Page 598 of Shadowblood Souls
Theywantto inflict the pain they’re feeling on the rest of the world, as if it’s some kind of justice.
And I have to stop them.
A shriek builds at the base of my throat. I hold it in, honing it, expanding it, bracing myself for the moment it’s time to use it.
They have one more chance. One last opportunity we could give them to show they’re more than the monsters Balthazar turned them into.
Finally, they ease out into the hall outside the gymnasium. Cutler is frowning. His followers do a quick check of the other rooms as they stalk forward.
They glance into the former pool room too, but at the moment, they won’t be able to see anything inside. Then Devon peers into the gymnasium and lets out an eager shout.
He points toward our contraption looming at the far end of the gym. The others gather closer—and then several of their heads jerk to the side.
Andreas is fulfilling his part of the plan. He’ll be projecting a memory into all of their heads: an image he searched out of his own store of recollections to fit the task.
They’ll hear a child crying. See a little girl peeking her face out from behind a box by the far wall, frightened and bleeding from a scrape on her cheek.
Who will try to help her, and who will decide getting straight to the weapon is more important? Who still has the most basic instinct of compassion?
Devon doubles back, a flicker of concern crossing his taut face. The scarred man turns with a twitch of a frown. Several heads dip together in hurried discussion.
Six of the rogues step into the former pool room. I watch Devon disappear from view, and the scarred man, a few more teens. One of the other adults and a couple of the kids linger outside to see what their companions discover.
Cutler and the rest show no sign of caring what’s going on with the little girl. They stride into the gymnasium without a backward glance, heading straight for the supposed weapon.
Nadia hustles in alongside them, nothing but fierce resolve showing in her expression. I didn’t see her so much as hesitate during the commotion in the hall.
My heart sinks, but I don’t let the punch of dread shake my concentration. This isn’t the result I wanted to see, but it is what it is.
I have to accept reality. Clinging on to unjustified hope has already left too many people dead when maybe we could have stopped the carnage sooner.
The rogues march toward the weapon, their gazes sweeping the room. They can’t see me or my waiting companions. They have no idea we’re here.
But just before Jacob rams an invisible force into the door to slam it shut in their wake, before my lips have even partedto give my killing shriek the full power I can put behind it, something must catch Cutler’s attention.
He whirls around, his yell reverberating through the room an instant before the bang of the door. “It’s a trap!”
With a stutter of my heart, I hurl my killing shriek from my throat.
Twenty-Nine
Dominic
The wayward shadowbloods’ footsteps drum against the hard floor as they gather in the large room. Andreas projects the memory he’s using into my head too—and I assume Griffin’s as well—so we know what our targets are seeing. So we can be prepared for their reactions.
The little girl ducks back behind the cardboard box. The box is really there; she isn’t.
Her whimpers carry through the air. Devon crouches down a few feet from the box and speaks more softly than I’ve heard any of the rogue shadowbloods manage before. “Hey. How did you end up here? We can try to help you.”
The scarred man—the one Griffin said is named Omar—makes a gruff sound. “Ask her if there are more guardians around nearby.”
One of the other teens strides forward with an air of impatience. “Let’s just get her out and get on with this.”
My nerves jangle. It’s only a matter of seconds until they realize the girl is a hoax.
But Zian has been watching from outside the door. As the six shadowbloods who ventured into our room reach the far end of the space, he springs invisibly into action.
With the full heft of his substantial supernatural strength, he plows into the three figures who hung back outside the door, concerned but too wary to actually enter. The man and the two teens stagger several steps through the doorway, the girl falling to her knees, and Zian yanks the door shut behind him.
