Shadow Reign (Shadow Puppeteer Book 2) (13 page)

“The mountain is reacting to something,” Rose said, pulling her hand back.

My silence bothered her, or maybe it was the blood that slicked my skin and clothes. What crossed her face said a lot. She was connecting the dots, figuring out that I was still alive after the violent tribe attacked.

I liked her discomfort and I hated myself for that. It rolled over her like a shroud, hesitant and fluttery like a baby bird learning how to fly. It was pretty in its own way, but it left her quickly.

“The realm wants you alive,” she said.

There was a slight tremble in her fingers as she smoothed her clean shirt down. The sunlight made her skin a little more caramel than the dim lighting back in the cave. Though she denied Sonya was her mother, they shared far more in resemblance than the rich brown color of their irises.

“I can’t imagine why.”

She frowned. “You look like hell.”

I felt like hell, but I wasn’t going to talk about it with her. It took a lot of willpower not to grasp my side when it gave a thumping pulse. I wondered if the reason it didn’t heal like the other wounds had anything to do with Rose.

“We need to work together,” she said.

“Not likely.”

The longer I spent in Rose’s presence, the angrier Amber was going to get until I finished this. Amber wasn’t just the sudden drop of temperature that made my hairs stand on end. She was the catalyst for what was trying to take me over. I closed my eyes and took a breath, trying to push her out of my head. She refused to be pushed down.

“By now, you know you can’t trust Kelaino. You get me the Prism of Shadow and I’ll save your pet werewolf.”

Pet? Rex? I barked in laughter and it eased the pressure in my chest. It made me feel light, despite the situation.

“I’m supposed to trust you? You’re the one that drew the blade over Amber’s neck. Little girl, you are far from trustworthy. I’ll get the Prism of Shadow, but I’m not making a deal with you.” The breeze stirred loose strands of my hair in front of my face and I pressed it behind my ear, cringing at the feel of my dirty fingers.

She shrugged. “Fine, you can’t get in without me and I can’t get in without you. We’ll both sit here until something happens.”

My watch gave a beep, reminding me that sitting wasn’t an option. “Okay. I’ll work with you long enough to get inside then we’ll go our own ways.”

Amber screamed in my head and I tightened my metaphysical shield until it snuffed the sound. She was trying to say something, but she couldn’t communicate well. It was just a fuzzy static noise that hummed in my skull driving me nuts.

Rose pushed away from the wall and looked hesitant again. After a long stare down, something within her decided it was okay to turn her back on me. Maybe it was the pure exhaustion in my body that drove her decision. I felt it in every strand of my being, even my hair. When her back was turned to me, I grasped my side and dragged myself along beside her. No reason to let her know how bad I hurt.

The moment we crossed the side of the mountain, it was instantly cooler. The mountain’s shadow stretched over us and the valley below, almost as dark as night. I felt the energy long before Rose pointed it out.

“That’s the mouth of the cave right there,” she said.

Wind came from the cave, warm and damp like a giant exhaling. The power from this location was strong. It made my skull buzz harder than what Amber did to me.

“What? You want me to walk into it first?”

“That’s where the Prism of Shadow is. I know its location, but the mountain won’t let me in. There are things in there protecting the prism and the gods.”

In other words, she knew how badly I was hurt. My side gave a squeeze, but pride kept me from holding it.

The cave exhaled when I exhaled. It was alive and we were walking into it. The darkness beyond the mouth was so complete, I couldn’t see a thing. I fingered the patch over my eye, ready to pull it off and see if it helped like back in Kelaino’s cave. The minute I cracked the patch away from my skin, light burned through my eye socket. I hissed and let the patch drop back into place.

Rose stood beside me with her flashlight still shinning on me. “What are you doing? I don’t want to see your screwed up eye.”

“Point that somewhere else,” I growled, reaching out for her light.

She swung it out of my reach to shine on the cave. The light didn’t penetrate through the entrance. It was utterly black. She reached out towards the cave and her hand was stopped by an invisible wall.

