Page 102 of A Vow of Shadow and Blood
The world falls from beneath me, and my chest clutches in a tight hold. Panic forces me forward.
Careful,Athriel warns, and I stop just a few feet away.
“Where is she?” I ask. Tears spill down my cheeks, and a mix of anger and fear fills every part of me.
He looks up at me and smiles. “You can’t have her. She belongs to him now.”
Before I can even think, I slam my fist into his face, but it does nothing but make him stumble back a few steps. He shakes his head in confusion before tilting his head to look at me.
There is something strange about this boy, Adina.
I don’t care. He knows where Willow is.
“I do know where she is. You are right.”
My jaw drops as I realize that he did exactly what Julian did. I did not speak the words out loud, and yet he heard them clearly.
“You can hear me?” The words are a whisper on my lips as horror fills me.
“We can all hear you. We are one.”
My face twists in confusion until I see the figures start to emerge from the shadows of the bookcases. Eight of them surround me, all with the same dead look in their eyes. They stand unmoving, just as he did, and my heart races. They have blocked every exit, and I have nowhere to go. In unison, they close their eyes, and the entire library falls silent.Shit.What do I do? Before an answer can come, all eight pairs of eyes open, and they are fully black with no white left.
They all watch me in silence as the darkness leaks from their eyes, pouring like thin strands of tears down their cheeks until it gathers in a litter of black veins that sink beneath their skin, leaving behind a web of darkness that trails down over theircheeks. Their nails extend into sharp black claws that I’m sure could rip someone apart.
A girl on the right tilts her head and then opens her mouth wide, revealing a set of sharp, jagged teeth before she lets out a screech and jumps in my direction. I spin out of the way just in time, but not before the sharp edge of her nails catches my arm, ripping tears into my flesh.
I scream out as I clutch onto my arm, but there isn’t time to worry about the pain. Another girl with tattered black hair that is all clumped together launches her body in my direction, but between the table and the others standing to my left, I cannot avoid her blow. I suck in a breath, expecting to feel the weight of her assault, but it never comes. Instead, a heavy thud shakes the ground as her head rolls to a stop at my feet, her body collapsing a few paces away.
My gaze snaps to the blade of shadow slicing back through the air, retreating toward the one who wielded it—the same weapon that severed her head in a single strike. A hand lifts into the air to catch it, and I almost cry out when I see Ajax standing there.
“You ok, Red?”
I nod. “I’ve got no weapons.”
Behind Ajax, Eamon appears, his face a mask of thunder as he assesses the situation before him. He steps forward, and I watch as wisps of black shadow leak from his back, twisting and turning until they form into huge wings, each the same length as him. He leaps into the air, and the dark masses flap against it, keeping him afloat. He moves fast, landing beside me in a crouch.
One of the creatures bounds toward him, but he slips a shadow sword from his side and slices it through its stomach with ease. The creature slides apart, and its dismembered corpse falls to the ground within seconds. He turns toward me for a second as though scanning for injuries.
“I need a weapon,” I tell him. He hesitates as though he’s unsure before sliding a shadow dagger from his belt and handing it to me. It’s not like the dagger I’m used to; it feels almost weightless in my hand, but I know the damage it can do. I clutch the hilt in my palm, squeezing tightly as I assess the situation. Two are already dead, and Ajax is fighting another.
One races in my direction, its sharp teeth on full display as it screams. I twist and grab a chair, throwing it in its direction to slow it down, but it simply leaps over it as if I never even threw it. I move at speed, using the techniques that both Athriel and Ajax have taught me, and fall to my knees at the last minute, slicing my blade across its ankles. It screams out, leaning back in shock, and I use the opportunity to plunge the blade deep into its chest.
I pull it out and find it coated in a sticky dark residue that is a mix of red and black.
“You must cut off its head or stab it directly through the heart. It’s the only way to make sure it’s dead,” Eamon calls from where he’s in a battle with one of the creatures.
Before I get the chance to respond, the creature is on me again, taking us both to the ground. I press my hands against its chest, keeping the sharp edges of its teeth away from me as it snaps its jaws in my direction. Its strength is powerful, and I know that if not for Karius’s power coursing through me, it would have killed me already. My arms shake under its pressure as I struggle to keep its mouth away from me. Thick drool drips from its lips, falling onto my face, and I scream out in disgust. I can’t hold on much longer.
I tilt my head and spot Ajax locked in combat with one of the creatures. A shadow-forged sword hovers in the air at his command, cleaving cleanly across the beast’s throat. Before the body even hits the ground, he pivots, already meeting the next attacker that lunges for him from behind. All the laughter and jokes are gone from his face, and in this moment, he’s atrue warrior. A powerful fighter, and for the first time, I truly understand exactly why he is a part of the Guard.
The creature makes a strangled sound as I press my fingers deep into its flesh, sinking into the warmth of it. It retreats for a second, and I use the moment to roll from beneath it, but as soon as I manage to find my footing, it launches at me. I spin with a speed I didn’t even realize I had and let the sharp edge of the dagger slice across its neck. A gurgling sound rumbles from the back of its throat as its head hangs at an odd angle, still partially attached. Remembering Eamon’s warning, I swing my hand again, letting the sharp edge of my blade finish the job as I watch its head hit the ground.
“Red, watch out!”
Ajax’s warning comes too late, and I feel the sharp stab of teeth sink into my back, and a strangled scream leaves my mouth. The force of the creature behind me sends me plunging to my knees. For a moment, my mind becomes a blur, and I lose focus.
Adina!
