Page 26 of Shadow Kissed
I laugh at the absurdity of his comment. “He can’t stand me anymore than I can stand him. You know how I feel about them.” Even as the words come out of my mouth, I struggle with them. He saved me the other night, and he saved countless other lives during the attack. Even I must admit that he perhaps isn’t as cruel as I first believed him to be.
“Which is why we should join the rebellion.”
I shush him, swinging my head left and right to make sure no one is around. “Walls have ears, remember? You’ll endup getting yourself killed. You saw what he can do with his shadows? Besides, the attack serves to remind us that without them and their protection, what can happen.” I sigh when he shakes his head at me in disagreement. “I need to make a start on tea for the boys.”
I’d swapped my shifts around with Weylynn so that I could be there at the end of the school day to pick up the boys. Tonight, I have a shift from five until sundown and Breela will come over to take care of the boys until I finish my shift. Our mother’s absence is like a gaping hole in our lives. I woke up this morning and for a second, I forgot she was no longer with us, and then it hit me like a sucker punch to the gut. She is gone. I’ll never walk down the stairs in the morning to the sound of her singing folksongs as she prepares our breakfasts. Arkynn and I part at the wall, and I make my way through town towards home. It feels strange calling it home now; without my mother here, it no longer feels the same.
10
RAEGAL
I’m in my room at the inn, going through some correspondence from my father when there’s a loud rap at my door. “Enter,” I say, without lifting my head. I already know it’s Jasiel.
“You need to come and see this,” he says as he strides into the room. He’s wearing a deep-set frown that tells me whatever it is, it has him worried. I ask nothing further. If Jasiel needs me to see something, I trust that it’s important enough to pull me from my work. Putting on my coat, I follow him downstairs and leave the inn through the back. Night is closing in and the evening chill nips at my face. The town is quiet. People seem reluctant to venture out of their houses after sundown now. Even though we have reassured them that the walls are protected and there won’t be a repeat of that night, they’re still wary.
I follow him up the stone stairs to the wall that surrounds this small town and Jasiel heads to the lookout above the main gates into the town. Frowning, Jasiel gestures with his head towards the dense forest beyond the walls. My eyes follow his and I inhale a sharp breath. There are at least a couple ofhundred of them out there. With my shadow sight, I can see what most Asen’s would miss.
“It’s odd,” Jasiel comments, folding his arms across his broad chest and glaring out at the unseen threat hidden amongst the trees.
“It’s certainly out of character behaviour,” I admit. It’s as if they are joining forces and all pack rules have gone out of the window. Mutts are pack creatures, and they are fiercely territorial and would not share a hunting patch with another pack.
“They must be here for the girl. This all started with her.”
I nod my head. We’ve both been thinking along the same lines. “I agree. But why? Why are they so interested in a normal Asen girl?”
Jasiel shrugs his shoulders. “Well, she can’t be that ordinary if she’s got the attention of your shadows.”
I glare at him, and his response is to smirk and hold his hands up. “I’m just saying. They seem intrigued by her.”
I fix my gaze back out into the darkness. They are gathering en-masse. Waiting for something, but what? “She can’t stay here. It’s not safe for her people. She’ll need to come with us tomorrow when we leave.”
Jasiel sniggers at my words and I give him the side-eye. “You’ll have to take her kicking and screaming.”
I frown. He’s right. I haven’t known her for long, but she won’t leave her home earlier than planned without a fight. “I’ll tell her it’s an order of royal decree.”
He snorts again and holds his hands up when I glare at him. “She doesn’t give a damn about our royal family.” His expression turns sombre. “Besides, she won’t leave those little brothers of hers so soon after they have lost their mother.”
I sigh, knowing he is right. “I can’t leave her here.”
“Because of the mutts or…” He doesn’t finish the sentence when I cut him a look that tells him he’d better not dare speak the words I know he’s thinking.
“Don’t,” I warn.
He hesitates before nodding his head. “Sod it, I’m going to say it. You can’t hold what happened to Haysen against yourself forever.”
“I need to be somewhere,” I growl, spinning on my heels and surrounding myself in my shadows.
“Uh-uh, I wonder where.” I hear him tease before I leave, and I shadow weave to find myself standing at the foot of her bed. She’s tangled up in her sheets, in nothing but an oversized shirt. My shadows salivate at the sight of her. She frowns in her sleep, and I watch, intrigued, wondering what in her dreams is causing her to frown.
“No, no please,” she murmurs, her face twisting in pain.
It can’t be. Nightmares haven’t existed for a long time, only dreams exist now. She whimpers in her sleep and before I can stop myself, I move around to the other side of the bed and slide in beside her. I’ll just stay until whatever is disturbing her sleep passes. That’s what I tell myself, at least.
11
REYA
There’s a loud rapping on our door the following morning. Groaning at the disturbance to my peaceful dreams, I stumble out of bed and down the stairs. Who the hell bangs on someone’s door this early?