Page 15 of Shadow Bonds

Hazel Eyes opens his mouth—more than likely to call me out on it— when his eyes drop to my legs, and he pauses.

The others glance at him and his silence and then in the direction he’s looking, and all their expressions quickly change.

I frown, wondering why they’re all silent now, and glance down only to realize I’m only wearing an oversized tee and short shorts. It was too hot after the shower, so I didn’t put on any leggings like I usually do.

Ignoring their heated stares and how it’s starting to make me feel, I glare at them and then turn and move back upstairs, heading straight for the shower and making it cold before eventually heating it up.

I quickly get dressed—relieved that there’s drawers of clothes available to me—and head downstairs.

Four pairs of eyes follow me as I move to the counter, hoping to make myself some breakfast.

Dimples moves closer to me and glares at me. “Do not touch anything that belongs to us,” he grits out.

My heart drops. I guess that also includestheirfood.

Ignoring me, they start moving about, making their breakfast, so I slip out and turn toward the canteen to grab something quick.

Robin comes up beside me on my way there.

“Hey. I’m heading to the canteen, wanna join?” I ask, remembering the weird looks from the Shadows and hoping with two of us there, I can block them out.

Robin squints at me, thinking it over. “Still don’t remember anything?”

“No,” I laugh, and she smiles. A smile that has every part of her tense body easing.

“Good. You were kind of a snob beforehand,” she says, and I wince.

My stomach drops. “Yeah, sorry.”

She chuckles, shaking her head as we make our way inside to the canteen. There’s only a handful of people here with some of them being female. I instantly relax, and Robin gives me a questioning look.

“I came here yesterday. There were a lot of stares.”

“Ah,” she says nodding. “Gotcha. Sometimes I think the Shadows have never seen a female before in their life.” She shrugs. “Maybe they haven’t.”

I chuckle as we grab our food and move to a table at the side.

“Are there no female Shadows born?” I ask as I dig into my food.

She shakes her head. “No. Not that I know of. Shadows are all always male. A female companion can give birth to a Shadow, but it will always be male.”

“But we’re?—”

“Compatible but human,” she points out making me even more confused. “They just call us that to claim us as theirs.” She rolls her eyes. “But technically I think our DNA comes more from the royals. An extremely watered-down version of it.”

“The royals?” I ask.

She nods. “Before they were killed in the war, they were the only thing that kept the Shadows from going mad.”

I glance around watching the men sitting throughout the canteen. Some just blatantly stare at us in confusion and interest. Others look a little more than angry. But many look beyond hostile. “Shadows weren’t always like this?”

She shakes her head. “No. There was a time before the war when they didn’t have to worry about going mad.”

“But how is that possible?” I glance back at her trying to understand any of the setup here.

“The royals’ power.” She shrugs. “Something about it made them stronger and kept them sane.” Robin glances around and dips her head closer to mine while lowering her voice. “Shadows are technically not supposed to be able to exist without them. I think it’s similar to a beehive. Without a queen, there is no hive. And without their royals to ground them, they can go mad.”

So, they weren’t always like this, always balancing on a tight rope between sane and madness.

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