Shadow Caster: The Nightwatch Academy book 1

by Cassidy, Debbie

  I gripped Brady’s arm. “It was a fomorian. He saved me from the others. He called them fir bolg.”

  Brady ran his gaze over me again. He gripped my chin gently and coaxed my head to the side to scan the spot where the fomorian had planted his hand.

  “He hurt you?”

  “No. Not really. I mean he knocked me out and took me to the cave outside the catacombs. But he was trying to hide me from these fir bolg creatures.” I stared up at him. “He was feeling the effects of the mist by the time we split, but he said the others, these fir bolg, could withstand longer periods in the mist. He called the mist poison lands. How can that be? I thought we were warding off fomorians. No one mentioned anything else.”

  “Yeah,” Brady said. “So did I.” His attention dropped to my mouth, and he released me. “Let’s get you back to base. I need to call this in.”

  Twenty-Four

  We were gathered in the whiteboard room, butts parked on the plastic chairs. The atmosphere was a mixture of apprehension and excitement. It had been an hour since the incident. Brady had taken a statement and ushered me to change and shower. By the time I’d gotten out, Vince was back with Hyde in tow.

  The troop had been summoned, and here we were.

  Hyde stood by the whiteboard, arms crossed, face like thunder. “After the incident in the mist, we’ve been instructed to increase patrols in all sectors. I’ll be taking the first years back to the Academy and sending the rest of the second years to Vince for allocation.”

  Vince nodded, his face grim. “The fomorians must have found a new way to withstand the mist.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s the case. The one that … engaged with me. He was struggling to breathe, and he was covered in the clay you guys told us about.”

  “We pulled some clay off your hair. It’s the same,” Brady said. “Carlo ran tests on the composition.”

  Carlo raised two fingers. “I did, and it is.”

  “What about the fir bolg? It’s this other race the fomorian mentioned that confuses me. He said they were the ones trying to bring down the posts, and he was looking for … salvation or something. He could have killed me, but he didn’t.”

  Hyde looked thoughtful. “Henrich, the shadow master, has been passed your statement of what happened. They are looking into it.”

  “Super soldiers?” Lloyd said softly. “Maybe these fir whatever are some kind of super soldier trained to spend longer periods in the mist.”

  “It will still kill them,” Vince said. “The damage doesn’t vanish once they get out of the mist. Damage is permanent.”

  “I doubt they care,” Hyde muttered. “If they can take down enough posts, then they win.”

  “Two more posts went down around the time they were sighted,” Brady said. “Just before Justice called in.” He ran a hand over his face. “Lloyd and Harmon fixed them.”

  He had his head down as if he was ashamed or something. Shit, he was probably kicking himself over his decision to let me go out alone. But it wasn’t his fault. I needed him to know that.

  I tried to catch his eye, but he kept his dark gaze averted.

  “A raid this far in …” Hyde rubbed a hand over his mouth.

  I rubbed the mark on my inner arm absently. It had healed but scarred, so it looked like a brown ink tattoo.

  “And he gave you that so he could communicate with you …” Carlo said softly, his gaze on my arm. “Doesn’t sound like the actions of an evil fomorian.”

  No, it didn’t.

  “Fucking hell,” Vince snapped. “So, one fucker saved Justice’s ass. He could be here for any reason. Salvation? What the fuck does that mean? Probably some Otherworld religious nut getting himself mixed up in fomorian affairs. The fact is that this was a raid. The fact is that two posts were taken out. The fucking fact is these fuckers have found a way to get to sector one without dying.”

  There was a rumble of agreement from the cadets.

  Hyde’s gaze was fixed on me, but not on my face, on the mark on my arm. “We need to stick to protocol,” he said. “Right now, the first years need to get back to the Academy.” He dropped his arms to his sides. “I’ll be back later,” he said to Vince before turning his attention on Harmon, Thomas, and me. “Grab your gear. We need to head back. Now.”

