He looked grim. “No,” he said. “We wonder if your wounding the creature bought us some time.”
“That would be good,” I said. “You don’t think it’s dead?”
“We followed the trail,” Ian reported, “and it didn’t seem like that much blood. Plus, the trail petered out, so it probably has healing capacities.”
“The creature,” I mumbled, “is probably gearing up for another attack.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” he said even more softly, then sighed. “Look, the guilds are coming together to form a pact of some sort, to keep each other safe.”
I’d have thought that was good news, but Ian looked even more irritated by it.
“That’s good, right?” I asked, no longer sure.
“Of course,” he said, his voice tinged with annoyance, “and we’re about to meet at a neutral location,” he paused, long enough for me to narrow my eyes at him. “We’d like you to report. You’re the only one who’s seen the creature, much less struck it.”
“You want me to what, now?” I gave an awkward laugh. “Ian, you know I don’t do spotlights, or talking in front of groups.”
That was an understatement. I hated crowds. I hated being seen by so many people. I was purple. With demon horns and a tail. I belonged in the shadows.
“I know,” Ian said, sounding annoyed, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t at me. He gestured back toward the general area of Sonsil’s chambers. As leader of the Guild of Shadows, Sonsil could pretty much order me to do it, no matter how much I might dislike it.
He wasn’t exactly here to coddle me. It seemed no one was here to do that in this life.
“I’m not doing it,” I said, but knew I could be made to do it. “Or, I’ll do it while hiding in the shadows. I mean, do they really need to see me?”
Ian cocked an eyebrow. I sighed. “Look, I’m no public speaker. And I didn’t see much. Besides, I already told you everything that I saw. Can’t you share for me?”
I sounded pathetic, but I couldn’t help my voice from dipping down. “Maybe I don’t feel as good as I thought I did?” I offered hopefully.
Ian ran his hand through his disheveled hair, looked back toward the door.
“Okay, let me see what I can do,” he said. “But, if you don’t talk, you won’t get to come.”
“That’s okay,” I shrugged. “Sounds pretty boring anyway.”
“Clay will be there,” he said softly, his dark eyes locked on me, his voice too neutral to mask his true emotions. “The meeting is at his league. Fighting leagues are neutral enough, and well-defended.”
I examined Ian quietly before breaking the silence. “You didn’t have to tell me that.”
“I know,” he said, “but you’d have found out. And it’s not my place to decide who your friends are.” He paused, looked at me significantly. “But it is my place to make sure you stay in line with the Guild of Shadows. I trust that you won’t put me in an awkward position?”
“I won’t,” I promised, and meant it. Just seeing Clay, for a few moments, would make the trip worthwhile. I missed him badly, about as much as I missed the shadows right now.
But I’d have to step into the light to do it, in front of Traded from different guilds, and tell them what I’d seen. What I’d felt.
Terror. That’s what I’d felt. But it was nothing compared to the terror of having to stand up in front of so many people.
Chapter Eleven
I fought the urge to fold the shadows around me as I walked back to my room. I needed to freshen up, find something to wear that wasn’t a hospital gown. I looked terrible in washed-out blue.
I doubted anybody would look good in this.
I jumped a bit when Rachel stepped in front of me, her eyes the blue of the sea, her pink hair now streaked with chunks of blue, her skin shimmery like water on a sunny day.
I stood corrected. This robe would look good on her.
“Would you like this gown?” I asked. “The color would look good on you, and probably no one else.”
“Um, no thank you,” she said, her eyebrow slowly going up as she looked at the gown. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Thanks,” I offered. “I’m gonna get changed.”
“I heard you’re going to the Wolf Pack League to tell them about the monster,” Rachel said, not moving aside. That was all sorts of annoying, especially after offering her my gown.
“First, I have to change,” I said, more than ready to elbow past her.
She opened her mouth, then closed it, apparently thinking better of it. I’d never fought Rachel in one-to-one combat. But she seemed pretty strong. Probably from years of working on a boat. I’d be curious to test my mettle with her, but feared she’d just go and explode.
That wouldn’t be so great.
“Can I come chat with you after?” she asked softly.
“Um, sure, I guess.”
She nodded and walked back to her room. That was weird. People didn’t generally visit me. Had she missed me? That would be nice, but I doubted it. I guess I’d find out soon enough what she wanted to talk about.
I slipped into my room, the darkness comforting. I could completely vanish here, if I wanted to. I didn’t need the lights and preferred them off. There was comfort in knowing not everyone could just look at you. It didn’t matter that I was alone..
I tugged at my hospital gown and had it almost off when I heard someone clear their throat from beside my bed. I reached for a dagger, but of course had no weapons on me. I crouched and peered up. Two shining green eyes popped up beside the bed.
I sighed. “Glitter, what are you doing here?” The hood from his sweater covered his features.
“You said to go to my room.”
“This isn’t your room,” I wanted nothing more than to throw him out and have a hot shower. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. The poor thing had lost his entire guild and didn’t seem to know up from down.
Those two things may or may not be related.
“No,” he agreed. “It’s your room.”
“Then we’re in agreement,” I muttered. “So, you’re in the wrong room.”
