“It’s too late,” Mariana said.
“Go,” Payne said to me. “You should have enough energy to phase out of here by yourself.”
I’d promised Hyde. I’d promised, but how could I leave Payne and Mariana to die? Another quake rocked us, and the tunnel ahead collapsed. We were trapped.
Payne grabbed my shoulders and shook me. “You need to go. Now.”
Shadows pooled behind him. This might not work, but I had to try.
Comprehension bloomed on Payne’s face as he read my expression. “Indigo, it could kill you.”
“Or it could save us all.” I gripped his hand and made a grab for Madam Mariana’s cuff.
Hyde, I’m coming.
I fell into the shadow patch, taking them with me.
Pain ripped through my head, tearing at my limbs, burning through my mind. My scream filled my head.
“Back up, give me room.”
I knew that voice.
Mariana.
Alive.
Had we made it?
Where was I? Why couldn’t I see.
Cool hands on my forehead. Soothing. Calm. The pain ebbed, and my vision slowly returned to mist and figures standing around me.
“She’s okay,” Mariana said.
“Get away from her,” Hyde snapped, and then his face was hovering over me, his expression one of relief. “Dammit, Justice.” He hauled me to my feet and then swung me up into his arms. “Are you ever going to stop being so fucking rash?”
I was woozy and shaking, but fuck, I was alive. I wrapped my arms around him. “It’s gonna take work, Hyde. I hope you’re up to the job.”
And then I allowed exhaustion to claim me.
Thirty-Two
My body ached, but the fever that had gripped me was gone, leaving me sweaty but cool. How long had I slept? The room was dark, but someone had turned on my lamp.
Hyde had tucked me into bed. I remembered that much, even though my eyelids had been too heavy to keep open.
I lifted the covers to find myself fully dressed.
There was a knock at the door, and then Hyde entered the room carrying a blood bag and a napkin.
“Good, you’re awake.”
I sat up and groaned. “I feel like shit.”
“The effects of carrying people while phasing.” He sat by my hip and passed me the bag. “Drink.”
My gums ached for real blood, blood from the vein, and for the first time since killing the human, panic didn’t seize me. Instead, a deep sorrow permeated my soul, followed quickly by anger … Anger at my father for doing this to me. For turning me into a murderer and leaving this stain on my soul.
“Drink,” Hyde ordered.
I did as I was told. The blood was warm, perfect, and it was gone too soon. I paused for breath. “How long have I been out? What did I miss?”
“The evening and the day. We lost two cadets, and one was in the med bay. The catacombs are gone, and so is Redmond. Mariana has been taken into custody, and the whole Academy is buzzing with the news of the incident.” He took a deep breath and sucked his bottom lip into his mouth. “You could have died today.” His throat bobbed.
I put down the empty blood bag and licked my lips to compose myself. “Yeah, but we knew that going into the trial.”
Hyde sighed. “No, I was never worried about you in the trial. You have the makings of a warrior. You would have survived.”
His confidence in me gave me all the warm and fuzzies.
“But the cave-in,” he continued. “When those bombs went off …” He trailed off and looked away.
His hand curled into a fist on his lap.
“Hey.” I covered his fist with my palm. “I’m all right.” I inhaled him.
He closed his eyes. “We can’t do this, Indigo.”
“Do what?” My voice was a whisper because I needed him to say it. To confirm what was hovering between us with words, not just action.
He swallowed and pinned me with that beautiful gaze. “You know what.”
I had to touch him, and before I could, my fingers were at his temple, running along the scars that crossed his face, fingertips grazing his lips. His tongue peeked out to taste at the pads of my fingers, and my breath hitched.
He grabbed my wrist, pulling it away from his mouth. “Indigo.” My name was a breath.
I leaned in, tilting my face to his so our lips were mere centimeters apart. “Archer.”
His eyes darkened with dangerous hunger, and then he broke for me with a low growl. His hand came up to tangle in my hair, fingers cupping my scalp, and his lips claimed mine in open-mouthed carnal kisses that seared me. Tongue and teeth and wanton need bubbled between us, and then I was kissing air.
Hyde stood on the other side of the room with his back to me. “Fuck,” he said softly.
“I wish.”
“No.” He shook his head. “This didn’t happen. The kiss in the cave didn’t happen.”
But they had, and I could still taste him on my throbbing mouth. “Archer.”
His shoulders rippled with tension. “Master Hyde.” He turned to me, his mouth swollen from my kiss. “I’m your tutor, that’s all I can be. That’s all I want to be. Do you understand?”
The euphoria in my chest dissipated, and the arguments died on my lips because he didn’t want this … this thing between us. This unwanted attraction was tearing him apart.
He puffed out his cheeks. “This isn’t why I came in here. I didn’t come here to …”
“I know that.” Fuck, I couldn’t look at him. Not without my heart shining out of my eyes.
This wasn’t me. I wasn’t a romantic. I didn’t lose my heart. I fucked, fed, and moved on. How could this be happening to me? How could this hurt so much in such a short space of time?
Hyde cleared his throat. “Master Payne would like to work with you on your shadow phasing, to figure out how it works, and how you can utilize it without hurting yourself.”
