This was unbelievable. Unfair. We’d made it so far. For once, I would’ve liked a more significant victory against these monsters. For once, I would’ve liked the truth, devoid of any complications. For once, I would’ve liked those I love to be safe and out of harm’s way. Was I really asking for too much?
The shadow monster shrieked in agony as a dark mass appeared behind it. The black shimmer of a blade cut through the fiend, and it let go of Mom, scattering away in wispy ink strips that splashed onto the wooden floor. Brandon emerged from the dark mass, twin swords out and thirsting for violence. “Go on, Pink Lady. Take your little one and her friends away from here,” he said to Mom.
“Little one?” I shot back, raising an eyebrow for good measure. Seeing Brandon here wasn’t that surprising, though it did fill me with unexpected joy. I hadn’t faulted him for leaving, but I sure as hell thanked the heavens he’d returned.
Brandon smiled faintly. “I do like how you light up when I poke you one way or another. Now, leave. All of you. It’s time.”
“Why’d you come back?” I asked, as Mom came over and wrapped her arms around Chantal and me.
“He took us,” Chantal mumbled against the leather of my GASP uniform. She pointed a finger at him. “He… he’s the one who took us…”
I looked at her, then at Brandon. “Them, too? Seriously?”
“This really shouldn’t come as a shock anymore. There’s no time for this! Just go!” he snapped. “Go, before more shadow hounds find you!”
“He’s right, Astra. There’s no time,” Thayen interjected, moving closer with Jericho and the others so we’d be physically linked. “Viola, we need to get out of here.”
Brandon had gone to a lot of trouble to get here and to save us. He’d risked Hammer’s destruction, though I dared not imagine what that would be like. He’d described it to me, sure, but imagining it was something else entirely. Not for the faint of heart. And Thayen was right. This wasn’t the time or the place to demand additional explanations. Brandon had done enough for now. I doubted I could fully trust him as long as the Berserkers still had Hammer, but at least I knew he meant well. That had to count for something. I’d make sure he told me everything else I needed to know the next time we saw each other. I made it my mission. Intel and DNA samples clearly weren’t the only things he’d stolen from our Shade. Brandon had stolen my other friends, too, not just Isabelle. He’d neglected to tell me that little detail.
But for now, I was thankful he’d returned in time to tear the shadow hound off my mother. Her bright pink light engulfed me, and I found myself smiling as we disintegrated into thin air. I saw Brandon disappear into the pink light, his eyes having captured mine in a long and intense gaze. Yes, we’d speak again. We had to.
Thayen
When we reached the Black Heights, I was still struggling to understand everything that had just happened. The melee itself had not been unexpected. We’d known we would face more violence sooner or later. I’d only hoped it would take longer. At least we’d managed to find our missing friends and get them safely out of there.
“The clones and the Berserkers must have known we’d come looking for Isabelle and the others,” I said as Soph and Dafne rushed to greet us. Dafne threw her arms around Jericho’s neck before he could even say anything.
“You’re back!” the ice dragon exclaimed.
“Thought they’d get me, huh?” Jericho tried to smile, his gaze almost black as he slowly tightened his arms around her waist. I’d initially suspected there might be something brewing between them, but now it was blatantly obvious, even if Jericho and Dafne didn’t seem entirely aware of their own dynamic at times. “So does this mean you missed me?”
As if realizing what she’d just done, Dafne stiffened and cleared her throat, then took a couple of steps back and politely patted him on the shoulder. “Well done,” she muttered.
“You weren’t too bad yourself,” he shot back with a sly wink and a smoldering look that left Dafne speechless—the irony did not escape me, since she was the one who usually had that effect on Jericho.
Richard was more alert too, so he joined the group and took Voss off my back. Our newly rescued friends were unconscious, moaning softly whenever we moved them. “That whole encounter was part of their plan.”
It was hard to get it out of my head. The brutality of it. The unhinged violence. The pure and evil darkness that had come for us—it haunted me.
“But we survived it,” Astra replied. “Brandon was instrumental. Myst came through for us, too, and then some.”
“Yes, she did. And Regine… whoever she is,” I sighed, my legs suddenly weak. It had been a crazy morning, and I longed for the quiet normalcy of our Shade.
“Another Valkyrie,” Jericho replied. “As if this place wasn’t weird enough already, we now have enough material to put together crappy jokes. A Valkyrie, a Berserker and a vampire walk into a bar…”
We all chuckled, relieved and exhausted as we settled inside the cave. Jericho built a small fire to warm Isabelle, Voss, and Chantal. They couldn’t stay awake, falling in and out of consciousness with slow moving lips and droopy eyes. Richard was the only one who truly understood what they were going through. He gently stroked Chantal’s blond hair. “The medication they gave us is really strong,” he murmured, emerald-gold gaze settled on his sleeping cousin. “And this place sucks the life out of us, too. They’ll need to sleep as much of it off as possible.” He paused to look at me. “How are you holding up? Where’d you find them?”
“In one of the glass houses,” I