  * * *

  Master Hyde didn’t speak all the way back to the Academy. Tension rolled off him like a menacing fog. He got us to the stone steps leading up to the shadow wing and stopped.

  “Do not speak to anyone else about what happened today,” he said. “The last thing we need is panic. The shadow knights will deal with this threat, and I’ll inform Brunner when I return.”

  None of this made sense to me, and being cut off from the action was unfair. “Shouldn’t we be helping?”

  “Right now, you’ll just get in the way. You’ve still got a lot to learn about the mist and the creatures that inhabit it. Focus on the trial. If you pass those, you’re one step closer to being exactly what we need.”

  There was no arguing with that. I’d gone out without my axes today, a rookie error.

  Harmon and Thomas began to climb the steps, and I made to follow.

  “One moment, Justice.”

  Harmon looked back, but Hyde lifted his chin. “Carry on, you two.”

  Thomas continued up, but Harmon lingered a moment longer before following his lover up the steps.

  Hyde looked down at me. “Are you all right? I know you said he saved you, but Brady said you got knocked out?” His hand came up and hovered by my cheek for a split second before he dropped it.

  His gaze was warm. Not a tutor concerned about a student but something more. No. I wouldn’t do this again. He’d made his feelings, or lack thereof, clear.

  I remembered to breathe. “I’m fine. The bump’s already healed. He wanted to save me, and he had to knock me out to do that.”

  Hyde’s expression smoothed out. “Then he’s the exception to the rule. Fomorians may want a lot of things, but our survival is not on their list.”

  “Hell, what do I know? I’ve been doing this for a couple of weeks, and you’ve been doing it for years. But what I do know is that he could have hurt me, and he didn’t.”

  Hyde sighed. “I’m glad you’re safe. You shouldn’t have been out there alone in the first place.” His mouth tightened.

  Crap, what if Brady got into trouble for this? “It was an AM post repair. It doesn’t take more than one person to do, and Devon and Aidan were on patrol too. I wanted to go alone.”

  He took a step closer, and suddenly, there wasn’t enough air between us. His proximity forced me to lift my chin to look at him. His lips were so close that if I pushed up on my toes, I’d be able to taste them. His eyes were hooded and heavy with desire.

  Desire?

  There was no imagining that. And just like that, my blood was rushing around my body in a frenzy of contradictive emotions.

  “There you go,” he said. “Being rash.” His voice thickened. “Being a shadow knight is all about being part of a team, Indigo.”

  I loved it when he said my name. “I’m all about the team efforts.”

  The warmth of his gaze made my mouth tremble with need.

  Do it. Kiss me.

  Oh, God. Just do it.

  This was agony.

  His breath brushed my cheek in the softest of sighs, and then he took a measured step back.

  I caught myself before I could take a step with him and bit the insides of my cheeks to stop myself cursing.

  His hands were fists at his sides as he studied me for a long beat, and in that moment, it was impossible to read him.

  “I won’t be formally reprimanding Brady.” His tone was distant and cool. “However, in the future, all excursions into the mist must be undertaken in pairs. No exceptions.”

  He’d turned it off, whatever he’d been feeling, because there was no doubt in my mind now that he was attracted to me too. He just didn�
��t want to be. Needles of frustration stabbed at my chest. “Fine. Is that all?”

  “That’s all.”

  I was pissed, but the reason was pathetic, and that made me more pissed. I turned on my heel and took the steps two at a time, anything to get away from the man who made me want to rip his clothes off one minute and punch him the next.

  * * *

  The lounge was buzzing when I entered. I caught sight of Harmon and Thomas by the windows.

  Thomas saw me, and then both guys were weaving their way through the crowd toward me.

  “Justice.” Thomas broke free of the throng.

  “What’s going on?”

  “A cadet was found unconscious in the library. They took her to the med bay. Rumor is that it’s the same shit that happened to Lottie and that other guy.”

  That didn’t make sense. “It’s been two weeks. If it was a virus, surely more cadets would have been hit with it before now.”

