“Why?”
“Because … Because we’ll be vulnerable.”
“And you think sleeping during the daytime, out in the open, is safe?” I gave her a flat look.
“Hate to say it,” Harmon said gruffly. “But killer here is right.”
Killer? My chest tightened, and my skin prickled. I could imagine the blood draining from my face. How could he know? The council had promised to keep the reason for my sentence a secret.
Maybe it was just a figure of speech? But still … “Don’t fucking call me that.” My voice cracked.
“Why not?” Thomas said. “It’s true, isn’t it?”
Okay, not a figure of speech. “You don’t have a fucking clue.”
“Then fill us in,” Thomas pushed.
Nothing was sacred. Nothing off the table. He was a Carmichael. Nephew to council member Carmichael, and nightbloods loved to gossip.
He knew.
He knew the truth, and he’d told his hairy boyfriend.
Heat flooded my limbs, and my hands curled into fists. “I’ll fill your face with my fist if you don’t shut the hell up.”
Beside me, Minnie had gone silent. My pulse spiked. Had she known? No, she hadn’t. What if she didn’t want to be friends now?
A vise squeezed my lungs. No problem. She was a pain anyway. I’d never wanted to be friends.
Her hand nudged my arm, and then her fingers wrapped around mine and squeezed.
The vise relaxed.
“Shit happens,” Minnie said softly. “Like I said, everyone deserves a second chance.” She smiled up at me, then glared at Thomas. “Drop it.”
Thomas blew out an exasperated breath. “Fine. But I think we have a right to know if she’s about to go bloodlust on us.”
“Why? You think she’ll be gunning for your throat?” Minnie drawled.
Blood was blood when under the influence of bloodlust. But the episode that had resulted in my killing a human had been engineered, not that I could prove it.
My tone was clipped. “I wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot pole, Carmichael.”
“What about me?” Oberon said from beside me. His arm brushed mine. He was a head taller than me and smelled of flowers. “I hear feyblood blood is intoxicating to nightbloods.”
I needed him to back off. His scent was messing with my head. “I wouldn’t know.”
He leaned in. “You want to find out?”
I glared up at him. “Do not flirt with me, flower boy. I will hurt you.”
“Yeah, I heard you had a temper,” Thomas said.
I exhaled to release the rising anger.
We climbed over a fallen log, boots crunching on dry bracken.
He chuckled. “The black sheep of the Jus—”
My fist met his jaw. He staggered back clutching his face, eyes blazing.
“What the fuck?” Harmon charged me, and I dropped into a defensive crouch, ready to rumble, blood bubbling with the need to let off steam and shut down the voices in my head that screamed murderer. Physical pain worked well to mask the guilt, to assuage it a little.
“Enough!” Minnie stepped between us and slammed her hands into Harmon’s chest. “Touch her, and you’ll be answering to me.”
Harmon’s chest heaved as he looked down on Minnie.
She was small, she was cute, and she wouldn’t need to get her hands dirty. The Faradays were connected, and her brother was a shadow cadet.
Harmon backed off. “Keep a leash on your crazy friend, Faraday.”
I stepped around Minnie. “And you keep a leash on your lover’s tongue.”
Thomas had recovered. Not even any bruising. Shame. But we nightbloods healed quick.
Oberon clapped his hands together. “As fun as getting to know you all is, I’d rather get this exercise over with. There’s a party in the real world tonight, one I don’t intend to miss.”
“Shit,” Harmon said. “I promised to run with the guys. Full moon and all that.” He scratched his stubbled face. “I say we call a truce. No baiting.” He looked at Thomas, who glared back at him with dark, angry eyes. “Let’s focus on the task, eh?”
Who knew the big lug could be the voice of reason when he wasn’t busy sticking his cock into the next available hole?
We turned back to the trail we’d stumbled on and had barely gone five meters when the smell of copper hit my nostrils.
Animal blood.
“Whoa, that’s strong,” Thomas said, bringing a hand up to cover his nose.
