Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
~ Shade ~
Kenzie pales, and she points to the jungle.
“Well, we can’t go in there. We all saw what happened to Jericho!
” She turns her attention to the ghostly pine forest instead.
“What about that one?” As she says it, the pine trees shake like there’s something big walking in the forest, and she swallows hard.
“There are monsters in each section,” I tell her.
Around us, the students have started forming into groups.
A large gathering of about sixty students forms neat lines, advancing on the pine forest with a couple of the more powerful students leading them.
The rest of us watch as they slow before the trees, nearly stopping as they eye the forest for movement.
More cheering erupts from the stands, and I turn my head to see thick shadows coiling around Thane’s wrists, curling up and winding around his tattooed biceps.
Dark clouds gather high above us, dark puffs clustering above our heads until the clouds completely block out the stars and the moonlight, the only illumination now coming from the flaming torches lining the arena.
The temperature drops, the air growing thick with moisture, and my heart feels like it’s about to pound out of my chest. This is not good. So not good.
“Run, mate!” Thane’s growl fills my ears right before lightning crackles in the sky, and thunder booms around the amphitheater. Then the first drops of rain fall.
Large black droplets plummet from the sky, falling into the center of the arena, and we all watch transfixed as the rain lands on a few students who are standing in the middle of the sands.
For a moment, all I can hear is the rain as we all watch in shock, but then the screaming starts.
The students who were touched by the droplets fall to their hands and knees as the acid burns through their clothing, and the horrible stench of charred flesh fills the air as it melts their skin. Oh, god.
Kenzie and a few of the other students throw up, unable to handle the sight, but somehow, I manage to keep the bile down. Seconds later, the small circle of rain slowly starts to widen, spreading out evenly in all directions, and that’s when everything turns to chaos.
The students run, all sprinting in different directions.
People crash into one another and trample the fallen in their desperate attempt to escape.
Ian strides forward confidently and runs his sword through a man who fails to get out of his way fast enough for him.
A few feet from our position, a girl trips, falling to the sand, and Kenzie and I yank her to her feet before she’s trampled.
The organized students positioned in front of the pine forest plunge into the trees, no longer hesitant now that they know what other fate awaits them. As they disappear, the trees shake, and I hear a familiar upbeat song ring out above the roar of the rain and the cacophony of screams.
A tasty morsel, we can see,
Delicious, not vicious, for us to eat,
We hope it screams, we hope it begs,
We will slowly devour it until we’re fed.
“What is that?” Kenzie croaks, looking in terror at the forest.
I grimace, thinking of the nemins and the way they paralyze their victims before they eat them. Slowly, the students who enter the trees fall silent, and I shudder.
“We should go there,” I say, because at least I know I can speak to the nemins. I might even be able to save some of the students, too.
Another group of students seeks cover in the coconut trees, and I try to shout a warning as the taseral rushes out of the water, snatching one of the students in its massive jaws and snapping him in two, sending blood spraying across the sand.
The other students clamber to use their powers and weapons, attacking the beast, but their blades can’t penetrate its thick scales.
“Shade!” Thane’s shout in my ears has me jerking to attention, and I realize my mates have probably been screaming at me for a while. The rain is so close, only a few yards away from my position, and the circle starts widening faster.
I snatch a glance at Thane, and the queen is staring at him with impatience.
The crowd roars as they watch us, and I glance again at the pine forest. It’s too far away, and the circle of rain stands between us. Crap. “We’ll have to go to the jungle instead,” I tell Kenzie reluctantly, and the pair of us start sprinting away from the rain.
“How can they love this? Aren’t they sick of all the death they’ve already seen on the battlefield?” I shout at my mates.
“Sometimes to survive fighting monsters, you must become one yourself,” Galen replies somberly, and his words sit heavy in my chest.
“Or the queen could just give them the therapy they desperately need,” I joke, though my voice is strained.
