So I wouldn’t feel as shitty about all of this.
I straightened my back and my hands turned to fists at my side. Ian’s eyes narrowed as he studied me, then he nodded. He motioned for an operative to follow him down the hall, and motioned for me and the other operative, a Traded I didn’t recognize, to head back towards the room with the previous slaughter.
I hated that Ian had sent me the one way he figured I’d be safe. I hated even more that he was probably heading towards the creature.
The corridor ahead stood silent, but that hardly meant anything. I drew my shadows around me. The other Guild of Shadows operative walked ahead to scout, out of reach of my shadows.
Which was fine – the chances of an attack here were slim. I glanced back. Ian and the other operative were already gone. I hadn’t even heard them open a door to slip into. Mind you, I had no clue what the other operative could do, and Ian might be a mouse by now.
The operative turned into the room. I followed, disinterested, until I heard a weird noise, like a squick.
The operative flew back out the door in several pieces, landing hard against the wall, blood exploding all over the hallway.
I shifted sideways, halfway through pulling out my dagger, when the air beside me shimmered in my folded shadows. I freed my blade and struck hard, a shriek echoing in my skull, my body flying, blood, a thump…shit.
Was that me?
Chapter Eight
I knew I wasn’t dead because being dead wouldn’t hurt this bad. Breathing wouldn’t burn my chest. Stars wouldn’t be going supernova before my eyes.
I dragged my shadows around me, folding them tightly. I hadn’t seen the creature, until it had crossed them. That meant it couldn’t see me if I kept to my shadows, as long as it didn’t run into me.
With any luck, it was long gone by now.
Ian!
He’d be heading back here. I didn’t think I’d screamed, but the creature certainly had. I might have, too. I wasn’t sure.
Another shallow breath.
Blood.
I could taste blood. I struggled to stay conscious, to hold my shadows around me. But I had to help the others, too.
Ian.
I pushed myself onto my elbows, or at least tried. I went back down quickly. I couldn’t breathe. Try as I might, I couldn’t get breath in fully, and blood kept getting in my way. I choked on the thick liquid in my throat and spit some out, my sight still uncooperative, my hands unwilling to move, my shadows slipping away from me…I tried to hold them, but I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t breathe, and I couldn’t see.
Darkness lifted the light from my eyes and I thought I heard someone calling my name.
Maybe the Traded get to go home when they die.
The thought warmed me, and I dropped my shadows and slipped away into the darker shadows awaiting at the edge of my consciousness.
#
“Tira!”
#
The floor shifted and moved. Pain lanced my side. My chest. My heart.
I gasped, moaned.
Slipped away.
#
“Tira.”
Clay?
Was Clay here? He couldn’t be here. He’d get hurt.
I tried to open my eyes, but couldn’t, like something thick held them closed.
“Shh, be quiet.”
It wasn’t Clay. But it was a friend.
I tried to cling to consciousness. It was important that I stay awake. To stay safe. To warn my friends.
Ian!
The adrenaline rush pushed light before my eyes and vanquished my breath.
#
“Five more,” a voice said. I didn’t know them.
I tried to move.
“Don’t move,” another voice said. Ian. I knew that voice.
I stopped moving.
I managed to open my left eye a bit, enough for the light to sting. A tear escaped the edge of my eyelid as the shape before me formed into Ian.
Covered in blood.
“My blood?” I wanted to ask, but just gurgled.
His hands came up to my forehead. The warmth comforted me. “Shh. You’re safe now. Rest.”
How do you know we’re safe? I wanted to ask, but couldn’t.
I already knew the answer anyway. He didn’t know if we were safe. He couldn’t know.
He just hoped damn hard that we were.
Chapter Nine
I woke up to the soft hum of a machine. I opened my eyes slowly, pleased that they weren’t crusty and that I could focus.
A drip machine stood guard beside me, regularly sighing a clear liquid down the tube hooked to the needle in my arm. My purple skin looked a bit gray, my gut hurt, and I was parched.
