Chapter 67 Devora
Devora
Scarven’s manor loomed ahead. It was all black spires and sharp edges, with darkened, empty windows that looked like unblinking eyes. Watching. Waiting. It made the cut on my thigh prickle with awareness.
We moved like shadows across the bridge leading to the property, the crushed gravel crunching beneath our boots. Mist curled low around our feet. Creatures scurried by in the distant trees surrounding us, and thick wind whistled through their branches.
Milo stayed behind, as he said he would, but the rest of the Ashen Order was armored up and ready to go, along with more than a dozen older refugees who had volunteered to help.
Everett and two other Illusionists were a few steps ahead of the rest of us, using their magic to conceal the entire group as we neared the mansion. To anyone looking, they would see straight through us and to the forest beyond.
We all wanted to believe it would be simple. Get to the Hollow to find where the weapons were being hidden, rescue the remaining prisoners, set the explosive charm, get out.
But we were dressed for battle, and I feared that was the only way this would end.
Nox glanced at me, his eyes holding a question. When I nodded, he looked over at Tessa and Kieran, then the others, meeting each of their stares with a quick nod of confirmation. Then he pointed two fingers at Everett.
According to plan, our ranks began to spread. Kieran led a small group west toward the stables that hid one entrance to the Hollow, while Tessa and her group went south. The rest of us kept straight toward the front of the mansion, prepared to fend off any defenses that may be in place.
Everett, Nox, and I stepped forward. The second my boot landed in the hard grass, I felt it.
A spell. It skittered across my skin, tightening in my chest and making the hair on the back of my neck rise. I jerked toward Nox, whose jaw was clenched.
“My illusion,” Everett said beside me. “It’s down.”
“Well, I guess he knew we were coming,” I muttered.
We all tensed, the air suddenly shifting around us. My breath quickened as the shadows cast by the towering mansion became more sinister. They crawled across the ground like spindly fingers reaching for us. Wind rustled my hair, howling in the distant trees.
“Nox, what should we—” I cut myself off with a sharp gasp.
Something struck.
But it wasn’t someone attacking. It was from inside my leathers. Like something invisible was clawing at my skin beneath my shirt.
I quickly ripped the sleeve up my right arm, my stomach crashing to my feet when I realized what it was.
“It’s him,” I breathed out, watching in horror as, once again, words were carved into the sensitive skin of my inner arm. Nox yanked me toward him. Fury radiated from him in waves, and my shadows sprang to my fingertips in response.
Blood beaded and pooled around two crimson words.
Look up
My head snapped up. It wasn’t shadows from the mansion that were inching closer.
There was a flash of glowing eyes, claws of steel catching moonlight, and then three of them dropped from the rooftop.
Shifters.
Before I could blink, they attacked.