Darkness in Green & Gold: A contemporary fantasy adventure (Green & Gold, book 3)

by Jo Holloway

  “Come now, little Pyxsee. You aren’t still trying to hide, are you?”

  She scooted back into the bushes with her lungs burning. She sucked in shallow breaths while the world tilted around her. Her heart thundered in her ears. It didn’t seem like a good idea for it to beat so hard when it was pushing more blood out of the bullet wound across her shoulder. Putting her head to her knees to quell the nausea, she begged the earth to stop spinning.

  Footsteps echoed across the flagstones behind the bushes. They paused at the window.

  She did her best to focus and felt for his emotions.

  Uncertainty. Fear? Probably scared Messoryx would kill him if he failed to kill her again. Cold determination settled, and she cringed. Could she change that? He’d figured her out last time, but if he didn’t know she was doing it this time, maybe she’d have better luck. What did she need?

  Her eyes darted across the grass.

  The forest was closer on this side of the house. She needed time. Enough to make it to the trees.

  She focused on a prickly feeling of curiosity. That feeling of needing to know something. She wasn’t sure how to do this, but she pictured the inside of the library with its matching white sofas on either side of the fireplace. The huge desk spanning the space in front of the window. The rows of books lining the wooden walls, and the rolling ladder against the shelves.

  Follow me into the library. You know you want to see where I went.

  She pushed the feeling out and tried to picture it going from the “her” side to the “them” side in her mind. At the tinkle of glass, she peeked around the bush. He hadn’t made it inside yet, but his back was turned. Fighting another wave of nausea, she jumped up and ran.

  Any other time, she would have seen the branch across the path and easily stepped over it. But with the dark edges to her vision and the dizziness causing her to stumble, it snapped loudly under her foot. A flash of anger surged through her and helped her stay on her feet even though she knew it came from him as he recognized her trick. The path on this side of the mansion sloped steeply downhill, and she slipped and slid as she tried to run.

  Again, she waited for the knife in her back. She could feel him seething behind her, closing the distance between them. When the slope changed and the path leveled off across the hillside, she threw herself down the side instead. She tumbled down the hill. Most of her body had gone numb, but her shoulder still burned and throbbed with each jolt.

  She came to rest at the bottom in a small glen. Thick ferns covered the forest floor, and the smell of wet earth against her face grounded her, clearing her mind.

  “Not fast enough.” Mr. Meyers appeared at the top of the hill and ran effortlessly down the steep incline with perfect control.

  He had a knife out from the belt. The blade stroked across his other palm as he gazed down at her. This was it. There was nowhere else to run. His form blurred in front of her, but she managed to struggle to her feet.

  She backed away.

  He closed the gap.

  As she took another step back, her heel struck a rock hidden beneath the ferns. She gasped as something sharp poked her in the shoulder blade directly below the bullet wound. Her vision tunneled, and she fought to stay upright. With her left hand, she reached behind her. Rough bark met her palm. It was a branch poking her shoulder. She tried to inch sideways, but it caught in her shirt, and the pain so close to the fire in her shoulder was too much. She couldn’t drop beneath it without getting hung up and dragging the branch across the open wound. That would make her pass out, she was sure. She was already close enough.

  Josh’s voice came to her again.

  Don’t stop.

  “Owen, please fight.” The words sounded far away. She might have been slurring. “Please. Your friend, Josh . . . you know him . . . my uncle. Don’t let him do this.” She wasn’t making sense anymore. It hadn’t come out right. She’d meant to tell him not to let the Pyx use him like this. Too late now.

  He squared up to her, his eyes glowing, and raised the knife. She recognized it. Her right hand dragged up her leg to her hip where the top of the matching knife stuck out of its sheath. Her thumb fumbled against it. He lunged.

  Instinctively, she curled inward and threw herself toward him, away from the tree and under the knife. Hitting the ground, she rolled, landing on her face. She spat out a mouthful of loamy dirt and scrambled forward, desperately trying to regain her footing. Any moment now, she’d feel the searing pain of the knife. Or maybe she’d feel nothing at all. That would be nice.

  Don’t stop. Get up, Cara. Go.

  Time had frozen, and her legs refused to obey the commands her brain was sending. Hollow emptiness drained the rest of her will to fight, and she slumped to the ground. Still, the knife didn’t come. Rolling over to meet her fate face to face, she paled at the sight in front of her.

  His momentum had carried him. He must have run into the same rock she’d backed up against. The extra strength the Pyx had used to drive forward with the knife had driven him right onto the sharp branch. His body hung limp, with the thick branch protruding from his eye socket and his mouth still stretched in a revolting leer.

  Nausea rolled over her again, and she vomited into the ferns. When she looked up again, light had surged from his head. She fell back in shock. It gathered in a flattened circle, looking like a miniature nuclear blast, though the teacher’s head was still intact. Slowly, the light rose, hovering. It illuminated him absurdly like a halo and then dissipated into the still air.

  Cara tried to remember how to breathe.

  She couldn’t move.

  Footsteps broke the silence, and her head whipped over to the hillside. A bright-yellow blur sailed down the slope and stopped in front of her.

  It wasn’t over.

  Hawaiian Shirt had found her. His gun dangled from his hand, but he made no move to lift it. His eyes were fixed on the body and the last traces of light vanishing into the air.

  Don’t stop fighting.

