Shadow Bloodlines (Shadow Bloodlines #1)

by A. R. Cooper

That made sense. But not him dying. My heart folded in on itself.

  Everything has a weakness.

  There had to be away to escape. Evade. Trick it somehow. Sweat trickled down my back. If we could only get free, Amar might be able to fly us to safety. Or was he too weak and his wings too damaged?

  “It’s not letting up because it hears a heartbeat—ours.”

  When I placed my palm against his cheek, I felt his face cringe as a whip zigged across his shoulders. “If I transform into the gargoyle, I think the granite will muffle your heartbeat enough for you to escape.” His voice hissed out of him at another strike. “D-don’t wait for me, just run a-and get to high ground.”

  I had to do something. I wasn’t about to let him die in my arms.

  Struggling, I stirred to gaze beyond the blackness. Something. Anything. In what direction had that blasted palm tree stood? I couldn’t even make out Amar as he held me against him, taking the brunt of the torture.

  Wait! Amar had said it wanted a heartbeat to stop. Did he have one as a gargoyle? He hadn’t been dead, but maybe shifting into granite would muffle the sound of his heart. It would certainly stop the bleeding.

  “Amar.” I moved my hand up to cup his cheek. This had to work. “Shift into your gargoyle form. It may trick them long enough for us to escape.”

  He shuddered against my fingers. “I might not be able to change back again.”

  My blood had rescued him once, but would it do it again? I bit down on my lip. Before, both my dad’s octopus arms and mine had been useless against the creatures. And I had no idea what else I could do or what my spirit shifter was. “There’s got to be another solution to you dying?!”

  His laugh echoed around me. “No. But why do I get the feeling you are trying to protect me rather than the other way around?”

  With a shrug, I racked my mind. I couldn’t lose Amar. My breath hitched. If… when we made it out of this, I was going to kiss him. Long and hard.

  Gathering me underneath him, he moved onto his elbows with his face inches from mine, but still the length of our bodies from our torso down touched and I wished once again we were alone and not trapped inside a death shadow.

  “After I make the change, stay until it withdraws completely. Don’t move until it’s gone. If it senses vibrations from your running, it will come after you. I’ll move onto my hands and knees before I freeze into the gargoyle statue so you can wiggle out once it’s left.”

  “No! There has to be another way.” I shook my head and my hair brushed against his chest. “Something else we haven’t thought of.”

  His hand stroked my cheek and I leaned into it. Then his lips found mine. The stubble on his face, from not shaving in days, tickled me and I craved more. I nibbled at his lips and then ran my tongue along their velvet folds. When he deepened his kiss, I opened my mouth and let his tongue caress mine. His hand grasped my hair as he devoured my mouth and all thought.

  Reluctantly, I pulled back, gasping. This was not goodbye. I would never be the same without him. Nor could I ignore the passion of that kiss and everything it promised. And I desired it.

  He loosened his hold and went to his hands and knees, still shielding me from the strikes. When his skin cooled and solidified under my fingertips, I screamed. “No, no, no!” It was too soon. He couldn’t leave me yet. There had to be something else we could do. “Amar! Stop!” I yelled as his body stiffened.

  About two feet away, a light came into focus and I blinked to make sense of it, then another. The shadow oozed along the ground, pulling away from us like the oil in a seventies lava lamp pooling in the bottom. But Amar hadn’t shifted all the way to a gargoyle yet; I still felt the warmth of his breath against my face. He’d said higher ground, but the edges of the bubbling pitch were still too close. It was as if we were in a wall of darkness that had begun to break away, revealing the streetlights and tops of the homes that might as well have been on the other side of the world.

  The pitch still surrounded us, but had eased back and gaps now appeared in its dome-like shape that covered us, revealing pieces of the buildings and landscape around us.

  We’d never make it that far before it sensed us and attacked.

  My heart rate thumped against my chest as panic squeezed my throat.

  Then the Spirits of Blood drifted closer as if something had shoved them away a bit but now they were coming back. The sight of the whip-like tentacles creeping forward had me screaming again, and the shadows receded.