Yeah, he’d probably never fed off anything but human blood, never had to scavenge to survive. I wondered how he’d take to rat blood. Bile climbed up my throat. Never again.
Howls filled the air.
Harmon growled low before falling into a crouch, knuckles grazing the ground.
Oberon cursed softly under his breath.
Animal blood meant there was a predator about.
Looked like we were about to face our first challenge.
Five
“Those are moonkissed howls,” Harmon said. “I can smell them, but they smell … off.”
“Of course they do,” Thomas said. “This is a test, so they’re probably rogue. Shit, they’ve probably been feeding off humans.” His eyes widened in horror.
“Delirium pack?” Minnie said, mouth set in a grim line. “We need to get out of here. We can skirt around them, and—
“Help! Please, help!”
The new scent hit me, and my mouth filled with saliva. “Human. Male. He’s hurt … bleeding.”
“Definitely delirium,” Harmon said, his expression somber.
I took several steps in the direction of the cry for help before pulling up short. What was I doing? This wasn’t real.
“The task was to get from A to B,” Harmon said. “We need to stick to the task.”
“A to B,” Thomas agreed. “This is a distraction we don’t need.”
“You really think that’s all there is to it?” Oberon said. “We’re training for the Watch here. And there’s a human in distress.”
I folded my arms under my breasts. “He’s probably dead now that you guys spent so long discussing what to do.”
“I say we help him,” Minnie said. “It’s what we’re meant to do. It’s what Nightwatch is all about.”
No, Nightwatch was about saving our own asses. Saving humans simply contributed to this goal by maintaining the universal glamour that prevented them from seeing our true natures intact and keeping our existence a secret. But heck, what was the point in arguing.
“Indie? You with me?” Minnie asked.
Always. “Whatever. Let’s stop gabbing and do something.”
“Please! Help!”
I turned and headed toward the sound, and Minnie followed. The others would just have to catch up.
Branches lashed at my face, and leaves kissed my cheeks as adrenaline coursed through my limbs. We dove deeper into the forest, the smell of earth and blood mingling to make a heady concoction.
A bloodcurdling scream tore the night, and I broke into a run.
“Wait!” Thomas called from behind us. “We need to talk about this. What do we know about delirium? How do we subdue these moonkissed?”
All the fucking lessons that I’d allowed to wash over me. All the information that I’d been determined to ignore, and the answer bloomed in my mind like a slap to my will.
“We don’t.”
Harmon huffed as he came up beside me. “She’s right, you can’t subdue a delirium.”
No, there was only one course of action. “We have to kill them.”
Six
Every supernatural knew what a delirium was. It was the moonkissed equivalent of bloodlust, except there was no coming out of it. Once a wolf went into delirium, it stayed there. It killed and killed again. And that was where the Nightwatch came in.
They took them down.
Despite my determination not to pay attention, that lesson had stuck. There was no imprisoning
a delirium, no subduing. The Watch opted for on-the-spot execution. It was a mercy for the moonkissed.
The worst thing was a moonkissed didn’t have to willingly eat human flesh to become a delirium. If a moonkissed was fed the meat unknowingly, it would still trigger the change in them, turning them into a monster trapped between human and wolf form forever.
And hungry. Always hungry.
“What’s the plan?” Minnie asked no one and everyone.
There was only one way to bring them down fast. “Go for the main arteries. They’re hyped up on adrenaline, heart’s pumping fast. They’ll bleed out quick.”
“Yeah, but that means getting close.” Thomas’s tone was tight.
“If you’re worried you can’t hack it, then hang back,” Oberon sneered. “We don’t want to lose this test because you freak out and get your throat ripped open.”
There was no time to dwell on strategy because we were barreling into a clearing to find a pack of wolves in half shift. Two of them stood under a tree to our far left, and three were hunkered down shoveling a red, gory mass into their snouted faces.
It wasn’t real, and yet my body reacted by going into high alert. My brain registered the scenario and immediately switched to fight mode.
