Shadow Caster: The Nightwatch Academy book 1

by Cassidy, Debbie

  Bingo.

  “Ha! In your face, Aidan.”

  “Aidan got bored and went to make a sandwich.” This voice was grumblier but just as smooth.

  Devon, Aidan’s twin.

  “Fuck the sim,” he said. “Grab a bite to eat, and I’ll take you out to deal with the real thing.”

  The world went black, and then I was looking up into Devon’s face. His eyes were hazel like his brother’s, but whereas Aidan had more gold in his eyes, Devon’s were streaked with emerald. His mouth was poutier than Aidan’s, and his hair was cut shorter, killing the wave that gave Aidan his playful look. Devon looked like he meant business. He hauled me out of the sim pod with a frown.

  “You want to learn, then you need to get out there.”

  “I know that, but your brother insisted I needed to run the sim with one hundred percent accuracy first.”

  Devon tapped the monitor, which depicted my stats. “You nailed it every time. Aidan manipulated the results.” He exhaled through his nose. “He hates training newbies.”

  “What? Wanker!“

  Devon smiled. “He can be.”

  “And you? You don’t mind training newbies?”

  He levelled a look at me that was hard to read. “I think of it as a mini vacation.”

  There was darkness in his hazel eyes now, swirling around like a mini vortex. He blinked, and it was gone. My imagination?

  “Go get fueled up,” he said. “You head out into the mist in half an hour.”

  * * *

  The kitchen was sandwich central. Aidan was already stuffing his face with what looked like a triple decker ham, cheese, and sausage concoction, while Carlo sawed at a huge loaf of bread and Thomas slathered it with butter. Lettuce and tomato and various meats were piled on the counter.

  I glanced over Thomas’s shoulder. “Since when do you care about sandwiches?”

  “Since my allocated mentor told me I did,” Thomas said with a smile.

  Carlo raised the bread knife in the air and twirled it. “I do have a particular skill when it comes to sandwich concoction.”

  “You’re a nightblood. We don’t eat for pleasure.”

  “Speak for yourself,” he snorted. “Life is nothing without a variety of flavor. Plus, I like figuring out what’ll make other people go mmmm.” He fixed his gaze on me. “If you know what I mean?”

  “Are you going to be the innuendo guy of the group?”

  “Well, I’m certainly not Mr. Strong and Silent Type.”

  Brady walked into the room with his signature fuck-off face on.

  “Oh, there he is,” Carlo said cheerfully. “Mr. I’ll Crush Your Skull for Breakfast.”

  “Fuck off.” Brady slumped down in the two-seater sofa by the window. “Dead out there. Nice.”

  “Right?” Carlo sighed happily. “I fucking love sector one.”

  Harmon strode in, covered head to foot in some kind of green goo. He stood in the doorway and glared at Brady.

  “Apart from the dying critter we came across,” Brady said.

  Wait, was that a hint of a smirk on the monolith’s face?

  Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at the moonkissed.

  “You call that little?” Harmon was fuming. “You call that dying?”

  Brady’s expression hardened; he was out of his seat and in Harmon’s face in an instant. “Little. Dying. Yes.”

  To give him credit, Harmon barely flinched. He met the larger male’s gaze head-on, and then the anger left his features, and his gaze fell to Brady’s neck.

  I noted the exact moment when the rage left him. His shoulders relaxed, and he nodded. “Okay. Thanks for clarifying that. I should go shower.” He turned on his heel and vanished down the corridor to the shower room, no doubt.

  Brady turned his back on Harmon and resumed his seat. “Beef and mustard,” he growled.

  “On it.” Carlo set to work.

  * * *

  Brady and Aidan stood face to face, fists out.

  “Rock, paper, scissors.”

  Brady threw rock, and Aidan threw paper.

  “Fuck.” Brady shot a withering glance my way.

  Thomas leaned in. “Do you think they do this every time they need to decide who’s going to take a cadet out?”

  I swung my legs from the perch on the counter. “Hey, guys. I’m beginning to get a complex here.”