  Was it me that had made them pull away? “Amar.” My voice was scratchy from screaming. “Wait. Something’s happening to it. Don’t shift yet.”

  I turned my mouth from him and screamed as loud and as long as I could. The shadow creature reared backward, undulating over itself to get away. It was about two feet from us now and the yards and edges of the homes were visible.

  Over me, Amar maneuvered until he stood beside me. I searched for a place to run. I yanked on his hand and we dashed across the street. The blob was higher behind us, even though the homes on that side were closer. A short path opened between its encirclement of us.

  Hopefully, we’d break through the opening before it closed again.

  A mini pickup truck sat empty on the side of the street to our left. We would have to get over the blob at the lowest point, then race next to it and reach the vehicle. Maybe we could make it there, but we’d have to get over two feet of shadow first.

  “Can you fly?” I pointed to the truck. “Just that far?”

  He shook his head. “No, not even if I didn’t carry you. My wings are too damaged.”

  “We have to try; maybe we can jump while I scream?”

  Grasping my hand, he helped me to my feet. I squatted, preparing for the jump. My knees bent as far as I could manage without falling over. “Ready?”

  With a nod, we leapt toward the truck. Maybe I could jump as I had seen my dad do earlier from the rooftops. I shrieked as we soared through the air. Because of his injuries, Amar only got us inches from the ground. And my jump wasn’t nearly as impressive as my dad’s had been. My tennis shoes brushed over the shadow monster as we past. It snatched a hold of my leg and I kicked violently to get away.

  Then, Amar was ripped from my grasp as one of his wings faltered. I yelled and the creature recoiled. Its tendril snapped away from me and the momentum forced me forward until I hit until my head crashed into the back windshield of the pickup truck.

  ***

  Blood trickled down my cheek and I kept wiping it away. Where was I? Amar! I scrambled to my feet and searched the dark rolling pitch for him. His shape was being thrown around in the mass of shadow and whips again.

  “Nooo!” I screamed so loud it felt as if my voice had become a banshee’s.

  The creature shrieked back in a howl and jerked away from Amar. I leapt off the truck, giving short bellows as I ran toward him. Unprepared for the sudden burst of speed, my feet found concrete and I skidded against his back. “Sorry.”

  “Why did y- how did you do that?” He rose and fell back down on a knee. With my hand under his arm, he rose and limped toward the truck. “Why did you come back for me? You were safe.”

  “This way. Hurry!” My dad was waving us down the street. It was quicker to get back into the pickup truck, but I had no idea how long this thing would try to get us or if it adapted and would get us in the truck or not. Amar leaned on me as we shuffled after my dad who was headed back for his boat.

  “Quickly. It’s coming after us.” My dad grasped Amar under his other arm and we moved a bit faster.

  I spun around, shrieking again at the shadows that shirked back, but as soon as I finished, they dragged themselves faster toward us.

  Without waiting, I screamed again then grasped Amar under his arm and together my dad and I hustled him across the wooden deck. People were flipping on lights. Crap, we had to get out of here quickly and lure the creatures away. Maybe if we made it to the boat, the things would leave.


  Behind us, at the edge of the dock, the shadow lurched and boards popped up one by one as it pursued us.

  “Jacqui!” My dad shouted and she emerged from the boat’s cabin. “Help us. Quickly.”

  She scrambled over the boat’s side and met us on the deck. “What happened?” Then as if seeing the boards splinter behind us, gasped. “What the hell is that?”

  “Trust me,” Amar said and winced as he climbed over the side of the boat. “You don’t want to know, or have it touch you.”

  After Amar was on the boat, Jacqueline leapt back on and I followed with another powerful leap that left me wobbling and trying not to skid across the boat and fall into the ocean. My dad untied the boat from the dock.

  “What are you doing?” I shouted.

  “It can’t cross water.” He pushed the boat with his hands farther into the water, then jumped the distance. He landed in the water instead of the boat, his fingers scrambling for purchase.

  Amar and I each grabbed an arm and hauled him onto the boat. We sat, all gasping for breath. The last board on the deck splintered and then there was silence.

