Page 429 of Shadowblood Souls
Our new captor hasn’t considered loyalty. He wants our spirits crushed into total obedience.
“Hey,” Nadia says. “I was thinking it might be nice to hang out a bit, listen to one of those records in your room?”
I don’t know if I can do anything that would help her, but it’s better than striding aimlessly around the villa. “Of course.”
She stays silent as we walk up to my bedroom. I pick out a record at random from the small stash Andreas brought me and fiddle with the controls until I get it playing, a process I’m still teaching myself.
The bouncy beats of an old pop song crackle out into the air, a sharp contrast with the atmosphere in the room. At another time, in another place, it’d have made me want to dance.
Now it only reminds me of how far I am from being able to enjoy music the way I used to.
Nadia sinks down on the edge of my bed, close to the vanity where I have the player set up. She pats the spot next to her, so I sit there.
As I settle myself, she lifts her arms and emphasizes the tug of her sleeves over her hands. Over her bracelets—hoping to muffle them?
Catching on, I adjust my own sleeves and tuck my hands into the kangaroo pocket of my hoodie to add an extra layer of fabric. This must be why she wanted the music too—to cover our conversation.
Nadia offers a tight smile. She tilts her head close to mine, speaking quietly as an extra precaution. “I think I saw something you might want to check out.”
I nod to show I’m listening.
She tips her head farther, indicating the back end of the villa. “I was taking a walk outside with Booker a little while ago, and around the back, close to the western wing, I noticed a window. Second floor, small and square. Definitely haven’t seen it in any rooms we’ve had access to from the inside.”
I sort back through my memories. “I haven’t seen one like that either.” Most of the villa’s windows are tall and arched.
“So it must be a room we couldn’t normally get into,” Nadia goes on. “Stuff they’re keeping hidden. And someone moved past the window while I was looking at it, so they’re up to something in there too.”
She pauses, adjusting her sleeves again. “The other thing is, at least when I saw the window, they’d left it a little bit open, so it can’t be locked. I’m not sure how to get up there, but it’s smallenough that I don’t think anyone could fit through the frame except you or maybe Ajax.”
I look down at my hands, bulges in my pocket. I can climb—I’ve scaled the outside of buildings before.
A tremor of anticipation races through my nerves. “Thank you. I’ll see what I can make of it tonight.”
Nadia sighs as if relieved to have gotten the information out unscathed and straightens up again. But her shoulders stay a bit slumped, her expression still weary.
My throat tightens as I take those details in. “How are you holding up?”
She rubs her mouth and shakes herself, but the strain doesn’t leave her face. “Hanging in there. Honestly, I’m more worried about Booker than me right now. Matteo interrupted our walk to bring him to a session, and he didn’t want to leave me. I think he might have tried to fight the guy if I hadn’t gotten through to him how much Ididn’twant that.”
After seeing how determinedly Booker has been sticking by Nadia’s side since Sully’s death, I’m not surprised. But she’s right—it wouldn’t have ended well for him.
“He cares about you a lot,” I say.
Nadia’s mouth twists. “Yeah. Maybe too much. Everyone knows I’m useless. The procedures aren’t doing anything—I still justglow.”
The anguish in her voice sets off a fresh flare of my anger. “You’re notuseless.” And fuck Balthazar for making her think that way.
Nadia raises her head to meet my gaze again, unflinching. “That’s the whole reason I’m here. Like a fucking hostage. A damsel in distress.” She lets out a rough laugh.
I shake my head vehemently. “No. That’s how the psychopath who stuck us here sees it, but he doesn’t know anything. All it means is he doesn’t see a way to use you for whatever exactly hewants to do. If he was trying to explore dark places, you’d be the only one who matters.”
Nadia sounds as if she’s choked on a more genuine giggle. “Okay, I guess that’s true.”
I turn toward her, drawing my legs up on the bed. “And—if there’s one thing I figured out on the island, it’s that we shouldn’t have to use our powers. We didn’t ask the guardians to make us this way, and we don’t owe them or anyone else anything. We’re still people. We shouldn’t have to beusefulto deserve our lives. If you weren’t a shadowblood, no one would expect that.”
The song peters out, and there’s a faint hiss before the next one starts.
Nadia lowers her gaze again. “But we are shadowbloods. That’s just how it is.”
