Page 428 of Shadowblood Souls
I stick close to Riva, wanting her within reach even if I’m not really sure how to hold on to her right now. The other shadowbloods slip into the water around us.
A fresh pang of horror jolts through me as I take in the younger ones. There were five kids with us when we first woke up here. Now we’re down to three.
Booker stays next to Nadia, his arm hooked around hers, his usually easy-going expression hardened. I haven’t seen him leave her side since she got back from her session with Matteo yesterday.
He’s got to know that if she’d been with us when we confronted the shadowkind man out here, chances are Balthazar would have hadherkilled instead of Sully. She was the one he marked as expendable from the start.
Apparently our captor decided Sully was expendable enough. It wouldn’t have been as much of a punishment if the slaughter hadn’t happened right in front of us.
I sink into the water up to my shoulders, holding my wrists well under the surface. The others are doing the same.
Riva motions us closer with a twitch of her chin. The pool is shallow enough at this end that even she can stand on the bottom, if on tiptoe, rather than treading water.
We gather in a huddle as if seeking more warmth from each other, away from the edges of the pool where other surveillance devices could be hidden.
Riva drops her voice to a whisper. Even that quiet, a thread of agitation thrums through it.
“I need to know everything you’ve all learned about Balthazar and this villa. Even if it didn’t seem important at the time. Therehasto be a way to get to him.”
Zian’s forehead furrows. “What are you planning to do, Shrimp?” he asks, just as softly. He can’t manage to give the playful nickname any amusement.
Riva shrugs. “It doesn’t matter yet. I just want to know what we’re working with. Let’s go, one by one, every little detail you can think of.”
As she turns to Booker at her left, his arm still locked around Nadia, my stomach sinks. She says it doesn’t matter, but I can tell she’s already got a goal in mind.
If her rage is even slightly like mine, she wants to destroy this place and everyone in it. Especially the man who brought us here.
But how much of the woman I adore will she sacrifice to reach her goal?
Eleven
Riva
Ican’t sit still, even though I have no sense of direction right now. My hatred for our beautiful prison and the man who’s keeping us here burns through my veins, gnawing at me to dosomething.
I stalk through the villa’s hallways in the fading evening light, my claws arcing from my fingertips. The urge grips me to scratch at the delicate frescos decorating the walls, but I hold myself back.
The building itself hasn’t hurt me. Destroying it won’t do anything but ruin the only things thatareappealing in this place.
For all I know, Balthazar won’t even care. I have no idea why he picked this place to hold us or how much it means to him—or doesn’t.
Maybe it was simply the first building he could find with plenty of rooms and isolation from the rest of society.
He definitely doesn’t seem bothered about spilling blood all over the tiled artwork of the floors.
The memories of Lindsay’s and Sully’s deaths make my clawed fingers flex. Tufts of fur shoot from the shifting tips of my ears as my full morph takes over.
I wish I could transform into an actual cat and slip through all the spaces I can’t as a human being. Shake off these stupid manacles.
I prowl all the way to the front door and glare across the courtyard at the drawbridge I’ve only seen raised. Not that we could reach it even lowered, as Sully demonstrated on our first day.
As I spin on my heel to stalk back the way I came, Nadia ventures into the hall, coming toward me. Dark circles mark her smooth brown skin beneath her eyes, and her once spunky pixie cut droops in limp waves.
She catches my eyes, tucking her hands a little deeper in the baggy sweater she’s got on. It’s a deep navy blue, striking on her but with completely the wrong vibe.
She’s meant to be in neons. Balthazar hasn’t bothered to think about our clothing preferences.
It’s a silly thing to criticize him for, but hell, even Clancy made that basic gesture toward earning our loyalty.
