Shaedes of Gray: A Shaede Assassin Novel

by amanda bonilla

  I crept slowly to the center of the clearing where Tyler had been chained. His purpose seemed pretty clear now. He was meant to be dessert.

  He leapt and strained against the links in an effort to pull himself loose. Grabbing a section of chain in his mouth, he shook his head back and forth, gnawing down again and again, but the links held. He paused, panting, and changed his course of action, clawing at the spike protruding from the grass instead. Breaking into a run, I dropped to my knees and wrapped my hands around the spike, pulling with all my strength. The ground released its hold and I yanked the spike from the dirt with ease. He couldn’t run or fight while dragging the long rope of links behind him, though, and so, with a pat to his large, furry head, I braced one hand against the collar and pulled the chain with the other. I strained and groaned, yanking as hard as I could without hurting Tyler. The link at the collar weakened, and it pulled away by small degrees.

  “Come on,” I said as I pulled. “Just a little bit more.”

  Tyler dug his furry heels into the grass and leaned backward to help. The chain gave more with our joint effort, and I’d managed to separate the link enough to free it from the collar. A movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I buried my hands into his furry side, shoving at Tyler’s massive form. “Run!” I shouted.

  He took off with amazing speed for such a lumbering creature. I rolled in the opposite direction as one of the Enphigmalé landed in the very spot we’d occupied. Its tail swished from side to side, cutting into the soft grass with ferocious force, throwing pieces of turf flying this way and that.

  I trained my eyes on Tyler, and he stared straight back. “We have to take out the kids before they wake any more of them up!”

  His head bobbed up and down and he took off, circumventing the living gargoyles and the bower where Azriel stood, eyes wide and mouth agape, unable to do anything but gawk like an idiot at the havoc he’d helped to give rise to.

  Armed with nothing but Delilah’s dagger, I was at a disadvantage. I looked around for anything that might pass as a weapon, but the closest thing I could find was the cast-aside chain. I reached out, snatching it back to me like a whip.

  Menacing silver eyes glinted from the dark gray, monstrous head of the Enphigmalé, and its tail jerked to and fro as it studied its prey. I stole a quick glance behind its shoulder, watching as Tyler successfully tackled one of the boys, bringing a swift and seemingly less-painful end to his life. A moment later, one of the girls met the same end. But four remained, and one had already tipped her bowl to the gargoyle’s mouth.

  I looked back at the beast whose wings flapped like great paper kites to stir up a balmy wind. When I shut my eyes against the dust and bits of grass flying at my face, it took the opportunity to attack and leapt toward me. I felt a rush of energy as it came at me, and I twirled the chain in a frantic circle and let it fly, striking the gargoyle in the face and knocking it to one side.

  A Lyhtan spectator cackled wildly at the entertainment, drawing the Enphigmalé’s attention from me. It charged, head down, straight for the Lyhtan. His—or her—screams pierced the sky before it fell under the pouncing beast. The Lyhtan screamed in horror while the gargoyle clawed and bit chunks from its segmented body. Wary, the crowd of Lyhtans began to disperse as shouts of alarm rang out around them. It seemed they’d just begun to realize that this little scene wasn’t going down the way they’d expected.

  Tyler had tackled kid number five before she could drain her bowl into the statue’s mouth, and I looked to Azriel, who remained stock-still at his post beside the bower. As seconds continued to tick away inside me, the changes became more pronounced, and I noticed again how time meant something completely different to me now. I moved quickly, and I noticed so much more and processed the information, while the outside world continued at a much slower pace. I studied the bower and the black space beyond it, finally recognizing it for what it was: a portal.

  I’d first been brought into the clearing through the bower. Perhaps this place was like Avalon—another realm, unseen in the middle of a bustling city or peaceful lake. The bower was the entryway to this place, and Azriel stood guarding it—or waiting to let something out of it.

  Knocked off my feet, I tumbled to the ground in a tangle of hair and limbs and claws and tough, leathery wings. Another Enphigmalé had finished snacking on its sacrificial lamb and turned its hunger on the closest thing—which happened to be me. I placed both feet against its belly and shoved, tossing it away before its jaws could clamp down on my arm. It rolled once and regained its bearings, shaking its massive head and charging again. With one swift movement, I rolled onto my back and kicked, thrusting myself to a standing position. I braced myself, holding the chain in both hands, ready to defend myself in any way possible.