“Or you know, romance books. There’s no better therapy than romance books!
” I say it like I’m kidding, but a part of me is serious.
Somehow, even though I haven’t gained all my memories, I know that part is true.
Romance books have been a large part of my life, and something tells me I might not be here today if it weren’t for them.
“Hurry, treasure,” is Galen’s only reply.
The rain moves closer, droplets of acid sizzling against the sand behind me, and I can feel my mates’ gazes burning against my skin. I breathe heavily as I run, stumbling in the sand and cursing myself for not moving sooner. “I guess there was a reason for all those sprinting lessons after all.”
Up ahead, Ian, Satine, and the rest of their group slip into the jungle forest. I wish I could avoid going in the same direction as Ian’s group, but we don’t have a choice now. As the rain comes closer, a metallic scent fills my nose.
“Hurry!” Knox tells me desperately.
“I am hurrying!” I quip back.
“Thane can’t make it fall slower, sunshine,” Raith warns me. “Move that tight ass of yours.”
I want to grin at his comment, but death is breathing down my neck, and all I can do is focus on the trees that are so close, and yet, feel so far away.
Ian and his group disappear from sight, along with a number of other students who dive between the trees, and Kenzie reaches the tree line before me.
She turns around, surprised that I’m not behind her, and she calls out to me, stretching out her arms, urging me to run faster.
Come on, Shade. Only a little further, I tell myself, but just as I give myself that pep talk, I trip over my own feet, and I’m pitching forward. The ground comes up fast, and a startled cry escapes me as I land face-first in the sand.
“Shade!” Kenzie shouts.
I lift my head, shaking the grit out of my eyes.
The rain falls so close to me now, inches from my boots, and I eye the remaining distance to the trees. There’s no way I’ll make it.
“On your feet, mate,” Thane’s commanding voice thunders in my ears, and somehow, I find myself standing, even though my mate isn’t there to carry me this time.
“Yes, daddy,” I wheeze out as I stagger forward, moving again towards the trees even though I know I won’t make it.
There’s no laughter from Thane. “Die now, mate, and I will punish you in the afterlife for all eternity,” he growls.
Desire rushes through me at his words, and a small smile twists my lips as I move faster.
“Die now and this entire realm will be punished,” Knox promises, his voice laced with something dark.
Swallowing, I focus on sucking in heaving breaths.
Just before the rain is about to touch me, I send out my shadows, reaching for the trees.
In response, Kenzie shoots her shadows out toward me.
Neither of us have enough power to make our shadows cover the distance, but our shadows meet in the middle.
Together, our power is enough. We are enough.
Seconds before the rain can reach me, our shadows entwine, the ends twisting around one another like locking hands, and Kenzie yanks on her power.
I half run and am half pulled across the remainder of the distance, my boots dragging on the sand until I crash into Kenzie, falling to safety as the pair of us sprawl onto a patch of ferns.
The rain chases me up until the tree line, and then it stops, like an invisible barrier is preventing it from entering the forest.
“Girl, do that again and next time I’ll kill you myself,” Kenzie tells me through tears, whacking me lightly with her hand.
Lifting our heads, we peer back at the sands and watch in horror as the last students who are exposed in the arena scream. They fall, writhing in pain as Thane’s rain pours down on them without mercy.
I fight back the sob that wants to break free. “Thanks,” I tell Kenzie, still trying to process how close I came to dying.
“Shade!” My mates shout my name over and over in my ears.
Falling back onto the grass, I focus on sucking air into my burning lungs. “I’m alive. It’s okay. I made it,” I rasp to my mates, because I just know if I don’t tell them that I’m okay, they’re going to do something stupid like defy the queen. Or you know…try to kill her.
My mates’ relieved whispers brush against my ears, and Thane mutters a stream of curses and apologies.
When the screams in the arena end, I force myself up again. Kenzie and I stand, facing the darkness of the jungle, and I wonder what horrors lie within.