Page 23 of Shadebound
Before he could expand on that, two kids rounded the corner and almost collided with us. A slender boy with tightblack curls and dark brown skin froze in place, brow furrowed as he forced a shy smile. Beside him, a pale girl with silver-speckled hair and dark purple eyes took a cautious step back. I caught myself thinking how fun those eyes looked in that fleeting moment. Before her obvious fear of me made me regret being nice, even inside my brain.
They both bowed their heads respectfully to Zayden. “Alpha,” they said in unison.
Zayden grinned. “Well, here’s a coincidence—meet two of our dorm mates.” He nodded to the boy then the girl. “This is Kalamity, and that’s Luna. They’re both in my pack.”
Kalamity gave me a hesitant wave as I internally admired his name. Luna offered a small nod as she avoided looking at me. Before I could bother being offended that my mere presence had terrified a child, the boycleared his throat. “We’re heading to the dining hall for food. Want us to grab something for you, Alpha? And for your friends, too?”
Zayden glanced at me and Draven. “Sure. Thanks, Ty.” He turned to Draven and signed,Want food? It’s all a porridge sort of thing. Totally grey and lifeless. But it has all the vitamins and whatever else you need to be healthy. And you can pick what flavour it tastes like. Anything you can imagine.
Draven’s eyes lit up, and he nodded eagerly, hands about to lift in response.
To my surprise, Luna stepped forward and signed to him,You can come with us if you like. We’ll introduce you to the other kids our age in the pack.
I noticed she had no issues looking at my brother.
No issues at all.
Draven beamed and looked at me. My impulse screamed to say no—keep him safe at my side—but I couldn’t be that overbearing sister who never let him breathe. He deserved a taste of normal, maybe a friend or two, at least until I got himsent home. So I gave a small nod. Pretending that my sleepy shadows weren’t immediately screaming at me to follow him.
With every ounce of effort I could muster, I sent out Silk, my shadow spider—usually the size of a tarantula, but stunted by the bastard cursed cuff to a mere inch across. She scuttled out of my coat sleeve and hopped onto Draven’s jean cuff, invisible enough that he wouldn’t notice, but close enough for me to keep watch.
He slipped between Kalamity and Luna, and they led him down the corridor with ease. None of them were remotely bothered by the fact that they were children in a monster prison.
I watched him go, chest tight and breath shallow. At least until a hand touched my shoulder, and I snapped my head back.
Zayden offered me a reassuring glance as I slid my hand into my pocket to poke my thorns again. “They’re good,” he said. “Ty’s a werewolf too—really sweet kid. He can keep Draven safe whilst they get that meagre excuse for food.”
I nodded, my chest fluttering as blood stained my fingertips more. I watched Luna’s retreating back, before I forced out, “What about her? She called you Alpha, but her eyes weren’t silver.”
His face softened, voice lowered. He swallowed. “Luna’s a wolf at heart,” he said, “but she can’t shift anymore. Her eyes are... they used to be silver. Until the silvermourn kicked in.”
Silvermourn was the name of a shifter illness that happened when they were poisoned with silver too many times. It infected their body and their magic. Shifting got harder, slower, more painful. Then the poison started taking things. Names. Memories. Personality. Their silver eyes would turn purple. They’d get nosebleeds laced with silver, weaken and get sick. And one day, they’d shift fully into the beast... and never come back.
It took thirteen months on average from infection to the end.
Zayden cleared his throat and shifted the conversation as he rubbed his arm under the cuff. “Anyway, let’s get to the dorm before they come back. I feel like we need to talk.”
“What about?” I whispered, voice tighter than I intended.
He met my gaze and offered a half-smile. His silver eyes softening. “You know what, Heartache. We need to talk about what happened the night we last saw each other. You know I’m not about to be roomies with you and have a whole pointless miscommunication drama.”
I went silent, my mind already spinning.
Emotional conversations were not my strong suit. So much so that I debated running away down the hall instead of following him. Only for a moment. Until I remembered trying to outrun a werewolf was a fucking ridiculous idea.
That, and running was disgusting. Only those who’d truly given up on life enjoyed it.
Instead of making an embarrassment of myself, I changed the subject.
“Seriously,” I muttered, deadpan. “Even a magical prison can’t make you wear a shirt? I thought you would have been beaten out of that habit by now.”
He grinned, flexing a tattooed arm in jest as he walked. “They tried,” he quipped with a playful curl of his biceps, “It seems that I’m too far gone.”
As much as I pretended to make joking small talk, it was slightly a lie. To be honest, I was fighting to steady my heart. We’d shared one perfect night, and part of me longed to pretend it never ended so we could be best friends again. So I wasn’t alone in this place when my brother left. So I could bask in the glow of what being truly accepted and wanted felt like...
But eight months of angry thoughts about Zayden’s disappearance had taught me not to be a fool. It had also allowed me to start... start other things. Other connections with monsters in the dark who enjoyed leaving headless roses for me.
Who had found me with a dead body andcarriedit, instead of calling for help.
