Page 17 of Shattered Darkness

“Sage, it’s good to see you finally practicing with swords. I seem to remember that you thought it was a waste of time when I trained you,” Cain says, completely casually as if he hasn’t just walked through Erin’s shield or nearly had his head taken off.

“Cain Patrick?” Levi questions, sounding confused.

I can’t really say I blame him because what the fuck.

“You’re human,” I reply to him, thoroughly confused as to what the fuck I’m seeing because that is definitely Cain Patrick, smirking at me and looking strangely proud as he spins one of my blades in his hands. The same Cain Patrick who was with me in my human life and gave me vital skills that helped to keep me safe.

Cain chuckles, “I am far from human, and I never have been.”

“I guess that would explain why he was so hard to fucking find on Earth,” Maverick mutters, clearly putting things together faster than I am.

To add to my utter confusion at the situation that I now find myself in, Knot and Ghost are greeting him like they know him, and they certainly aren’t behaving like he’s a threat, which, to be honest, I’d never think he was anyway, at least not to me. I suppose it’s a good sign that they’re trusting of him. At least it gives me a good indication that he’s not here to harm us.

“Would anyone care to explain why there is such a big deal that our combat teacher is in here, apart from the obvious?” Cole exclaims, throwing his hands in the air dramatically, making my lips twitch despite the situation and pulling me from my thoughts.

“Also, why the hell would you think that he’s human because he’s kicking off so much power, there isn’t any mistaking that he’s a supernatural,” Kysen adds, from somewhere behind me.

Cole’s words suddenly snap through the fog of shock in my brain, and still keeping my eyes on Cain, I ask, “What the hell do you mean your combat teacher?”

“He’s taught here for years. He disappears every now and again, sometimes for weeks, before popping back up and training us again,” Ty replies, answering my question.

“How come none of you realised who he was?” I hear Kai ask; I’m assuming Erin and her team.

“Well, for one, no one has seen a picture, apart from maybe a blurry one, and it’s not like he introduced himself as Cain Patrick,” Jett points out.

“That wouldn’t have been very smart knowing that you came from the Earth Realm,” Cain agrees with a smile.

“How the fuck did you get through my shield? I didn’t even feel you move through it?” Erin demands.

I raise my eyebrow at him, “That’s something that I’d like to know as well, one of the many.”

Cain’s expression becomes serious as he nods, “Yes, I’m sure that there are many questions that you have, and I will aim to answer those that I can.”

“That’s a somewhat broad and yet vague answer,” I reply.

He shrugs, “Yep. Anyway, I believe that you got some correspondence from Nyx, and she said that she’d be sending you help along the way?”

I nod, “Yes.”

He points to himself with a grin, “Help.”

“You’re the help that Nyx has sent us?” Hunter asks.

“I’m the first of your help. I imagine that there will be more,” Cain replies, a knowing glint in his eyes. Oh, he definitely knows more than he’s letting on.

“You know Nyx?” Harry asks, and I can hear the skepticism in his voice, “What are you doing teaching here?”

“One, I had to make sure you and your Bonded were worthy; two, I had to keep an eye on Erin, and before that, I needed to build allies, train Sage, and wait.”

“So, you knew who I was way back when my life was shit?” I ask, aware that my tone is confrontational, but I think it has the right to be. If he’d said something, at least I wouldn’t have felt so fucking helpless all the damn time.

Cain’s eyes fill with sadness, “I did. I was bound not to say anything though, and it’s actually by pure fluke that I managed to find a loophole that allowed me to train you.”

My intuition pings, “There are things you can’t tell me now, isn’t there? Big things?”

Cain meets my eyes and nods.

“Do you know, I would be more surprised if someone turned up and told us exactly what we need to know and answered all the questions that we had,” Dash says drily, and there’s a resounding sound of agreement.

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