But what kind of fate would that be?
Chapter
Thirty-Eight
LUCILLE
“This session will be a lesson on problem-solving, control, and teamwork. My shadows are covering all of the Shard Field and this clearing. You three are tasked with escaping them. But you have to use the least amount of power you can, you have to escape together, and you can’t bleed. If you break any of my rules, I’ll render a part of your body immobile. You have an hour. Begin,” Ronen said, his voice echoing through the darkness. “Also, there’s a solid wall of shadows you’ll hit before entering Veil Forest. Good luck.”
My shoulders sagged. After watching my back during training—and Oliver’s—after going through the motions with Ichi and straining to keep my thoughts on lockdown, holding onto the numbness, I just wanted the day to be over. I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want to think or move. Or maybe I did. Whatever would help the pain.
Why were we even back near the Shard Field? Wasn’t Ronen concerned about demons?
Obviously not. Nor did he care that no one seemed to want to be here. Ronen turned into a snappy ass right after I asked how Lucifer was doing. Alexei couldn’t stop shooting glares at Ronen or scrutinizing glances at me. And Oliver continued to yawn like he had overexerted himself and needed a nap.
But instead, we were here, holding hands, unable to see, and hoping we could get through this drill fast.
“Does anyone have any bright ideas?” Oliver mumbled, sounding as happy as I felt.
“Fifty-seven minutes,” Ronen announced behind me.
I twisted my head, but only wispy air caressed my face. Through the endless dark, I swore I met a pair of golden eyes. But they didn’t reel me in like they usually did. I felt nothing and was grateful for it.
“I could throw lightning at them until they crumble,” Alexei suggested.
I turned toward his voice. “That’s using the least amount of power?”
He shrugged, moving my hand. “If I say it is—” He hissed. “Fuck you, Ronen!”
“What’d he do?” Oliver asked through a yawn.
“Little bastard cut and paralyzed my hand.”
Tiny bolts of static lightning zapped through my fingers as Alexei held them, before a larger bolt streaked through Ronen’s power, briefly illuminating our surroundings. Alexei searched left and right. “Stay in your little hidden corner and out of our plans, you secretive ass!”
His other hand went limp in mine, and he cursed again.
“Guess lightning is against the rules,” Oliver concluded.
“Most of our powers that could get us through the Shard Field seem to be against the rules. Which doesn’t make sense.” Wasn’t the point of this training to learn how to use my powers?
“So if we can’t use our powers, then how do we get across a giant field of pointy, killing ice or a solid wall of shadows? While in said shadows?” Oliver asked.
“We don’t,” Alexei answered.
“We don’t?” Oliver said in disbelief.
I understood his frustration, but something in Alexei’s tone made me pause before reacting. I replayed Ronen’s directions in my head, analyzing each word. He had said to escape his shadows. He never said anything about escaping this area. That was just the first thought that came to all our minds—the easiest one. But we didn’t have to attempt to break free to escape. We had to somehow stop him from using them.
“We have to fight him.”
Alexei barked out a short laugh. “Beautiful, I can barely beat him in a fistfight, and currently, those fists are out of commission.” He lifted his arm and my hand that held his useless fingers. “So, how do you suggest we accomplish that, especially knowing he can hear every word we say?”
I thought for a moment, going over my own experiences and the books I had read. “Alexei, wield another bolt of lightning.”
He did, revealing a quirked brow before sending us back into darkness.
“Was that pretty easy?”
