Page 500 of Shadowblood Souls
She peers past us. “Mr. Balthazar ordered it drained.”
Jacob glowers at her. “We can see that.”
But she isn’t here to rub in the loss. The corner of her mouth turns down as she contemplates the pool. “He said it was time to close it up for the season. It wouldn’t be safe to use anymore.”
She flicks her gaze toward us, and I understand. He realized that we’ve been using the pool to obscure conversations we didn’t want him overhearing.
So he’s taking that option away for us.
He doesn’t even know just how badly he’s screwing us over.
“That’s too bad,” Andreas says carefully. “We were really hoping to get at least one more swim in before it’s too cold outside.”
Toni studies him. Her expression stays apologetic even if her tone is curt. “There’s nothing I can do about it. You’re lucky you had the use of it for as long as you did.”
Well, I guess we can’t argue with her on that point. But how are we going to protect ourselves from the shadowkind’s fire now?
How amIgoing to protect everyone else?
Somehow I don’t think filling up the few bathtubs and soaking in them is going to do the trick.
Of course, none of that will matter if Toni can deactivate the manacles. Then we can simply get the hell out of here when the warning comes.
But if she’d managed to disable them already, she wouldn’t be so cautious in how she’s talking to us.
Riva’s mouth twitches as if she’s grappling with what to say. She draws herself up a little straighter. “That thing you said is going to happen—soon it isn’t even going to matter.”
Her words could be taken as a mild, vague threat to someone who doesn’t know what Toni recently offered us.
The older woman stares at Riva for a second before dropping her gaze. “We all have our limitations.” Then she tilts her head toward the villa. “Come on. Balthazar wants to talk to all of you about something.”
As we trudge after her toward the doorway, my stomach sinks. Has our captor figured out even more about our covert activities?
Or maybe he’s simply going to throw as many wrenches at us as he can and hope at least one of them jams up anything we have in the works. He wants to rattle us—that’s obvious from the way he needled Jacob the other day and his decision to reveal Riva’s genetic heritage to her.
But what?—
Zian pauses a few steps from the door with a flick of his gaze toward the far end of the garden. The rest of us hesitate too.
He motions to his ear, indicating that he heard something.
Before the rest of us can respond, Rollick’s dry voice blares through the quiet of the grounds. “Ready or not, shadowbloods—here we come!”
My pulse stutters. I drag my gaze across the landscape, searching for any sign of an immediate attack, and yank it back to Toni… who’s blinking at the rest of us with an air of mild confusion.
She couldn’t hear the message. Of course not—Rollick’s been using some magic that means only we shadowbloods can make out his words.
Then the horror of the situation hits me like a punch to the gut.
The shadowkind assault is happening right this minute. And we’re not prepared after all.
Riva swivels, probably scrambling for a solution. “It really doesn’t matter now,” she murmurs.
She looks toward the pool, but there can’t be more than a few inches of water left in it. We’d be better off with bathtubs.
Instinctively, I take a step toward the pool. Maybe if we can pry open the panel and start the water running again—if Balthazar somehow doesn’t find out what we’re up to until it’s full enough to protect us—if we can even accomplish that much before the attack starts?—
A crackling bolt of flame sears from the sky and smacks into the roof of the villa. In an instant, the fire surges across the undulating terracotta as if the clay is as flammable as paper.
