Page 9 of The Shadows Beyond
His attacker was horrified—disturbed even, going by his expression—and released Cinn to wipe the saliva off his cheek with the sleeve of his black trench coat.
Cinn readied his right hook, but before could he could enact what would surely be the final blow, strong arms wound their way around his neck. While he’d been so focused on the blond demon, his mate had crept behind him, got him in a headlock.Perfect.
“Get off me, you prick,” Cinn growled, reaching for the switchblade he always kept in the left pocket of his jeans—to find it missing, long since confiscated by the police.
“Oh, stop it, the three of you!” snapped the woman. “Does everything need to descend into violence?” Closing the space between them, she leant forward, uncurling a gloved palm to reveal white powder.
Upon seeing it, the two men leapt away, one to each side, but for Cinn it was too late—one gigantic breath, and the woman had blown the mass of ultrafine crystallised particles directly into his face.
Cinn coughed, spluttered, spat. The substance had entered his mouth, throat, nose, eyes.
Years of taking absolutely nothing, and now drugged twice in twenty-fours hours.
“I’m guessing this isn’t the fun sort of powder?” Cinn wheezed, feeling his stomach start to clench, and his muscles begin to seize. “What t-th…” His tongue, fat and heavy in his slack jaw, refused to move any further.
“It’s Frostbite,” the demon princeling said. “Don’t bother fighting it,” he added with a smirk Cinn itched to punch off his face. “It’ll only make it worse.”
Pure fear gripped Cinn. Rarely before had he felt as powerless as he did standing there, rooted to the spot, only able to blink. A rush of adrenaline coursed through him as his pulse spiked. With desperation, he attempted to force words out—he needed to warn them what might happen if they continued to put him under stress—but he only produced a strangled half cry.
The girl sighed and moved towards Cinn. Her alabaster skin revealed a sea of light freckles. “It was just to immobilise you until you calm down. Here, I’m going to give you a fifth of the antidote dose. It should be enough to let you talk, and to stop you shitting yourself.”
The two others snickered. Cinn, paralysed and powerless, could only watch as she placed a tiny chunk of a red pellet on his tongue. It fizzed as it dissolved.
She used her gloved hand to brush the remnants of the powder from his face onto the ground.
Cinn’s tongue came back to life somewhat, allowing him to spit out, “Naff off!”
The girl stepped back.
Stretching out his jaw, he continued, “What the fuck is my leaving to you lot, anyway? You working for that Sinclair woman? Who are you?”
“Introductions were actually on the agenda, but you derailed it,” the blond drawled, rubbing at his cheek as if Cinn’s germs might still remain there.
The girl rolled her eyes with an exasperated shake of her head. “Julien, you’re the one that took this right off the tracks. All you had to do was say ‘hello, nice to meet you’, but no, instead you jump straight to threats. No wonder you spooked him.”
The other bloke, crazy-curls dude, laughed. “You’re acting surprised, Darcy.” Was that an American accent Cinn detected? These three were certainly an eclectic mix.
She spun to face the man. “And thanksso muchfor your support, Elliot. I thought we both agreed that not attacking the person who we’re supposed to be responsible for, supposed to beasking for helpfrom, was the more sensible idea.”
“Hey, you only told me not to channel in front of him, not to not attack him.”
“It was implied!”
Elliot shrugged. “The back and forth was getting old.”
Cinn flicked his eyes between the odd trio, unable to fully move his head still. Just what had he stumbled into? And what did they need his help with?
The girl—Darcy—smiled at him, the way you might smile at a toddler you wanted to placate. “How about this? I give you the rest of the antidote, and then we all go back to mine for a nice mug of tea.” Her wide green eyes pierced him with her gaze.
After a moment’s thought, Cinn eventually made a noise of assent. It was late now, and he barely knew where he was. Once he’d convinced the group he was going to be of no use to them whatsoever, perhaps he couldusethemsomehow. Darcy wore a sparkling jewelled necklace over her expensive-looking jumper—maybe there would be more shiny things to swipe on his way out.
four
Julien
The short walk to Darcy’s cottage, nestled in a quiet spot near the edge of town, was awkwardly silent. Darcy led the way with Julien and Elliot trailing closely behind Cinnamon, essentially caging him with their bodies, blocking any further escape attempts.
Julien expelled a deep breath. The previous half an hour had been a close call, far too close for comfort. Shortly after Eleanor Sinclair had called to update him, the fire in Darcy’s living room had crackled, spitting out another smoking parchment piece that demanded the three of them hurry to the gate at the edge of the green—Eleanor citing information from ‘her sources’ that Cinn was on the move, and had entered the grove.
