Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
~ Raith ~
Following my mate’s scent, I move soundlessly through the academy forest. It’s easy to track Shade’s clumsily made path, and at one point, I come across a strange pyramid of food set up in a glade.
The pyramid is constructed using different kinds of fruit drizzled with honey, and it’s topped with an unwrapped chocolate bar.
A few of the pieces of fruit at the bottom have been nibbled on, probably by some of the smaller shadow creatures in the forest. I’m not sure of the intention behind the food pyramid, but I move on, and it’s a short while later when I spy my mate.
Nestled between the roots of a large oak tree, she’s shrouded in shadow as whisps of fog drift around her.
Kazer is curled up near her legs, and the winged lion lazily opens one eye as I approach.
I press a finger to my lips and give my bonded creature a wink.
He soon closes his eye again, his tail flickin’ once before he goes back to dozing.
Rinoc is relaxing a little further away, the giant bear napping on the grass, and Bonfang stands in the darkness of the trees, his gaze alert like he’s keeping guard. My brother’s giant wolf watches me carefully, but he doesn’t give me away.
Without making a sound, I approach from behind, and Shade doesn’t notice me. She grips her sketchbook, her brow furrowed in concentration as her pencil glides over the textured paper. Not too far away, Arizak swishes his tail, the shadow stallion stomping one of his front hooves impatiently.
Shade clucks her tongue, pulling her pencil from the paper. “You need to stay still,” she complains before pressing the pencil down again. “Unless you want to end up looking like a stallion with a stick figure for a butt.”
A grin breaks out on my face. “You know, I haven’t seen him stay that still for anyone,” I point out as I round the oak tree. “Well, except for Galen, I s’pose.”
Shade startles, yelping and snapping her sketchbook closed before she realizes it’s me.
She presses a hand to her chest like she thinks I just gave her a heart attack, and Arizak snorts at my presence.
Like he takes my arrival as a sign he can move, the stallion walks further into the trees, lowering his head to graze.
“Nooo,” Shade complains letting out a disappointed sigh. “Well, I warned you. A stick figure butt it is.”
Arizak snorts like he understands her but couldn’t care less.
I huff a laugh. “A stick figure butt?”
She draws something then holds up her sketchbook. “Yeah, see.”
“Ah.” Most of Arizak has been drawn with care.
In smooth strokes, there’s the illustration of the stallion with his shadow mane burnin’ like black fire, and his wings detailed includin’ the tiny horns at the tip of each wing.
There’s even shading, not that I know much about art.
But for the back-end, Shade has drawn a few simple lines.
It makes it look like the drawing was finished by a toddler. Not that I could do any better.
I scratch the back of my neck. “Damn, that’s pretty good.”
Shade snorts, placin’ the sketchbook on the grass. “You’re only saying that because you want to get into my pants.”
A low chuckle rumbles in my throat. “No point denyin’ it.” I nudge her with my arm. “Galen said classes went well today.”
She laughs, her face flushing. “He would say that, wouldn’t he?”
“Was he lyin’?”
Her expression grows thoughtful. “Did he tell you what happened?”
I grin. “Just wish I was there to watch, sunshine.”
Her gaze heats at my words, and my cock instantly hardens as she stares at me.
Fuck, she’s incredible, and if it wasn’t for the prophecy, she would easily fit into our group.
Knox is still warming up to the idea of her, but I know he’ll come around eventually.
Shade is a second chance for us. I won’t forgive him for what he did to our last mate, but with Shade, things could be…
better. Fuck, we might even be happy for a change.
Beware the bond of your beloved mate. The words of the prophecy sound in my head like a fuckin’ warning I can’t escape. But there’s no way I’m lettin’ Shade get hurt. We lost one mate, and I’ll be damned if I let us lose another.
I think of our mate from before. I only got to meet her twice when Knox pulled me into her dreams with him, but I remember her soft kisses.
Remember the way she moaned when I dropped between her legs, even if it was only in her dreams. And I also remember her agonizing pain when the queen cursed us, and our mate was caught in the crossfire.