  “Brunner’s issued a lockdown,” Harmon said. “Everyone stays in their dorms.” He snorted derisively. “Makes sense. Faraday’s a legacy family, after all. They’re going to pull out all the stops.”

  Wait, what? “Did you just say Faraday?”

  Thomas shot Harmon a dirty look before turning back to me. “Indie. The girl they found in the library was Minnie.”

  * * *

  Lockdown my arse. I paced my room. There was no way I was sitting here twiddling my thumbs while Minnie was alone, frightened, lost. Fuck it.

  I had to get to her. I had to see her.

  There was only one way.

  I stared at a pocket of shadow hugging the wall at the corner of the room. Please, let this work.

  I ran into the darkness.

  Oomf!

  “Whoa!”

  Hands steadied me.

  “Indigo?” Master Payne looked down at me. “How …” He glanced about. “Where did you come from?”

  Shit on a stick. I’d materialized in the foyer to the med bay, not the quarantine room like intended because, of course, that room was too brightly lit.

  Master Payne was studying me with a frown.

  “I came to check on Minnie. I just walked in.” I jerked a thumb at the door. “Through the door.”

  He didn’t seem too convinced, but then what other explanation could there be, right? I saw the cogs turning as his gaze flicked from me to the door behind him, as he attempted to calculate how I could possibly have appeared in front of him and came to the conclusion that he must be going crazy.

  “Yes, well …” He released me and patted my shoulder awkwardly. “She’s taking it well. Conscious and alert, but she already has a visitor. Maybe you should come back later?” His frown deepened. “Wait a second. Aren’t we on lockdown?”

  “Are we?” I blinked up at him innocently. “I just got back from shadow cadet duty. I didn’t hear about a lockdown.” I walked toward the quarantine bay and peered in through the round window to see the back of Harper’s blonde head. My chest tightened. “It seems that Harper didn’t get the lockdown memo either.”

  “Miss Bourne arrived with Miss Faraday. She was here when the lockdown was announced.”

  Of course she fucking was. I opened my senses, reaching out to hear what they were saying, and yeah, I didn’t give a shit that I was blatantly eavesdropping in front of a tutor.

  “I’m your best friend here,” Harper said gently. “We do everything together. Don’t worry about anything. I’ll take good care of you. It’s what we do—look out for each other.”

  Minnie was nodding. “Okay. Yes. That sounds good. Thank you.” She sounded lost and small.

  Her gaze slipped over Harper’s shoulder and met mine through the window. A slight frown marred her forehead.

  Harper followed Minnie’s gaze, and her smile dropped. She patted Minnie’s hand and then strode over to the door. She slipped out and closed the door firmly behind her.

  Minnie was watching, her jade eyes wide with interest.

  “What are you doing here?” Harper whispered.

  “I came to see my friend.”

  Harper shot Master Payne a quick smile before returning her gorgon glare back to my face. “Minnie needs calm and quiet and stability right now. Things you can’t give her. Where have you been the past two weeks anyway?”

  Her words stung. “I have a trial coming up. I have to train.”

  “Yeah, you do. You have to do shadow cadet stuff. You don’t have time to be here for her, not like I do.”

  “Miss Bourne,” Master Payne said. “I hardly think it’s up to you to decide who Miss Faraday’s friends should be.”

  Harper’s gaze snapped to Payne’s. “With all due respect, sir, right now I’m the only person qualified to make those decisions. I’ve known Minnie most of her life. We grew up together. If anyone can help her recall who she used to be, it’s me.” Her stare bore into mine. “Can you honestly say I’m wrong? Can you promise you can be here for her as much as she needs?”

  A vise squeezed my lungs, taking my breath, because she was right. As much as I wanted to stab her in the eye with a blunt pencil, the bitch was right. I swallowed my rage, my impotence, and my sorrow.

  “Take good care of her.” The words were broken glass.

  Harper’s body relaxed, and the harsh lines on her face softened. “You know I will.” She retreated into the room with Minnie.