And all of that was fine. Because, hell, it meant I was still alive.
What a day, I thought as I looked around. I was in the infirmary, the other beds distressingly empty. A curtain separated me from the bed right next door. Two glowing orbs shone through them.
I blinked, making sure it wasn’t a trick of the light or my tired eyes.
“Hello?” I said, my voice raw.
“Hi,” the voice replied, the two orbs moving to the side of the curtain to peek around them. The mummified researcher’s head peeked at me with unblinking eyes. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I’m glad you’re okay, too.”
He grinned, his teeth picking up some of the green from his eyes. Not the most restful portrait I’d ever seen.
“Was anyone else hurt?” I asked, my voice small. I thought I remembered Ian bringing me to safety, but the memories were fuzzy from pain... and almost dying.
His head cocked sideway slowly. Damn, I wish he’d blink. “Everyone from my guild is dead,” he grinned again, “except me.”
“Yes,” I tried not to let impatience drip into my voice. It didn’t seem fair to take out my worries on him, though I wasn’t sure he’d actually notice. “What about from my Guild?”
“Oh.” He seemed to ponder for a bit. “I don’t know.”
“Okay.” I shifted my head away, staring at the ceiling instead. How badly hurt was I? I tried to push myself up, but something pulled at my stomach. Pain ripped through my gut, stars exploded in front of my eyes, and I laid back down, winded and hurting.
Pretty badly hurt.
I healed fast. Most Traded did. But this would take a while, and a killer was out there.
“You got sliced up pretty bad,” the voice said. I turned my head and started at the two glowing eyes, now much closer.
“Please don’t do that.” I said. He stood right beside me, crouched so his head hovered near mine.
“Don’t do what?” He sounded honestly perplexed.
“Your leg!” I asked, wanting to look down but not daring to move.
“I don’t know how not to do my leg,” he offered.
“What? No!” He would probably be tiring, even if I was top form. “I mean…your leg. It’s okay?”
“It grew back,” he said with a grin, holding it up so I could see it, though it was mostly hidden beneath thick robes.
“Nice,” I said, and meant it. That was a pretty useful trait. “How long have I been out?” It seemed a nicer question than “how long does it take to grow back a leg?”
“About a day?” he said. Then he looked puzzled. “I don’t know.”
“You’ve been in here two days,” Ian said, his voice soft as he stepped into the room. I felt immediate relief at seeing him. My breathing eased. I hadn’t even realized how I’d been holding my breath with worry.
He squeezed my shoulder and looked up to the mummy. “You have a room,” he offered. “You don’t have to stay in the infirmary now that you’ve been discharged.”
The mummy hesitated, then nodded. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he said, and shuffled off.
Ian watched him go. “Well, at least w
e saved one from the Chengzu Guild,” he looked back my way. It kind of sounded like he was thanking me, but it also kind of sounded like a reprimand. That was a good trick.
“No one else from the Guild of Shadows got hurt, except Tim. There was nothing we could do for him.”
I nodded. I mean, I felt bad that he’d died, but I didn’t even know who Tim was. Maybe I should put more effort into getting to know the people here. Or, then again, maybe not, if they were all going to get disemboweled in front of me.
“Did you see the creature?” I asked, my voice annoyingly weak.
He shook his head. “No, but you hurt it with your dagger. We found a trail of blood leading all the way out of the building, but then we lost the trail.”
“What kind of blood?” I asked, wishing I could sit up.
“Well, not human. We couldn’t even detect it without a UV light.”
“Huh,” I said, not sure what that meant.
“You were hurt bad, Tira,” Ian said softly.
“I’ll be okay.”
“But you might not have been,” he said. “We’ve lost so many Traded, and we’ll just keep losing more unless we stop this thing, whatever it is.” His frustration dissipated into a question. “How did you manage to hit it, anyway?”
