Page 53 of A Curse So Cruel (Fated Mates of Shadowbone Academy #1)
Chapter Thirty-Six
~ Shade ~
“ N o!” I shout.
Something rustles in the forest behind Craig, and just as I think my beast is going to dart from the trees, right as my power starts building in my chest, a deafening roar stings my ears.
A mass of black fur seems to come from nowhere, and there’s a rush of air past my face.
One moment Craig is in front of me, and the next, he’s in the jaws of a giant black beast.
“Bonfang?” I rasp.
The huge shadow wolf grabs Craig, his wicked fangs clamping down onto his flesh, and Bonfang tosses the man into a nearby tree like the motion is effortless.
Craig slams into the wood, and there’s a sickening crack before he falls to the dirt in a crumpled heap and is swallowed by the thick fog. He doesn’t get up again.
Paiton, Izzy, and Satine back away in terror, and Bonfang growls at the two men who are still holding me. The noise is so loud it makes my bones rattle, and I’m showered in wolf spit. The men holding me scramble to get away, tripping and falling over themselves.
“Fuck!” one of them curses, his gaze going to Craig’s still form before he looks away quickly.
A mass of shadows swirl beside Bonfang, and Knox steps from them, materializing before me. The professor scours the scene around him, and fury ignites in his dark eyes when his gaze settles on the men who have released me.
“The academy is under attack,” Knox states coldly. “Get back to the main building. The hunt is over.”
The men look bewildered, but they don’t question him. They stagger through the forest, weaving between the trees without looking back. Satine and the other girls barely spare me a glance before they flee as well.
Trying not to look Bonfang in the eyes, I keep my attention on Knox. His gaze flicks to my portal ring, and the anger in his eyes intensifies. “Where did you get that?”
Before I can answer, Kazer appears, prowling out from somewhere behind my tree.
He rubs against me, peering at our surroundings like he’s wishing he had an excuse to get his fangs bloody as well.
Thane’s bear appears next, grunting as it tears through the trees and comes to a halt near us, its massive claws ripping up the ground.
Arizak, is the last to arrive, and he whinnies as he gallops into view, snorting and frothing at the mouth.
Thane, Raith, and Galen glide from shadows as well, striding from shadow pathways with their weapons in their hands. My mates are all splattered with a strange white goop, and so are their shadow creatures.
Raith and Galen both come straight for me, and all I can do is gape as they sheath their weapons and start prodding me like they’re searching for wounds.
Raith lifts my left arm and scans my torso, and I’m too stunned to stop him.
The strange smell that I couldn’t place earlier grows stronger, and I wrinkle my nose as I drag in a breath.
As recognition dawns, my eyes flare wide. The men all look like they’ve been to some kind of freaky demon sex party, and I’ve seen a few in my time. “Oh my god, is that cum?”
Raith and Galen freeze, staring at me, and it’s Thane who speaks first. “It’s blood.”
“Blood?” I repeat in disbelief. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“It’s blood from soldiers of the Xalgrith, to be specific,” Galen answers, his eyes glittering. He lifts my hand, and I only just manage to stop him from slipping my portal ring from my finger.
I frown at the guys. “Wait. The dark entities smell like cum?”
“Only when they bleed,” Raith rumbles with a lopsided grin.
“Where the fuck did she get that?” Knox asks again, indicating to my portal ring.
Geez. He’s really not gonna let that go. I peer at him innocently. “From Galen’s chambers.”
Knox turns his dark gaze to Galen.
“After I took it from our mate,” Galen clarifies, giving me a chastising look. “I couldn’t very well let her get away from us, now could I?” His deflection is flawless, but it doesn’t stop me from believing that the man took it because he has his own motivations.
“And where did she get it?” Thane growls, looking just as pissed off as Knox.
All four of my mates peer at me, and I shrug. “Does it matter?”
“It fuckin’ does when you’re plannin’ on leavin’ us,” Raith points out.
And that’s when I remember what assholes these guys are. “And what else was I supposed to do? I was chosen as the sacrifice, remember?” I try to shove Raith away, but he doesn’t move. The guy is a wall of muscle, and he simply grins harder.
“If you’d stayed in the room like we’d asked, that wouldn’t have happened,” Galen says matter-of-factly.
“Oh yes, and why should I have done that?” I retort. “So you could make me disappear like your past mate, or so that you can torture more students?”
All four of them blink, looking genuinely surprised.
