Page 601 of Shadowblood Souls
It’s a lot harder to imagine killing a person you’ve already subdued, but eventually she’ll make the decision for us. She hasn’t eaten at all since we brought her in—hasn’t settled down enough to even think about being hungry, let alone try to consume anything.
I shake off the uneasiness of that idea and focus on my observations of Keith’s progress. Every shadowblood in this room could end up like him—maybe confused, but finding new happiness, rebuilding a life that can be about what they want rather than what the guardians inflicted on them.
The other guys switch places, Andreas moving to Omar and Griffin to the man Drey just finished with. Andreas adjusts his mask and then pulls it right off to take a deep gulp of the refreshed air.
“Okay,” he murmurs, and sets his hand against Omar’s temple.
Restless and hopped up on the energy whirling inside me, I walk over to the door, but the guardians built their facilities carefully. No further hint of sound travels through the frame or the walls around me.
Have Riva and Sorsha finished with their attack now? I have no idea how it’s playing out.
They might have taken out all the other shadowbloods already and now they’re waiting for us. Or they could be fighting for their lives.
The floor hitches beneath my feet, suggesting the latter is more likely. But there’s no way of knowing whether they’re facing a few remaining opponents or the whole mass of them.
A lump fills my throat. I turn back toward the room and scan the shadowbloodsI’mresponsible for.
Andreas’s copper-brown face glints with a thickening sheen of sweat. His mouth tightens as he works, digging deep creases into the corners.
“Hey,” I venture, taking another step toward him. “I can give you a power-up to help you through the process—like I did when Jake shook the whole mountain. I’ve got lots to spare, and?—”
Drey waves me off with his free hand. “It’s fine. You did your part. I should be able to do mine.”
I consider him with a frown. I should have thought to offer him the extra energy I gathered right after the fact. If I need more life to help the rogues recover once they wake up from the drug, we can handle that outside in the forest where I’ve got lots of plants to draw from.
But Andreas knows what’s going on inside himself better than I could. If he says he’s fine…
He pushes away from Omar and reaches for the nearest teen now that he’s handled both of the men. I think I see his balance wobble as he leans forward, but he steadies himself so quickly it’s hard to be sure.
Griffin glances up as he crouches next to Omar. “Drey, I really think?—”
Before he can finish his sentence, Andreas sucks in a sharp breath. He tilts forward—and his body flickers.
Not like when he’s pulling invisibility over himself. Like his physical presence doesn’t know whether it should be in this world or not, patches flashing between translucency and full transparency and back into sight.
I dash forward without needing to think about it. It doesn’t matter how stoic Andreas wants to be—heneedsme.
I coil both of my tentacles around his torso, as quickly as I can while staying gentle. Then I let loose the flood of energy contained inside me.
A current of it careens from my nerves into Drey’s. He inhales another ragged breath, and his form gradually stabilizes.
I pour a little more and a little more into him, not wanting to overwhelm him, until my own body is tingling with the transfusion of energy and Andreas looks solid and even lively again.
“Fuck,” he mutters, and swipes at his forehead before looking at me. “I should have taken you up on the offer in the first place. I think… if I’m going to wipe all of them while we’re in here, I might need you to do that again after the next few. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I say automatically. Why is he apologizing?
His gaze slides to my shoulders, where my tentacles emerge from my skin, and understanding hits me with a jolt.
He knows how much I’ve resented my new appendages. He knows how they’ve expanded with every healing session.
Except… this time they didn’t. I haven’t felt them creeping farther from my flesh—not when I dragged the energy from the rogues and not when I offered it up to Andreas just now.
I straighten up and touch the base of one tentacle. It feels perfectly normal… but even that is strange.
It feels like a part of me. Like it’s supposed to be there, the way it is.
And I’m okay with that.
