Page 194 of Shadowblood Souls
“Oh! There are so many words. And that’s just your language.” She plucks up another slice. “Humans do like to make things complicated.”
Okay, that’s a fair assessment.
“That’s what I like about you,” the succubus goes on hastily as if concerned that she might have offendedme. “It’s so interesting on this side. Not that you’re totally mortal. I guess we don’t really know exactly how much you are one thing and the other. It’s very exciting.”
The other beings sitting around the table don’t look all that excited. Some of them barely glance our way at all.
Others study us with apparent trepidation, as if they’re as concerned about what we might do as we are about them.
What was it I heard Rollick saying on the phone—something about his associates panicking? They aren’tthatnervous about us, are they?
Why would they be?
My stomach momentarily tightens, but then I spot the dessert table over in the corner. Maybe a little sweetness will soothe my nerves.
I slip over to it, snatch up one of the smaller plates, and study the offerings. Slices of key lime pie and a cake that gives off a lemon-y scent, puffy meringues and plump cookies glinting with sugar crystals.
I scoop a piece of cake onto my plate and take one of the sugar cookies too. On my way back to my chair, I take a bite and restrain a moan at the perfect chewy, buttery dough.
Dropping back down between Pearl and Dominic, I turn to wave the cookie at Dom. “You have to try?—”
As he glances up at me, my gaze slides to his plate, and I realize he’s already grabbed two. Three, actually, counting the one there’s only a chunk of left in his hand.
He must have gone straight to the dessert table before he even started filling up his dinner plate.
A laugh bubbles out of me, startled but genuinely happy. “I guess your sweet tooth is going to have a good time around here.”
Dominic grins back. “No kidding.”
As I alternate between the remains of my main dinner and my dessert, Rollick stirs at the head of the table. He folds his hands together on the tabletop and shoots a pointed look at an empty chair next to him.
A moment later, one final shadowkind being appears out of the shadows—a lean man with scruffy auburn hair, an oddly dented cheek… and two tentacles protruding from his waist, braced as if to help his balance.
Dominic brightens. “That’s Torrent,” he murmurs to me. “He talked with me this morning—he’s going to look into reasons why my…” He waves toward his shoulders, where his tentacles are covered as usual by his trench coat. “…might act the way they do.”
Why they keep growing when he uses his healing power, he means. It looks like that guy should have some idea how these things work.
Rollick clears his throat. “All right, folks. We can eat and talk. Try not to spew crumbs at anyone else, and it’s all good.”
He shifts his attention to our end of the table. “Our shadowblood guests of honor. You’ve been through a lot today, so I’ll give you a break until tomorrow. But then I think our first priority should be determining exactly how you’re able to trace each other’s movements. Assuming your younger counterparts are using the same methods, once we’ve identified them, we may be able to find ways of deflecting the connection.”
“May.” Not “will.”
No one here is really sure what to make of us, are they? Including ourselves.
But his mention of the younger shadowbloods brings back the memory of the bloodied girl this morning. My chest constricts.
We aren’t the only ones who need help. Everything my guys and I went through at the guardians’ hands, they’re still experiencing it every moment they remain enslaved.
“And we’ll just stay on this boat until we figure that out?” Andreas asks.
“I’m hopeful it won’t be too extended a process.” Rollick smiles with a hint of grimness. “But you should be safe here for as long as it takes.”
He casts his gaze over his shadowkind companions after those last words, with a darkening of his eyes that looks like a warning. Is he worried that another of his associates might come up with their own ideas for how to deal with us?
My skin prickles. Luxury vacation or not, I don’t want to be stuck in the middle of the ocean with this bunch any longer than absolutely necessary.
And the real answer might be something we were already hoping to accomplish for totally different reasons.