The energy from inside was attaching itself to me and it didn’t feel nearly as strange as it should. In fact, it felt familiar like a repetitive dream. It felt as though I was here before. Just like a repetitive dream, something within me said to stay away.

There was something dangerous inside and though I was very much awake, I felt separated from my physical self. I felt like I was looking down at my situation from somewhere afar. There was something waiting for us inside.

“Touch it,” Rose ordered.

I stiffened, taking in her smoky aura as well. It was magnified by the static energy in the cave.

“I’m not your mule. I’m not going to take orders from you.” I planned to touch the wall too, but now that she gave the order, I didn’t want her to think she had the upper hand.

“Don’t be a coward. You think Rex will be the only one hurt if you don’t do this?”

I was beyond being manipulated. It was a little late to be cautious now when everything about my life was based on impulse. Rex leant me bravery and Amber leant me the need for retribution. Before I completely stepped over, a hand caught my forearm and Rose’s weight drew us through without caution.

O
ur feet tangled as she fell hard on top of me with her hand pressing into my stomach. It took all my vigor to push her off. Free of her weight, I curled into a ball, riding out the horrendous ache.

“What did you stab me with earlier?” It hurt so badly and my body wasn’t healing from it. It burned and pulsed.

Rose huffed. I couldn’t see her, but I felt her essence. The smoky scent of her aura circled me.

“Silver, bitch. Congratulations, you’re a werewolf. I hope it hurts,” she hissed.

I didn’t trust the tone of her voice or the news. She was
thinking
and that meant someone would get hurt. I rolled onto all fours and moved away from her, determined to slow my breathing in case her hearing was as good as mine.

I felt like I was buried again. The sense of isolation was strong. Even with Rose here, I felt completely alone. Her words wanted to echo in my head and I couldn’t afford that distraction. Me, a werewolf like Rex? I didn’t want to believe it, but my side was hurting and the wound continued to bleed.

My wrist beeped and despite my rash paranoia, my mind was made up. I was going to do this even if I ended up permanently in the grave. I was better off dead than living a guilt riddled life knowing I didn’t do everything I could for him. I pulled my eye patch off and stuck it in my pocket. The darkness didn’t immediately lift.

There was a sickening rush in my stomach to move further into the spider’s web. Every hot breath that blew over us came from a raspy draft farther inside.

Rose shook the flashlight and the batteries rattling around inside the contraption were surprisingly loud. There was an advantage here. She was in my world, and my world was dark. I belonged here with whatever was waiting. Accepting this made the darkness ease a tiny bit. Little particles of light stretched high in the cave like stars. It was silvery and dim, not offering much light.

“Stupid contraption,” Rose hissed. She threw the flashlight and it clunked on the stone. “We’re in the resting place of the gods. They’re buried here and we need to find their graves. That’s where the Prism of Shadow is.”

There was no relief in knowing she still needed me. The knowledge made her angrier. An angry Rose was a dangerous, resentful Rose. She’d slit my throat the first chance she got.

I watched her and as my eye sight grew stronger, I noticed her aura. It was something I could easily see on people before the accident at Ardent Asylum. Now that my eyesight was messed up, apparently I could only see auras in extreme darkness. I wondered what else about me was messed up. I haven’t seen myself in a mirror since I was put in a grave.

Rings of black circled Rose like the rings on Saturn. Instead of her aura outlining her, it was a blue line that slid from the top of her head to disappear into her body. Only wisps of that blue clung to her neck, looking like veins pressing against her flesh. Her hair floated upward as if wind was blowing underneath her.

“What are you?” I asked. It hurt to talk.

I could feel the very vibration of my throat all the way down to the hole in my stomach. I could easily shove her around here. I had the upper hand. She couldn’t see, but that would delight the spirits, and they couldn’t control me either, even if I shared their wants.

“Not the time,” she stated.

“I want to know who I’m going to battle with,” I said.

I also wanted to know how important it was to watch my back. She didn’t look fragile, not like D. Maybe it was her sadistic nature that hardened her.

“Can you see?” she diverted my question.

“You say this is a graveyard, but something is restless,” I answered.