  “Is it gone?” I asked. The deck was empty of blackness except the night. Lights lit up its path, but I saw no undulating movement except the waves lapping at the broken slats of wood.

  “No. Waiting. The Spirits of Blood can’t cross open water or any water more than an inch deep. It interferes with their senses and there are too many heartbeats in the ocean for it to find us.” My dad’s dark brows knitted as he stood. “Let’s get you both inside so we can see about your cuts.”

  “So we’re safe from that thing?” Jacqui stared out over the waves. “How do you escape from a shadow blob?”

  “We are safe from the Spirits of Blood for now… but there are worse things that can hunt us.” He held open the cabin’s door and gestured us inside. Remnants like pitch clung to his clothes. I was sure I was covered in the sticky substance too, just as Amar was.

  “Worse things? Like what?” I asked, but I didn’t want to know. Truly I didn’t. This thing was bad enough. Ms. Moor and her goons that disappeared and reappeared like puffs of smog. What could possibly be worse? Goosebumps raised the hackles on my neck as my dad turned and stared at me.

  “Other shifters.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “What do you mean other shifters?” I followed Dad and Amar inside his ship’s cramped cabin. Jacqui trailed behind.

  “Others, like us.” He gestured Amar to the bench by the table.

  Leaning against the closed door, I crossed my arms over my stomach. Weren’t Ms. Moor and her goons and Blood Spirits enough? I had taken solace in the fact it was shifters versus the bad guys… now I find out our kind were evil too?

  Blood, welts and cuts covered Amar. No space on his exposed skin larger than a hand’s width was unmarred. Even his hair was wet and darkened with blood. His T-shirt hung in strips across his chest. I didn’t have to look at his wings or back to know they’d probably taken the brunt of it. Amar stood beside the table, but when he wobbled like he was dizzy, I made him sit down. Even though I gestured to the bench, he plopped down on the floor as if moving an extra foot would be too difficult. Blood pooled underneath him and his skin looked ashen.

  “W-what can we do?” I dropped my arms and took a step forward. “About his wounds?”

  “I’ll have to do the blood ritual again.”

  “What? No!” I grasped my dad’s arm when he dragged his feet to the sink. “Not again. It almost killed him last time.”

  “This time, it will be much easier.” He patted my hand still gripping his arm. “His body has developed an immunity to the poison. Though he might sleep until tomorrow evening.” When I didn’t let go, he sighed. “We can’t allow him to heal naturally, it would take too long. He’s lost a lot of blood and this is the fastest way to heal all of him, including his wings.”

  As Dad’s blue-green eyes stared back at me, I finally responded with a nod and released him.

  ***

  After he finished the ritual, Dad and Jacqui cleaned the dishes. I sat on the floor next to Amar. Before he passed out, he insisted I not leave the boat and get into more trouble. He gave me a half smile and a wink.

  Amar’s cuts were healing almost like time-lapse photography. Some of the marks on his skin were deep and ripped his flesh. Others, like the ones beneath his shirt, were less severe. I was tempted to touch those but didn’t want to hurt him. His face was lined with agony and the muscle in his jaw twitched like he was gritting his teeth. I wanted to soothe his pain. Kiss his swollen lips and even the cut over his eye. Now in the light, his injuries were more noticeable and worse than I’d thought. Gashes of various lengths and depths spread across his arms and legs. His wings quivered and were splintered as if someone had used a razor to shear through them. Gaps and broken feathers were coated in blood. One wing looked as if it was broken in several places. I strolled around behind him and covered my mouth with my hand. The wing that I’d thought had the least damage was completely severed at the bottom.

  Would he even be able to fly again?

  My free hand reached out and brushed his upper back where the wings met. It too was striped in red ribbons, but I had to comfort him somehow. He shivered at my touch and I nearly fell to my knees and hugged him.

  It was because of saving my dad from the blood spirits, and then me too, that he was broken and bleeding now.

  Words twisted up inside me. Thank you didn’t seem enough. How could I repay him for this? Would he hate me if his wings never healed? “I-I wanted to th—”

  “Your staying alive is the only thanks, I need.”