Back to business then. Fine. I could do that.
I nodded. “Okay.” I crossed my arms. “Anything else?”
He looked pained but continued. “Mist duty continues, but Henrich, the shadow master, has decided that due to the small number of cadets in year one, and the increased raiding activity of the fomorians, you should all be fast-tracked and amalgamated into the second year.”
“What?”
“You’ll be starting classes at the fortress after the term break,” he said.
My heart pumped faster at the news. The fortress … We’d be getting to study there?
“Which also means I’ll be handing over most of your training to Master Venrick,” Hyde continued. “He’s a veteran shadow knight, and a good friend of mine.”
My heart sank and anger licked at my chest. I didn’t bother to hide my disgruntlement. “So, you won’t be training me anymore.”
It was as if he was punishing me for this attraction that simmered between us. As if it was all my fault.
He closed his eyes and exhaled. “You don’t need me, Indigo. You may be rash, and impulsive at times, but you saved a lot of lives today. I’m proud of you.”
And just like that, the anger melted. Damn him. I stared at him, raking my gaze over his beautifully scarred face, heart squeezing painfully and throat pinching.
“Thank you.”
The air between us crackled with tension and the magnetic pull that came from an inexorable attraction. An attraction I couldn’t deny, and one he didn’t want.
Hyde took a shuddering breath and deliberately moved farther away from me. “Get some rest, Justice. The term may be over, but shadow cadets don’t get any time off. Mist duty starts tomorrow.”
And then he was gone.
* * *
Lloyd’s troop, Harmon, Thomas, and I sat around the lounge drinking cocoa made by Lloyd. There was a shroud of reflective silence.
“She didn’t know me,” Lloyd said. “I went to see her, and she looked at me like I was a stranger.”<
br />
Minnie.
I’d avoided that painful place. Avoided having to see the lack of recognition in her eyes.
“I know, man,” Harmon said. “Trust me, I know what it’s like.”
“My parents are in consultation with the head weaver at headquarters,” Lloyd said. “Maybe they can do something.” He smiled sadly at Harmon. “I’ll let you know what happens.”
Harmon nodded slowly, then sipped his cocoa.
To have Minnie back … Could that be a possibility? Her loss was a hole in my heart, the one right next to the crater Hyde had dug.
Urgh.
Brady entered the room, and my body went into alert mode. There was no denying the monolith had a commanding presence, which made me wonder why he was Lloyd’s second and not the troop leader.
His attention went straight to me, lingering there before drifting over the guys. “Are you fucking kidding me? We have the night off, and you bitches are sitting here drinking cocoa?”
Carlo entered the room carrying a football. “I told you they were being old maids, didn’t I?”
Brady snorted. “Get up. Get into teams. We’re gonna play some ball, and then we’re gonna get pissed.”
Everyone was staring at Brady.
“What?” he growled.
“Dude,” Aidan said. “You just spoke in several whole sentences, like, in a row.”
Brady glowered at us. “Ball. Now.”
The guys got up and pulled me up with them. Aidan slung an arm around my shoulders as we headed out of the lounge.
I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, I didn’t know what tests the fortress and the knights would put us through, or if I’d make it through the break to next term. But I knew one thing. Whatever I did, these guys would have my back, and right now.
Right now, I was going to play ball and get drunk.
To be continued…
Indigo’s journey continues in Shadow Weaver book 2 in The Nightwatch Academy Series Grab it HERE
Other books by Debbie Cassidy
The Gatekeeper Chronicles
Coauthored with Jasmine Walt
Marked by Sin
Hunted by Sin
Claimed by Sin
The Witch Blood Chronicles
(Spin-off to the Gatekeeper Chronicles)
Binding Magick
Defying Magick
Embracing Magick
Unleashing Magick
The Fearless Destiny Series
Beyond Everlight
Into Evernight
Under Twilight
The Chronicles of Midnight
Protector of Midnight
Champion of Midnight
Secrets of Midnight
Shades of Midnight
Savior of Midnight
Chronicles of Arcana
City of Demons
City of the Lost
City of Everdark
City of War
For the Blood
For the Blood
For the Power
For the Reign
For the Hunt (novella)
Heart of Darkness
Captive of Darkness
Bane of Winter
Fate’s Destiny
Deadworld
Deadworld
Dead City
Dead Sea
Dead End
The Nightwatch Academy
Shadow Caster
Shadow Weaver
Survivor’s Heart (Planet Athion World)
Novella series
Rogue
Rebel
Survivor
Standalone Novellas
Blood Blade
About the Author
Debbie Cassidy lives in England, Bedfordshire, with her three kids and very supportive husband. Coffee and chocolate biscuits are her writing fuels of choice, and she is still working on getting that perfect tower of solitude built in her back garden. Obsessed with building new worlds and reading about them, she spends her spare time daydreaming and conversing with the characters in her head – in a totally non psychotic way of course. She writes High Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Space Fantasy, and Reverse Harem. Connect with Debbie via her website at debbiecassidyauthor.com or twitter @authordcassidy. Or sign up to her Newsletter to stay in the know.
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