Forcing the thoughts from my mind, I step over the tree root, dropping down beside Shade. Yawning, Kazer lifts from his spot, slinkin’ off into the trees.
“Tell me why you’re out here, sunshine. You missed dinner.”
She hesitates, and I wait patiently, lazily draggin’ my fingertips along her arm. Damn, how is her skin so fuckin’ soft?
She gives me a strange look. “Yeah, let’s just say lunch didn’t go the best, so I figured it might be a good idea if I skipped dinner tonight.”
My hand stills. “What happened at lunch?”
She watches me like she’s tryin’ to gauge my reaction. “Oh, it’s nothing,” she finally says, brushing it off. “Just people being assholes.”
I hold her gaze, not satisfied with her answer. “If anyone’s givin’ you a hard time, you need to let me know.”
“Why? So you can make them have an accident?” she jokes.
I don’t see what’s so amusin’. “It won’t be an accident,” I tell her seriously.
If someone is messin’ with her, I would take care of them quickly.
If I had my way, she wouldn’t be attending the classes at all.
She’d only get private lessons from us. Unfortunately, the queen has already set eyes on our little mate, and it’s hard to know whether the queen has any spies at Shadowbone.
If Shade didn’t turn up to classes, it would raise questions.
“I mean it,” I tell Shade when she doesn’t say anything. “If anyone’s givin’ you trouble, I’ll take care of them.”
I can see her mind working, like she’s contemplatin’ her answer. I’m about to press her further, when her lips curve into a soft smile. “Nope. I’m all good. But remind me never to get on your bad side.”
I grin. “That’s not somethin’ you need to worry about, sunshine.”
Her cheeks turn an adorable shade of pink, and I can’t help myself.
Leaning in, I press a kiss to her lips. She relaxes against me as she kisses me back, and I pull her closer, one hand sliding to the small of her back.
Fuck, she tastes like caramel and cinnamon, and I can’t believe Knox is missing this.
At the thought of my brother, my muscles tighten. Sensing the change, Shade pulls back. “Something wrong?” she asks, breathless.
I groan as I force my gaze away from her lips, but I don’t release her. “Yeah,” I let out a long breath. “What’s wrong is that I promised I wouldn’t get distracted.”
She stares at me quizzically as I stand and lift her to her feet.
“See, as much as I’d love to have my way with you right now, we’ve gotta go,” I say reluctantly.
“Go? Go where?”
“I’ll explain when we’re with the others.” Shadows cloud the air behind me as I create a shadow pathway, and Shade grabs her sketchbook from the grass. Taking her hand, I lead her through the pathway. “Oh, by the way, did you leave food in the forest?”
“Huh? Oh, the snacks. Yeah, I figured whatever my animali is, it’s probably hungry.”
My lips twitch. “You’re hopin’ to lure a creature to you with…snacks?”
She frowns. “What? I’m not trying to lure anyone. I’m just trying to help the process along.”
“That’s not how it works, sunshine.”
“Well, you can’t blame a girl for trying,” she replies.
I’m still smiling when we step from the pathway into our private rooms. Thane, Galen, and Knox are all waiting for us in the sitting room, already dressed in their fighting gear.
I don’t miss the way Shade’s gaze lingers on my brother.
It’s not surprisin’ considering the bastard has been avoidin’ her, and the idea that she’s uncomfortable irritates the fuck out of me.
I maintain my hold on Shade, my hand squeezing her waist. She doesn’t say anything, but she relaxes a fraction, and a thread of satisfaction winds through me.
At the sight of us, Thane immediately turns to Galen. “Looks like you’re on cage duty.”
Galen purses his lips and gives me a wounded look. “You let me down, Raith. I was sure you wouldn’t be able to resist.”
Grinning, I grip Shade’s hip more possessively. “It was touch and go for a minute there.”
“Can we just get this over with,” Knox says coldly, observing from further away.
Shade frowns, glaring at Knox. “Get what over with? And what the hell is cage duty?”
“He lost the bet,” Thane growls like it explains everything. Of course, Shade only looks more confused.