The stillness was broken by the stone under our feet vibrating. The energy now had a location and that was right under us. The light that filled the crevices between the individual rock slabs didn’t hurt my eyes. It was a different type of light, something metaphysical perhaps. I didn’t have a name for it. Rose moved blindly forward and I reached to stop her. She was quicker, determined to get wherever she was heading.

Every stone she touched, the light went out. The energy didn’t shift in the air, but I didn’t trust the situation. Something was wrong. What I hated most was the desire to follow her. I didn’t want to be alone. Not here.

I knew she knew something was here. I didn’t miss the glint of light against her drawn gun. There was something round in her other hand that also caught the light, but it wasn’t a weapon. Maybe that’s what drove her forward like she knew where she was heading.

“What did we walk into?” I asked.

Rose stopped and looked back at the sound of my voice, but her direction was off. She wasn’t really seeing me. Her bravery was instilled. I wish I felt just as sure. The more stones left dark, the less confident I felt. This was bad.

“Don’t tell me you were born without a backbone,” Rose jeered.

“You need to come back here with me,” I said.

Rose huffed and turned her back. One of us was Kelaino’s daughter. One of us belonged here and she couldn’t stand the fact that it might be me. I couldn’t stand that fact either. If Kelaino was right, then my world was going in a completely different direction. My father was a werewolf and my mother… I couldn’t stand the thought.

“One of us belongs here. The Gods wouldn’t let her die,” Rose said.

Her confidence was astounding, especially since I was the only one that could see in this dark. I couldn’t follow her. My heart was racing and my mouth was dry. The warm breeze wavered as if there was a hitch in its throat.

I tried again. “Rose—”

The ground shook, knocking me back against the wall. She fell to her knees, trying to stay balanced as the darkened rocks crumbled.

“Run,” I screamed.

The violent tremor slammed me against the wall. Rocks cascaded overhead. I raised my hand to block the worst of it as the dirt filled air became difficult to breath. Rose’s scream pierced the loud rumble. The hazy air made it difficult to see, but I knew terror when I heard it.

The wall was solid at my back, so why was I moving away from it? Rose wasn’t a friend. Her death would fix a number of problems.

It was her scream that got to me. I didn’t want to hear that sound from anyone. I licked my lips and tried to find my balance. The moment I stepped on a lit stone, I could feel the energy burn through the soft sole of my shoes and into my flesh. I took a deep breath and choked on the dust.

Rose screamed again. There wasn’t time for caution if I was going to help her. I rushed over the stone, jumping over the rocks that fell away to empty air below. Rose hung desperately and I laid flat across the ground, catching her wrist right as the rock fell out from beneath her hands.

The jolting force of her weight nearly took my shoulder out of its socket. At this angle, I didn’t have the energy to pull her up. Her nails dug painfully into my arm above the sheath where she could get a better grasp. The stones were warm against my stomach.

“Don’t you dare let go!”

I bit back the retort. She didn’t have room to make demands. I had every right to drop her. Blood rolled down my arms, making my grasp slick.

“I can’t hold onto you like this. Try climbing up,” I yelled and got a mouth full of dust. It coated my eyes, making it hard to keep them open.

She reached higher, catching my shoulder and the ground shook. The coldness from down below was starting to wrap tightly around me. It dug deep, cancelling the warmth I got from the lighted stones under my body.

The world stopped rumbling, but laugher took its place. It was the same insane laughter that kept rolling in my head the night Rex and Amber thought I was dead. It was growing almost as loud as the screams that echoed in my skull. It was two different sounds battling for room.

Rose dug into my skin, jarring me. “What language are you speaking?”

“It wasn’t me. I didn’t say anything.”

“Don’t lie to me. You were speaking right at me,” she argued.

Was she trying to piss me off? I was the reason she wasn’t falling.

“Stop talking, you’re freaking me out,” Rose said.

I ignored that comment and voiced my own worry. “We can’t stay like this.”

“I know where I have to go.” Rose said.

She shifted and I nearly lost my hold. Her next movement was fast and sharp. The momentum of her swing tipped me off and I let her go right as the blade clinked against stone. She didn’t scream, not once, as she fell in the frigid darkness.