  But she wanted to. If she could only rest for a while . . . She was so cold. Her hands clenched, and something hard bit into her palm.

  Her knife.

  She’d managed to free it from the sheath after all.

  Hawaiian Shirt started to turn. She would only have one chance. It would have to be with her right hand in spite of the fiery pain from her shoulder. She didn’t stand a chance of aiming with her left and he’d be able to raise the gun and fire before she could even transfer the knife to her other hand.

  Their eyes met.

  The knife fell into place in the groove beside her thumb, ready to throw.

  After everything, she couldn’t do it. Tears welled in her eyes for the dedicated teacher and understanding dorm parent Mr. Meyers had been. Her uncle’s friend had just died right in front of her. She had no way of knowing what else had happened at the school. She thought of Grawlls, and the tears spilled over. With an aching heart, the sudden hollow feeling made sense.

  The Pyx was gone.

  No matter what he’d done at the end, she wept for him too. He’d lived for millions of years, seen entire ages pass as the world changed, and he’d died for this. For her. For some mysterious influence she didn’t even know how to use.

  Jenyx was right. All life was precious. The hope that Grawllyx had made it to a new host offered a small consolation. It shouldn’t have killed him. She knew how they died now. She had just seen it happen. And now she couldn’t do it again, not to another Pyx or to the innocent man she’d have to kill along with him.

  With a last tear for the people she would leave behind, she fell back and waited for the remaining Pyx to finish the job his companion had started.

  His glowing green eyes didn’t leave hers even as her eyelids fluttered. The last thing she saw of the bleary scene in front of her was the green blinking out and the man in the crazy outfit falling to the ground.

  In the distance, a voice called her name.

  The forest fa
ded to black . . .

  . . .

  “Don’t leave me.” A whisper in the dark . . .

  Pain jolted her back to her body. Branches bounced overhead, blurring together. Strong arms held her as gently as they could. The face above her was etched with a deep worry, and a tender pull in her chest joined the pain wracking her body. Beyond the silhouette of his hair, the trees above opened to a dimming sky streaked with wispy clouds. Unable to hold her eyes open, she leaned her head into the warmth that smelled of cedar wood and oranges, and thought she smiled.

  THANK YOU FOR READING. I hope you enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. I loved exploring this new aspect to Cara, and bringing some new characters to the front. Their journey continues in Daybreak in Green & Gold, book 4, where a new threat forces the gang to adjust, and relationships change in surprising ways. Follow me on Amazon to be notified when it’s released, or sign up for my newsletter to stay informed and get free bonus content until then.

  If you could spare a moment to leave an honest review on Amazon and/or Goodreads, it would mean so much. Every single review is vital for authors like me. Your review helps new readers decide whether to pick up the book, and even a line or two makes a huge difference, so thank you so much for your help!

  More

  REMEMBER THE STORY Jenyx tells Cara and Wes in chapter 2? It’s a story about a terrible incident that took place in the town of Vamis in ancient Greece. The events that unfolded when a group of Pyx took over some humans resulted in the unspoken rule against using human pyxides becoming an official part of Pyx law. It also changed the course of a young girl’s life forever.

  Well, that story was personal. Jenyx was there and you can read the whole tale of that fateful night for free.

  Sign up for my VIP reader list here and you’ll receive this story as soon as it’s released, as well as other bonus content and, of course, updates on new book releases.

  Acknowledgements & Author’s Note

  THANK YOU TO ALL THE readers who stand by authors you love, and the readers who love to take chances on new authors. Please keep making our world shine brighter with diversity. If you took the time to leave a review, know that I truly appreciate it. Every single review makes a difference in finding new readers. They fuel my soul and boost my motivation in ways I never expected.

  To my advance review team—You are amazing people who fill my spirit with the generosity of your time and comments. Huge thanks go to the test readers who helped turn this into a much better book—Lauren, Mandi, Jenni and Angelina—I am eternally grateful for your input. A special thanks to my friend Erika, for saying those first written words aren’t so terrible (they are), and for providing a beautiful example of strength when I needed it, and to my wonderful husband who shows that strength daily.

  The credit for polishing this book to the state you see now goes to my great editor, Courtney Umphress, and the amazing cover designers at MoorBooks Design. Thank you for doing the things I cannot and making this book into the best version of itself.

  THIS BOOK IS BEING released at a strange time in our world in the midst of a global pandemic. While that’s not the pending apocalypse imagined by some characters in this book, it’s been an interesting lens through which to view the final revisions. Hopefully within a few months we’ll be looking back on this time as a small, albeit tragic, chapter in our history. But if we can keep some of the examples of people coming together and sacrificing small comforts for the good of the general population in our minds as we move forward, then maybe some good will have come from it. This isn’t why I write, but it’s great to see the power we have to effect change when we all decide to act, even in small ways. In the meantime, I’m writing to entertain, so maybe this book has provided a small distraction. I hope so.

  I always love to hear from readers. Connect with me on Facebook @johollowaybooks to share your thoughts on any of it, or contact me through my website johollowaybooks.com.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  JO HOLLOWAY IS THE Canadian author of the Green & Gold series. She lives with her husband and dog in Alberta. Although always an avid reader, she never really planned to write a book. But some stories demand to be written.

  She refuses to choose between cheese and chocolate, but does hold a firm anti-soup stance for reasons no one understands. She loves animals, but traded in riding horses for riding a motorcycle because they don’t think for themselves!