“Galen bet that I’d be late bringin’ you here, because I wouldn’t be able to help myself from satisfying you,” I elaborate. “Seein’ as he lost, he’s stuck with cage duty when we capture the nemins.”
Shade opens and closes her mouth before speaking. “None of that makes sense to me. What are the nemins? And why are you capturing them exactly?”
Thane adjusts his belt and checks his weapons. “The nemins are a breed of zenali. They’re small shadow creatures that hunt in groups, called a ‘hollowing.’ We need to capture a hollowing tonight in preparation for the graduation games.”
“Oh. Right,” she says, her face growing a little pale. “And let me guess, these creatures are incredibly dangerous, and the students will have to fight them during the games?”
“Somethin’ like that,” I answer, not liking how the color is drainin’ from her cheeks.
“During the games, students will have to face a variety of shadow creatures. The nemins are merely one of the species the students will encounter. They’re small, but not to be underestimated,” Galen drawls.
“And how many species of shadow creatures do you need to collect?” she asks, then her brows pinch together.
“Hold on, I need to get this straight in my head. So the animali are the animal-like shadow creatures that the warriors bond with, but I thought the zenali were more intelligent shadow creatures, capable of understanding different languages? Why would the queen put them in the games?”
Galen uncrosses his legs, lifting from the couch.
“For the same reason humans place animals in zoos, I suppose. The zenali are more powerful, meaning they make for more interesting entertainment during the games. We’ve never agreed with the queen’s choice to use them, but if we don’t collect them, the other originals will, and they’ll give little thought to how they’re brought in.
We’ll be collecting five species in total. ”
“Why can’t you just capture a few of the Xalgrith for the games instead?” she asks.
“There’s a reason all the students at Shadowbone aren’t automatically made immortal.
Part of it is the importance of training in the basics before being able to wield such power and navigating the abilities that come with immortality,” Galen explains.
“The other part is that the Xalgrith are able to infiltrate the minds of those who are too weak to resist them. A soldier on the battlefield unable to keep them out wouldn’t simply be a liability, they could become a weapon used against us.
Placing Xalgrith in the arena with humans isn’t a good idea. ”
She’s clearly still troubled by what she’s hearing, but she nods. “Fine. So when will be you be back?” she asks, and there’s a hint of worry in her voice. It warms my heart that she thinks we would be in any danger.
No one answers straight away, and I share a look with my friends.
“What?” she prompts.
“See, the thing is, I suggested you remain here, under the watchful care of our bonded animali, but Thane seems to think you wouldn’t want to miss the fun,” Galen teases.
Thane narrows his eyes at Galen. “That’s not what I said,” he growls, and he turns his attention back to Shade. He seems to pick his next words carefully. “We need bait to lure out a hollowing. They’re too smart to try and hunt us.”
“What?” Her eyes snap wide. “And you think I’m the best one for the job?”
Thane looks reluctant to answer, but Knox gives her a humorless smile. “Ordinarily, we would simply take one of the weakest students, but Thane suggested you might have a problem with that.” My brother’s dark gaze remains fixed on her while he waits for her response.
“Well,” she hesitates, licking her lips nervously.
“You’d be completely safe,” I reassure her. “We wouldn’t let anythin’ bad happen to you.”
“Oh,” she says, though she doesn’t sound too relieved. “So, the students you use as bait are usually left unharmed?”
“Not usually,” I chuckle, but my laugh turns into a cough when Thane gives me a stern look. I clear my throat.
Shade looks horrified. “Great. So, the students you usually take for bait die, but you’ll try and keep me alive?”
I run a hand through my hair. “Yep. That pretty much sums it up.”
“Unless you’d rather we select one of your classmates?” Knox suggests. He gives Shade a challenging look like he’s hoping she’ll choose that option.
“No,” she blurts quickly. She’s obviously conflicted, but our sweet mate isn’t willing to condemn anyone else. “Just promise me, you won’t let me get eaten alive or anything.”
Knox doesn’t comment, but I give her a wolfish grin. “Of course. We’re the only ones who get to eat you, sunshine.”