“I don’t think so,” he frowned, his glowing green eyes lowering as his eyebrows stitched together. Or I imagined that’s what he was doing. I couldn’t see his eyebrows under all his bandages.
I realized he must have been sleeping beside my bed. Otherwise, I’d have seen the glow of his eyes right away when I walked in.
Note to self: next time, do a perimeter check of your room. Always do a perimeter check. Spare yourself having weird encounters in your own room.
“I said for you to go to your room.” I fought to keep my voice even. “This is my room.”
“Yes,” he bopped his head up and down with agreement, any sign of a frown line gone. “But, if I say those exact words, I’m right.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Go to your room. If I’m you telling me that, I’m in the right room. This is my room.” He waited for my answer, perfectly still.
“That…that doesn’t make any sense.”
“My room.” He repeated more slowly, as though that would help me understand.
“Okay, I’m not even going to try anymore. Do you not remember where your room is?”
“Why would I forget that?”
I sighed. This was getting me nowhere, and I still wanted to shower and change into actual clothes, not to mention wrap my head around having to speak in front of a bunch of guild leaders.
My stomach rumbled, either from hunger or nerves. Maybe both.
“Well, you stay there,” I said. “I’m going to grab a shower.”
“Okay,” he said, his eyes shifting a bit. I realized he wasn’t looking at me, but near me. He couldn’t see anything in the dark.
Maybe speaking to the guild leaders would turn out to be a high point of my day.
“I’m going to put t
he lights on for you,” I said, and flipped the switch, blinking as the light burned my eyes.
“You can see in the dark,” his voice held a note of wonder.
“I can also throw daggers really well in the dark,” I mumbled as I grabbed clothes from my dresser.
“If you move,” I said, “I will eviscerate you.”
The last thing I needed was to spot two shiny green eyes through the shower glass.
“No moving,” he agreed. I squinted at him. If he noticed my ire, he didn’t give any indication of it.
At least he wasn’t moving from there. Maybe he’d actually understood those instructions?
Not willing to take a chance, I locked the door to the bathroom before slipping under the marvellously warm stream of water.
#
I took my time, keeping the lights off, only the glow from my room slipping in under the bathroom door.
The scar across my abdomen was deep purple and straight, like a seam cutting me in two. I’d had other scars, though most had vanished with time, whisked away by the healing ability most Traded shared. But this one…well, I doubted it would ever vanish.
It cut straight across my stomach, from left to right, without jagged edges. Whatever the creature used to slice people into corpses had hit me straight on. I was still alive thanks to my shadows, and the fact that it hadn’t seen me.
Otherwise, I had no doubt that I’d be dead.
I took a deep breath of humid air as I combed my hair, looking into the steamed-up mirror. I had almost died. If the others hadn’t found me quickly, if they hadn’t been able to heal me, I would be dead.
I ran my finger across the scar, staring at it still through the mirror, haunted by one question: who would mourn me when I’m gone?
#
Dressed and presentable, I stepped out of the bathroom. Glitter was exactly where I’d told him to stay, and it didn’t look like he’d moved an inch. His eyes shifted slightly, to try to look at me. But he didn’t turn his neck.
Okay. Maybe he was a bit too literal?
“You can move, now,” I said. His shoulders relaxed and he seemed relieved. He turned his neck to look at me but didn’t say anything.
“Okay,” I asked, sitting down on my desk chair. “Why are you really in my room?”
“I told you,” he started, but I held up my hand.
“The truth,” I said softly. “It’s okay, I won’t be mad.”
I braced myself, to make sure I could keep that promise. Breathe in, breathe out, find all the limited patience in your heart…
“This place is safe,” he said, the strange broken quality of his voice almost muted by its softness.
“The Guild of Shadows is a safe place,” I agreed. “You don’t need to be afraid here.”
“No,” he shook his head. “This place,” he motioned to the room. Then he stopped and pointed to me. “You’re safe.”
“Oh. You wanted to stay with me?”
He nodded enthusiastically, hood bopping up and down.
“Dessert keep Glitter safe.”
“My name is Tira,” I mumbled. “And you’re safe here, at the Guild of Shadows. You don’t need to be beside me.”
He blinked a couple of times, as though to ward away the confusion.
“No, you’re the one who kept me safe. You save Glitter.”
I sighed. He was twenty, like me. Like all of the Traded.
But Glitter seemed a lot younger. Or maybe he didn’t have the same neurological or emotional scope that most Traded and humans did. He likely wasn’t the only one. I’d heard rumors over the years of really different Traded. Like the one that looked like a rock and just sneezed once in a while. Or the one that looked like cheese. Rumor was that he’d been served as fondue in some billionaire’s house. But I doubted that was true. I damn hoped it wasn’t, anyway.
Glitter, however, could speak. He’d been selected for a researchers’ guild, so he was smart. But maybe he didn’t have the same filters or emotional bandwidth.
“You’re scared,” I said, looking at him with sympathy.
“No,” he said, sounding sullen. “I just like being safe.”
“Sounds like you’re scared to me,” I repeated, and he frowned, lowering his head beside the bed.
