triunes towards the southern and western borders. But we are all keeping our eyes open for your pentad.” The commander, now three-quarters naked, spits on the ground as soon as the word ‘pentad’ leaves her mouth. “No matter how secure your position is – your backs have targets on them. Sabers are a sacred race – and your commander has turned us into a joke. ”

  She’s referring to me – I’m the joke – and the deal Pax brokered that took me from the lowest of the lows, a soot-servant-slave, to the highest of the Sabers – my guys are practically second only to the Crown himself.

  One thing is very clear – me going back to the home of all things Saber, the White Castle, is not going to end well.

  “You were all sealed to assassinate the Masters manning the Power Springs?” Roarke asks, ignoring everything else she just said.

  The girl on the right snickers as she unclips the belt at her waist and lets her pants drop to her ankles. I pull my gaze away, but the other two are doing the same thing, and unless I want to completely turn my back, I’ve just got to get over it. Nakedness is not my thing – but Roarke makes a sound that ignites the rose gardens again. A sound like maybe I should be enjoying this more.

  The idea makes me even more uncomfortable.

  “How is that even possible? The assignments require three signatures. The Crown always needs at least two Councillors, and they’re in short supply,” Roarke asks – well, he starts out asking, then he kind-of starts babbling.

  “His Highness can move his warriors wherever he wants by making the Sealers alter each design just a little. An order to protect the Potion Master can easily be altered into an instruction to protect her even from herself, at all costs – if you choose the right words to put in front of a council member, it’s easy to make amendments once the document has been signed and before the seal has been drawn,” the commander says. “It’s easy to have your head, and your pretty little pet’s too – once he’s finished with her.”

  She trails her finger from the corner of her lip, over her chin, and down her neck.

  Roarke snickers at her, an evil little twist to his tone.

  “The assignment system was our fail-safe,” he growls low and almost inaudible, before adding, “Kitten, cover your ears.”

  The women don’t register that he’s spoken, not a blink, nothing. It’s like I don’t even exist.

  I stop struggling to get my shirt off, which I had forgotten I was doing. Thank the gods button number two is stubborn, and one-armed button skills are beyond me. My left hand is covering my left ear before I realize that covering both ears is impossible.

  I only have one available hand.

  “Cease. And. Fall,” he says, his voice full Allure and a million times stronger than a moment ago.

  Than ever.

  The words hit my mind, my soul, and my body falls instantly. Crashing flat to the ground and the stones. My eyelids droop...

  Almost closing...

  Just the barest sliver left with a view of the Sabers on the ground, convulsing.

  I don’t seem to be breathing… which oddly doesn’t worry me. No worries.

  Just… calm… nothing...

  The dead woman’s legs are hanging over the edge of a boulder. Her blood is still seeping ever so slowly down the stone, following the creases and cracks. It’s thick and congealed and tracing a pattern that’s begun to dry. Arcing out wide, then staggers towards the ground in jagged points, ending in a tail and talons.

  My vision begins to fill with black spots.

  Roarke dives for me.

  “Kitten. Fuck. Breathe,” he orders, his words pierced hard with power. Kneeling in front of me, his fingers brush over my cheek.

  My chest obeys, heaves, and air rushes into my lungs.

  He presses his forehead to mine.

  My mind’s reeling, trying to work out what’s going on.

  Where am I? What am I supposed to be doing? Because I’m pretty sure lying around on a stone path wasn’t part of the plan for today – but I can’t quite access the part of my mind that knows things, that has answers.

  “Sleep,” he whispers – orders.

  He cups my ears, and the world goes quiet, before ordering something to the women still struggling to stay alive on the path.

  Sleep… I consider, but for some reason, I don’t obey.

  Whatever he says next stops the Sabers from convulsing. Cease and fall isn’t a quick death. That looked slow and painful – and obviously with enough time to either enjoy the show or rescind the instruction.

  Their bodies relax. Their lips move. Then they start crawling out of here on hands and knees. Naked. Eyes glazed over and out of focus – like they’re sleep-crawling.

  Roarke’s hands move from my ears, and the sound of gurgling water floods my senses. He cups my cheeks, tilting my head back. His dark eyes are wide with fear, but I can’t focus on them for long. Fuzzy, then clear.

  Fuzzy, then clear.

  “Now you resist me.” He sighs, sliding one arm under my back and the other under my legs, then scoops me up. “Go to sleep, Shade. Your mind needs to heal,” he says softly.

  There’s no Allure in his tone.

  And I obey.

  Kitten weighs nothing, but carrying her makes the world feel heavy. Slumped against my chest, her breathing matches mine – because it is mine.

  I carry her past Eydis’ recently murdered body – not important. Past the horses – also not important. Then kick open Eydis’ front door. One of the hinges groans, but it doesn’t break, and the door swings shut behind me.

  I scan the room, closing my eyes and feeling with my magic. I’ve got nothing on Killian’s ability to feel people out. Everyone has darkness welling inside of them. But if there’s any semblance of desire to do us harm within this building – I’ll find it. The same way I found those Sabers in the trees. They wanted us to walk over to Eydis, badly enough that their desire was like a beacon.

  I just have to let go of my grip on Shade’s breathing to do it. Let her lungs succumb to my order. Let them ‘cease and fall’.

  Anger rips through me. She wasn’t supposed to hear that. She’s supposed to be getting stronger. Supposed to be able to survive going through Silvari glass. Sometimes she can resist me – just not when it actually matters.

  And it matters now.

  I push my magic through every corner of the cottage.

  Empty. Devoid.

  Then I slam my power back into Shade.

  “Breathe,” I command.

  Her chest expands. Her lungs obey.

  One breath – I inhale, and on command, so does she.

  Two, exhale.

  Three.

  Four.

  We find our rhythm again.

  At least she didn’t convulse from the pressure of my magic like the Sabers who ambushed us. Seeing her body do that would have left me with nightmares.

  I s
ettle her onto the couch and crouch down. Her pants are a few sizes too big and held in place by seams of elastic at the sides. The shirt was made for a man Seth’s size and falls low on her chest. I adjust it, wanting to run my fingertips over her soft skin, but instead dragging my gaze higher. Her hair falls about the soft fabric of the couch and across her cheek. Stroking it off her face feels like a safe thing to do until my power sparks, and my fingers tremble.

  I suck back at my desires, and she bloody stops breathing again.

  Aeons. Everything in me says, Back away, or I will kill her, but her mind needs time to repair the rip I just created – and in that time, my power is the only thing that can keep her alive. If I back away right now, I will kill her.

  I. Can’t. Win.

  I press my head into my hands. Oh, brother, when you sent us here together, you were so very, very misguided.

  My power reaches for Shade, and I relax my grip enough to let out a thin tendril. It stretches across the distance and licks at the edge of her being. Then latches on with an ardor that begins playing a game of give and take. Giving just enough to instruct her to breathe, but taking – wanting – more. More contact. More of her.

  Just more. My power always wants more. Never settles. Never satiated.

  Jada should be on her way, as well as Rose and some of the other Elite triunes loyal to Pax, trustworthy, and ready to fight too. Teegan will be among them, but I push that thought down. Letting Teegan’s name into my mind creates a hot stab of apprehension in my chest. I don’t know if Teegan will be a good distraction or a nightmare.

  All organized through the slow drip of information we and Jada have managed to muster and piece together. But they’re not going to be able to stand in my place inside Kitten’s bubble. No matter how close those women are to me and my family, they can’t help. Only an Elorsin can.

  The Elorsins have been planning for the moment when we’d try to free this kingdom – but our plans have always ended in our deaths. Until we met Shade. Which was only confirmed with Mother’s prophecy.