My eyes widened as I watched the pieces of the globes separate and swirl over our heads, rapidly disappearing out of sight. A short brunette from the other team cried out and ran toward her teammate. She vaulted over his head, using his shoulders to propel her into the air, and snatched a piece of the black globe. She somersaulted and landed on her feet, clutching the black metal against her chest. “Black! We fight for black.”
She shot a smug look in our direction as she clicked her piece of the puzzle onto its podium beside the golden timepiece. Emily’s face split into a wild grin for a moment, before returning to dour, as she faced her team. “What are you waiting for? Gather those black pieces, now!”
Her team scattered across the large quadrant, some of them disappearing from sight behind the majestic trees that lined the paths. Emily and her adviser sprinted in opposite directions to each other and took up positions on the center line of the open space. I spread my fingers wide and stared at Brandon and our two advisers. “What the hell is going on? They are already one piece up on us, and I have no idea how we even play this game.”
“Whoever snatches the first piece, decides what color their team is playing for.” Brandon tapped his foot on the ground like he always did when he was trying to concentrate.
Aza nodded her head. “They chose black because it will be easier to see against the pale stone of the buildings.”
“So, we’re looking for all the white pieces of the globe? We just run around like chickens and hope they show up somewhere?” Megan’s forehead creased in disbelief. “Angels have the potential to heal people, bend space, and control the elements—and these guys run around looking for puzzle pieces. Wow, now I understand why dad wanted to be a Shadow Child and not a Guardian. Crazeballs.”
A cheer rose up from the far end of the quadrant, and one of the Angels began sprinting back toward the centerpiece with black metal glinting in his hand. Emily’s snide laugh carried on the wind. Lizzie’s face transformed into something I barely recognized, as she grabbed Sam by the collar of his shirt and punched Lucas on the shoulder. “Stop him!”
Sam stared at her. “What?”
“Stop him! If they can’t put the pieces back together on the podium, they can’t win. Don’t let him get there.” Lizzie’s eyes blazed. Sam tipped his head in Lucas’s direction, and the two of them spun away from us and began to circle the center of the quadrant. Megan grabbed my hand and dragged me to the edge of the grass and into the shade of one of the trees. The others are jogged alongside us, and we watched as Sam and Lucas created a tornado of energy, cutting the Angel off so that he couldn’t return his piece of the puzzle.
Megan grinned, but Lizzie’s face was somber. “That won’t hold them for long, the rest of the team are already coming to join the battle. When they combine their powers, they’ll be able to cut through Sam and Lucas. We need to gather the white globe.”
“We just need one piece.” Everybody stared at Brandon, and he raised his shoulders. “If we have one piece, then Grace will be able to tell us where the others are, right?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Emily’s team assembled and created a ring to surround Sam and Lucas. I chewed on my baby fingernail. “I think so.”
“Right,” Lizzie prodded Megan, “Megan, get up high enough to tell Sam and Lucas they can stop spinning, and try to spy one of the white pieces.”
Megan began running before Lizzie had even finished speaking, leaping over a bench and scaling the side of the colossal building as effortlessly as if it were a jungle gym. She hollered for Lucas and Sam’s attention and managed to convey her message. Within seconds, the cyclone of energy dissipated and both boys sprinted to our side, allowing the Angels opportunity to place their second puzzle piece on the podium.
Sam’s face was thunderous. “What the hell? We were holding them off?”
“Doesn’t matter. We need you guys to help us find one of the white pieces. Once we have one of them, Grace can use this to help us Seek the—”
“Megan!” Lucas cut through Brandon’s explanation as he caught sight of Megan hurtling toward us with a piece of white metal grasped between her fingertips.
“The podium.” Lizzie mouthed the words silently, and Megan swerved and made a beeline for the center of the quadrant. We ran to meet her there, and an exhilarated rush of adrenaline-fuelled energy pumped through my veins. Megan grinned at me as she clicked the piece into place and I raised my hands up in warning, but I was too late.
