I shoot my roommate a grateful look. Kenzie had struggled with the course as well, but at least she’d been able to keep up with our slower classmates.
“Take it slow,”Thane instructs.“Keep an eye out for false holds and spot a pathway through the climbing face.”
False holds?I’m tempted to glance again at the professor, but I resist. If I look at him, I’ll definitely give him the sad, puppy dog eyes he keeps accusing me of, and I’m determined not to.
“Do try not to die, won’t you, treasure?”A smooth, masculine voice caresses my ears, and my heart skips a beat.
Galen?Unable to help myself, my gaze scans the training hall, and I see one of my other shadow daddy mates now standing not far from Thane. Raith is also beside him, and considering none of the students are looking at either Galen or Raith, I’m guessing my mates are using shadows to cloak themselves from my classmates.
Galen’s lips curve upward when I spy him.
“Have you seen this thing? I make no promises,”I whisper, assuming that he’ll use his power to cloak my words as well.“I’ve decided Thane lied to me, because there’s no way this is the easy course.”
Raith’s dark chuckle sounds in my ears making my skin prickle.“That’s the baby wall, sunshine. One sneeze could take me over that thing.”
I roll my eyes at his overconfidence.
“A strange analogy, but a scene I’d very much like to witness all the same,”Galen comments with a wry grin.“Do show us how it’s done, won’t you?”
Thane pinches the bridge of his nose, looking irritated.“You’re both distracting her. If you’re going to be here, be silent.”
Galen and Raith’s smiles stretch wider, and Raith pretends to zip his lips together with his fingers, both of them not saying another word as they stare at me expectantly.
I have to drag my gaze away from them, and as I do, a familiar feeling washes over me. It passes quickly before it’s gone again, but I recognize the energy of my fourth shadow daddy mate.Knox.I scan the pools of shadows that cling to the walls and obstacles, but unlike my other mates, I don’t see him anywhere. I can only guess that he’s using a cloak that makes him invisible, even to me. My heart tightens.Stop it, Shade. Focus on the death trap before you, not the mate who’s determined to hate you.
Growing impatient, one of the students starts shouting something at me, but he’s abruptly silenced. When I look at my mates, Raith shrugs, grinning at me innocently, and I just know it was his doing.
Without letting myself hesitate any longer, I approach the base of the wall and begin to climb, carefully picking a path through the craggy stones. A boot in that nook there. My hand grabbing that textured stone there. I make it halfway up the wall reasonably quickly, before my hand slips on a flat rock that’s sitting at an odd angle. I cry out as I lose my grip and almost fall. The students hush, and Ian pushes off from the wall, staring at me intensely. Paiton’s cruel laughter breaks the silence, abrasive in the cavernous room.
Come on…I grunt as I readjust my position, reaching for a different rock with my free hand. The next stone is firm under my fingers, and I use all my strength, pulling myself higher.I can do this. Probably. Maybe. Likely not. Wow, I’m so crap at giving pep talks.
It takes me what feels like an excruciatingly long time, and my entire body hurts, but as I near the top of the wall, my fear starts to subside, excitement building inside me instead.Holy smokes, I’m actually going to do this!I give myself a mental pat on the back. Once I make it to the top, all I have to do is climb over and scale the wall back down on the other side.
“Would you look at that, Elgen,”Tarlaz comments with approval in my head.
“Yes, she didn’t die,”Elgen rasps to her friend, giving me a backhanded compliment.
I choose to focus on the compliment part.“And to think you even doubted me.”I mean, of course I doubted myself, but they didn’t have to.
Grinning, I reach for the top of the wall. I have the thought that maybe, just maybe, I belong in Shadowbone Academy after all. That I might just make it through the graduation games. The idea of immortality is starting to sound pretty darn sweet. That is, until my hand presses down. White hot pain slices into my palm, and I yelp in surprise. It’s not until my hand is free that I realize my mistake. My boots slip, and Kenzie’s cry sounds in my ears as I fall.Oops.
“Shade!”Thane roars at me, but I can’t focus on his voice. All I can think about is the air rushing by my face, and the sensation that my stomach has deserted me.But I got so close…
“Your power, girl!”Elgen barks in my head.
Her voice helps me focus, and I blink rapidly, remembering the academy ring on my finger. Desperately, I reach for my shadow powers. Ice and fire. The burning sensation buildsinside me, power swirling with my panic, bubbling beneath my skin. The magic presses against my insides, and the scent of ash fills my nose. But the power feels…wrong.
Pain tears through me, making it feel like my bones are breaking, even though I don’t think I’ve hit the floor yet, and a scream rips from between my lips. My skin ripples, and my heart jerks when small bumps appear on my arms. The tiniest bit of black pierces my skin, like something is trying to break free.Feathers? It can’t be. What is happening?
And then the world stops. The air rushes from my lungs as I land on something firm. It’s not the floor, and ice travels over me as shadows grip hold of my arms and legs, bracing under my back. I gasp as I realize I’m hovering just above the ground.Thane.I sense his power wrapped around me, and his calming scent envelopes me. My broken power instantly recedes, like a monster skulking back into the darkness now that it realizes it’s not needed, and the pain instantly fades, leaving me with nothing but confusion.
Darkness shrouds me from the view of the other students, and the instant Thane’s shadows lower me to the floor, the darkness clears.
I don’t move. I simply lay there trembling, because I have no idea what just happened. Or more so, whatalmosthappened. So far, I haven’t been able to do much with my power other than changing into strange outfits and creating basic shadow pathways. Slowly lifting my shaking hands, I rub my arms. Whatever I thought I saw, there’s no creepy bumps now.
A shadow falls over me, and I peer up at my mate. Thane’s facing me with his back to the other students, and his entire body is tense. His hands are at his sides, and his fingers twitch like he’s fighting against the urge to grab me.
I moan, and a slow breath releases from between his lips.