  Yeah, it looked like no one wanted to play mentor. My gaze went to the window, to the rolling mist, and something inside me tugged with the need to be inside it.

  The door rumbled as it opened, and then boots echoed down the corridor. Vince and Lloyd entered a moment later. Lloyd’s blond hair looked lank and in need of a wash, his eyes were bloodshot. He and Vince had been working sector two, something to do with an increased vigilance warning that had come down from the fortress.

  “You bastards!” Vince exploded at the sight of Brady and Aidan in a face-off. “I told ya, no. No more fucking rock, paper, scissors. This ain’t no fucking vacation.”

  Lloyd coughed into his hand … or was he laughing. Not too sure. Brady and Aidan turned to give him a flat look.

  “Who’s up for a tour?” Lloyd asked.

  “Justice,” Devon said. “AM post training.”

  Lloyd nodded. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

  “No.” Brady stalked toward me. “I got this.” He jerked his head in the direction of the armory. “Suit up.”

  “Now why the fuck didn’t he just say that sooner?” Aidan’s voice followed me down the corridor.

  Brady threw my gear at me, and then stripped off his shirt, turning his back on me. A bronze expanse of smooth, taut flesh spanned his wide pectorals and tapered at his waist. He was … perfect. I pulled my gaze up to snag on the angry scar that marred the side of his neck; it cut down to his collarbone, and for some reason, I was bridging the distance between us, mesmerized by the mark.

  He tensed but held his ground. His dark gaze was wary and questioning, so unlike the Brady I’d seen so far, but then his expression hardened.

  “You want to know how I got this?” He touched the scarred flesh. His brows came together, and he canted his head. “Does it excite you, Justice?” He stepped closer, bringing the heat of his body with him, pushing it against mine.

  My pulse was suddenly hammering too fast, blood fizzing in my veins. “There’s nothing exciting about the wounds that skirt death. But I have a right to be curious.” Why was my voice so breathless? I reached up on impulse, intent on touching the scar.

  His hand shot up to grasp my wrist in a grip that was almost painful. “Don’t.”

  Shit, what the fuck was I thinking? “I’m sorry. I … It’s just that this … this could happen to me soon.”

  His chest rumbled, and then his fingers uncurled from around my wrist.

  I dropped my hand to my side. Cheeks flaming. “I didn’t mean to—”

  “Get your armor on.” He reached for the waistband of his joggers, preparing to tug them down, and for a moment, I was frozen in place, curiosity warring with modesty. “You gonna stay for the show?”

  I turned and jogged for the closet.

  * * *

  It was late. Brady and Devon were manning the control room, a place of blinking lights and schematics. A huge map of the sector covered one wall. It was dotted with green lights, which meant all was well.

  Lloyd had explained that orange lights meant posts needed maintenance and red indicated the posts needed immediate repair. Vince was doing an armory audit or something equally mundane, and the rest of the cadets had scattered around the barracks doing whatever. These were the twilight hours between darkness and dawn when all was quiet and dead. I needed to shift my arse into the shower.

  Nightbloods didn’t need sleep, but my body begged to differ. My arms lay loosely at my sides, and my legs were splayed out in front of me, my ass almost slipping off the sofa. I’d sat down for a minute, and that had been twenty minutes ago. Brady had run me ragged.
I mean, if I looked at my ass in the mirror, it probably wouldn’t be there. Gone, because he’d worked it off. We’d walked miles and miles and climbed and climbed and replaced components and chased hairy critters, or so he said, but I hadn’t seen anything. I swear he’d just wanted me to run.

  A shadow fell over me. “Justice?”

  I looked up at Lloyd. “I don’t think I can move.”

  He rolled his lips into his mouth to bite back a smile. His blue eyes warmed with mirth. “Ah, the first timer crash. The mist has a different composition to regular air, and it can drain you, even nightbloods.” He held out his hands. “Come on. Let me get you into bed.”

  “You wish.” I took his hands though because fluffy pillows sounded sooo good right now.

  He hauled me up, and I slumped against his chest. “Hold me.”

