Chapter 10
Malakai
I’m so fucking tired of this shit. It’s been the same thing, day in and day out for over a week. Since Levington placed us in his little punishment shack.
There’s something about him that just rubs me the wrong way. Something I can’t put my finger on.
“I don’t trust him,” I tell the guys, and they look over at me and instantly know who I’m talking about.
“He’s hiding something. He has to be,” Knox says as he gets up of his shitty little bed and heads over to the door. “So let’s start following him. Let’s find out what his game is once and for all.”
I share a look with the guys. The fucker has us watched and followed, but since it’s already night, we’d be able to use the shadows to our advantage. But if we get caught, we could end up spending even more time away from Sena.
That idea certainly doesn’t sit right with me. Even if she did lie to us and keep her switch a secret.
Just like the others, I’m fucking glad she’s not the old Sena. Knowing that bitch is never coming back is a damn relief. But it was the old Sena that used to lie and trick us. The one that fucking broke us time and time again.
Having our Sena lie about something like this, having her keep something this big from us, yanked every single worry and fear straight to the surface making me doubt everything.
I want to believe she’s not like her. I do. But apart from my bond brothers, everyone else has either lied or fucked us over.
I push it to the back of my mind, and we get ready and head out, keeping our eyes peeled for any winged fuckers following us while enveloping ourselves in shadows to keep concealed.
Moving as silently as possible, we make it to the main building when we spot Levington on his own heading into the forest.
Sharing a look with the others, we start following him, keeping our distance so the fucker can’t even sense us nearby.
We follow him to the edge of the forest where the shield is before we lose him.
“Let’s divide up and—A slash and crack sound has my head whipping to find the shield cracking open and a dozen men in black stepping through.
Dozens of Shadows spill out around them, and I see red. Before they realize we’re here, I’m in front of them with the guys by my side.
Twin blades form in my hands as my shadows snap out wrapping around the nearest two and yanking them closer as I slam my blades into them.
One of their hoods comes down and I spot a familiar face.
“They’re from the Shadow Academy,” I tell the others, and the air shifts around us.
“Talos probably sent them,” Knox grits out as we let go. We move through them like trained killers, making sure not one of them makes a sound as each go down.
Levington shows up just as the last one drops. His eyes flicker from us to the dead men, growing more pissed by the second.
He looks to the side and nods. Before we get a chance to figure out what the fucker is planning, large cuffs are placed on our wrists.
“What the fuck are—” I start when Knox drops to his knees, his entire face contorting in pain, the shadows that were building around him quickly dispersing.
“What are these?” Cyrus asks with nothing but rage in his eyes.
Levington ignores him to glance between us all. “You have two options here,” he says, and it takes everything in me not to walk over and fuck him up.
“You either leave this academy never to return again, or accept your punishment for what you did.”
What we— “They slipped passed the shield,” I grit out. “We dealt with your problem for you.” We should be getting a fucking thank you, not this shit.
Levington’s gaze veers to me. He gives me a look that tells me the fucker pities me. “We do not kill so easily in this academy.”
I grind my teeth so hard my jaw nearly breaks. Is he really that fucking dumb? “They were from the Shadow Academy. They were armed and ready to kill.”
He nods like he’s aware of that little fact but still holds his ground. “We could have interrogated them. Placed them in our prisons. Figured out what they came here for.”
Figured out… They were going to kill. That’s it. And more than likely were sent by Talos to find Sena. But the fucker doesn’t seem to think past our little killing spree.
“You kill without thought. I know it’s not entirely your fault.
It was bred into to you all from the beginning.
But that is not how we work here. You need to learn that’s not how things are done in the real world.
” He glances between us. “So, I will ask again. Do you want to leave, or do you accept your punishment for what you did?”
I share a look with the guys. There’s no way in hell we’re leaving Sena here alone. And I have a feeling Levington really does have a way to ensure we never find this academy again if we did leave.
“We’ll take the punishment,” Theon grits out, answering for us.
Levington nods like it’s something he knew we’d accept. “Come with me,” he says as he turns and walks through the forest. We share a pissed off look between us before following him like silent stalkers.
Coming to the edge of the ocean, I’m about to ask why the fuck we’re here when the air in front of us shimmers and slides away revealing a long path to a small island across the way.
Fuck. What else is he hiding in this place?
We move across the path quickly making it to the island and through the small forest to a door that appears to go underground.
Already knowing where this is heading, I follow the dick down the gray step and long halls to a room where four prison cells sit, two each across from one other.
“How long?” Theon asks glaring at the barred cells.
“A month should be enough time for you all to think about what you’ve done,” he says. “Someone will be here to make sure you are well looked after.”
