Page 254 of Shadowblood Souls
Dominic is studying him, his eyes wary. “When the bunch of you first showed up, you sounded likeyouweren’t sure we were more than a liability.”
Zian’s brawn tenses at the reminder, but Rollick simply chuckles.
“Itwasa mess. I can’t say I appreciated needing to clean it up. But it became obvious in the confrontation that my people were at least as much to blame for that as you were.”
I can’t hold back my incredulous question. “The confrontation… where I killed one of them and nearly did the same to another?”
The demon cocks his head. “You enforced your authority when the people you cared about were threatened and reined yourself in before you went too far overboard. What more proof could I need that youcancontrol yourself, if imperfectly? I can work with that. And I think you understand the necessity of said work now too.”
I swallow thickly. “I do.”
“Why do you want to work with us?” Jacob asks brusquely. “Why don’t you figure it’d be easier to destroy us like the others wanted to?”
Well, that’s one way to put it all on the table.
Rollick offers a slanted smile. “I have hundreds if not thousands of years more experience than most of my associates can draw on. And some very specific experiences that have suggested that the merging of human and shadowkind can save the world more often than ending it. It seems that the mortal side acts as a decent moderator for those talents… Possibly being so much closer to possible death makes you more inclined to prevent it on the whole.”
“You said you’d only met one other hybrid before,” Andreas says.
“Yes, well…” The demon’s voice softens slightly. “The mortal I happen to love once wielded a power that was more threatening and horrifying to shadowkind than anything the bunch of you have, and she proved it could be used to boost us up rather than bind us. So I have learned not to make assumptions.”
He rocks back on his heels, scanning us with renewed analytical curiosity. “And in general, I don’t believe in destroying potential resources. I’d very much like to see what you shadowbloods can do given the freedom to make your abilities your own—and that includes your younger counterparts, if we can locate them.”
I’m not sure how I feel about being considered a “resource,” but his last words capture my attention. “We’re going to break them out? You’re going to help us do it?”
“I think that course of action is the most likely to diminish your ‘guardians’ ability to track you, since none of our experiments have borne any fruit so far.” Rollick glances toward the dining room windows. “My people in the cities along the southern coast have noticed some activity that suggests they’re aware that you’ve been at sea and are attempting to be prepared for your return.”
My stomach knots. “So we’ll have to go through them to get to the younger shadowbloods?”
“If what you’ve said is true, I’d imagine most of their experimental subjects are still back in their facilities. We could start there. The more allies we have on our side, the greater our options.”
Zian perks up. “Torrent said he’d found a few facilities—or he thought he had.”
Rollick nods. “It would simply be a matter of determining which if any of those your counterparts are being held at and getting them out.”
Nothing in that statement sounded particularly simple, but my pulse kicks up a notch in anticipation.
“How are we going to figure out the first part?” Dominic asks. “Are your people going to sneak inside and scope things out?”
Rollick’s expression darkens a little. “Unfortunately, that’s impossible. Your guardians are obviously familiar with shadowkind ways—and weaknesses. One of the factors that helped Torrent identify the likely locations was the presence of a lot more silver and iron than most of us can easily tolerate. Going straight in would likely be a suicide mission.”
My spirits deflate. I guess the shadowkind could watch from afar, but who knows how long it’d taken them to confirm what’s going on in those places?
Whatever shadowbloods might be in the facilities, they’ll be locked away down in the depths like we were most of the time. Who knows how securely the guardians are holding them now?
At the new building where I found the guys after our first escape attempt, there wasn’t even a training field for a small break from captivity…
The answer hits me so squarely I could smack myself for not thinking of it right away.
“Wecan find them,” I say. “It’s in our blood. We’ve lived the same lives as them. Maybe we don’t know their names or what most of them look like, but I think—if we focus on the parts we do have, the things we all would have gone through—I think our essence will lead us to them.”
Those experiences are imbedded deeper in us than anything you could see in a video recording. Weknowthe other kids the guardians have held captive, better than anyone else could.
The guys all sit up a little straighter, their eyes flashing at my words. I can tell the idea feels as right to them as it does to me.
Rollick rubs his jaw. “We don’t know for sure that your blood play will work with impressions that vague.”
I raise my chin. “It’s worth a try. It’d be a hell of a lot faster than hoping your spies will spot something from outside the buildings.” I hesitate. “But we’d have to make sure the guardians don’t trackusdown while we’re following the trail.”
