“Why do you two care about the Paradox?” I ask.
I’m trying to buy us some time and keep the Shadows talking, but I’m also a little curious. Shadows can feed off powers both good and evil, so it doesn’t matter to them one way or the other whether the horsemen defeat Sailor or she defeats them.
I purposely refrain from looking at Sailor, keeping my focus on the Shadow that holds her.
“Power unimaginable,” he responds.
His voice is a quiet, lisping sound now he has reverted to his true form. I raise an eyebrow.
“How do you figure? You think the horsemen will reward you if you take her out?”
“We won’t need the horsemen if we kill her. The Soul Gems are in Whisper. Shadows are getting close to them. Only the Paradox can stop us.”
“Bullshit,” I say. “No one knows the location of the Soul Gems.”
Except Nexus said she believes that one of them is indeed in town and someone is close to finding it.
“How little you know, God,” the Shadow spits. “We are closer than ever, and once we find the first one, the rest is easy. Just follow the clues right? The first one reveals the clue to the second and so on until we have all seven.”
“So kind of like National Treasure for Gods and Demons?” Sailor puts in.
“What?” the Shadow holding her says.
Well fuck me. She’s gone and done it. I’ve been trying to distract him, and one strange human reference and Sailor has got his attention. Sailor rolls her eyes.
“I’m supposed to know what gods, Soul Gems, horsemen, and Slip Demons are, and I make one human reference and you all look at me like I’m the crazy one,” she says.
The Shadow loosens his grip slightly and I see our chance. I finally allow myself to look at Sailor. I give her a barely perceptible nod and she bursts into action as three more Shadows run into the clearing.
I spin to the side to face the new threat as Sailor bends slightly at the waist and throws the Shadow over her head. She pulls a knife out of one of her boots and runs it across his throat before he has a chance to recover. She makes a face as a black tarry ooze spills from the wound.
I pull out my own knife and stick it into the chest of one of the new Shadows. I have to take these ones down quickly so I can get to Sailor before the other one gets to her. He was frozen for a moment, but he’s reacting now. He reaches for her as I run toward the second new Shadow and stick my knife into his eye. He howls and goes down, a slurry of black ooze running down his body.
Sailor sees the threat coming. She’s still low from throwing herself down to cut the original Shadow’s throat. She crouches lower and sticks her knife into the Shadow’s knee. He howls and goes down.
I know she’s got this, and instead of killing the final Shadow, I grab him, holding my knife to his throat.
“You and I are going to have a little chat,” I say.
Sailor waits for the Shadow to crash to the ground and then she springs to her feet. She reaches down and grabs his head, twisting it viciously until his neck snaps with an audible cracking sound that makes me look away. Unfazed, Sailor pulls her knife back out of his knee and wipes it off on the grass before pushing it back into her boot.
“You took your time.” She grins at me. She nods at the Shadow who has fallen still in my grip. “What about ugly there?”
“I have a few questions for him,” I say.
I turn him around and release him and then I punch him hard in the face. He swats out at me, but for all of their cruelty, Shadows aren’t known for their fighting skills. They rely on stealth and outnumbering their victims. I punch him again and he goes down, clutching his face.
I kick him hard in the ribs until I hear a cracking sound. He won’t talk unless I make him talk. I kick him once more in the now broken rib for good measure. He howls in pain.
“How did you get into Whisper?” I demand.
He just laughs. I kick him again and he howls.
“How did you get in?” I repeat.
“The protection is weakening. Everyone is coming for the stones,” he shouts.
It’s not a reassuring answer but I sense it’s the truth.
“How do they know it’s here?” I ask.
More silence. I put the heel of my boot on one of the Shadow’s hands and grind it down until he starts talking.
“The horsemen,” he shrieks.
“Why would the horsemen care who gets the Gems?” I ask.
He doesn’t need to be coerced into answering me this time. He laughs hysterically, the pain sending him a little mad.
“Because they want you distracted.”
His laughter continues. Tears of mirth run down his face and his laughter reaches a new pitch of hysteria. I know I won’t get any sense out of him now. I reach down and push my knife through his heart.
“We can’t…” I say, turning to Sailor, but she’s already walking away.
This girl will be the fucking death of me. Keeping her safe is like trying to stop a lemming from walking off a cliff top. I hurry to catch up with her.
“Thanks, Rye,” I snap.
She rolls her eyes.
“Thank you for saving my life, but it changes nothing. I have nothing more to say to you, Rye. Just go back to the cabin.”
“You know I can’t do that. You just saw what happens when I leave you alone for a second. And where there’s one Shadow, there’s more,” I say.
“Whatever. But if you’re walking me home,