  Tyler made short work of the remaining teens, enraptured by their sacrifice, and only four of the nine gargoyles had been awakened. Three had scattered among the Lyhtan ranks to enjoy fresh kills, and the remaining one was hunting me.

  It circled me like a stalking cat, placing one giant, clawed foot over another. A low, thunderous rumble erupted from deep within its throat, and its silver eyes glinted in the waning sunlight, a reflection of death incarnate. It studied me, tilting its head to the side. I danced in time with the pursuing creature, mirroring its every movement. Its presence came to me in a wave of heat, and rather than concentrating on a specific region of my body, it hit me full on, like a balmy tropic breeze.

  Without warning, the beast leapt. It caught me off guard—I’d had no time to react, and I recognized something happening to me that shouldn’t. A shimmering light burst from my skin, and my corporeal form faded away. I had become one with the day and with the sun. Like my Lyhtan enemies, I had drifted into light.

  My disappearing act confused my attacker, and it twisted in midair, landing sideways to its original target. I moved fast—faster than I ever had—and was gone in the blink of an eye. I appeared safely at the other side of the dais, where Delilah had regained consciousness. She thrashed about, consumed by madness, crying and screaming to no one but herself.

  Adrenaline-infused shock burst through my veins, and my entire body began to shake. I crouched low, still partially melded with the rays of light, and tried to calm down while watching as the Enphigmalé turned circles and sniffed the ground where I should have been standing. It threw its bullish head back and roared in frustration, but soon gave up its search and joined the others in the Lyhtan ranks.

  We had four living, breathing gargoyles to contend with, and they were wild, hungry, and dangerous. Too many variables remained, preventing me from forming a rational plan of attack. And though I could elude an attacker, what about Ty? Was he even in his right mind? And who, if anything, controlled the Enphigmalé?

  A few more Lyhtans had fallen to the ravenous hunger of the attacking Enphigmalé, but most of them had decided the time for sitting on the sidelines as spectators was over. “Betrayed!” one of them shouted. “Used!” said another. “The Oracle lied to us! Azriel tricked us!” The rage and confusion in their many-faceted voices rose to a din. “They brought us here to die!” Some passed into the light, appearing to me as nothing more than flickers in the rays of sun. My own body shimmered, fading in and out of corporeal form, a mirage of quavering light.

  “See her!” A Lyhtan seethed and spit as it changed course from its hasty retreat, its shimmering form becoming solid. The others followed their comrade’s gaze, momentarily distracted from their flight. A collective screeching of voices reverberated through the clearing, giving even the feeding Enphigmalé pause.

  Oh. Shit. For some reason I felt like I had more to fear from these thinking, slavering creatures than I did the mindless beasts running ravenous through our ranks. And then the reason hit me—well, that and a half-ton bear.

  Tyler knocked me to the ground, and my corporeal form returned completely. I looked up to see a wall of golden fur. Standing over me with all four legs braced
apart, Tyler snarled at the creatures that stopped to gawk. He knew they wanted me too.

  Lyhtan by day and Shaede by night, without the ugly exterior to keep me in hiding, I’d evolved into everything they wanted to be and more. It seemed like I was the hot commodity of the day, and as the Lyhtan army drew near, I appreciated just how sticky our predicament had become. We couldn’t fight four hungry, out-of-control Enphigmalé while at the same time keeping the Lyhtans away as they sought to take me.

  “I think we’re screwed no matter what, Ty.” I tried to twist so I could look into his face, but he pressed down like a mother hen, keeping as little distance between me and everyone else as possible. “Maybe we should run for it.” A coward’s exit, but considering the circumstances, I wouldn’t last long in a fight. “I think that bower’s a portal of some kind. All we have to do is get past Azriel. Whaddaya say?”

  Tyler made his nervous-bear noises, I hoped because he was thinking over what I’d said. Escape was our best and only option, no matter how much I wanted to fight. His fur rippled from his chin to his backside, and his tensing limbs signaled that something was about to happen. Lying there, with nothing but a landscape of fur to stare at, I closed my eyes to better feel the circumstances.

