Page 53 of A Deal with the Shadow King

I step over the rowan threshold, not looking back. “Don’t I know it.”

After pulling my hood over my head and ears, I walk briskly up the road. Bright street lights reflect off the rain puddles as my boots clomp along the pavement. A thousand women…

Who am I kidding? Rye is the only woman from my past worth mentioning, but one woman is enough to wreck everything.

Chapter 19

Gossip Girl

After my fight with One, I sulk in the gym most of the afternoon. Lori’s ominous warning is stuck in my brain, and Two doesn’t seek me out, probably as pissed as I am. I bury several bolts in the hay mannequin, aiming right for the swirly black shadow I drew over its heart.

When my fingers are numb from reloading and shooting the heavy weapon, I run ten extra laps to cool off. The frustration and lack of sleep from my horrible night alone in New York drags me down, and I fail to mask a sigh when James joins me on the track.

The man falls into step with me with a kind smile. “I’ve heard about the switch.”

“Ugh.” I pick up the pace, afraid to let too many emotions show on my face.

James waits for a full minute before broaching the subject again. “Did something happen?”

“Why would you assume something happened?” I snap, immediately feeling guilty for my temper.

“Two and Mara are thick as thieves, so I figured the schedule change must have originated on your side.”

He’s not wrong, and I eye him sideways. His figure is more athletic than when we first met, and his gaze doesn’t quite hug the ground as much as it used to. “What about you, are you still training with Three? You passed his first trial weeks ago.”

“According to Lori, the triplets usually keep their pupils for three to four months, laying the groundwork for the more advanced lessons and allowing enough time for them to sprout.”

We’re no longer running but walking briskly instead, and I wrinkle my nose as I contemplate his answer. “I thought a seed became a sprout after he or she passed the first three trials? Wouldn’t it be best to get them out of the way early?”

“Maybe that’s what they decided to do with you, maybe they feel that you can take it. Three said that I had the right temperament for fantasies, but nightmares should prove most difficult for me. I’d be scared to wash out if I divided my attention like that.”

“I’m no genius. One must have switched me for a different reason,” I say quickly.

We circle back to the hub where five figures dressed in similar uniforms have gathered under the Hawthorn. The group is speaking loudly, and we come to an abrupt stop.

“Do you know them?” I whisper not to draw attention to us.

James shakes his head, looking timid and nervous again. “They’re probably the hunters Lori talks so much about.”

Soot streaks their arms, masks, and necks, and I glance around the courtyard. A few sprites lurk at the fringes of the gardens, their normal routine interrupted by the bustle, but none of them seem alarmed.

One steps out of the gym with his arms crossed over his chest and leans in the doorway. The bastard doesn’t spare me a glance as I wave, so I tuck my arms firmly to my sides.

Mara and Two appear on the trainee’s balcony and brace their elbows on the railing, listening in as the newcomers pass around a bottle of hard liquor and exchange loud quips.

A slender, blond man with a plain white mask raises the uncorked bottle in cheer. “We made it, bruh. No more labyrinths for me, thank you. Not for a lifetime.”

“No? Are you growing soft on me, Cary?” A second man with dark curly hair and a thick, foreign accent steals the amber-tinted glass bottle from his grasp. “Color me disappointed.” His ruby-encrusted mask twinkles in the sun.

“I’m overdue for a feather bed and some mindless fun,” a third man grunts.

The one named Cary snickers. “You and Fi certainly had plenty of mindless fun last night.”

A woman with flaming red hair marches over to the bottle for her share. “I thought we were gonna die. It doesn’t count.”

“You heard that, Mitch? You only got laid as a last resort.”

The casual sex discussion throws me for a loop, and my cheeks heat up.

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