Shadow Walker (Revenant’s Series Book 1)

by Elissa Daye

  “That one sure was a screamer. Too bad we couldn’t get more out of her. It was fun while it lasted.”

  This time, it was Jackson who started to move toward the door. Lyssa held him back with all her might and gave him a warning glance. We need to wait. Listen.

  “If that one learns how to use her abilities, she’ll teach all of them how to do it.”

  How to do what? Lyssa looked over at Jackson and shook her head as if to show how confused she was. What were they talking about? Julius had called her the shadow walker when they had met earlier that year, but he had never explained what that meant. In fact, that was pretty much the only time she’d heard those words leave his mouth. Lyssa was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice how close she was to the coat hanging in the closet. She ran into it, causing it to connect with the other hangers next to it. Panic filled her when she heard a shuffling movement.

  “Did you hear that?” A footstep came closer to the closet, and the doorknob rattled.

  Quick! Jackson grabbed her arm, and as the door started to open, they quickly teleported away. They stood inside the living room of their apartment. Lyssa tried to still the thoughts that were racing through her head. What did this all mean? She turned to Jackson and eyed him curiously.

  “You know something.”

  “No.” As much as his words sounded innocent to her ears, his face had a guilty flush.

  “Jackson, so help me.”

  “Relax. It’s nothing really. I just got the feeling that when we first got here, they glossed over some things a little too easily.” He sat down at the table and pretended to check his nails.

  “And?”

  “I’ve been doing some reading.”

  “Jackson! Spill it already.”

  “I found information about shadow walkers. It’s been a myth up until this point. Apparently, a chosen one will help be a catalyst to change the balance of power.”

  “So, I’m supposed to walk in the shadows?” Lyssa shook her head incredulously.

  “No. You are going to aid us in finding a way to take them down. Shadow walkers are misnomers. You may very well bring us a new era of power. It’s just a theory.”

  “That’s a lot to take in, Jackson. Bullshit is more like it.” Lyssa shook her head and crossed her arms.

  “Again. Theory. Not proven. But apparently, they’ve read the same thing. I wonder how they know.”

  “They know nothing. It’s pure speculation. None of it means anything. There is nothing special about me. I’m like any other Guardian.”

  “Right.” Jackson looked like he had other things to share, but he kept his mouth shut.

  Chapter 20

  Later that night, her tattoo lit up. She knew they were being summoned back to the Watch Tower. Lyssa slammed her fist into the table. It was devastating to hear what her mind already knew. She found Hunter sitting across from her, his eyes haunted. Apparently, he had bad news, but Lyssa didn’t want to hear it.

  “Lyssa—”

  “Don’t.” She held up her hand and took a breath.

  “I have to tell you.” The torture on his face broke through the cold ice in her veins.

  “Fine. Get it over with.”

  “They took Lana. There was nothing I could do.”

  “Now, she’s trapped below, right?”

  “Lyssa, you can’t let this get in the way of our plans here.” Julius tried to interrupt the awkward silence.

  “Julius, please. You can’t expect me not to look for her. Please let me look.” She knew Lana’s soul was being tortured in the damnation the shadows had created. She couldn’t let them take the rest of her light away from this world.

  When Julius nodded at her, she closed her eyes and found her own quiet spot in her head to start the process of sending her soul to find Lana. She opened her eyes and scanned the map. Lyssa was drawn to the portal in the cemetery and knew at once that Lana was no longer with the living. Lana had to be trapped in the Land of the Shadows, the same place they had traveled to before. Lyssa wanted to sink into the floor beneath her feet. The ugly despair that filled her was the kind that took her breath away.

  “You need to look at this, Lyssa.” Hunter pointed to the screen in front of them.

  When she looked up at the screen, she heard the report that they had identified the body of a student within the rubble. Someone had killed Lana and made it look like she was a casualty of the collapse. Lyssa slammed her fist into the table. It was devastating to hear what her mind already knew. Unfortunately, it was not easy to explain that to her heart. If the shadows had her, there was only one reason. Lana was dead.

  “Julius, please. You can’t expect me not to look for her. Please let me look. This has just gotten personal; you realize this?” There was a rage firing through her that scared even her. “How did they find her? You’ll have to be much more careful, Hunter.”

  “We’re actually going in deeper now. The Craven have given us new directives. I won’t be able to check in with you all until I find the information that we need. Logan and I will find a way to pass on the information at the harbor, but we won’t be able to leave the Craven for longer than a minute if we are to convince them that we’re trustworthy. There’s no other way.” Hunter looked over to Logan for agreement. When Logan nodded at Hunter, it was clear that they had made up their minds.

  At this point, she knew it was the best thing for them to do, but it still made her heart heavy to know that Hunter was putting himself at a greater risk. If she was honest with herself, she knew he would have to return to them. Their job wasn’t even half finished. Many things still needed to be accomplished to restore the proper balance to their world. The people of this world deserved a champion.

  “What do we do in the meantime?” Serena looked at Julius.

  “We continue to rid the world of more shadows. If we can’t stop the Craven right now, perhaps we can at least continue to locate them. When we are able to learn the best method of attack, then we will know where to start.”

