My heart raced. I wasn't alone. "They're planning to separate us from our matches?"
"In three days. The new moon ritual. More powerful then." She paused. "Been sick in the mornings?"
The question caught me off guard. "How did you?—"
"Shadow babies. We all have them. That's what scares them most."
My hands flew to my stomach. I'd assumed the nausea was from stress, but now I closed my eyes and focused inward. There. Two tiny flutters of energy, unlike anything I'd felt before. Half shadow, half human.
"Twins," I whispered, tears springing to my eyes.
"Holy shit," Leena gasped. "That's rare. Listen, we need to get you out of here fast. The ritual would?—"
"Kill them," I finished, sudden protective fury rising in me. No one would harm my babies. No one.
Over the next two days, I met the others through whispered conversations, Leena, Maya, Dahlia, Teresa, and Jun. All matched with shadow creatures the council hadn't approved. All pregnant. All prisoners.
"They can't keep us forever," Teresa hissed during our brief exercise period. "The Integration Festival is in three days. People will notice we're missing."
"Not if they tell everyone we chose separation," Jun countered.
I paced our small shared yard, keeping my voice low. "My shadow abilities were just starting to develop before they collared me. Varkolak was teaching me."
"You can manipulate shadows?" Dahlia's eyes widened. "None of us can do that yet."
I nodded. "Just barely. But maybe..."
Late that night, I lay on my cot, hands resting on my still-flat stomach.Focus, Aya. Feel the shadows.Despite the dampening collar, I sensed something, a flicker of darkness responding to my call. The twins? Their shadow essence reaching out to help?
"Please," I whispered to the darkness. "I need to protect you."
A tendril of shadow curled around my fingers as weak, but present. The collar grew warm, then uncomfortably hot against my skin.
For three nights, I practiced while the others created distractions. Tea spilled on guards. Fake illnesses. Anything to keep attention away from me as I worked with the growing shadow energy.
On the third night, the night before the ritual, the collar cracked.
"Now," I whispered to myself. With a final push of will, shadows enveloped the metal, and it shattered.
Power rushed through me, intoxicating and wild. I extended my hand toward the cell door lock, and shadows slipped inside it, manipulating the mechanism until it clicked open.
I tiptoed down the corridor, freeing the others one by one.
"Holy shit," Leena breathed as I unlocked her cell with shadows. "You're like, super pregnant, aren't you? The babies amplified your abilities."
"Twins," I reminded her with a grim smile. "Double the shadow power."
We moved as one through the darkened hallways of the facility, my newly strengthened shadows concealing our movements from the guards. When we reached the outer door, I felt my energy flagging.
"I can't maintain this much longer," I gasped, sweat beading on my forehead.
Dahlia gripped my hand. "You don't have to. We'll run together."
We burst into the night, six women fleeing across the moonlit grounds. Alarms blared behind us as we reached the perimeter fence.
"Up and over," Teresa commanded, boosting Jun toward the top.
My shadows gathered once more, forming a ladder of darkness against the fence. One by one, we climbed to freedom.
