Page 237 of Shadowblood Souls
Riva
Jacob and I don’t speak, only dash for the door. One of my hands fumbles in my cargo pants’ pockets for a knife; the other flicks its claws free.
I don’t know how much good either of those weapons will do me against the monsters and their powers, but I’m not going in unarmed.
Jacob must have the same thought, because the purple spines that hold his poison spring from his forearms. He takes the stairs two at a time, every movement honing to brutal intensity.
I can see in each stride the vulnerability he showed me falling away, his icy confidence snapping back into place as he prepares for battle.
This is what his anger did for him. It gave him armor to face all the shit the guardians threw at him when he had nothing else to hold him together.
I still cringe at the memories of how he aimed his rage at me, but I’m not sure I can say I wish he’d never had it.
Andreas was already hurtling up to the deck ahead of us. At the rasp of footsteps behind, I glance over my shoulder to see Dominic following us.
His tan face has taken on a sickly tone, but he manages to shoot a tight smile at me.
We burst out into the warm morning air on the deck, right on each other’s heels. On this small yacht, there’s barely room for us to fan out in a semi-circle without bumping into the railing.
Zian stands with muscles bulging threateningly in the middle of the deck, facing the dock. His face is still mostly human, but his wolf-man fangs jut from his mouth, claws twice as thick as mine arcing from his fingertips.
In the crisp early sunlight, five figures watch us from the dock, a few steps away from the bow of our boat.
Cinder has her slim arms folded over her chest, the fingers of one hand drumming the opposite elbow. Kudzu matches Zian’s aggressive pose with his ropier muscles flexing.
I don’t know the names of the other three, but they stood with Cinder and Kudzu when they kicked us off the ship.
It’s almost definitely one of those five who pointed the hunters at us.
There’s no sign of anyone potentially friendly to us. How did this bunch track us down?
Whydid they track us down? Did they realize their human dupes didn’t perform adequately and decided it was time to finish the job?
As that last question passes through my mind, a tremor of caustic energy wakes up at the base of my chest.
These beings wanted us dead. They cast us out, treated us likewewere the monsters.
My mind feels jumbled from the wrenching conversation with Jacob, but one clear, quivering thread of resolve winds through my body.
I am not letting these fiends hurt any of us again.
In the split-second of that decision, a sixth figure materializes farther up the dock, just across from our yacht’s hull. Rollick studies us with a typical air of nonchalance, but there’s a fiery smolder in his eyes that I don’t like the look of.
“See,” Kudzu says in a brusque tone. “I told you they’d all be here where I saw the one guy.”
Rollick lets out a dismissive sound. “That’s hardly an impressive revelation. I’d have been more surprised if they’d split up.”
Cinder hisses through her teeth with an electric sizzle. “They’ve made a mess of their stolen boat too. Blood and body parts all over the place. They’rebeasts.”
I wince inwardly at the reference to Jacob’s gift.
His jaw only hardens. “I took care of the real beasts. The ones you sent after us.”
One of the other shadowkind scoffs. “You can’t blame us if you’re such a hazard the local hunters caught on the moment you stepped on shore.”
A choked guffaw tumbles out of me. I know we aren’t that noticeable.
“We’ve roamed all across North America before now and never been attacked by anyone other than guardians… oh, and the thugs one of your crew paid off to kill us.”
