Page 57 of Shattered Darkness

“Do you think it's an Imprint Tattoo?” Kyle asks as he steps back and wipes his prints off the stick before discarding it in the forest.

“I have no idea, it would be a pretty fucking unique one and I say that knowing that those who get Imprint Tattoos have one of a kind ones,” Jax replies. “Wait, do supes get Imprint Tattoos? Is it just an Earth Realm thing?”

“Fuck, I think you’re right, I’m fairly sure that only humans in the Earth Realm get them, so it’s not an Imprint Tattoo,” Nate says.

“Guys,” Sage’s panicked voice comes through the Bond lines, “you need to get out of there and away from the body right fucking now.”

“How did you know?” Jax questions.

“Now!” Sage replies, the panic even more pronounced.

“Okay, we’re leaving,” I reassure her.

“Through the woods, take a circular route back to the entrance. Do not follow the path, and do not stop for any reason.” She orders.

“Got it,” I reply. Out loud, I turn to the guys, “We need to leave right now; Sage had a vision.”

The others don’t even hesitate as they follow Jax and me into the woods. We stay silent, moving as quietly and quickly as we can as we head further into the woods. I’m using pure instinct to guide me back to the entrance to the woods, and I hope that it’s not going to steer me wrong. The Bond Lines and Sage have gone quiet, and I’m presuming it’s because they don’t want to distract us, which could cause us to make a silly mistake and get caught.

Sage wasn’t exactly very clear about why we needed to leave, but when she tells us to do something as urgently as she just did then I know that we need to listen with no questions asked. I’m sure that she will fill us in when we get back to the room, although I imagine that we’re going to have to be careful about how we get back to the room as well.

Every little noise in the woods has me on high alert and wondering whether we’re about to get caught. I have no doubt that if we were found out here where a dead body is, we would be accused of having a hand in his death, and actually, now that I think about it, that might be the Order’s intention. They can't after all, control everyone in the Fae Realm and get them to agree with them and their desire to rule, so if they started to paint the Centres and their Bonded, the only people that are really capable of standing in their way, as a danger and prove that by having them caught up and accused of murder then the wider population will gradually start to distrust and turn against the Centres and their Bonded, leaving it much easier for the Order of Kronos to gain their trust and support.

If that is the overall plan, then it would make sense to test it and see if it works in a smaller area. This academy would be an ideal place to test it. They could take over the teachers and then gradually sow distrust in the students about us, increasing how much of a threat we are until we’re caught red-handed with a body, and they can say that they told us so.

“That’s an interesting idea, I’ll fill the others in on it now so you don’t need to repeat it when you get back,” Sage surprises me by saying.

“Shit, I had no idea that I had the Bond Lines open,” I reply.

“Oh, sorry, do you not want me to say anything?” she replies, sounding a lot less on edge than she did when we first spoke, which I’m assuming is a good thing and means we’re out of immediate danger.

I chuckle, “No, it’s okay. Tell them, like you said, it would be easier.”

“Okay. I love you. You need to pay attention again,” she replies, and then the lines go silent again.

We’re just coming up to the edge of the woods and not too far from where we went in. I make everyone pause at the edge, and it’s a good job that I do because someone strides down the path that we took earlier this evening. It’s too dark to work out who it is though.

Chapter Nineteen

Hunter

We all wait at the edge for a while longer, making sure that we aren’t going to run into anyone going in or coming out. Finally, I decide that we need to risk it because the longer we stay here, the more we’re putting ourselves at risk of being caught anyway.

“Move as quickly as possible until we get inside, and then we need to walk casually so we don’t raise any suspicions,” Jax suggests, barely above a breath.

We all nod in agreement and then take off, all moving as fast as we can, pushing ourselves to our limits. We make it back to the main academy in record time and stop as soon as we get inside, slowing to walk and slapping smiles on our faces as we strike up a casual conversation about absolutely nothing and remain relaxed and casual as we make our way up to the room.

Without discussion, we head straight for our rooms, and as I’d almost expected, everyone else is already there. Sage jumps up as soon as we walk through the door and somehow manages to wrap her arms around both Jax and me, holding us both tightly.

“I was really worried about you,” she says as she pulls back, “I haven’t had a vision like that for a while, and it panicked me because I knew without a doubt that if I were to come and get you if any of us were to come and get you, then that would mean that you’d get caught or we’d lose one of you or something as equally bad. It showed me many different outcomes, and the only one that meant you didn’t get accused of the murder or worse was the one where I just warned you and everyone else stayed put.”

“We’re okay,” I tell her because I know that’s what she needs to hear right now.

“That must have been really difficult to see and do nothing,” Jax adds as we all walk further into the room and take seats.

“I hope we don’t have to just wait again,” Levi replies. “I’m not cut out for it.”

“No, none of us really are,” Jett replies, and then looks at me as he adds, “Sage told us about your theory. I think you’re probably right.”

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