Page 71 of The Blackened Blade

“Where's the little ninja gone?” Grins Annex, as he prods the shaking body draped over Ezra’s shoulder.

“Careful, you’re too close to my face man.” Ezra smacks the blade away, placing Ash down gently on the gravel below.

“Right, we wouldn’t wanna accidentally leave a mark on that pretty skin,” Smirks the deranged bastard.

“They were too quick.” Mallyn dumps Grey on the ground like unwanted trash, a pained grunt leaving the shifter as he hits the gravel. Mal wasn’t one for physical contact. “There was no trace, not even a trail or scent to track. Whoever it was, they were quick and skilled, maybe even trained?”

These boys were like my brothers. If blood was thicker than water, then these boys were my bones. Andnobodycould match or rival their skills or power.

If they say this person was able to get past them, then they must be on a whole different level.

I look back at the beast. Makes sense if he was able to take that on by himself. And thankfully those with power like that have a following, so finding him shouldn’t be so hard for our network. I’ll get Ezra on it later.

I look toward Mallyn, his brows furrowed and eyes darkening.

I’d have to check in on him later, I didn’t like the look in his eyes, but right now I had to focus on Morgan.

I cradle her in my arms, holding her gently as I make my way past the dead beast, taking one last glance at its body.

I send out a wave of my power, the black smoke flows out quickly like a small tsunami and consumes the corpse. The body quickly disintegrates until only small black specks and scorch-like marks are left in its wake.

Nobody needed to know what happened here but us. The academy trying to get involved would only be a hindrance.

We would handle this ourselves. And whoever did this…would pay in blood.

If they were able to target Morgan and her partners on the academy's grounds, then they must have some connection to the school or the people in it.

I look back toward the academy building; music still blaring and voices talking and laughing, completely unaware of what's just happened.

Or the consequences that will fall on this school for fucking with my family.

I make my way out past the gates and toward my car.

I place Morgan in carefully before turning back toward the boys.

“Get your uniforms ready…” Annex, Mallyn and Ezra turn to me. “We’ll be attending the academy full-time from now on.”

Mallyn gives me a small nod, but the look in his eyes and tick to his jaw, tells me he wants to do anything but that.

“I was already turning up from time to time.” Ezra shrugs. “All the better for me to collect what we need.”

“Perfect. I’ll get to see more of Red then.” Hums Annex. And the grin stretching his lips tells me he's talking about the unfortunate soul who caught his eye recently.

I get in the car and take off.

I’ll start my search for the black-clothed figure first. If they were involved in this or dragged Morgan into their shit, then I’ll make them pay a hundred times what she's suffered tonight.

CHAPTER 19

ANNEX

Istretch out my shoulders, a deep yawn pulling at my lips as I make my way through the old building.

Creed had us spend the entire weekend searching the forest area around the academy for the masked ninja we saw Friday night. Which meant no more time in the ring.

My bet was on it being a chick. With that small frame it had to be.

The others thought it was a guy, but I knew better. Knowing where to hit and stab and cause the most damage was my specialty. So knowing anatomy and body portions were a must. Even with the dark lighting, I could see those curves.

---