Page 93 of Shadow Caster
“What the—” Harmon made a grab for my arm, but I was already running after Hyde.
The tunnels narrowed claustrophobically, interconnecting and shooting off from each other. It was a warren, a dark, dank warren, and if not for the grunts and growls, I would probably have gotten hopelessly lost.
I skidded into a wide chamber to find a cadet cowering in the corner and two on the ground. From the looks of the pulpy mess of their torsos, they were dead.
Hyde fought off two hounds larger than the ones we’d come across in the previous chamber. These were full grown ones. Morphs too if the yellow lacerations on their hides were anything to go by. This was why Redmond hadn’t wanted Hyde to kill the hounds that had escaped into the forest. The yellow gunk would have been a dead giveaway.
“Get the cadet out of here,” Hyde ordered.
“I’m not leaving you.” I ducked and dove, and then my back was to Hyde’s. “We get out together.”
We defended and attacked, covering each other against the beasts, trying to get close enough to stab an artery—if morphs had arteries, that is. A claw scraped my arm, eliciting a yelp.
“Justice?”
“I’m fine.” I slammed the hilt of my blade against the beast’s head and kicked out to give myself some breathing room, but the reprieve was momentary, only enough to take a breath. Then the hound was lunging again, red eyes wide and insane.
This was Redmond’s fault.
These had been intelligent creatures once.
He’d done this, and it was time to end it. It was time to put these creatures out of their misery.
“I’m sorry. So sorry.”
It took four punctures to find its main artery—right under its chin—and it went down instantly, convulsing as it bled out yellow goop.
I turned to help Hyde only to see him kick out with his bionic leg and send the hound flying into the wall. There was a crack, and then the hound slid to the ground, unmoving.
I sagged in relief. We’d done it. Oh, God.
Hyde turned on me, eyes blazing. “I told you to stay put. What the fuck were you thinking?” He shouted the words, anger twisting his beautiful features and making the scars stand out bloodless against his flushed face.
What wasIthinking?Seriously? Rage rushed through me like an inferno, and then I was closing in on him, eyes burning with the heat of indignation.
“I was thinking that I couldn’t bear for anything to happen to you! I was thinking if you die, we all die. I was thinking I needed to save your fucking ass.”
We stood chest to chest, breath coming fast and shallow, eyes locked, and then with a ragged groan, he wrapped his hand around my ponytail and yanked me toward him. His mouth slanted down over mine, hungry, crushing, desperate, as if I was the oxygen to his flame. Citrus and salt on my tongue, an aching bloom in my heart. Heat behind my eyes because this was it. This was the connection I’d been yearning for. He sucked on my tongue, and then pulled back, grazing my bottom lip with his teeth as he broke the kiss.
My insides were a molten lava of need, and my knees were rubber. His eyes churned with all the emotion he’d been holding back these past weeks, and in that moment, I was ready to drown in them. In that moment, I was just a woman falling in love.
“Fuck,” he said softly, lids and lashes at half-mast. “Damn you, Justice.” He released me reluctantly and puffed out his cheeks. He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly, his tongue flicking out to sweep across his bottom lip as if savoring me there. My core tightened. “We can’t do this now,” he said gruffly. “Let’s get the cadets out of here.”
Not now but later. We’d do this later? The giddy part of me, the part that had been locked in chains forever, perked up, but I slapped her down. Not the time or place.
We ran back through the tunnels, picked up the others, and followed Hyde through the network.
He moved with ease, like he knew this place, like he belonged there. He stopped now and then to touch the wall or study a crack and then continued. My inner compass kept track of the direction. East, always east. I needed to know which way we were headed because I wouldn’t be leaving with them. It was obvious Hyde hadn’t thought that far yet, and I wasn’t about to remind him, not until the last minute because there was no doubt in my mind that he’d try to stop me.
A soft rumble drifted down the corridor toward us and Hyde froze and raised a fist, signaling for us to stop.
He looked back at us. “Wait,” he said softly, and then he crouched and continued forward.
The darkness swallowed him. Long seconds passed and then he reappeared. Was it my imagination or had his face drained of color?
He looked over his shoulder. “There’s a nest up ahead. Sleeping hounds. But there’s enough space to get past if we go single file.”
Harmon had Gimble around the waist and was practically holding him up. The feyblood was still weak from feeding Mal. The others looked shell-shocked and ragged, and we’d been expected to survive down here for half a day? Fuck that. Redmond was insane but he’d had a point about this trial being dumb.
