Chapter 9
Knox
“What are we doing?” Theon asks as he glances around the shithole Levington moved us to.
It’s basically a fucking shack. There’s a tiny bathroom with no shower and the one nearest to this hellhole is in the senior camp a bit further down from here.
It’s been two weeks since we arrived at the Volar Academy. Two weeks since Sena revealed that she wasn’t the Sena we grew up with—wasn’t the Sena we know now.
I was confused at first. Then hurt when I realized she thought she couldn’t tell us and thought we’d kill her because of it. Now I just fucking miss her.
“To be honest, I’m glad she’s not the old Sena,” Theon says making us freeze.
I glance over at him as he sighs.
“It means she was never the Sena we hated. Only the one we loved.” He tilts his head back against the wall and stares up at the rotting tiles of the roof. “I had this fear that she’d remember one day and hate us all again.”
It’s something that worried me too, but I shoved it deep down hoping it would never come true. That she’d never get her memory back. Now we never have to worry about that.
She’s not the old Sena. The one who got us sent to the Void and fucking tormented us.
I freeze and groan when it finally hits me what that means. “We treated her like shit, and she wasn’t even the one who sent us to the Void.”
“We didn’t know,” Cyrus says quietly. “How could we possibly have known she was a completely different person?”
True, but still…
We also fucked up again. We should never have walked away from her in that office after she told us everything.
Damn it. I glance between the others and watch as they all slowly get lost in their heads, all miserable as if they’ve just lost her. But she’s right fucking here in the academy.
“What the hell are we doing just sitting around?” I say to them all. “She’s our mate. Our true mate. Let’s go fix this and get our mate back.”
My words snap them out of their misery, and they get moving. We get up, but Malakai pauses and gives us a look that makes my stomach drop. “What is it?”
“I can’t see where she is.” He glances between us as a sliver of fear seeps into his expression. “She’s blocked me out.”
Fuck. I immediately reach out to her. “Sena? Sena, baby?” She doesn’t reply and my heart dips.
I push harder against the bond but it’s like she’s reinforced it, locked it down tight and completely shut me out.
“I can’t reach her either,” I tell them and share a look with the guys. We really fucked up this time.
“What if something happened?” Theon says and my heart plummets at the thought. I turn to go find her when Levington walks in with a greasy smile on his face.
“Where’s Sena?” I ask him.
“She’s safe,” he says. “I came to tell you that unfortunately your altered memories will have to stay that way for a little while longer. The Shadow with the ability has been pulled away on a mission.”
I scoff. “How convenient.” But I wouldn’t have trusted him or any of his men anyway. I don’t care that I didn’t see Sena light up and do her thing. I don’t need to. I believe what she said is real.
“Now. Let’s talk about rules, boys,” Levington says like he’s our new best friend. “You’ve caused quite the commotion since you’ve been here already. And I’m afraid your actions have consequences. Hence your new change in accommodation.”
“Fuck your rules and this shithole. Tell us where Sena is now or I’ll wipe this academy out,” I warn him, but he stares at me like I just told him I’m about to give him a hug.
“You will follow the rules,” he says. “Or you will all leave.”
I clench my jaw so hard I nearly break it. “Then we’ll leave, but we’re taking Sena with us.”
He gives me a smug smile I want to punch. “That’s not an option. Sena is royal. She’s staying where she belongs.”
“She’s our mate,” Malakai grits out.
He nods, agreeing, but not caring either way. “But she’s our future queen. I’m afraid your little mate bond doesn’t supersede that. Nor will it ever.”
Little bond… There haven’t been mates in over a decade. And true mates in even longer. Not that he knows that little fact.
“This is where she belongs. The question is, do you?” He looks between us. “As it stands right now, none of you are worthy of Sena.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Theon says but Levington ignores him to continue his little speech.
“When she takes her role as queen, she will need people around her that are able to protect her.”
“We can protect her,” I point out. No one will be able to protect her like we can. No one.
He gives me an expression full of pity. “People that will be respected and looked up to. That will help her on this path.” He raises a brow and looks at all of us. “…not drag her down.”
“We would never do anything that would jeopardize what she wants,” Cyrus says as his shadows slip out around him and try to attack Levington. It takes everything in him to hold himself back.
“But no one will respect her with you four by her side,” Levington says making us all freeze.
Each of his words are like a damn punch to the face but none of us can deny them. None of us are role models. None of us are looked up to or admired.
We may be known for our strength and powers but more so our destruction and chaos.
Sena, on the other hand, is royal. She’s fucking royalty. And us four are nothing but Shadow mongrels that most people fear.
Silence seeps into the room as his words hit us hard when we realize that he’s right.
“I’ve already talked to Sena, and she agrees it’s for the best that you all spend some time apart.
She will continue to stay in the main academy under the guise of being a female Shadow and you will all stay here and work in the senior camp,” he says and practically fucking twisting a knife in my heart.
“Sena agreed to this?” I ask.
He nods as shock slams into me. “She understands the importance of this all.”
Damn it. We really must have fucked up if she doesn’t even want us to be near her.
“What if we don’t train with the senior camps?” Theon asks with a look that says he’d rather tear Levington apart.
I don’t blame him. I want to do the exact same thing. Or worse.
“I’m training with Sena,” I tell him. There’s no way she’s training with his sheep. She’ll train better with us anyway.
