Cold sweat was running down his sides by the time he reached the door at the end of the corridor. With every empty room, his fear had risen. There was only one way out, and it was through the area where he’d heard the voices.
He was in danger. He had no weapons. His triad was far away. His Shadows were next to useless. And something in him knew he wasn’t going to like what he found behind that door.
But it didn’t feel quite right. Where were the wards? Where were the Councilors? Where was all the luxury Gordon was used to?
He took a slow step back, hesitating.
The door in front of him suddenly opened. There was no time to run. He couldn’t risk turning his back on his enemy. He gripped his far-too-small knives tighter, throwing Shadows up and over himself in a swirling armor, then pulled his arm back, ready to throw, and—
Stumbled as he caught himself, frantically dragging his Shadows back into his body. Fuck.
It was Kay.
He released the Shadows, dropping his knives as if they’d burned him, and reached out to grab her arm. “Kay,” he whispered urgently, “what are you doing here?”
He dragged his free hand through his hair. This changed everything. The Council somehow had her too. Was this why they’d been stashed in some forgotten house somewhere? Were the wards on the outside?
He was utterly exhausted, still recovering from the poison, and running almost entirely on adrenaline. His vision was blurry, his heart was beating far too fast, and his headhurt. He didn’t stop to think about why Kay might be walking around in the house. All he could see was the danger she was in.
“We have to get you out. Come, we have to break a window.” He started dragging her down the corridor, but she dug her heels in and refused to budge.
“No, James, we—”
He cut her off by swinging her up into his arms and marching back the way he’d come. Stealth was no longer a priority. “It’s not safe.” He kept his voice to a murmur. “I’m trying—”
A sudden rush of familiar midnight-blue Shadows poured over him. More and more Shadows swarmed, filled with… oh fuck no. Were those jellyfish? Hehatedjellyfish.
He dropped her legs to the ground, cursing as he battled the gleaming, pulsing, tentacled mass of squirming creatures. What the hell was she doing?
Finally, he was able to capture them all in a Shadow net and compress them into wisps of fading Shadow.
He whirled around, ready to grab her hand once more, only to see that Kay had ambled back to lean nonchalantly against the wall.
She raised one eyebrow. “Now will you listen?”
He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at her. He would listen, and then they would get out. “Speak fast.”
“We’re safe here, James.”
“How is that even possible?” he muttered. “The Council captured me. They must’ve brought me… and you… and…. Fuck.”
The bland house in the middle of the suburbs. The lack of guards. The missing wards. Kay wandering around, free and relaxed. Of course. Now it all made sense.
“It was you.” He glared at his second-oldest friend and biggest pain in his arse. “The Council didn’t trap me outside Gordon’s house—you did.”
Kay rested her hand on his arm. “Of course it was us. We couldn’t just leave you.”
We?
Who was “we”?
The voices. Men and women. That rumbling, half-formed feeling that opening the door would be a disaster. Riley flying, auburn hair haloed by golden sunlight.
God. He flashed a glare at Kay. She wouldn’t have… would she?
He spun back toward the door, ripped it open, and stalked through it. Yes, she absolutely had done the one thing he desperately wished she hadn’t. “Oh, hell no.” His words escaped, just as rough and damaged as the rest of him.
Riley was there, sitting in a small living room with Zach and Emma. And now she was staring at him with wide, hurt eyes. God, she was beautiful. All he wanted was to fling himself at her. Fall to his knees and let her hold him. But he didn’t dare to drag her into this disaster. Hewouldn’t.
