Page 66 of Shadow Caster
I focused on Larkin’s face. “The Watch gave Redmond Hyde’s job.”
“To be fair, the job was meant to go to Redmond before Hyde revealed his hound whisperer trick. Trial Master means a nice retirement package, a house, and generous annual income for doing absolutely fuck all. But yes, that is correct. Hyde was a prodigy. A legend. A master. And then he was just a tutor. But he’s a fucking great one, and you’d be lucky to have him.”
Why did I feel like there was a double-entendre there?
“Because there is.” Larkin winked and then vanished.
Fuck.
I would need to watch what I thought when he was around. I needed to watch myself when Hyde was around too, because the more time I spent around him, the closer I wanted to get to him.
It was dangerous. For both of us. But tomorrow was a new day. Tomorrow my focus would be entirely on training. I’d lost out on too much. Parents who loved me. Freedom of choice when it came to my life, and quality time with my best friend. The only thing I had left, the only thing I had control over, was how kick-ass I could be at this shadow cadet shit. And there was no way I’d start off by losing the trial.
Twenty-One
Perspiration beaded my brow, and my hands shook as I reached for the component.
“Come on, Justice,” a smooth baritone drawled. “I haven’t got all day.”
“Fuck you, Aidan.”
The mist swirled around me, a chill swept across my skin, and my knees trembled while my boots remained firmly locked onto the ladder of the AM post.
I’d taken off the casing easily this time. Checked all the wires and connections, which meant the problem was the snap component—not the technical name for it, I’m sure, but it’s what the guys called it because … I grasped the tiny piece of feytech between index finger and thumb and tugged.
Snap.
That’s why.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Again?” Aidan’s voice echoed around me.
I closed my eyes, tamping down on my agitation, and then looked up into the simulated sky. “You know, this would be so much more realistic if you shut the fuck up.”
Laughter warm like honey surrounded me. “What and leave you all alone in the wastelands with your clumsy, fat fingers?”
“I do not have fat fingers.”
“Try again.” The humor bled from his tone.
I visualized his handsome, stubbled face, his warm hazel eyes and the mouth that turned up slightly at the corners as if he was always on the verge of smiling, and then planted an imaginary fist in it.
The simulation reset, and there it was again—the faulty conductor box. I ran through the steps once more until I got to the part where I needed to pull out the snap. It was a tiny rectangular component lodged lengthwise into the box and gripped tightly by metallic claws. Sixth time’s the charm, maybe? I took a deep breath, and then carefully flicked one edge of the snap upward. It came free easily. Oh, okay. I gripped and slid it out.
Bingo.
“Ha! In your face, Aidan.”
“Aidan got bored and went to make a sandwich.” This voice was grumblier but just as smooth.
Devon, Aidan’s twin.
“Fuck the sim,” he said. “Grab a bite to eat, and I’ll take you out to deal with the real thing.”
The world went black, and then I was looking up into Devon’s face. His eyes were hazel like his brother’s, but whereas Aidan had more gold in his eyes, Devon’s were streaked with emerald. His mouth was poutier than Aidan’s, and his hair was cut shorter, killing the wave that gave Aidan his playful look. Devon looked like he meant business. He hauled me out of the sim pod with a frown.
“You want to learn, then you need to get out there.”
“I know that, but your brother insisted I needed to run the sim with one hundred percent accuracy first.”