“When it crossed my shadows,” I said, remembering the strange ripple, “it made some kind of trail.”
Ian considered my words, his eyes darker as he considered my words. I wanted to reach up and touch his face, just to connect with someone. But moving my arm seemed impossible, and my eyelids grew heavy.
“Sleep,” he said as I lost the battle to keep my eyes open. “We have a big day ahead.”
I thought I felt his lips on my forehead as I drifted off, but it might have just been his hand, speeding me toward welcoming dreams.
#
I woke up with a start, gurgling out a tired scream as someone held me down.
“Tira,” someone said. I didn’t know their voice. I didn’t know them, and they were holding me down, and I needed to be free, calling my shadows to me.
“We can’t help her if we can’t see her,” someone else said, sounding annoyed.
“Tira,” the voice spoke right beside my ear, warm breath soothing me.
It was Ian.
“Lie still. You’re in no danger, I promise you. They’ll heal you.”
I tried to open my eyes but felt myself gently drift away.
“I promise I won’t leave you,” he said. I believed him and allowed myself to fall prey to sleep once more, confident that I wouldn’t be alone.
That I was safe.
Chapter Ten
“Hi,” the sing-song voice chanted beside me the second I stirred awake.
I opened my eyes to the sight of two glowing green eyes right beside me. I blinked, too tired to start.
Pain no longer coiled my abdomen, and moving my arms proved easier. I placed my forefinger in the middle of the mummy’s forehead and gently pushed him back, his strange grin unchanging.
“Space, please,” I said.
He cocked his head a bit as though considering it, and then shuffled back a few more steps. He seemed stiff, like he’d been crouching beside me too long.
“How long have you been…you know what, never mind. What can I do for you?”
“I had breakfast,” he said, looking pleased. “And I thought I’d see if you’d like breakfast, too.” He looked to the side table, his grin unwavering. A platter of congealed eggs sat there.
I now knew how long he’d been here: too long.
The mummy opened his mouth, closed it, then pointed down to the end of my bed. “I like your puppy,” he said. I glanced down. Ian was there in the dog form that he’d been in when we’d first met. He looked groggy and annoyed.
I’d never been happier to see his grumpy, fuzzy face. I realized it had been months since I’d seen his dog form, and I’d missed it.
I smiled at him. “You stayed,” I whispered, the threads of the nightly healing returning to me. His doggie eyes had so much depth as they held mine. I patted his head, and he wagged his tail.
I liked puppy Ian. I used to call him Max, because that seemed a good dog name, but that didn’t work for him anymore. I couldn’t not see Ian in his eyes, no matter which shape he took. Well, except maybe if he became a snail.
But I’d never seen him take that particular form. Which was more than okay with me. I’d stepped on a snail once and heard its shell explode under my foot, and had already suffered several nightmares of accidentally doing that to Ian.
I shuddered at the thought.
“Okay, time to get up,” I said, gently testing my abdomen. Ian jumped off the bed, making no attempt at stopping me.
I remembered a few events from the night. They’d taken out my drip, and then someone had come in and gently placed their warm hands on me. I’d drifted for a while, completely comfortable. Ian had been near. I kind of remembered him jumping onto the end of my bed.
It was a comforting weight. I’d missed it. But Ian was busy helping to run this place, so being a puppy at my feet while I slept wasn’t in the cards. Maybe I needed to get an actual dog. Would the Guild of Shadows let me do that? Where would I walk the dog?
Ian cocked his head, looking at me skeptically. I was glad he couldn’t read minds. At least, I was pretty sure he couldn’t. I looked to the mummy. His head was also cocked, grin still frozen on his face.
I sighed. “Um, I’m sorry, what’s your name?”
“Glitter,” he said, pointing to his eyes.
“That’s a nice name,” I offered. He cocked his head further and took a step forward.
“Tira,” I said. “Tira Misu.”