  In my mind’s eye, our fate was painted out for me in varying degrees of sensation. Like I’d been equipped with infrared vision or sonar, I recognized the shapes and positions of every creature in the clearing—and they were moving in on us.

  The Enphigmalé gnawed the bones of their Lyhtan kills at the edge of the clearing. Azriel, who had shied from his post, crept closer to where Delilah lay bound by locks of my hair. And the Lyhtans—who numbered exactly 230—continued to close in on us, their many voices making them seem like an army of thousands. I sensed Tyler above me, his fragrance so close and so sweet, I wanted to cry. He wouldn’t leave me. He’d be the first to die, and my heart nearly broke as I thought about what they’d do to him before they laid their collective hands on me.

  “Ty, run away,” I urged. “Don’t worry about me; they can’t hurt me. Just go before they tear you to pieces.”

  He snorted, which I interpreted as either a burst of laughter or bear talk for Hell, no. I thought, Stubborn ass. I pushed at his stomach, and he pressed down harder in protest. Twenty yards, maybe a little more, were all I needed to clear the crowd of Lyhtans. Easy. I pressed my palms and the bottoms of my feet against his belly and chest. Gave a little, bending my arms and knees, took a huge breath, and forced my limbs to push and spring out at the same time.

  Tyler flew away like he weighed nothing at all. He landed in the taller grass outside the clearing, and it rustled as he thumped to the earth and rolled, finally coming to a stop. Hope he’s not too mad, I thought. Or too hurt. And jumped to my feet.

  “Look how strong,” a Lyhtan whispered as it crept steadily toward me.

  “And see her skin in the light of day,” said another.

  “We’ll take her and tear her apart in little pieces until we discover her secret!”

  That didn’t sound good at all. I had no intention of being torn into pieces large, small, or any size in between. On the flip side, I had no idea how to escape the circling Lyhtans, whose segmented insect bodies jerked and twisted as they studied the object of their desire—a creature with their strength, minus a very big weakness.

  Tick, tick, tick. Time sped away from me, thundering in my ears, chest, and soul. I counted the minutes until twilight, when at least a portion of my enemies would be vulnerable. Exactly twenty-five minutes and fifteen seconds . . . fourteen . . . thirteen . . . twelve . . .

  I gave myself a mental shake. It was hard not to become wrapped up in the passing of time when it felt like it passed through me before breaking out on the world. I wouldn’t last twenty-five seconds, let alone an entire half hour. Searching for Delilah’s dagger, I patted my waistband and then my coat pockets, and felt a bulge. I’d completely forgotten about the contents of my pocket. I reached in, closed my fist around the bottled shadows, and smiled.

  Patience is not one of my many virtues, but the situation demanded it, and I waited as the horde of Lyhtans came closer. The timing had to be perfect, and since I didn’t know how or even if the gooey black stuff would work, I had to try to take out as many of the bastards as I could. It was the only way we’d have a fighting chance.

  Closer and closer, tick, tick, tick, the moment crept on with a sluggishness that only I felt. The Lyhtans could have been running at me, for all the difference it would have made.

  The grass where Tyler landed began to stir. It was now or never, and so I pulled the bottle from my pocket and held it before me. Pausing, my fingers resting on the cork stopper, I considered my new circumstances. I had become one with the light—would I share in their fate?

  Fifteen minutes and two seconds until twilight, but what did it matter now? My enemies were many, and I was only one woman with no weapon, no sword with which to strike them down. They would either have to be killed, or they’d do worse to me before they were done. If I died with them, so be it.

  I moved quickly, and my foes slid toward me like an ice floe. Again, I reminded myself to put the amazement on the back burner, and I plucked the cork stopper from the thick glass bottle. I didn’t breathe. I didn’t blink. I didn’t move a muscle.

  Tiny tendrils of the inky black stuff seeped out from the mouth of the bottle and slid to the ground like many cobras escaping a basket. Toward my feet the black threads crept, twisting and writhing near my ankles. But rather than continue their twining search, the dark strings paused, like a dog sniffing, at my feet and continued searching outward.