  I opened my mouth to protest, but he spun slowly on the floor and, falling to his knees, pressed a fingertip to my mouth. “I need to sleep for now.” His voice sounded tired. “Tomorrow, we can talk about how to thank me.”

  My heart fluttered and I thought he was going to kiss me, but he lay down on the floor. My dad’s boat was no longer tied to shore and I wondered how long we’d drift, or if Dad would set our passage for the mainland.

  After the dishes were finished, Jacqui knelt beside me. For a while, she didn’t say anything. “I know this is bad timing, but did you bring anything back from the restaurant?” She bit her lip and her eyes pleaded. “I’m starving.”

  Smiling, I shook my head. “No. Sorry. Even if I had grabbed it when I ran out, that thing would have whipped it to pieces.” I rubbed a hand down my arm, feeling the few cuts that were red and swollen on my skin.

  “Beth’s sores look infected.” She scrunched up her nose and glanced back to my dad. “Should you do a blood ritual on her too?”

  “She’ll heal in a day or two. Her injuries are not as severe as Amar’s.” My dad rubbed his bearded chin, staring at Jacqueline. “I may have a can of chili here somewhere.”

  “Tell me you have cheese.” She stood, dragged herself to the table, and sagged onto the bench. “I’d be happy to take it off your hands.”

  “Cheese Whiz count?” He closed an open cupboard over the sink. The ship’s cabin only had a tiny porthole next to the bed. Surrounding the sink were cupboards and a stove and vent shoved up in between.

  Jacqui shrugged, swirling a fingertip across the tabletop. “Better than nothing.”

  “How about you, Beth?” He rinsed out the sink. “You didn’t eat much earlier. You want some chili?”

  “Sure.” I joined her on the bench and watched Amar sleeping inches from my feet, his heavy breaths playing in my ears like a tune. His wings were still out, one bent into an L shape as it propped up against the fridge door, and the other squished between his body and my seat. I had already confiscated a pillow from the bed and rested it underneath his head.

  “Dad, if we take the bed, how will you sleep on this short bench?” I patted the wood between me and Jacqueline. It was only wide enough for two people to sit on. “And Amar’s taking up half the floor.”

  My dad pointed to our seating. “That
with some blankets will be fine for me. Don’t worry about it.” He dumped the chili and cheese into a pan and set the burner on low. “I’ll be right back, I’m going to drop anchor. In the morning, we’ll head to land. The Blood Spirits will search all night, especially after tasting shifter blood. Tomorrow we’ll be able to tell if they’ve given up the search or not.”

  With a shiver, I adjusted until my legs were tucked underneath me on the bench. My stomach started rumbling and I was glad I didn’t turn down dinner this time. The boat slowed. We still rocked with the waves, but there wasn’t as much sense of traveling as before. How far from land had we traveled?

  I was going to peek but figured it would be too dark now to see much. The way Jacqui’s stomach rumbled beside me, I feared she’d eat all the chili before I could get back if I left.

  I bet way out here there were thousands of stars, not like in the city back home. I missed home. Would this be what it felt like at a university? Maybe that’s why local college kids always brought their clothes home to wash; it wasn’t just to save some money and time, it was missing their old life.

  Except, my old life was gone. I’d never get it back. Mom was dead, and I was a shifter. I fisted my hands… I still thought I’d have been able to save her if I’d known all of this beforehand and been able to practice my abilities.

  “I may fight you for the whole pan.” She bumped me playfully with her shoulder.

  “Didn’t even think you liked Cheese Whiz.” I teased her.

  “Well, I do when there’s little else to eat.”

  Dad entered and stirred the bubbling chili, the smell permeating the tiny cabin. Yeah, I was even hungry for canned food.

  I noticed a TV the size of my head nestled in the corner. “That thing work?”

  “Yeah. Just the main channels, though.” He flipped it on and PBS flashed.

  “Welcome to Nature’s Bounty …”

  When he moved to change the channel, I nearly toppled the table onto Amar as I jerked to stand. “No, wait!” It was showing an octopus scampering across a reef. “Turn it up, please.”