Chapter Fourteen
Lightning blasted from the hands of a red-haired member of the Angelic team and sent Megan crashing against the nearest building. The taste of bile flooded my mouth as she jerked and convulsed on the ground. Aza reached her side in the blink of an eye and crouched down over Megan with fingers splayed and her mouth moving at speed. Lizzie held her arms wide to prevent any of us from going over. “Continue as planned.”
A smile played on Emily’s lips as she watched us. Lizzie shoved me toward the podium and shouted at me to touch the white puzzle piece. Another one of the Angels smashed past us and slammed the third black piece of the globe into place. They only needed two more pieces to complete their sphere.
“Grace, I said—we continue as planned.” Lizzie’s tone was stern. I stared over her shoulder at Megan’s motionless body, and I reached out, grasping the white metal hard enough to split my skin. Seeking energy ripped through me and I gasped for air.
“Main building, top floor, second windowsill from the right.” The words burst from my lips, and I clung onto the puzzle piece, ready to ride the next wave of magical power.
Brandon grabbed hold of the back of Sam’s shirt and caught Lucas by the hand. “We need to be smart. They obviously have somebody assigned to watch for any of our team that has a puzzle piece. If they can catch you, they’re going to try and incapacitate you.”
Sam pulled his shirt free of Brandon’s grasp and nodded his head, but Lucas didn’t move his fingers away from Brandon’s hold. Lizzie pursed her lips and then pointed at Sam. “Take turns being the diversion. Sam, you draw their attention. Luc, try and look casual as if you're just scouting for pieces. Next time, Luc can be the diversion, and Sam can retrieve the piece. Watch your backs.”
Reluctantly, Lucas slipped away from us, and Brandon stared down at his fingers in surprise, as if he hadn’t realized they had been holding hands. I didn’t take my palms off the white metal, as I watched Sam streak through the quadrant like a hurricane.
Lucas climbed from windowsill to windowsill with the ease of a cat. I shuddered and blurted out the next hiding location. Brandon stroked my hair and nodded, repeating the directions to himself under his breath, while I tried to Seek out the next location.
I closed my eyes in relief when Lucas clicked the second piece into place under my fingertips, before burning across the grass like a man possessed, while Sam snatched the third piece of the puzzle from the branches above Emily’s head.
The next piece was tucked under the eaves, and Lucas blew a kiss to Emily as Sam swung onto the podium and pressed the fourth piece into place. I punched the air, and Sam grabbed me and hoisted me into the air with a triumphant bellow. My breath caught as I looked down into his face. His eyes drew me in, but the moment was shattered by the brunette, who had caught the first piece of the game, slamming their fourth black puzzle piece into place beside us.
I slithered out of Sam’s arms and whispered the location of the last piece into Brandon’s ear. Lizzie hissed, and I grimaced as I saw the final piece of the black globe hurtling toward us. Lucas raised his arms in the air. “Sam, you get it. I’ll hold them off.”
“No!” Brandon’s voice rang out, and Lucas flinched as the Angels began to attack the barrier he had created around the podium. Brandon stepped forward. “No, that won’t work, it will take two to hold them of
f, at least.”
“I’ll help Luc.” I lifted my hands and created my own barrier inside Lucas’s.
Brandon shook his head. “You’re already worn out from Seeking the pieces, and if Sam steps out of there, they will be on him in a heartbeat.”
“Then what? We let the smug turds win? After what they did to Megan?” Sam's voice was sharper than his blade. Another blast of energy battered against the force field Lucas had created and reverberated against mine. I cried out, and Sam ran to my side.
“Grace, you okay?” I shrugged off his concern and lifted my hands again, strengthening my barrier.
Lucas stared over his shoulder, and his eyes darted around the inside of the protected circle wildly. His face paled. “Guys, where’s Brandon?”
Lizzie’s eyes were focused on the towering monument, rising up over the rooftops, at the far end of the quadrant. My heart stopped beating as I narrowed my gaze on the figure scaling the rough walls, and heaving itself onto the flat roof. Lucas’s barrier vanished as he flung himself forward and began hurtling toward the monument.