  “Are you all right?” Master Payne asked.

  But my mind was going off on a tangent, working on a new problem, one that I could help with.

  I couldn’t be there for Minnie, but maybe there was a way to figure out what had happened to her. “Where did they find her?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “In the library? Where in the library was Minnie found?”

  “They’ve done a sweep of the place. They didn’t find any clues,” Payne said.

  I looked purposefully into his gray eyes. “Maybe they were looking in the wrong place.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I have a theory, but we need to get to the library. Now.”

  Twenty-Five

  It was a hunch. A stupid hunch, but if I was right then we’d know some things for sure. If I was right, there could be clues that the administration had missed.

  Payne accompanied me, and the gargoyles on duty in the corridors slinked by us, leaving us be. He was a tutor, and I was in his care, so not technically breaking the lockdown.

  The library was empty except for the librarian, Madam Florina. She looked up from her book as we entered and then quickly shoved the paperback under some papers. Probably a dirty romance novel.

  “Carter?” Her cheeks reddened. “What can I do for you?” Her gaze slid to me in my shadow cadet black and blue. “Oh, a student out during lockdown?”

  “Miss Justice is with me, Irina. Can you show us where Miss Faraday was found?”

  The librarian nodded enthusiastically. “Of course. Follow me.”

  She clipped ahead in her neat one-inch heels, down the right side of the library, and past the contemporary fiction section to come to a halt near a small desk pushed up against the wall.

  “She was found here,” Madam Florina said. “I leave the library open during daylight hours for the odd students who choose to burn the dawn rays. I came in at sundown to find Miss Faraday slumped in this chair. Her books were on the floor.”

  Books? “Just textbooks?”

  “Yes.”

  “What about notes?”

  “Excuse me?” Madam Florina flashed Master Payne a confused smile even though I’d been the one asking the questions.

  Master Payne smiled and patted her arm. “If Miss Faraday was studying, she would have had pens and notebooks with her.”

  Madam Florina shook her head. “No, nothing like that was found.”

  My pulse kicked up, and I barreled off through the stacks to the back of the library, cutting left and then right.

  “Miss Justice?” Payne and Florina follow
ed.

  There it was. Minnie’s nook. A half-drunk blood bag sat beside a set of neatly arranged pens and a notepad with a paragraph of writing in Minnie’s cursive script.

  “She was here. She was studying here. Whatever got her must have done so when she went to get more books and then dumped her at the other desk.” I scanned the area, looking under the table and up the walls until… bingo. There it was, a copper grill vent. And clinging to the grill was some neon yellow gunk. “Look!”

  Master Payne studied the residue.

  My mind raced. “Something entered here and then …” I scanned the floor to find more drops of gunk. “It tracked her.”

  Master Payne crouched to look at the droplets. “Madam Florina, do you have a pen pot I can have, please?”

  * * *

  Payne stared at the gunk through a microscope.

  I was hovering, but damn it, we had evidence in a pot. “Do you know what it is?”

  “It’s organic,” he said.

  “Okay. But where did it come from?”

  He sat up and tapped his fingers on the countertop. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “Maybe I can be of assistance?” Madam Mariana entered, bringing the scent of jasmine with her. “I bumped into Florina, and she told me about your discovery.”

  Payne blinked across at her. “Aren’t you meant to be at the fortress?”

  She smiled. “I was picking up some texts to take with me.” Her gaze dropped to the microscope. “May I?”

  I moved back to give her space.

  She leaned across Payne’s lap to peer into the eyepiece. “Hmmm. Organic. Alive, replicating. Interesting. Maybe a parasite of some kind?”

  “The thought did cross my mind.” Payne smiled warmly at her.

  Madam Mariana glanced my way. “Maybe you should escort Miss Justice back to her dorm, Carter. I’ll have another look at this sample and make some notes. I’m sure if we put our heads together, we can figure this out.” She dimpled at him.