Page 408 of Shadowblood Souls
It was total fucking agony.
“Sure,” I say. “I’d be happy to. Why don’t you sit down—it’s pretty disorienting.”
As we move to the armchairs in the center of the room, I sort through my memories from our escape from the island for the moments when I saw Ajax and Devon together—laughing, holding hands, leaning on each other.
Will seeing the past really do Ajax that much good? I’m not sure.
But he asked for it, and I can give it.
It isn’t anywhere near enough. What we really need is a new future.
Five
Riva
Ipeer into the fridge for several seconds before stirring myself into action. Sliced ham, cheese, mayonnaise. That’ll make a decent sandwich.
Balthazar’s villa might be fancy to look at, but we had better meal service on the island. Here, he’s simply left us with a bunch of groceries, and it’s up to us to put them together into breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
I guess he didn’t want any more staff than necessary who could become potential targets of our talents. But what do he and the staff whoarehere eat?
Maybe there’s a whole second kitchen in the western wing, and they’re dining like kings over there.
I will admit the fresh loaves of bread that appear every morning are pretty nice, as bread goes.
Zian steps up to the cutting board as I turn, so close the warmth of his body tingles over my skin even though he’scarefully not touching me. He holds out his hand, his tone light. “Pass it over, Shrimp. I can slice it.”
The intensity in his dark eyes suggests the offer means a lot more to him than saving me a few seconds of work. Zee is always trying to show how much he wants to be here for me in all the ways he feels he safely can.
So I give him a soft smile in return and hand over the loaf.
While Zian hacks off a few slices, I open up the packages of ham and cheese and get out a butter knife to spread the mayo. We assemble our sandwiches with swift movements that are almost synchronized.
I’m just raising mine to my lips when Booker’s voice carries down the hall outside with an urgent tremor. “Riva?”
My hands jerk to a halt in mid-air, and Zian freezes next to me. I was just outside with Booker and Nadia—I told them I was coming in to grab some food.
What could have happened in the few minutes I was gone?
I drop the sandwich onto the plate and hustle into the hall with Zian right behind me. Booker hurries over, his gaze twitching nervously toward the rooms around us.
“What happened?” I ask as he reaches me, pitching my voice low with the instinctive sense that if he’s this upset, it’s probably something we don’t want to be obvious about discussing.
He rakes his hand through his shaggy hair and motions toward the end of the hall. “We saw something… Nadia and I found a loose tile behind one of the planters and were crouched down checking under it—it was nothing but dirt. But we were ducked low enough that he probably didn’t seeus… I’d think I’m crazy if Nadia hadn’t noticed it too.”
I raise my eyebrows at him. “What?”
Booker takes a deep breath as if to steady himself. “There was a man—short and kind of round—shorter than you even, I think. I glanced over the planter and saw him standing on the patio,looking out over the mountains. And then after a moment, he started to turn around and justvanished. Disappeared in thin air.”
My pulse stutters, and Zian and I exchange a look. We’ve seen people do that before—well, they weren’t exactly people.
I motion for Booker to head down the hall with me. “He could have been a shadowkind. They can disappear into the shadows if they want to. Show us where you saw him.”
The description he gave doesn’t sound like any of the shadowkind I’ve met, but Rollick—the demon who gave us the most help while we were on the run—had tons of beings he worked with. Could he have figured out where we are and sent someone with a message or an offer of aid?
Cautious hope sets my heart thumping faster.
Zian and I follow Booker out into the grounds. I cross my arms over my chest as the chill of the air seeps through my long-sleeved tee.