Before I could drop my barrier and follow him, Lizzie was at my side. “Hold the barrier.”
I stared at her, horrified. “I don’t care about winning a stupid game. Brandon is a Human—if they attack him, the way they attacked Megan, he won’t just be unconscious.”
Lizzie’s stare didn’t waver. She kept her eyes fixed on Brandon and reached out to grab hold of Sam with her other hand. Brandon raised his hand above his head, and in the distance, the afternoon sunlight sparkled on the piece of metal held between his fingers.
Emily’s shriek penetrated my barrier, and I felt the force from the other side lessen as she directed her team toward the monument. My lips were dry. “They’re going to get him.”
Lizzie looked from me to Sam with raised eyebrows and shook her head. “Niamh was right, we’ve been focusing on all the wrong things. The one person amongst us that understands the value of magical power, is the only person who has none.”
She stared back at the roof of the tower, where Brandon was standing stock still with his hand still raised above his head. A wild wind whipped through the quadrant and shrieked through the branches of the trees. Brandon stumbled and clung onto the side of the roof.
Sam jerked his head in Lizzie’s direction, with a sudden look of illumination blooming on his face. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, throwing back his head. Thunder boomed, and I screamed as the lightning split the sky and struck the tower. I could barely muster the courage to look and see if it had hit Brandon. “Oh my God, he’s gone. Shit. Lizzie, shit. He’s gone. Did he fall? Oh my God.”
I spun around to face her and found myself staring into Brandon’s deep brown eyes. He pressed the final piece of the white globe into place with a satisfied grin.
“How could any of us fall?” Brandon punched Sam on the shoulder. “We’ve got own magical retrieval system.”
“Yeah, I’m a natural. Would have totally forgotten to use my power if Lizzie hadn’t reminded me to.” Sam’s self-depreciating words couldn’t distract from the smile creeping out the corners of his full mouth. He caught my eye and gave me a flash of his right dimple. My stomach flipped, and I found myself unable to look away. I pulled at my bottom lip with my teeth, and Sam’s face broke into a broad grin.
“Congratulations to our guests on their success.” I broke eye contact with Sam and realized with surprise that a crowd had gathered at the podium. The High Guardian paused his speech and gestured for the teams to take up their positions in front of their respective globes.
Aza prodded Megan toward us, and she bounded up the steps with her chin raised as she eyeballed the red-haired Angel who had struck her with lightning. Only I could feel the way her body was trembling as she struggled to stay standing. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her to my side to subtly support her weight.
The High Guardian gave Megan a warm smile and nodded his head. “Congratulations, once more, to our guests. As is customary, the person who is awarded the winning point may assign a forfeit to the losing team.” High Guardian Adam looked to Brandon. “Young man, the choice is yours. What do you choose?”
“A forfeit?” Brandon’s brow creased. “I didn’t read about this in any of the Angelic training manuals.”
My gut cramped as I watched the disapproving faces of the other members of the High Council. A Human reading Angelic textbooks. Emily looked like she might have swallowed some of her own vomit. The High Guardian tilted his head toward the University building. “It’s a college tradition. Sometimes the winners have the losers run laps backward, or carry their shoes on their heads—”
“We were going to make you shovel our shit.” The red-haired Angel who had injured Megan muttered loud enough for everyone to hear her, and her team started smirking and giving each other silent high-fives.
The High Guardian closed his eyes for a second before signaling something to Pierre, the gray-eyed Guardian. Pierre approached the red-head and whispered something into her ear. The blood draining from her face wiped away the last traces of her sneer, and she stared down at her feet as Adam turned back to Brandon. “Any forfeit at all, young man. You may choose. Feel free to consult with your team.”
Megan grabbed Brandon by the sleeve and dragged his ear to her mouth. I grinned as I overheard the words ‘urine’ and ‘toilet-brush.' Sam took a step away from Lucas, Brandon, and Megan. He beckoned me over with a tilt of his head, mouthing the word ‘please’ when I didn’t budge. I balled my hands into fists and shoved them into my pockets as I closed the space between us, aware of the small audience watching our every move.