Well, once she comes around and forgives us all for being fucking idiots.
“You will train in the senior camp from here on out or you will be forced to leave,” he says and gives us all a look of warning.
I’m about to call on one of my blades and slit the fucker’s throat when his gaze veers directly to me.
“We also have precautions in place all over the academy that will hinder any further attacks you may attempt. But should you attempt anything again, you will immediately be thrown out. And the minute one of you leave our shields, I can promise you you’re not coming back in.”
Fucking prick. I dig my nails into my palm and imagine I’m squeezing his neck.
He cocks his head, nods to himself and then pastes on a fake-ass smile. “Now that that’s out of the way. Let’s talk about something I think you might be interested in.” He looks between us. “I’ve been putting a team together to go to the Hollow and finally destroy the heart stone once and for all.”
I bark out a laugh. Who does this fucker think he is? The dick must be out of his mind if he thinks we’d ever even contemplate going to the Hollow for him.
“None of us are interested,” Malakai says glaring at him. “Besides it’s a fucking suicide mission.”
“One your mate seems to think is a goal she can achieve,” he says with a sly grin tilting his lips.
We all freeze. I think I can hear my damn heartbeat racing loudly in my ears.
There’s no fucking way she’s going into a place where Terrigons and Dark Beasts are born.
It’s a place I never want my mate to go, let alone attempt to destroy.
And the heart stone is apparently near-fucking-indestructible.
“She’s not going,” Cyrus grits out, voicing all our thoughts.
Levington shrugs. “I don’t want her to go either. But she will soon be the most powerful being here and we need powerful people to help destroy it.”
He stares at us like he doesn’t care either way.
So much for putting her life above everyone else’s. It’s clear what he wants. He wants us to fall in line. And is using Sena to do it.
And I’m pretty sure he knows we’ll do anything for her. Even sacrificing ourselves.
“We’ll take her place,” I tell them, and the others don’t question my decision. “You said you need powerful people there. We’re more powerful than any of your men and you know it. We won’t fucking bend and break when we’re near the Hollow either.”
He quickly hides his little smirk before shifting his face into something that is supposed to look like concern.
“You four are nothing but chaos right now,” he says. “But… if you train and work hard. Earn the respect of those around you. I’ll make sure you’re given a chance to earn a spot on the team.”
Earn our spot… This fucking dick. He wants to sacrifice us to the Hollow but makes it sound like he’s the one doing us a favor.
“I’ll be checking in soon,” he says with a hint of a threat in his tone. I ignore it and count to ten in my head, think of Sena and try not to fucking pummel the dickhead.
By the time I reach ten, the prick has left and I feel like I can finally breathe.
Until I realize what the fuck we just got ourselves into and the hell we’re going to go through being away from Sena.
“For Sena,” Cyrus says, and we nod, agreeing we’ll do whatever it takes to keep Sena safe and out of harm’s way.
THEON
From the crack of dawn until nearly midnight, we’ve been training and working our asses off. Running drill after drill, fight after fight before working out and running until every muscle and bone in our body aches. Until exhaustion is all we can think and feel.
Four days have passed since I slipped into one of Sena’s combat classes and made sure she got something to eat in the canteen.
It’s lucky the crystal and heavy training sessions are keeping us sane, or I feel like we’d already have been taken over by the madness from being away from our mate.
The other Shadows here treat us like shit, but the harder we work, the more respect I see in their eyes. It keeps reminding me why we’re still here and who we’re doing this all for.
Sena.
Fuck, I miss her. Even the thought of her has my heart feeling like it’s tearing in two.
I’m bone-tired but there’s no way in hell I’m getting any sleep. “I’m going for a walk,” I tell the others but they’re practically comatose.
Making sure no one is watching or around, I slip into the shadows and move along the edge of the academy.
Sena’s scent instantly hits me, and I freeze. Quickly turning around, I keep to the shadows and follow her scent and seconds later I find her on a field with a group of men and women, all practicing different moves.
Her long blonde hair is tied up into an effortless ponytail, and she has a tight white t-shirt and even tighter pair of black shorts on.
Every inch of her stunning.
How the fuck we get so lucky? She’s not only sexy as hell, but she also has the most beautiful heart I’ve ever seen. She’s kind and caring. Strong and thoughtful. Intelligent, with a wicked tongue I can’t get enough of.
I adjust myself and quickly make sure I’m still shrouded by my shadows before glancing back over at her.
Emptiness quickly overshadows my desire making me frown. Why do I…
I look at Sena and realize it’s not my emotions I’m feeling, but hers. My happiness is short lived when more of her emptiness seeps into me.
To anyone watching her you would think she’s just concentrating and running the drills, but she’s not even there. It’s like she’s just going through the motions, her muscles working from memory to perform each task before moving onto the next.
What the hell is going on?
Without thinking about it, I slip into our connection, hoping she doesn’t still have me blocked out, and that she’ll notice. I send her my love and warmth and hope it fills up some of that emptiness she’s feeling right now.
The change in her is almost immediate. She frowns for a minute before joining in with more thought and feeling and smiles when she wins the next sparring match.
I feel the warmth of her smile and clench my fists, stopping myself from going to her.
She doesn’t want to see us yet. But soon.
And the minute she’s back with us, I’m never fucking letting her go again.