  The first Lyhtan screams were terrible. With a languid slither, the sludgy shadows entwined their bodies, constricting and sinking into the greenish-tinged flesh of my attackers. They fell to the ground, shaking and jerking, trying in vain to pull away from the shadows permeating their skin, right down to the brittle bones that broke and splintered as the black cords pulled and tugged their bodies in ways they weren’t meant to bend.

  Raif’s soul shadows had killed fifty in all, but it wasn’t enough to level the playing field. The contents of the bottle had been enough to protect me in the event of a chance meeting or minor ambush, but not in a full-scale attack. I threw the useless bottle to the ground, hoping Tyler wouldn’t gallop out of the grass until after they’d killed me. Maybe then he’d do what I asked and save himself. I stood proud, pushed my chin up a notch or two, and waited to die.

  I didn’t think much of it when the first cries sounded from the rear of the Lyhtan ranks. I assumed the Enphigmalé had become hungry again and were seeking new prey. But soon a feeling of joy and salvation filled the darkest and most hopeless parts of my soul. My wish had been granted, and I didn’t have to see him to know that Raif had finally come, and death came swiftly on his heels.

  Chapter 28

  The next few moments passed in a haze. Raif had brought a small army with him, and the many Shaedes filtered in through the black space beneath the bower like ants fleeing their mound. Behind Raif charged the king himself, hacking through the crowd of Lyhtans, his sword bright with rusty orange blood and cutting a path to the center of the circle—cutting a path to me.

  Tick, hack. Tick, slash. Tick, ring. I stood there, my body nearly limp, my jaw slack and my eyes wide as time marched to its own beat, alternating with the sound of each sword’s stroke. Seven minutes and twelve seconds till twilight. Until then, my allies were weak and our enemies strong.

  Lyhtan and Shaede alike lay bleeding and screaming. Raif, Xander, and a few others had broken from the masses, continuing their charge to the center of the circle. I looked frantically toward the dais, where I’d left Delilah. Between the battling bodies, I caught a glimpse of an empty stone table.

  Coming to my senses, I pushed the sensation of passing time from my mind—four minutes, forty-four seconds . Shoving and ducking, I fought my way in the direction of the dais, determined to keep Delila
h and Azriel from escaping.

  Xander saw my struggle and immediately changed his course. With wide-armed swings, his blade cut the air and struck down a Lyhtan; blood gushed from the stump of its arm where the king had severed it at the elbow. He jabbed another straight through its distended stomach and another through the throat. Their wounds were healing fast, though, and if twilight didn’t hurry the fuck up, we’d be screwed before the fight was fair.

  A Lyhtan grabbed me by the ankle just as I was about to break through the crowd to the granite dais. I was strong, but it held fast and pulled me close to its sharp-toothed face. “How did you do it?” the Lyhtan demanded, giving me a hard shake. “How do you join with the light and the shadow? Tell me!”

  My teeth chattered in my head as the Lyhtan shook me again, and its clawed hands bit deep into my arms, piercing the skin. I waited for the debilitating effects of its poison to kick in, but to both of our surprise, it had no effect whatsoever. I had become immune.

  The Lyhtan gave a screeching cry, drawing the attention of the others. An instant shift took place as the battle swung in my direction, the Lyhtans making their way to their prize while the Shaedes sought to impede their progress. And I was caught, kicking and yanking my arms free, with one single-minded mission: find Delilah and Azriel.

  Two minutes and five seconds. If the Shaede army could hold off for a little more than one hundred seconds, they’d be safe and the Lyhtans would die. I pushed the thought of time from my mind, though I felt its rhythm soft in my chest. A vicious screech pierced my ear drums and the Lyhtan who held me clutched at its neck, cut deep and squirting blood. Its grip on me slackened, and Xander stepped from around its writhing body to scoop me up in a strong embrace.

  “Are you all right?” he asked breathlessly, his face buried in the tangles of my hair.

  “Yes,” I said, but I couldn’t have been further from fine. “I need to find Delilah and Azriel,” I said, pulling away. “They’re here somewhere. She’s the one.” I shoved against him. “She’s behind it all. I have to—”