  He laughed and then scooped me off my feet. I wrapped my arms around his neck, surrendering the hard-ass act for a moment and reveling in being looked after.

  “Shit, she okay?” Aidan asked as we entered the dorms.

  “She’s wiped.”

  “First timer crash?” Aidan whispered.

  “Yeah.”

  I was lowered onto a soft mattress.

  “You did good today, Justice,” Lloyd whispered in my ear before releasing me.

  Clouds cradled me, and then I was floating away.

  Twenty-Two

  Hyde pinned me to the ground, his weight settling over me and stealing my breath. Our legs tangled, limbs brushing and pressing together—the tautness of muscle and the unyielding hardness of metal.

  A smile curved his lips. “Not this time, Justice.”

  He tightened his grip and angled his body so that it was impossible for me to flip him off me. Shit.

  I struggled, my breath coming faster, part exertion, part excitement. Every inch of me was alive in that moment because he was touching me. He moved his leg, and his thigh rubbed against my crotch with delicious friction. Heat seared me, and a low, involuntary moan escaped my lips.

  My ears burned with embarrassment at the same time as my mouth softened and swelled. Our gazes snagged, and he froze. I tried to pull it back, to hide the desire that floored me, but it was all over my face and rising off my body, which was pressed flush against his. There was no way he hadn’t seen it.

  He was off me quicker than a cat leaping off hot coals. Cool air washed over me, rushed into my lungs, and I gulped to clear my head and get my crazy libido under control. I needed blood. I needed to sink my fangs into something. I needed to fuck.

  I rolled onto my side, chest heaving, and watched him walk stiffly to his holster and scoop it off the ground. He kept his back to me as he buckled it on.

  “Good session.” His voice was rough.

  Okay, keep it light. Keep it neutral. “Maybe we can work on the parrying some more next time?” Shit, I sounded like I’d just run a marathon, all breathless.

  I pulled myself up and brushed off my clothes.

  “You’re ready.” He turned to face me. “Ready as you’ll ever be. Only three more days left till the trial, and you have barracks duty tonight.”

  Where had the time gone? Two weeks had flown by in a blink.

  He walked over to what I called our bench. It was the spot we hung out at after our sessions and before official training and barracks duty. Okay, so he wasn’t going to run off. Good. I liked these chats. Maybe a little too much.

  He sat forward, his arms braced on his thighs. “How are you settling in with Lloyd and his troop?”

  “Good.” I joined him. “I’ve learned a lot.”

  “I think your father would be proud of you.”

  Tension gripped my shoulders and the familiar flare of anger lit my chest. “I really don’t give a shit what my father thinks.”

  He nodded slowly. “I can relate to feeling that way. But age and experience bring wisdom. I learned a long time ago that not caring was the easy choice.” He spoke softly, almost as if he was sharing a secret. “Telling myself I didn’t need his love or his pride made it stop hurting so bad when he dismissed me.”

  He was opening up, and suddenly, I was afraid to move or speak in case I shattered the moment. But he’d lapsed into silence, and I needed to speak, to prod him to tell me more.

  I studied his profile. “What is it like? Back home for you? What’s it like to be a Hyde?”

  For a moment, I thought he wouldn’t answer. That he’d shut down and dismiss me, but then he sat back, relaxing against the bench. One arm out so it draped on the wood behind me.

  His gaze misted as if he was casting his mind back through time. “It’s a wonderful honor. You’re made to feel special. Prized. But it’s also terrible because there is no room for failure. Ever. Being a Hyde is a trial that lasts a lifetime, and those that disappoint are cut off.”

  I wanted to ask about the scars on his back. I wanted to ask who hurt him, but the words stuck in my throat because in that moment he looked so sad and lost, and the urge to hold him, to wrap my arms around him and cradle him was a burning need radiating from my heart.

  He understood me. Really got it, but he was out of my reach.

  He turned his head to look at me, his blue-green eyes warm and open. “You may not have belonged at home, but you belong here. You can feel it, can’t you?”

