Page 591 of Shadowblood Souls
I pause, a few of my thoughts connecting in a way that takes my breath away. For a few seconds, I don’t dare to speak.
Andreas gives me a curious look. “What?”
I know better than to put too much stock in hope these days. But all the same, a flutter of it passes through my chest, raising my spirits just a little.
I turn to face Drey with a nervous thump of my heart. “What if there’s another way you could use your power to help set things right?”
Twenty-Seven
Andreas
“Idon’t understand,” the boy says for what might be the tenth time, looking down at his hands where he’s sitting on the end of the hotel bed and then glancing up at me. “I hurt someone? I can’t remember… I can’t remember anything.”
I take a deep breath before repeating the explanation we decided on. “It’s because of that accident I told you about. It seems like it affected your memory. We don’t know if you’ll get those memories back—but we can help you figure things out from here.”
Griffin nods where he’s standing next to me. “It’s like you were sick, but you can get better now. You’re surrounded by friends. We’ll make sure you’re safe.”
I know my friend is sending wave after wave of calming emotion over the kid whose mind I wiped half an hour ago. The shadowblood boy who nearly pulled Zian’s arm out of its socket a few days ago, who when he woke up before wouldn’t doanything but thrash against his restraints and shout threats at us.
Just in case the boy’s temper snaps after all, Pearl and Dominic are standing by in the new hotel room Rollick got us for this purpose. Pearl’s ready to attempt her succubus persuasion on him and Dominic to drain him into unconsciousness if the former strategy doesn’t work.
But so far we haven’t needed them. After talking with the kid for several minutes at first and getting Griffin’s confirmation that he didn’t see any reason for alarm, we removed the chains. We’re still staying wary, but my trepidation is giving way to a bittersweet sense of relief.
Riva’s suggestion may have actually worked. By cutting Balthazar’s shadowbloods off from their memories of everything they had to rage about, we’ve diffused their fury.
The fact that Griffin evencansoothe this kid’s emotions is proof that we’ve made progress.
I just can’t help feeling a little sick about how much else I had to steal from him to accomplish that.
The boy rubs his forehead. “You say my name is Keith? I… I don’t even rememberthat.”
Neither had I, if I’d ever known it. But we had a little extra help in that department.
I motion Ajax over from where he’s been waiting near the door, braced in case he has to duck outside for his own safety. He steps closer, his telepathic voice traveling into my mind at the same time.I’m not picking up on any violent thoughts. He’s just confused. And he doesn’t like the idea that he hurt people.
Well, developing a conscience seems like important progress too.
I tap the slim boy’s shoulder. “This is Ajax. He did some training with you at one of the places you lived before, so he cantell you some things about yourself. If you’re ready to talk more about that.”
Keith wavers for a moment with a slight sway of his posture before offering a tentative smile. “That—that would be nice.”
The door eases open to reveal Zian’s face. “Lull says that the girl—Bethany—is going to wake up soon. If you want to try on her too.”
I glance around at the others, not sure whether I want to be told to go ahead or held back from wiping out my second mind of the day.
Dominic dips his head. “I’ll stay, just in case.”
There are a few shadowkind watching from the shadows who can step in if they need to too,Ajax informs me silently. It turns out he can sense their thoughts even when they don’t have a physical presence, although he says the impression is pretty foggy.
I square my shoulders. “All right. I’ll see how it goes with Bethany.”
One victory isn’t proof of success, only a good sign. We need to see if I can repeat it.
Griffin turns to follow me over to the next room, where Rollick’s people moved the captured shadowblood girl. “I should come along for calming purposes. Keith seems pretty stable at the moment.”
I shoot my friend a quick smile in thanks. At least I don’t have to carry out this awful job on my own.
In the other room, we find the lamia poised next to the bed. The girl lying on it is bound with chains wrapped around her body, the gag still in her mouth.