With no other choice, we each take a cell and immediately get locked in.
“Those cuffs will stay on for your time here,” Levington says with a little glint of glee in his eyes. “You will not use your abilities. Should you attempt to, I promise, it will hurt.”
He turns and leaves without another glance and I share a look between the guys realizing just how fucked we are.
CYRUS
Maybe we were wrong for killing the men from the Shadow Academy. I immediately saw them as a threat to Sena. But maybe Levington was right. We could have taken a moment to figure out why the hell they came here. We could have got some answers out of them instead of killing them outright.
I still don’t trust Levington but he’s making me think that maybe the Shadow Academy made us see the world a little differently than everywhere else. Maybe it’s not all kill or be killed.
It’s all I’ve been thinking about since we were placed here two weeks ago. That, and Sena.
Levington has been checking in with us every couple of days keeping us updated on her. She still has us blocked out most of the time, but she can’t stop my nightmare side from coming to visit.
Something I have been doing most nights. Even when the cuffs fucking hurt like hell. But seeing her, holding her even in a dream is worth every moment of pain.
One of the guards shows up, ignores us completely as he slides our daily slop to us before walking away.
I grab it and dig in, not letting the bland taste deter me. We’ve lived in the Void and ate worse than anything they ever could give us here.
Throwing my tray to the side, I lay back and close my eyes thinking about the one person I want to see right now.
Pain immediately wraps around my wrists, slashing and burning up through my arms but I shove it to the back of my mind as I slip into Sena’s dreams.
The world around me is vivid. Too vivid and real to be anything other than a memory.
I’m in a rundown warehouse of some kind. There’s dust, dirt and discarded metal everywhere.
Hearing movement, I follow it, but keep to the shadows. As soon as I get nearer, I feel her.
Sena. Her soul calls to mine immediately. I start to rush toward her when I freeze at the frail form across from me as she stares out the cloudy broken window at the night’s sky.
It’s the other Sena. The body she grew up in.
But she’s a few years younger. Maybe sixteen.
If that. Her body is frail, her brown hair long and tangled.
She turns around and I still at the look in her brown eyes.
The dull, almost lifeless, look. An expression that tells me the world has sucked everything good from her. Every ounce of light.
Even after everything we went through, I still had my bond brothers every step of the way, whereas it looks like she had no one.
No family. No love or care. No home.
I glance around, wondering if there’s anyone coming for her. Anyone watching out for her.
No one does. And it fucking breaks me.
I start to move closer to her when the world around me shifts and I find myself along the shadows of a long street.
The dark night around me nearly conceals me completely as I follow her. She’s still the old Sena but a little older and more guarded this time. Her brown eyes are a little harder as they flit around, keeping watch as she moves down the street to a building.
The rest of the street is empty and there’s not another soul out here this late. It’s almost too quiet.
I pause to inspect my surroundings wondering why Sena is thinking about this memory when I hear a scream.
I whip around and find Sena gone and rush after the sound of growls only to find a group of Terrigons attacking her.
They shouldn’t be able to get past the War Camps into the human world, but every now and again they do.
My shadows and power span out around me and I move forward and rip through the Terrigons, destroying every last one. But once they’re gone, I realize I was too late.
Even if this is just a memory, they managed to hurt her. Again.
The deep, long claw mark down her side has me running forward.
It’s just a dream… a memory but I can’t help but want to heal her, to stop the pain. But nothing I do stops the bleeding.
“Sena…” I whisper but she’s too lost in the memory, seeing nothing but the Terrigons.
Before I get the chance to try and sooth her pain, the dream-memory shifts once more and it’s our Sena already switched back to her real body in the Shadow Academy.
She’s in her room, curled up in her bed as silent tears fall down her face.
I move behind her and wrap my body around her, holding her tight.
“Cyrus,” she whispers, finally sensing me.
“I’m here,” I tell her while silently promising her that I’ll guard her dreams and nightmares from here on out.
I hold her tighter as my shadows span out around us ensuring nothing and no one touches her. Not her memories or her past.
I create a world of light around her, reminding her of us all, of the memories we’ve made together and more we will make in the future, feeling the tension in her body fall away.
I hold her in my arms for the entire night, even when the cuffs slash and claw at me. I watch over her dreams and keep her bad memories and nightmares away, even when pain is all I feel.
It kills me when I have to leave her, my nightmare side angry as hell, but I can feel her grow closer to waking up.
Before I leave, I remove the memory of me being here but leave the feeling of being safe and surrounded by those she loves and cares about while reminding myself I will back soon.
Tomorrow night and every other from here on out.