Page 481 of Shadowblood Souls
“It was so worth the wait.”
There’s so much joy in her voice it almost breaks me.
I blink hard and glance over at Dominic. He’s grinning too, like nothing could have made him happier than seeing us get to this moment—than seeing me sort out my baggage.
I wrap Riva up in my arms, press a kiss to her forehead, and shoot him a smile in return. “Thank you.”
He lifts a shoulder in a mild shrug. “I didn’t do anything. You can take all the credit.”
I only get another few seconds to linger in the thrill of Riva’s embrace before we’re interrupted by a sharp rap on the door.
Matteo’s even voice filters through. “I’d like all of you to join me in the back garden as soon as you’re decent.”
My cheeks flare all over again, first with embarrassment and then with an angry suspicion that Balthazar sent him to cut our happiness short. But Riva bobs up to offer me a quick kiss to my lips—a kiss I can accept without even tensing—and I decide I don’t give a fuck.
He can be an asshole about it, but I’ve already won.
We scramble into our clothes and head out to where the other three guys have already gathered. Andreas arches an eyebrow, and Griffin aims a pleased smile our way—of courseheknows what we just got up to.
Matteo clears his throat impatiently and ushers us all the way to the wall along the edge of the property. He points to the stone surface. “Sit right there. That’s as far out as you can get without triggering your bracelets.”
Frowning, I do as he said, sticking close to Riva.
The skinny man consults a tablet and eyes us for about a minute. “Do you feel anything you didn’t inside the house? Any discomfort or uneasiness?”
“Other than the fear of falling over the edge to our doom?” Andreas says dryly.
Matteo ignores him, his gaze scanning the rest of us. I feel totally normal, so I shake my head.
Riva knits her brow. “I haven’t noticed anything. Why?”
He taps his lips. “Interesting. Very interesting. Well, you might as well come off of there now.”
We do, Jacob scowling as he pushes away from the wall. “What the hell was that about?”
Matteo turns with a distracted air. “There are protections against the monsters you’re partly made from embedded all around this hill. I thought as your powers became more pronounced, you might also experience some similar negative effects… Apparently not. You can go back to your evening activities.”
Confusion loosens my voice. “But—there was that shadowkind guy we saw here before?—”
I cut myself off, unsure if mentioning the being we were warned not to talk to, the one Balthazar killed Sully over, was a wise move.
Matteo simply shrugs. “We have one possible route, fully under our control. They can only use it if Balthazar lets them in.”
He strides off, leaving the rest of us to drift toward the villa behind him. None of us wants to hang out in the deeper chill now that the sun has sunk below the horizon.
But when I look at Riva, her skin looks even more sallow than I can blame on the security lamps. She catches my gaze, and her mouth tightens.
Then it hits me.
She was counting on Rollick coming to break us out of our prison. But how much can any of the shadowkind help us if the entire hill we’re on top of is warded against them?
Twenty-Six
Riva
Iwake up too early, with only the faintest trace of sunlight seeping through my window from the impeding dawn.
A strange energy is humming through my body. My bones tingle with it.
