Page 6 of Shadow Caster
The tedium of the Academy was alleviated with her by my side.
And there she was, pointy-chinned face turned up to greet me, smile firmly in place.
“Okay, let’s get this over with.” I fell into step beside her as we made our way to the study wing where all the classes and labs were based.
She shot me a sly look. “You know, if you relax and allow yourself to, you might even enjoy being here.”
Anger flared in my chest. “I’ll go to a few classes, Min, but I’m not going to enjoy it. This wasn’t the plan for my life. I do not want to be here. Remember that.” There was a harsh edge to my tone, one I hadn’t used with her for weeks. But she needed to understand that my feelings about my incarceration weren’t about to change.
She was silent as we joined the bustle of uniformed bodies pouring into the study wing, and just when I thought she’d dropped the subject…
“What was your plan anyway? Huh?” she asked. “Pit fights and slumming it? Was that your dream? Wouldn’t it be better to accept this? Maybe they’ll waive the cuffs, and you’ll be able to go home to your family during the break?”
She had no idea. No idea what home had been like. What being a daughter to a man who’d wanted a son was like, or how cold the bosom of my family was.
It wasn’t something I wanted to share with her, or anyone, for that matter.
I bit back my annoyance. “How about we focus on the lessons, eh, seeing as you want to ace them so bad.”
I steered her toward the first class. History of Supernaturals 101. We passed a set of huge double windows open to let in the night air, and theclankandchinkof metal on metal drifted up to greet us.
I couldn’t help it. I had to see. There they were, shadow cadets in training armor, second years if the color of their breast plates was anything to go by. They sparred in twos, back and forth, stab, parry, thrust. Moonlight glanced off the metal surfaces of their armor and impressive weapons. No training swords there.
A huge hulking figure stood off to one side, arms crossed over his broad chest, shorn dark hair glinting silver in the moonlight, biceps bulging obscenely as if trying to escape the confines of the tight long-sleeved black top he was wearing.
Archer Hyde – the man, the legend himself. My gaze dropped to his legs, but even with my nightblood vision, it was impossible to spot which one was real and which one was mechanical from this far away. But I’d heard the stories of his battle-scarred face and formidable fighting skills. And the loss of the limb? Well, the story was that a fomorian hound had eaten his leg. He’d fought it, killed it, and carried a man back through the mist to safety. And how did the Watch repay him? By benching him and giving him a class of snotty shadow cadets to train.
One of the shadow cadets paused and glanced up at the window. He brushed his fair hair off his forehead before raising a hand in greeting.
I almost responded.
But he wasn’t waving at me. He was waving at his sister. Minnie waved back, and he smiled. His gaze tracked to me, and the smile dropped, leaving only icy contempt.
Yeah. Lloyd was not happy that his little sister was besties with a Justice. I tore my gaze away and across the neatly trimmed grounds, over the tops of the gray, bushy trees to the building that rose up to touch the stars. The shadow knight fortress was an impressive structure built as a stronghold. It was also the final destination for every shadow cadet.
That would be their prison. Look at them fighting to get there.
Idiots.
“Come on,” Minnie said. “We’re going to be late.”
I pushed away from the window ledge and joined her in the throng of students headed to class. “You think Barnaby will notice?”
She snort-chuckled. “Probably not.”
Someone bumped me and then shot me a filthy look. I bared my teeth and growled, and she hurried away.
“Seriously, Indie, do you have to be so feral?”
“Yes.”
Minnie shook her head and led the way into Barnaby’s class. Most tutors preferred we call them by their last names and stick Master or Madam on the front, but not Barnaby. Barnaby wanted to be hip and trendy. Problem was, he had a narcolepsy problem and spent most of the class asleep. Minnie usually took over and handed out the worksheets or handouts.
Why not report him?
What? And be given a tutor who actually stayed awake to teach?Pffft. With Barnaby asleep, we got to run through the sheets in fifteen and spend the rest of the hour chatting.
I guess today wasn’t going to be so bad after all.