  “If we cannot remove a branch at a time, perhaps we need to learn how to remove the head. If we take out the hierarchy of the Craven, they will start to tumble.” Lyssa looked over at Hunter. We will talk before you leave, her mind reached out to him. He nodded silently to her.

  “Seems like we have a lot to prepare for. I’ll inform the others of what we have learned.”

  Lyssa bit off a sarcastic laugh and swallowed quickly. What they had learned was that the Guardians needed to think before they acted. Innocent people could die if they ran off all half-assed like they had last night.

  Looking back on it all gave her a bittersweet taste in her mouth. If she had been paying closer attention last night, would she have heard Lana reaching out to her? Would she have been able to save her? Her death rested on her shoulders, and it was the heaviest weight she would ever carry with her. A lot would change from here. She knew Hunter would be leaving, and she would not see him until they had better answers, but her heart felt colder. She could no longer focus her energy on him. Lyssa had to continue to fight the darkness climbing around them and try to decide for herself what it meant to be a shadow walker.

  When they exited the room, Hunter grabbed her arm and made her face him. She did not want him to see the angry tears forming in her eyes. “Don’t.”

  “Lyssa, it’s not your—”

  “Fault, Hunter? Yes, it is. If I had been looking out for my friends instead of myself, this would not have happened.” She tried to remove her arm from his hands.

  “That’s it.” Hunter pulled her closer, and they were suddenly flying through the air. All she could think was that she could not return to that room. She could not face the emotions rushing through her right now. Life had suddenly become much more complicated than she liked.

  Lyssa did not care that they were stan
ding in their favorite place. She pushed against him and tried to turn away. Hunter kept trying to pull her closer. She felt the energy within her rising higher, and her hair rose in the air around her. “Don’t, Hunter. I swear you don’t want to push me right now. I can’t do this.”

  “Lyssa, you have to let it out. Don’t hold it in. She was your friend. It’s okay to mourn her.”

  “Mourn her?” she shrieked at him. “Mourn her? How can I do that, Hunter? When will I get that chance? I’m not sure I deserve to. I should have made sure she was safe. Where was she? You know they attacked her after we attacked them. How did they know?”

  Hunter refused to look at her as if he knew something that he was not telling her. She turned to him and pushed past the barrier in his mind. Something was terribly wrong.

  “Lyssa, Lana drew attention to herself. Her coven has been trying to track down the Craven. She got too close to them. That had nothing to do with you.”

  “Are you telling me that you knew about this?”

  “I knew her coven was stepping over the limit, yes. I did not know they were going to attack her last night. I would have warned you had I known.”

  It was too much to take in. Hunter knew that Lana could have been in trouble. Why didn’t he tell her? She sat down on the bench and tried to still the emotions raging through her. She knew that Hunter would not have let an innocent get hurt if he could have avoided it. She knew he would never wish any harm to those that she loved. These things she knew, but there was a part of Hunter that she no longer knew. It was a piece that had been bothering her ever since she saw him last night. Hunter was changing in ways she could not describe.

  “You’ve changed, Hunter. The Hunter I fell in love with would have found a way to contact me.”

  “You’re right. I should have contacted you. We could sit here and psychoanalyze the whole damn situation, Lyssa, but the only thing that remains true is that these Craven are destroying the world around us, one person at a time. From here on out, I will find a way to keep in touch with you; I have finally found a means of contacting you. It took me longer than I wanted, but I’ve finally managed.”

  Lyssa still could not look at him. The anger was easy to show, an emotion with which she was quite familiar. There was no shame in the anger, but the tears that wanted to fall were painful ones. If they started, it would be hard to make them stop. Lana had been such a courageous young witch. Her friend could have had such a life ahead of her, and now what did she have? Her bright light was snuffed out before it even got to shine. Her soul wasn’t even free to rest.

  When she thought she had fought back the misery within, the tears started to fall. Lyssa could hold them back no more than a broken levy could hold a swelling river. She did not fight Hunter’s embrace when he lent his healing energy. The tears were soon followed by sobs that robbed the very breath from her chest. They sat there for what felt like an eternity as she mourned her friend, but she mourned much more than her dear departed friend. She cried for the happiness she had started to feel with Hunter, knowing that the beauty that had been them was now completely scarred by tragedy. Lyssa should have known that happiness always came with a price.

  When she finally caught her breath and could look at Hunter without tears blurring her vision, she came back to the last thing he’d said to her. “How will you keep in touch, Hunter? Please don’t put yourself at risk for me. I couldn’t bear it if I lost you too.”

  “Your necklace. Wear it at all times, and you will be able to find me. As long as you wear it or keep it near, I can find you. Our thoughts will travel to each other as long as our minds are open. You will not be able to reach me at all times, but I will be able to reach you.”

  “Will they be able to find the link between us?” Being able to reach him when she needed him was nice, but not if it came with a price.

  “No. They won’t. I’ve been working to block anything that I don’t want the Craven to find. They will never find you, Lyssa. You and the Watch Tower are safe. One day the Guardians will have enough weapons to attack the Craven. We just have to find their weakness first.”

