Page 17 of Shadow Bonds

I frown at her, and she explains. “His Shadows, he can use them to literally send out pain to others. One touch and you’ll be in excruciating agony.”

“That sounds… lovely.” I stare at him and the other three, wondering what the hell I’ve gotten myself into.

“They’re all powerful. Scary as fuck. And Elite.”

“Elite?” I ask.

Robin nods. “Shadows are divided into four sectors after they pass their tests. Elites. Sentinels. Seekers and Shields.” She points to a male at the top of the queue. “See his white glowing markings?”

My gaze follows to where she’s pointing, and I find a male with glowing white tattoos swirling along his arms.

“If they’re white, it means they’re Shield. It means their Shadows are more defensive.” She points at another, but this one has purple glowing swirls. “Purple are Seekers. Meaning they’re good at finding things.” She tilts her head to the one beside him. “Blue is Sentinel. They’re the watchers.”

I watch each of them, quickly learning that their glowing tattoos only glow when they’re using their Shadow abilities.

“What about him?” I dip my head to the male a few feet away from us that looks to have black tattoos. The four assholes also have them, but they don’t glow. At least not that I’ve seen.

“Some get normal tattoos.” She gives me a look. “It should come as no surprise that your four are Elite. Highly trained. The best of the best. But…” She gives me a worried look. “That also makes them more susceptible to the madness.”

“What color are their Shadow tattoos?” I ask not really seeing any of them glow. But I guess none of them are using their abilities yet.

“Black.”

I whip my head to hers, and she nods her head. “Creepy, I know.”

My eyes find the four of them, and something they said tumbles around in the back of my mind.

‘They mentioned something about having to spend time with me each day,” I admit, wondering if anything they tell me is even true.

“Considering they’re Elite, they should be spendingmorethan just some time with you.” She frowns at me, opening her mouth to say something but shakes her head and thinks better of it.

I don’t push her on it, still reeling from the information she’s already shared with me.

My eyes draw back to Malakai as black swirls slide along his skin as he shifts, his shadows growing and growing until he becomes a black mass. It morphs, and seconds later there’s a huge beast similar to a tiger. But one that looks at least three-times its size.

He rips into the male Shadow that looks to have volunteered for a fight, taking him down in seconds before backing off and waiting for the next male Shadow to step forward.

Every single one of them have nothing but violence in their eyes.

“He’s trying to help them,” Robin says, her voice low as she quickly glances around us. “Take the edge off so they don’t end up in the Void.”

“The Void?” I ask.

She nods as she watches the fight. “If they tip over the edge, they end up in the Void to try work it out of their system.”

She winces when Malakai tears into another male Shadow, leaving him barely alive. “I’ve only ever heard horror stories about it, and to be honest, I wouldn’t even send my worst enemy there.”

“How does it help them?” I ask, no longer able to look away as Malakai destroys each Shadow as if they’re nothing. The strength in every move he makes. The calculated way he ensures each stay alive, but barely. And the power he wields and controls like it’s child’s play.

I am well and truly in over my head.

“It helps purge the dark from them. But it’s extremely cruel. None of the Shadows want to end up there. The academy only believes in the strong. That weakness should be killed or snuffed out. Kill or be killed is their ethos. I’ve heard they even send the Shadows to the Void when they’re barely teens.”

“Seriously?” I ask and she nods, her eyes growing sad.

“There are vicious dark beasts and creatures there, always on the hunt. Barely any food or water and the weather is constantly violent and brutal.”

It sounds like a horrible, cruel place to send anyone to. But so is living a life where you don’t know whether or not you’re going to snap any moment.

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