“And let’s not forget that none of you protested when the queen chose me as the Token,” I add, pouting a little.
There’s a moment of silence before Thane’s expression softens. “You don’t understand,” he rumbles. “The queen’s visit was unexpected. We couldn’t let her know what you mean to us.”
“What I mean to you?” My voice cracks, and it’s only then that I realize how truly hurt I’d been feeling.
“Yes, treasure,” Galen purrs, pulling me firmly against him. “We thought you knew by now.”
Raith closes in on my other side until I’m sandwiched by their warmth, and I realize it’s the first time since they left their damn rooms in the academy that I can finally breathe deeply.
“You’re ours, sunshine,” Raith adds, brushing his callused hand over my shoulder. “And we’ll figure this out, but we couldn’t explain to the other students that you were restin’ in our rooms. It was easier to let them believe you were missin’.”
“Clearly poor judgement on our behalf,” Galen adds.
My lips tremble. “But Satine,” I murmur. “I found her in a cell, and I thought…”
“It’s not often students find themselves in there, but she touched you,” Thane growls, not looking the least bit remorseful about what happened to Satine. “She’s lucky you found her before we could finish what we started.”
My heart pounds at the protective look in his eyes, and my anger fizzles out of me.
Swallowing hard, I finally let myself lean into Raith’s warmth.
I want them to explain more about the missing students, because it’s still a mystery, and I’m not sure if I can believe they weren’t involved, but for the moment, all I can do is stand there as relief sinks into me.
They weren’t planning on murdering me. I mean, sure, the future is still uncertain, but knowing they aren’t intending on destroying me right now is a positive.
“We don’t have time for this,” Knox says coldly. “We need to get inside until we find the weakness in the barrier along the walls and seal it. And don’t think I’ve forgotten about her portal ring. Whatever is going on with that, she can explain later.”
Weakness in the barrier? I stiffen, and I take a moment to really study the guys. “Hold on, why exactly is it that you’re covered in cum blood anyway?”
Galen makes a face. “Must you call it that?”
Raith chuckles. “I think it’s rather fittin’. We do get showered in the stuff when we fuck the monsters up.”
I snort, but Knox lets out a noise of annoyance.
“Knox is right. We need to get her to safety,” Thane says gruffly, as always, being the voice of reason.
He waves his hand, and shadows start to pool in the air beside him.
Before the pathway is revealed, a large mass of shadows appears a little further from us, and Queen Krosia steps from a pathway accompanied by two of the originals.
Her eyes immediately land on me between Raith and Galen, and all four of my mates go rigid. Raith and Galen quickly step away from me, but it’s too late.
Kazer paces behind me, but he stops when Raith shoots him a look.
“My, my,” the queen croons, “it looks like our Token is still alive. I suppose this day turned out to be a lucky one for some, though not all of the students fared so well in light of the attack.”
The students? My thoughts go to Kenzie, and everything finally clicks. The weakness in the barrier, my guys covered in blood… The dark entities must have attacked the academy, and it must be worse than I thought. I think of the screams I heard earlier, and my stomach churns.
“Our queen,” Thane growls, dipping his head. “I had thought you and the other originals had returned to the palace.”
I stand awkwardly. Hold on is this why it took the guys a while to find me? Had they been fighting dark entities and waiting for the moment they could get to me? And if they were that worried about the queen finding out about us, what’s going to happen now…
“Well yes, that was the intention, but you all seemed so eager for me to leave that I had to wonder why…” The queen’s gaze drags over me, and she looks utterly pleased with herself.
“Is this your new pet? I confess, I had a feeling there was something different about her when I selected her as the Token, and I must say, I have not been disappointed.”
“Merely a distraction,” Galen drawls, but it’s obvious they’ve been caught out. My guys look like they’re one word away from drawing their weapons.
The queen scrutinizes me, and I wonder if she’s trying to understand what’s so special about such an insignificant human. Well, the joke’s on her because I’m not special, I’m cursed. I would have laughed at that thought if I didn’t feel like I’m already close to having the queen kill me for fun.
“Well, we can’t have that, now can we?” Queen Krosia comments. “Perhaps, this distraction is why your boundary magic failed.”
“With respect,” Knox answers, not looking at me. “The magic failed because it has been too long since we fortified the layers of protection. It was an oversight that will be remedied immediately.”
“The dark entities knew you were here,” Thane adds in a growl. “It can’t be a coincidence soldiers of the Xalgrith attacked while you were visiting.”