Page 290 of Shadowblood Souls
If I was willing to shatter Ursula Engel and her men simply for trying to murder us, slaughtering this bunch should be barely a blip on my conscience. Hell, it’s balancing the scales, making sure people who deserve it have reallivesthat these pricks would steal from them.
Good fucking riddance.
If we get a better idea of how we could get free again while we’re at it, then it’s an extra win.
I eye Clancy’s tablet as he slips it into his shoulder bag, wondering about the cell reception out here. Would we be able to get our hands on a phone out in the wider world that we could bring back and use?
But who would I contact? I had Rollick’s number programmed into my old phone, but I didn’t memorize it.
And I’m not sure even our supposedly greatest ally can be trusted to have our backs—or to protect us from his fellow shadowkind—after all.
Well, there’s no way to know what we’ll have to work with until we get out there.
Clancy claps his hands together. “Riva and Jacob, why don’t you two run back to the facility. We’ve highlighted the trail with more markers at intervals. Consider it a challenge to see how quickly you can get there ahead of the rest of us.”
The corners of his eyes crinkle as if with amusement. As if he likes watching us rise to the occasion.
I have no idea what to make of this man.
Jacob jerks his head toward me. “Come on, Wildcat. They can eat our dust.”
He springs forward, not waiting for me—but then, he knows I can catch up with him in a matter of seconds. Which I do.
We dash between the trees, noting each orange marker when they flash into view up ahead. I could pull past Jacob and leave him “eating my dust” too, but I only propel myself a few steps ahead of him where I’ll have more room to maneuver.
It’s more fun when I can hear him right behind me. Like it’s a real competition.
And weirdly, for several minutes there, the extended sprint actually does feel almost fun.
The wind whips over my face and braid, the fresh forest air flooding my lungs. Our feet thunder over the ground in a complex joint rhythm that’s close to a song.
We’re not free. I know we’re not.
But for a few moments there, I feel closer to it than I have the whole time we were out of the guardians’ clutches but hunted at every turn.
Jacob called me a superhero after I tore down Engel’s soldiers with my scream. I managed to believe I was acting like one while we broke those six kids out of the facility days ago, even if that went all wrong.
Could what Clancy’s offering us really be our best chance at becoming some kind of heroes for real?
I spot streaks of brighter sunlight in the distance where I think the forest gives way to the main field around the mountainside. I push myself a little faster, our goal in reach?—
And stumble at the sight of the guy I thought was behind me emerging from between the trees in front of me instead.
It’s not Jacob, though. Jacob slows next to me as my run peters out into a hesitant jog.
The guy who’s ambling through the woods, now heading our way after seeing us, is his twin.
I haven’t seen Griffin, let alone spoken to him, since my first day in the facility. From Jacob’s tensing and the whiff of startled pheromones he gives off, I suspect he hasn’t had much chance to reacquaint himself with his brother either.
Griffin offers us a mild smile. “Back from training?” he says in that vaguely friendly way that feels as vacant as his gaze.
I don’t know how to talk to him anymore. Is that awful, when I’ve spent years wishing I had him back?
“Yeah.” I come to a stop a few feet away, not sure whether I should keep going, what else he might want to talk about.
Then Jacob barrels between us, his muscles and his voice taut. “YouhelpedClancy get his hands on us, Griffin? What the fuck were you thinking?”
Oh, shit. I forgot that Jacob hadn’t realized that part until I told him yesterday morning.
