Page 195 of Shadowblood Souls
“What if there isn’t any way to block the connection between shadowbloods?” I say. “Or they’re using some method that we don’t know about to even test?”
Rollick raises his eyebrows. “Then I suppose we’ll figure that out as we proceed.”
“Or we could solve the entire problem for good in one go.”
His eyebrows lift higher. “What did you have in mind?”
I tap the table. “It’s the other shadowbloods who are the biggest problem. The guardians only started finding us so quickly once they dragged the kids into the search. But they’re prisoners just like we were. They don’t deserve to be used likethat. We should break them out of whatever facilities they’re being kept in, and then the guardianscan’tuse them anymore.”
Zian nods eagerly. “Two birds with one stone. We have to help them.”
Rollick pauses, and one of the other shadowkind, a tall gangly guy I hadn’t noticed before, sits up straighter in his seat. The ropey muscles along his arms flex threateningly.
“We don’t need more than five of the mutants running wild.”
Rollick glares at him. “These are my guests you’re talking about, Kudzu. They haven’t caused us any trouble so far.”
On the other side of the table, Cinder lets out a derisive sound. “We’ve come all the way out here because of them.”
“Because we chose to.” The demon’s voice lowers ominously. “You’re welcome to find yourself new employment whenever you like.”
She tenses in her chair, ducking her head apologetically. But the tension still radiating through the air makes my skin creep.
“A jail-break!” Pearl pipes up, clapping her hands together. “I think that would be fun.”
Kudzu snorts. “You think everything is fun. You’re a newbie and a tourist.”
She winces, looking hurt enough that my hackles rise on her behalf.
I raise my chin. “This is the most direct way to deal with the problem. And if you all were helping us, I’m sure we could pull off a ‘jail-break’ a lot faster than experimenting with interrupting a connection we don’t even understand.”
“I agree,” Dominic says, quiet but firm.
Jacob leans his elbows onto the table. “It’s just a bunch of mortals you’d have to tackle, right? What are you all so scared of?”
From the looks most of the shadowkind shoot us then, I get the impression it’s not the guardians they’re scared of.
Like the big purple dude back in Toronto, for some reason most of these beings are frightened ofus.
Maybe even Rollick is behind his suave demeanor. He waves his hand through the air as if he can dismiss all the concerns raised on both sides just like that.
“It’s an option I won’t take off the table,” he says. “But we don’t know where these facilities even are. So why don’t we start with what we have right in front of us?”
“Can you ask someone to start looking?” Andreas asks. “I wouldn’t think it’d be too hard for shadowkind to figure out what locations fit—with the resources you’ve got, anyway.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Even his noncommittal answer appears to be too much. Kudzu shoves away his plate. “You can’t be serious.”
Rollick studies him with a languid blink. “I believe in considering all the strategies available to us. It’s worked in my favor before.”
The gangly man mutters something under his breath that I can’t make out. He vanishes into the shadows a moment later.
“This isn’t like before,” Cinder says to Rollick, her expression tense, and wisps away too.
And just like that, it looks like we’ve lost two supposed allies before we even got started.
Nineteen