“What do you want, Sam?” I kept my eyes on Brandon and the others.
He traced his fingertips over my wrist. The kiss of a butterfly’s wing. I fought against the shivering sensation, refusing to look into his eyes. “Grace, did you mean what you said earlier? Are you done with me?”
I screwed my face up and twisted to stare at him. “You’re the one who said we needed to talk!”
“We do need to talk. I need to explain why I haven’t been answering you calls or messages.” Sam flipped his palms upwards and shrugged his shoulders.
I took hold of his two wrists and pulled him closer so that nobody could overhear our conversation. Brandon and Megan were still deep in negotiations. The High Guardian had begun to tap his foot. I stared up at Sam with eyebrows drawn together tightly. “When you ignore somebody for weeks, and then say ‘We need to talk’—it means you don’t want to see that person anymore. Everyone knows that. It’s in every Hollywood romance that’s ever been filmed. Fact.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Ah, a Hollywood rule. Right. My mistake.”
“Don’t mock me!” I jerked his wrists to bring him close enough to disguise my hiss. Our bodies collided, flesh against flesh. My heart rate slowed to nothing.
Sam bent his neck so that our faces were an inch apart. “Grace. We need to talk. I need to talk. And I can’t talk to anyone else. And I couldn’t do it over the phone because I missed your beautiful face so much that I couldn’t breathe. We need to talk.” My chest rose and fell against his. He rested his forehead against mine. “Can we talk?”
I squeezed my eyes shut, and my lips stretched so wide that my cheeks ached. I traced Sam’s smile with my fingertips. It was as broad as my own. Broader. Brandon’s voice cut through the moment, and I swiveled in Sam’s arms to watch my friend announce his forfeit. Sam slid his arms around my waist from behind and I felt an overwhelming urge to weep as the aching hole inside my skin was filled with his energy. I pressed my lips together and focused on Brandon.
Brandon tipped his head respectfully. “Thank you, High Guardian Adam, students, fellow Shadow Children, esteemed members of the High Council—we are honored to have been offered this opportunity to assign a forfeit to the losing team. We came up with
many interesting ideas. Spend a day holding hands with a Human. Clean the toilet after each of our team members for the day. So many ideas, it was hard to choose just one…”
The team of Angels shuffled uncomfortably, and Emily’s lip curled in disgust. The High Guardian raised his eyebrows. “I trust you settled on one preferred option?”
“We have,” Brandon said. “We have decided that… we don’t want to use your forfeit.” He leveled his sharp brown stare at Emily and her team. “We don’t need it. We’ve come here and beaten your best team at a trial you’ve been practicing for years, and one we’ve never even watched in action before today. That has to sting. I mean, bad enough being beaten on a level playing field, but when all the odds were stacked in your favor, and you still bombed? Ouch. No need for a forfeit, High Guardian. I think they’ve been embarrassed enough.”
The look on Emily’s face as he walked away was almost enough to make the whole crazy mission worthwhile.
Chapter Fifteen
“I still can’t believe the council refused to meet us. Why the hell did they insist on keeping us waiting so long if they don’t want to see us until tomorrow morning?” I shouted through the closed the door of the ensuite bathroom, hoping that my irritation at the Council’s decision to make us spend the night in the Shadow City would disguise my nervousness.
Sam’s reply was muffled. “Aza’s right, they’re punishing us for beating their precious students at their own game. Maybe they won’t even want to see us after talking to Gabriel, Emmanuel, and Niamh tonight.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it. Emily nearly choked on her big horsey teeth when she realized you had used your power to transport Brandon. The High Council can’t ignore that.” My fingers yanked at the hem of the thin, white cotton nightdress. It might have fallen to the knee on Niamh’s petite frame, but it only came halfway down my thighs. Aza had refused to let us slip back to Grandfather Mountain to get my own nightclothes. She’d also assumed that Sam and I would be sharing a room.
The Shadow City (The Demon-Born Trilogy Book 2) Page 10