  “Yes. No more half-assed plans. I’ll make sure we wait for whatever information you can provide.” Lyssa looked away from him. Yes, this was easier. If she continued to keep this conversation more business and less personal, maybe her heart would sting less when he left.

  “Lyssa.”

  Great, he knew she was deflecting again. Lyssa looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “What?” she asked defensively.

  “I’ll be home as soon as I can. I’m still here for you. Please don’t shut me out.”

  “What do you want me to say, Hunter? My heart was breaking every second you were away, and I’m about to face the same thing, only this time I fear you may not come back.”

  “I’ll always come back.” He kissed her tenderly, and while she should have been appeased by the sentiment, the thoughts swirling in the back of her head prevented her from just letting go. Yes, he might come back, but he would never be the same. He was fooling himself if he thought differently.

  They traveled back to the Watch Tower before he left again. This time, her world felt a little colder and darker than before. She would put every effort into finding ways to bring down the Craven as quickly as possible. Lyssa had her whole world to save, and Hunter was growing into a stranger more and more each day.

  Chapter 21

  From the moment Hunter left, Lyssa pushed herself into her work. Her schoolwork suffered a bit, but she maintained a passing grade in all her classes so that she would still graduate on time. Jackson tried to get her more involved with the real world around her, but she refused to listen. She spent every waking hour staring at the globe in the library, trying to locate the Craven’s latest movements. She had discovered a few, but it seemed every time she got closer to them, they moved further away. Hunter had said that they could not detect her, but she disagreed. If she was not careful, they would find her.

  From time to time, she took a break from tracking their movements and started locating the actual portals that led to the Land of the Shadows. There were many souls trapped in the lands below, and Lyssa was certain that one of them was Lana. She would find a way to set her free if it was the last thing she did.

  Lyssa desperately wanted to keep Jackson out of the line of fire too, but he was as furious with the Craven as she was. While he wanted revenge, he also understood that there was danger in retaliation. Even so, neither one of them would rest until Lana’s death was avenged. He spent his time researching through the ancient texts in the library, hoping to find a way to bring Lana back while digging for more information about shadow walkers. Lyssa knew that it was a desperate attempt to achieve the impossible.

  There was no way to bring Lana physically back to this world. Her body was no longer with the living, and who knew what had happened to her soul? Lyssa had stood by Jackson’s side when Lana’s coffin was lowered into the ground, while cold tears streamed down Lyssa’s face. Before she knew it, angry sobs left her, and she lost all control. Jackson had put his arm around her, and they commiserated together. She remembered people staring at her as if she had lost her mind. Those same people had stood so stoically around the grave, but Lyssa could not contain the sadness she felt for the loss of such a wonderful light. She had lost many people in her life, but not ones who truly mattered.

  Lana had been so much more than a friend to her. Her first year of college would have been miserable had they not met. Lyssa remembered how often she had eaten alone the first few weeks of school, wishing that she had someone there to talk to. Her best friend was in college in another state, and even though she kept in touch with Jackson, it simply wasn’t the same. While Lyssa had found her freedom from her past in college, she had also discovered a great loneliness. In an attempt to make a new path for herself, she had approached Lana as they both walked to the cafeter
ia and asked the blonde if she would mind the company. Lana had flinched at first as if Lyssa were some weirdo ready to pounce on her, but after a second’s hesitation, Lana shrugged her shoulders and welcomed her along. Theirs had been a fast friendship, and life had suddenly become less lonely. Things had only improved over the years when Jackson transferred to her school as well.

  Lyssa tried to shake away the sadness that entered her mind every time she remembered her dear friend. Now was the time to focus on the task at hand and ignore the guilt that ate at her soul. She could only do so much to save her world, and she could not save everyone…even Lana had known that. If Lana were here now, she would tell her to continue to fight the shadows. What bothered her most was that even with all these powers, she was limited. Did the Craven feel restricted in any way? Did shadows have limitations? From what she could see, they were learning how to overcome anything that seemed to hold them back. No amount of time or effort put forth seemed to make much difference, and even the bags growing under her eyes would not stop her from pushing through. They had all been feeling less than rested.

  Days turned into weeks, weeks into months until she had been there with the Watch Tower for almost a year. She had not seen or heard from Hunter since he’d left, even though he had given her the locket to communicate with him. If he had given them any information on his mission, Julius hadn’t passed it along. Lyssa knew that Hunter had to block her to protect his mission, so she rarely pushed her thoughts forward to find him. She missed him, but she had to put those feelings aside. Even though she hardly acknowledged his existence, she still wore the locket he had given her. A part of her still needed to have a connection to him, even if he was a mere echo in her life. Lyssa could sense him, so she knew he was all right, but her heart was heavy any time she thought of him. It had become easier to push him to the back of her mind.

  Jackson had told her to write him off and move on, that she deserved to find happiness somewhere else, but Lyssa just could not let go of her feelings for him. He was her heart and soul, no matter how far apart they might be. Whatever she had felt or needed no longer seemed to matter. One day bled right into the next, and at times, she did not know which way was up. Lyssa certainly didn’t have much time to dwell on it, with trying to track down Lana’s soul and finding a way to deal with the shadows. How long would Lana be trapped? Would she find her in time?