A hazy scene began to form around them in grays and blacks, silent and slow, almost like a dream. A soft figure with a hint of deep ruby swirling through its Shadows seemed to be moving around the kitchen. It went to the kettle and then returned to slide gracefully into a chair beside the table. Elizabeth.
But then Elizabeth looked up, face pointed toward the door. She stood, took a few steps forward, and then recoiled bodily, lurching back as a second figure stumbled into the room.
The Shadows heaved and solidified, growing clear as the emotional intensity in the room soared. A large, masculine Shadow stalked forward. His sky-blue streaked Shadows were shot through with corrupting oily streaks, glistening and toxic.
Elizabeth ran back into the kitchen, arms out as Shadows poured from her hands. The man stepped back as if stung. He was only distracted for a second before he started pouring something into his hand. It was a dark sludge, similar to the livid cysts coiling through his Shadows.
He threw it at Elizabeth, and she put up her hands to block it, but it stuck, boiling and spreading everywhere it touched. Kay’s heart stuttered as the Shadow Elizabeth collapsed to the floor and lay still. The man came forward to pick her up, lifting her into his arms and then carried her out the door and away.
God. It was even worse than Kay had imagined.
The Shadows fell away around them, floating into the air like wisps of cloud as they opened their eyes. She fought to control her breathing. To control the panicked adrenaline flooding through her. There was nothing to fight. Not yet.
Ethan was stiff beside her, his body thrumming with tension, but the arm he wrapped around her was warm and comforting as she looked between him and Bryn.
She didn’t want to say the words, but she had to. “It was James, I’m sure of it. That’s the same kind of Shadow that he used on me.”
Bryn frowned. “Zach and Ethan told me about some kind of dark Shadows that you’ve seen on victims in the different attacks. Is that what you mean?”
“Yes. James called it a blood Shadow.”
Bryn flinched, his thin face slowly draining of color as his whole body seemed to draw in on itself.
“He used one on me,” Kay admitted, her voice growing rough as she remembered just how helpless she’d been. “It’s as if you can see out of your body, but the Shadow wraps itself through your brain and into your mind until you’re completely under the control of the person wielding it. I tried to fight it but it’s nearly impossible.”
Ethan’s arm tightened on her shoulders. “He was controlling you, that day when Zach and I… Fuck.” It was a statement, not a question.
She nodded silently.
“God.” Ethan shook his head. “I knew it felt wrong…. God.”
She squeezed Ethan’s hand, trying to reassure him, but it was Bryn who really worried her. His face was a pale gray with a stark white ring around his mouth, his hands clenched in a brutal grip in front of him on the table. “Bryn? What is it?”
“This is so much worse than we realized. No wonder I couldn’t figure it out. Blood Shadows. Fucking hell. How could they be so stupid?”
“What does it mean?” Ethan asked.
There was a long, weighted moment until Bryn replied, “You’ve heard of Dru-vid sacrifices?”
Kay leaned into Ethan, shaking her head. “Yes, but I thought those were myths made up by the Romans to discredit Druidism.”
Bryn gave her a long look. “Mostly, you’re right. But there are always those who will do anything, no matter how vile, to grow their power. We don’t teach it, or even mention it, at the college. The Council banned any reference to it hundreds of years ago, but when you’ve been around as long as me, done as much research as I have, you get to see references to blood Shadows. Obviously, James, or more likely Gordon, has found and recreated those rites.”
Kay could hardly get the words out. “Sacrifices?”
Bryn nodded slowly. “Very likely, at least some of the time. There’s more power in blood drawn in fear.”
“The blood at the school… fuck.” Ethan swallowed hard.
“Gordon is behind this,” Kay whispered. “James said that he’d been working on something for years. That he’s only just perfected it, and that he has a plan to take power.” She let out a shaky breath. “And now they have Elizabeth.”
Kay lifted her free hand and tangled her fingers into her hair, pulling it until it stung. They had been running behind every step of the way. She hadn’t imagined that James, or Gordon, would come after them. But why not? Why hadn’t she realized that men who were prepared to attack innocent people on the street would never simply let them go? And now…. “I should never have left her alone.”
“No.” Bryn’s reply was emphatic. “This is not your fault. None of us could have known. We could never have thought… fucking blood Shadows.”
God. This was what David had suspected but refused to discuss. Yes, Kay should have protected Elizabeth better, and she should have warned everyone about the blood Shadows as soon as she opened her eyes, but David should have told her the truth—if she’d only known, she would have done everything differently.
Ethan wrapped another arm around her, pulling her closer and dropping a gentle kiss on the top of her head as Bryn continued. “Elizabeth and I have been arguing against all this secrecy within the Order for years. Everyone is so used to hiding things, from the world, from each other, that this was inevitable. If no one understands what you’re doing, you can do it in plain sight—Gordon knows this. And he’s on the Council, helping to make and enforce the very rules that keep our Guardians in the dark. Gordon is responsible for this, and the Council for allowing it.”
