25
Eric
“You okay?” Camille was sitting on my computer desk, her feet kicked up on my computer chair, and I leaned back in it, kicking my feet against the desk.
“I’m fine,” I said, practically upside down as I stared at Pierce. Brenthan slept next to him. None of us had returned to our human forms. Too much adrenaline ran through us, and Mindy was guaranteed to leave us alone. My father managed to distract her with excuses upon excuses, and she left the house with Noah, but I couldn’t concentrate long enough to even eavesdrop.
“The light was close to your room,” Camille said, widening her blue eyes. “Too close if you ask me.”
Pierce’s white skin somehow paled, and I sighed heavily. “I was prepared to fight,” I said.
“I could tell.” Camille beamed, her teeth bright against her dirt-covered face. “I’m proud of you, Shoman. You’re doing so well.”
“Thanks.”
Camille opened her mouth to speak again, but she stopped, cocking her head to the side. Her face scrunched up, and her nose twitched. “Your father needs to speak to us, Shoman,” she said, jumping off my desk.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” I said before switching to telepathy. “I have to check on Pierce first.”
She left my room, and I shook my head, concentrating on my best friend. “What’s up with you, Pierce? Are you okay?”
He nodded.
“Are you sure?” I asked, prying as I spun my chair around to face him. “You don’t look so good.”
He rubbed his forehead. “Physically? I’m fine,” he began, his eyes hovering over his sleeping brother. “As much as Brenthan’s a brat, he’s my brother. I love him. And if that light attacked when you weren’t there—” A frown twisted onto his lips. “I couldn’t stand up to something like that. I would have no chance against a light.”
“But it didn’t happen,” I said, and Pierce shook his head.
“It will.” “The Marking of Change,” he finished telepathically as if he couldn’t hear the words spoken.
My fingers dug into my kneecaps. “That battle is between Darthon and me, not anyone else.”
Pierce raised his brow. “Do you really believe that?” he asked, and I turned my face, unable to meet his eyes. I didn’t know what to believe. He sighed heavily, and his foot tapped the edge of the bedframe. “This isn’t your fault, Shoman. If it wasn’t for you, we could be dead.”
“If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have been in that corridor,” I said, standing up to follow Camille. “I’ll be back.”
Pierce was still as I passed him, openly walking down my hallway as a shade. It would’ve felt freeing if it hadn’t been under the circumstances of an attack. I only knew two things. The Light did it, and we captured one of them. Nothing more.
“How much damage was done?” Camille’s voice echoed into the hall, and I leaned against the wall outside.
“Quite a lot,” Urte said. “I’m afraid training might be out of the question for a while.”
“Perhaps that’s why she attacked,” my father said as I entered the room and met his eyes for the first time since he handed me the car keys. Unlike Urte, he didn’t rush across the room to hug me. Instead, he nodded, and I turned away.
“The light was a girl?” I asked, and my trainer confirmed the news.
“She was after you no doubt.”
My father sat at his desk, drumming the wood with his fingers. “Then why would she bother killing three innocent shades that are obviously not him?”
My gut twisted. “Three people were killed?”
Urte ignored me. “She was making a statement.”
Camille agreed. “There’s more to this light than we think.”
“That’s why we should interrogate her,” Urte said.
I saw myself in my father as his jaw locked, popping his upper cheek out. His blue eyes fogged over, and he rubbed them. “Do we know anything about her?”
“Her name’s Fudicia,” Camille said. “And she’s too powerful for her age; she must be ranked very high.”
My father nodded. “Capturing her had to be difficult.”
“Luthicer helped, Bracke,” Camille said, squaring her shoulders. “The only strange part was her surrender. She could’ve escaped.”
“Was it a suicide mission?” I asked, and Camille shook her head.
“That’s outside of Light culture,” she said. “They are destined die, but they’ll fight it until the end.”
My throat tightened, and my father stood, leaning against his desk. “This attack doesn’t have value,” he said. “I cannot find a purpose for this.”
“That’s why we ask her.”
“What makes you think she’ll answer?” he asked, and Camille sucked in a breath.
“Knowing the Light, this is part of a bigger plan,” she said. “They sent Fudicia with a message; we might as well hear it.”
“I want to go with,” I interceded, and everyone acknowledged my existence for what seemed to be the first time since I walked in.
My father groaned. “Shoman—”
“I’m the first descendant.” I held my ground. “I need more experience with the Light if I’m going to defeat it.”
My father’s eyes burned a brilliant cerulean, and he touched his chin. “You have proved yourself,” he said beneath his breath. “But I’m not sure you want to handle this tonight.”
“I don’t want to,” I said, refusing to drop eye contact. “I have to.”
Urte smiled, and my father’s eyes flickered over my face, scanning my expression as if he were searching for something he’d never find. “Okay,” he said, stepping away as shadows crawled across his chest, legs, and arms. “Let’s go.”
Minutes Before Sunset Page 29