I guess I’d pissed him off. In retrospect, I could see why. He hadn’t wanted to be called out on it. Maybe Glitter wasn’t the only one who lacked a full emotional spectrum.
He shuffled and I leaned over to see what he was up to. He was squeezing under my bed. Is this what having a little brother felt like?
I made a mental note to check under there for errant Traded before going to bed tonight.
My mind spun around for ideas on how to talk him out of there, but came up empty. A knock at the door thankfully distracted me.
I stood up and opened it.
“Can I come in?” Rachel asked as she pushed her way in.
“Sure, why not.”
Rachel sat down on the edge of the bed. I opened my mouth to tell her about Glitter, but didn’t bother. I wasn’t sure how to explain him, and it’s not like I’d invited her to sit down anyway.
Served her right if she got spooked by a glowing-eyed mummy.
“I need to know what the creature looked like,” Rachel said, her voice harsh, free of the singsong of the sea. Which wasn’t unusual. She was more about the thunder and lightning than the waves, that one.
“I didn’t even really see it,” I said, sitting back down in my chair. I hated how tired I already felt, just from showering. Maybe I could beg off speaking to the guild leaders.
No. Then I wouldn’t get to see Clay. I missed him so badly. I could do this for the chance to see him, even if just for a bit.
Clay would mourn me.
“But you did see it,” she pushed. She apparently wasn’t great at reading a room.
“As it sliced me, so I was distracted.”
“It reacted with your shadows,” she said. Okay, she’d been informed. Maybe everyone had been briefed. Which would make sense, I guess.
“It did,” I agreed. She looked at me with fierce intensity, her eyes glued to me, leaning forward on my bed, arms stretched beside her as though any second, she would leap off and force details out of me.
I sighed. Might as well practice for the guild report.
“It shimmered when it struck my shadows, but I couldn’t see it beforehand,” I closed my eyes, tried to recall what little I had seen. “A blade cut me, but it seemed an extension of an arm, like the limb itself had been sharpened.”
I frowned, trying not to linger in the moment it cut deeply, the pain exploding to the end of my extremities, as I struggled to hold my shadows near me. The shadows that had failed to shield me.
I kept my eyes shut, finding some comfort in the darkness behind my eyelids, though the light still pierced through. The light always pierced through.
Just like the creature’s blade.
“The light,” I said, opening my eyes and staring into Rachel’s intent ones. “I think it was refracting the light to create some kind of cloaking system. That’s why my shadows revealed it – not enough light could reach it.
Rachel’s eyes seemed faraway for a few moments, like I’d told her that her favorite puppy had been pancaked. She stood stiffly.
“Thanks,” she said. Before I could ask for more elaboration, she walked out of my room.
“You’re welcome,” I said to the closed door. I wanted little more than to crawl in bed for a rest, but I’d already slept too much, and Ian expected me to show up soon.
I heard slight shuffling under the bed. Yeah, that didn’t make me want to crawl in bed, either.
“It’s nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed of,” I said to the otherwise empty room. “Fear, I mean. I hide in my shadows because they keep me safe,” I debated not saying the next part, but my heart wasn’t in denying Glitter what he needed from me. “If I
make you feel safe, you can hang out with me.”
A hesitant shuffle. The top of his head poked out from under the bed, his glowing eyes analyzing me.
“But you have to at least sleep in your own room.”
He seemed about to protest, but then nodded and pulled himself out from under the bed.
“Okay,” he said, taking an awkward step toward me. “Thank you,” he patted my upper arm.
Then he shuffled back to the side of the bed and vanished there again.
“Are you scared?” he asked, a muffled voice behind the bed.
“I’m scared of speaking in front of the guild leaders,” I admitted.
His head popped up beside the bed again. He stared at me for a moment. I didn’t find it creepy, for once. Maybe I should get my head checked, too.
“I’ll come with you and make you feel safe,” he offered.
I smiled. I couldn’t imagine trying to explain Glitter to Clay. But I was glad I’d get the chance to try.
“Thank you,” I said. “I think you’ll like my friend Clay.”
“I like friends,” he agreed. “I didn’t know you could have friends outside of your own guild.”
“Well, we were friends at our academy beforehand,” I smiled. This felt like an actual conversation with Glitter.
“So, you’re no longer friends?”
“No, we still are. We’re just not living together anymore, if that makes sense?”
“Yes,” he nodded vigorously. Then he frowned, and started shaking his head. “No. All of my friends had to be from the Chengzu Guild.”
“I’m sorry,” I said softly. “All of your friends are gone.”
“Don’t be sad,” he said, half standing up. “They’re not gone!”
“Your entire guild was killed.”
“I didn’t have any friends until I met you,” he said. “And, since I don’t have a guild anymore, I guess it’s okay to be friends with someone from another guild.”
“Oh.” I guess I had a new friend.
“I won’t get to be your friend when I go to another researchers’ guild.” He looked sad.
“No, we can still be friends!” I protested, not sure why I was protesting that. I mean, really, I’d be okay with not seeing him again, but he looked so sad, and he wasn’t that bad…
Hell Bent Page 6