His grin slowly faded, his eyes widened, his mouth turning into a perfect “o.”
“You’re a dessert!” His voice sounded a tad too thrilled.
“Just the name.”
I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. I wore a boring blue hospital gown. Ian moved behind some curtains, where I assumed he was shifting. He shifted in front of me, but didn’t like doing it in front of just anyone, at least from what I could tell.
He stepped back out, the mummy giving him a look of enthusiastic wonder. Ian scowled at him and stayed close to me as I tested my legs, leaving me my space, but ready to assist if necessary. I felt the mummy, I mean Glitter, stand at my other side, also ready to help.
I stood up fully, no pain shearing my gut. My legs felt a bit shaky, but I’d been lying down for two days, so that wasn’t unexpected.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Ian asked.
“Seem to be,” I grinned at him, though I didn’t hop around to test that statement. There would be time for that yet.
“You almost got cut in two,” Glitter said.
I raised an eyebrow and stared at him.
A tentative smile popped up on his face. He looked like he was trying really hard to be friendly, but not quite hitting the mark.
“Could you give us a moment?” Ian asked Glitter.
Glitter nodded enthusiastically. And stayed there.
“I mean, alone,” Ian said, his patience drawing thin.
“Oh,” Glitter said. He paused, as though considering the request. I feared Ian might toss him out.
“We’ll find you after, if you want to head back to your room,” I offered, so he didn’t feel too bad.
“Okay,” he agreed and shuffled off. His back curved in over the rest of his body. His arms folded inward, and he never really dropped them, as though the tendons were just a bit too tight. He held his head as high as he could, his neck at almost a ninety-degree angle for him to be able to look forward.
It made him look shorter than he must be, and the folding in made him look perpetually scared. Which he might be. His entire guild had just been slaughtered, after all.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Ian asked again, holding my eyes with his.
“You asked me that already,” I said, then smiled gently. “And yes, I am.” I placed my hand on my stomach. “Was it really as bad as Glitter said?”
“No, but nearly,” he spoke softly. “Your armor took a lot of the blow, and you shifted a bit, which saved you.”
“I don’t even remember moving,” I mumbled. “I just remember hurting.”
“Instincts are good,” Ian said. I squinted my eyes at him.
“What?” I asked. Why had he sent Glitter away? Surely it wasn’t to ask me exactly the same questions he was asking me before sending him away. Ian was hesitating, buying time for something he didn’t want to do or say.
I was fine, so it wasn’t about my health. Had someone else been killed? My breath caught in my throat.
“Did Clay’s league get hit?”
“No!” Ian quickly dissipated my worry. “No, I swear I wouldn’t keep that from you.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. I didn’t think Ian liked Clay. In fact, I was sure he didn’t. Clay was my oldest friend, heck, my only friend, really, aside from Ian. But Clay had been so single-minded in joining a fighter’s league that he’d put me in danger a few times.
Ian had taken that more personally than I had. Of course, he’d known that we wouldn’t get a choice. That I’d already been marked for the Guild of Shadows, and Clay for the Wolf Pack League. So, Ian had known that all of Clay’s efforts were futile.
But Clay hadn’t known that. Clay had fought to keep me by his side. Even if sometimes it felt like he’d just thrown me in the path of danger, I knew Clay had done it because he cared.
For Ian, though, Clay’s behavior had been selfish and dangerous. I doubted Ian had forgiven Clay, or that he ever would. Of course, Ian had no more claim on being mad on my behalf than Clay did.
And yet Clay was mad at Ian, too, because Ian had whisked me to the Guild of Shadows. More or less. I’d had to “make” the choice, but it hadn’t really been a choice. Still, Clay hated my Guild and what it stood for. He thought of it as nothing more than an Assassins’ League, even though I saw it as so much more.
For me, it was now home.
“Have other guilds been attacked?” I asked, not really wanting to know. How many more Traded had died while I slept here?
Hell Bent Page 5