“There, up the tree.” Minnie pointed at the same moment as all the delirium wolves swiveled their heads to look our way.
Shit.
A man was practically obscured by the foliage. The screamer no doubt. But we were now the new prey. Drool dripped from hairy jaws, and all-too-human eyes glared at us, rimmed red by the insanity that gripped their minds. Growls shook the clearing and fear bloomed in the back of my mind, not caring that this was part of a simulation or that these insane moonkissed couldn’t physically hurt me.
The wolfmen advanced.
The daggers strapped to our thighs now made sense.
It was time to get stabby.
Fighting came naturally to me. The moves, the evasion, and the attack. My body was in vigilant mode. One eye on Minnie to make sure she was okay, the other on my opponent, who slashed with his claws and snapped with his serrated maw. Shit, did he just spatter me with saliva? Yuck. I spun-kicked him, knocking him into a tree, and followed up with a sharp jab to his jugular before he could recover.
He grabbed the wound, gurgling indignantly. But instead of hitting dirt, he lunged at me. The tips of his talons grazed my shirt, and pain lanced across my skin.
What the fuck? Pain? For real?
Shit.
I dropped and punctured his femoral artery with the dagger before rolling out of his reach.
“Indie!”
Minnie?
There she was—pinned to the ground. Beast on top of her. I was already in motion, world rushing by as I hit the wolfman from the side, knocking him off and going with him. My dagger sank between his ribs, then into his neck, once, twice. I kicked out and leapt off him.
“Indie, shit. Indie.” Minnie sat up, clutching her abdomen. Her shirt was torn, and her hands were bloody. “Oh, fuck it hurts.”
Nightbloods healed fast, but this wound was deep, and she’d bleed out before she had time to heal. The herb pouch! I needed to use the herb pouch, but the damn backpack wasn’t on her back anymore.
Ignoring the ruckus, ignoring the growls and yelps, I scanned the clearing to find the pack lying by the tree line beyond the fight that was still raging.
Minnie moaned. “Why do they have to make it hurt?”
Her face was pale and beaded with sweat. They were giving her pain. I had to stop it.
She gripped my arm. “Don’t you dare let me die. I cannot fail this, Indie. You know I can’t.”
Fucking Faraday pressure. “I won’t.”
Three wolfmen were down, and only two remained. Thomas and Harmon were tag-teaming one, while Oberon fought the other. Moving Minnie wasn’t an option, and if one of the wolves broke free from the guys and headed her way, she was fucked. But if I didn’t act, she was still fucked.
Game over.
I took in the fight, tracking the moves the guys and the wolves were making. I measured the distance between me and the backpack, using the guys as obstacles in my mind. There it was—the perfect route.
“I’ll be right back, Min.”
I rose, allowed my thighs to bunch, and then sprang off into the fray in super-fast nightblood mode. The world blurred as I wove through the bodies and skidded to a halt at the pack. One strap was sliced and frayed. I scooped it up by the strap that was intact and then dove back into the fray. Shoulder almost grazing Oberon’s back, head ducking in time to avoid Harmon’s power swing at the wolfman, I made it through the fight and skidded to my knees by Minnie.
She was breathing shallow. Her lips bloodless.
I tore the pack open, ripped the herb pouch in two, and slapped the contents all over her abdomen.
“Hey, what the fuck?” Thomas’s voice cut across the suddenly silent clearing.
I guess the fight was over. I glanced over my shoulder to see Thomas approaching. He had the human by the nape and was steering him toward me.
Minnie shuddered. “I think it’s working.”
“This would have worked better.” Thomas shoved the human to his knees beside us. “A few sips and she’d have healed fine. Now you’ve wasted the bloody herb pouch.”
Realization dawned. The human was there to heal the nightbloods. Of course. An instant healing potion, which meant the herbs must have been a lifeline for Oberon and Harmon.
“Fuck.”