  “I didn’t … not until I was marked. But being a shadow cadet feels right. Being here with you feels right.”

  I wanted to bite back the words as soon as they spilled from my lips. What was I doing? I might as well throw myself at him. Oh, wait, I’d already done that.

  I waited for the shutters to come down. For him to slip into backup mode, but instead, his gaze roved across my face as if mapping every inch.

  “I admire you, Indigo.”

  “You do?”

  His lips tugged in a small smile, and his eyes hardened. “I admire your diligence and hard work. I’m fascinated by your abilities, and I want to know more. I’m honored to train you, but that is all. Do you understand me?”

  A pit opened up inside me. A yawning pit of embarrassment and disappointment. He was gently letting down the student who had a crush on him. Me. That would be me. What the fuck had I expected? He was off limits. But over the past few weeks, he’d gotten under my skin and become a confidant. Despite my best intentions, I’d found myself slipping and falling for him, and here he was resetting the boundaries.

  I felt sick. All the bravado, all the fight abandoned me, and I was just a woman who was yearning for a guy who was turning her down. Rejection hurt.

  I ducked my head. “I understand.”

  “Good.” He stood and looked down at me with an unfathomable expression. “Get back to the dorms.”

  He strode off, leaving me perched on the bench with an aching heart and ears burning with shame.

  * * *

  I was out in the mist during the day.

  Again.

  Sunlight never got old, even if it was filtering through fog. It kissed my cheeks and warmed my skin, and for the first time in forever, it didn’t weaken my body.

  “You’ll get used to it,” Lloyd said.

  “I don’t think I ever will.”

  “You have the shadow gene. You’ll never be vulnerable during daylight again,” he reminded me.

  I could feel the power more acutely now. With my nightblood powers dormant, the shadow gene powers filled my veins with crackling heat. I could run, leap, fight. It was all still there, but it was shadow gene strength, not nightblood. It was strong, almost as if my nightblood power muted the shadow gene power.

  Our boots scuffed the dried earth as we made our way back to the barracks in companionable silence. Who would have thought there’d ever have been anything companionable between me and Lloyd?

  But Minnie had been right. He wasn’t a total asshole like I’d thought. In fact, he was a pretty good stand-in mentor for Hyde. Sorry. Master Hyde.

  It was important to make the distinction, to remin
d myself that he was off limits. He’d made that clear, and the memory of that conversation made me cringe internally.

  I couldn’t allow myself to fall for him. I needed to cut off those feelings and move on.

  Lloyd and I had run maintenance on a couple of AM posts, done a sweep, and now it was time to head back and put our feet up for an hour or so.

  I studied his profile—aquiline and strong. Being in sector one was a break for him and his troop. They never discussed sector two, or the trial they were working toward, and damn, it was hard not to ask about it. But the vibe around that subject was a clear back-off one.

  I was content to fall into the routine we’d established over the last couple of weeks. Being at the barracks was like being in our own little world. It was beginning to feel like a home away from home. It was hard work, but it was paying off because I could fix an AM post in less than five minutes now, even though apparently that was still too long. Go figure.

  Vince was doing some checks at another barracks in sector two, so it was just the troop and us newbies.

  Lloyd had even allowed me into the inner sanctum of the control room.

  Barracks shifts ran over a twenty-four-hour period, so we took turns to sleep. Being a nightblood, I didn’t need as much sleep, so the twins Aidan and Devon, as well as Brady and Harmon were tucked up in their beds while Lloyd, Thomas, Carlo, and I manned the station during daylight hours.

  “You’re doing good,” Lloyd said, slowing his pace slightly.

  “Thanks.” I slid a glance his way. “You sound surprised.”

  He smiled. “That probably sounds chauvinistic, but believe me, the fact you’re a woman isn’t why I’m surprised.”

  “Oh?” I had an inkling where this was going, but why make it easy on him?

  He cleared his throat and kept his gaze on the misty terrain ahead. “You don’t exactly come across as a hard worker. You skipped lessons, fell asleep in the ones you did attend, and were a bad influence on my sister.”