Page 28 of Shadow Caster
I walked over to Harper. “Good thinking on the shield.”
Her expression closed, and she shrugged and hugged herself. “It was instinct.”
Minnie wrapped her arms around me and squeezed. “Crazy bitch, you could have been killed.”
I hugged her back, and Harper averted her gaze.
Minnie released me. “Come on. Lloyd’s going to walk us back to the Academy.”
I looked over to find Lloyd staring right at me, his mouth pressed in a thin line like he was holding back a tide of words. Critical ones, no doubt.
Yeah, keep them to yourself, blondie.
It was only when we were exiting the clearing that I realized that I hadn’t noticed Redmond and the weaver leave with the youngling.
Ten
Back in the confines of our dorm room, the events of the night seemed like a bad dream. We’d been attacked by a fomorian hound. A youngling, but still. If Harper hadn’t acted so quick, if she wasn’t in love with Minnie, then Minnie would be dead.
I glanced over at my friend from my bed. Just the top of her head peeked out from the covers. It wasn’t my place to tell her. Not my place to reveal someone else’s heart.
Or maybe you just don’t want to lose your only friend.
Piss off, inner voice of reason.
“What the hell were fomorian hounds doing on Academy grounds?” Minnie said softly, breaking the silence.
Ah, so she’d emerged from her cocoon.
“Wreaking havoc. We were lucky no one was seriously hurt.” I pulled the covers over me and snuggled down under them. “Who’s that Redmond guy?”
“He’s the shadow trial master,” Minnie said. “He’s responsible for catching fomorian hounds that come into the mist. Not sure what he does with them, probably tames them … I’m not sure.”
“What’s a shadow trial?”
“The test that shadow cadets take. Not sure what it involves, though. Lloyd wouldn’t go into detail. I don’t think they’re supposed to talk about them. I don’t even think he should have told me about the hounds they keep stabled at the fortress.”
So much for no threat around the Academy. “And the weaver. I haven’t seen her about.”
“And you wouldn’t. Mariana Latrou works at the fortress now. She used to teach Defense Against Weaving. But Master Payne took over the class, and she was … promoted, I guess?” Minnie was silent for a long time. “You know, this makes no sense. That was a youngling. Younglings born on this side of the mist are tame, at least they’re supposed to be. I know the knights use hounds raised here against the hounds born on the other side when they patrol the mist.”
“So? This one wasn’t trained properly. They’re beasts. Otherworld beasts.”
“But there was more than one out there. Seems odd to have two or three untrainable younglings in one batch …”
“Do you train younglings often?”
She laughed. “Point taken. Thank God Master Hyde showed up.”
“Yeah, I doubt Archer would have let Redmond off the hook about Brunner if the youngling thing was a huge issue.”
“Archer, is it?” There was a smile in Minnie’s voice. “I knew he’d catch your eye. The dangerous-looking ex-shadow knight. But I doubt he’d appreciate you calling him by his first name, not that you’ll ever have reason to call him anything. We won’t be working with him. He trains the shadow cadets. Also, technically, Redmond outranks Hyde. I heard that Hyde used to be Trial Master before Redmond. It’s a position that comes with some major perks, so Hyde had it good. I guess if you’re going to go into the mist and catch wild hounds, then you deserve extra benefits. Didn’t work out too great for Hyde, though. They say it’s how he lost his leg. Anyway, once he was injured, Redmond was given Hyde’s job.”
Master Hyde … Archer Hyde. There was something about him. A pull, a presence. My body tightened at the memory of his proximity. I blew out a harsh breath. It had obviously been too long since I’d had sex.
I rolled onto my front and tucked my arms under the pillow in my comfy position. “He took that youngling on single-handed. Just held its jaws open with his bare hands.”
“What about you? I thought it was going to bite your head off, and then you kicked it across the clearing.”