Oberon tucked his hands into his pocket. “It’s done now. No point stressing about it.” His shirt was ripped in several places, showcasing toned marble abs, but his skin was unmarred—not even a scratch. He caught me looking, and his perfect lips curved in a lopsided smile. “You’re not the only one with moves.”
“I thought the only moves you had were the ones you made on the female population of the Academy,” Thomas said snidely.
It was true. Oberon got around.
“How are you feeling?” Oberon asked, his intense gaze fixed on Minnie. “You think you can travel?”
Minnie tried to stand and then sat back down with a sharp yelp.
“We’ll need to make camp,” Harmon said. “Minnie needs time to heal. The herbs will take some time to work on a nightblood. They’re not designed for your kind.” His lip curled. “If you’d bothered to attend any of the herbology classes, you’d know this.”
“So, give her the human.” I jerked my thumb at the guy.
The human let out an indignant yelp.
“You would say that,” Thomas said. “No qualms.”
Thank God he couldn’t feel how sweaty my palms were at being this close to a human. Thank goodness he didn’t know that the very thought of drinking from the vein sent me into a panic.
“It’s too late to offer Minnie the human,” Harmon said. “The herb will block the effects of any blood she consumes.”
So, I’d fucked up. Big deal. It was just a game. Still, my cheeks warmed. “I’ll gather some wood.”
“Least you can do,” Thomas called after me.
I flipped him the bird, but my insides were quivering. I may just have cost us the exercise. May have cost Minnie the grade she needed.
My success didn’t matter, but hers did.
This time, there was no pretending I didn’t care.
Seven
The bodies of the delirium were piled in a corner, still dead, still here in the sim. At least they hadn’t disappeared and ruined the realism of the situation.
Maybe this was more authentic than I’d thought.
Minnie’s pain certainly was. We’d put the tarp down for her to lie on at a safe distance from the fire Harmon had built. The hairy dude crouched by the flames, poking them with a stick every now and then. Thomas watched him, using the side-eye, and Oberon … well, Oberon was staring at me.
I glared back at him, not bothering to hide my irritation. “What? Spit it out.”
<
br /> He canted his head. “Well, if you insist. I was wondering how you could possibly be related to Kat Justice.”
Yeah, this was bound to come up at some point. My older cousin was a legend in the Nightwatch. A prodigy who’d aced every exam and test and graduated with fucking wings.
I gave him a close-lipped smile. “Did you not pay attention in genetics class in lower school? Or do the feybloods not learn about that shit?”
He gave me a half smile, unfazed by my irritation. “You got the moves. You’d make a solid officer for the Watch.”
“Right. Uh-huh, except I don’t want to be in the Watch.” I enunciated each word. “I’m here because I have to be, and I’m here for her.” I jerked my thumb in Minnie’s direction.
“You act all tough like you don’t give a shit but you do. You care about Minnie,” Oberon said. “I see through your façade.”
What the fuck? “There is no façade. I was perfectly happy in my life before …” I ducked my head.
“Before you killed someone?” Oberon said softly. “You didn’t mean to do it, did you?” He leaned forward. “Tell us what happened.”
The memory of that night, of the blood in my mouth, of the sweet taste, and then the hunger, sudden and overwhelming, and then nothing. Nothing. I fucking didn’t remember anything.
“Indie?”
My head snapped up. “Don’t call me that. You don’t get to call me that.”
He held up his hands. “I’m sorry. I just. I think if you allow yourself to open up, you might find this is exactly where you need to be.”
“Oh, my God,” Thomas drawled, shooting Oberon a disgusted look. “The shit you’ll say to get laid.”
Was that what he was doing? Softening me up. I locked gazes with him to find him watching me with an intense expression, and then his face broke into a grin, and he shook his head.
“Hey, got to pass the time somehow.”
Wanker.
The human made a choking sound. He’d been sitting quietly up until now, and I’d succeeded in ignoring his presence, but that was impossible to do if he made noise.
“You okay?” Harmon asked gruffly.
Shadow Caster: The Nightwatch Academy book 1 Page 4