Page 29 of Above (Darkness Reigns #1)

I swung, catching the shin of the one who held my upper arm.

She let go with a fierce shriek of pain.

Unwilling to waste the opportunity, I shoved my foot into the gut of the other one, causing her to keel over.

I had only a moment to register that neither of my roommates were in their beds before I was darting past the pair of masked figures and ripping my door open.

I took a right, praying to the stars that all the extra training with Talon would keep me going.

Talon!

Stairs would be my only option since shadow walking was dangerous when injured or inebriated—let alone both.

I made my way toward them, my heart racing and my ears catching the sound of heavy footsteps behind me.

Ahead, the door to the stairway loomed, and I willed myself to run faster.

I hit it at full speed, shoving it open and taking the stairs two at a time.

With no food in my stomach, I could already feel the cramps coming as I made it up the first flight.

At my back, the attackers shoved open the door, causing it to smack against the brick walls with a crash.

Faster, I had to go faster.

Up and up I ran, turn after turn, stair after stair.

My breaths became heavy, a wheeze of sorts.

Behind me, shots of offensive magic hurled my way, forcing me to duck and evade.

I fired back a burst of shadows behind me, trying to demand the darkness to strike the pair despite my muddled mind.

When the cloud hit them, their mutual shrieks of pain were loud.

Still they came, a quick glance behind me showing them both dripping blood through rips in their leathers but still coming fast.

I was working ten times harder than they were, and it was causing my legs to slow, the cramps so painful I wanted to cry. One more floor. Just one more.

“Don’t let her get to Talon!” One of them practically growled as I neared the final steps. Even when I burst through the door, willed it to lock, and began running down the hall, I knew I was probably not going to make it. Getting Talon’s attention would mean precious moments I didn’t have.

“I can’t shadow walk with my leg like this!” the other screamed as they burst through the door. That made two of us.

“Talon!” I yelled, hoping to get him out of his room. I was hit in the back, the magic sizzling against my skin. Whatever it was, it wasn’t enough to stop my run. But it slowed me somewhat, the pain excruciating. “Talon, please!”

Still, no movement came from the door ahead.

I was going to die tonight afterall. I would die and my family would never know how. They would stop taking haya and then die too. And all of our suffering will have been for nothing.

The door on the right remained closed as I approached the final five feet. Four. Three. Two.

On my left, a door swung open, a pale hand reaching out and grabbing my night shirt.

I was practically dragged into the room, the door slamming loudly behind me.

Pounding could be heard against the wood a few seconds later, but my worry for the pair had diminished with the introduction to another danger. A far more ominous one.

While I knew the two women would end me quickly and without grandeur, the man in front of me? He would relish in my death.

Altair wore no shirt and no shoes, his thin sleeping pants hung low on his hips to reveal a sort of V shape and a thin line of nearly silver hair below his navel.

His shadow marks were dark and almost all-consuming, hiding much of his pale flesh below.

Every shift of his arms as he released the door flexed and moved the muscles on his torso, so strong he might have been able to crush my skull.

I was far better off being thrown out the window.

“Hello, Little Void,” he mocked, a smile stretching across his face. “What an interesting turn of events. Never once had I imagined your face being the first I saw this morning.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. If you’ll move, I can leave.”

“You’re bleeding.”

My hand flew up to my head, finding liquid in the curls. “I’m fine. I’ll fix it in my room.”

“Does that seem like a safe place for you right now? Seeing as you’re being hunted by Priya and Dove?” Then it was Otarn and Zade. Cores chasing me down like starving beasts. The only part that surprised me was his choice to identify them. So easily he gave away his supposed friends.

“And what would you care? It’s not like I’m any safer in here.”

Slowly, he approached, stalking towards me. While my brain willed me to remain still and stoic, my feet seemed to have another idea. I backed away, each of his steps equaling two of mine.

“Oh, I’d never dream of hurting you, Tershetta.”

“Yes, because you and I are such lovely friends.” My back hit the wall. No, a window. I could feel the cool glass beneath my skin as I flattened my palm against it. “I’m sure you haven’t thought of killing me even once.”

“Well we could be,” he whispered, his hand moving up to my hair and twirling around one of my curls. “I’d so love to get some insight into the mind of such a brilliant shaytan.”

Stars, I wanted to hit him. Scratch, claw, bite, kick. Anything. But I had the awful feeling that I was one wrong move away from pushing him past his limit with me.

“Afterall, Talon is always inside there, right? Inside you. Clearly something interesting must be hiding beneath all of this.” He let my curl go, watching with a smirk as it bounced back up.

While I often worked hard to be levelheaded, I found myself losing all sense of terror as I moved my hand to smack him. He caught me by the wrist, his free hand latching onto my throat and pulling me closer. So close I could smell whiskey on his breath, our lips and noses mere inches away.

“You won’t be catching me by surprise again. I see you for what you are, akhata. Whatever you think you’re offering Talon, just know it will never make you good enough to be a shaytan, let alone an elite.”

Though my head was throbbing and my stomach turning, I still reared back and spit in his face, not caring that it would inevitably lead to more pain.

And oh did it. Furious at my audacity, Altair kicked in the back of my legs, causing me to crumple.

His knee was ready, caching my chest as I fell.

I cried out, but it was no use. Who would save me now?

Certainly not myself. Every dream I once had about being the hero of my own story was proven impossible as Altair shoved me back and straddled me, his grip on my neck tightening.

“Death is a precious gift for people like you when enslavement and pain is all life will soon offer. You should be thanking me for doing the stars’ bidding.

” His eyes were bulging, much like mine probably were.

But just as I began to feel what had to be my lungs exploding, his hold loosened.

I wasn’t offered any time to question his allegiance to the core values before he was squeezing my cheeks with his fingers, forcing my eyes to lock on his as he got closer to my face.

“But I won’t be killing you tonight, Little Void. Not when so much is yet to come.”

The door slammed open, Altair’s smile widening. I had just enough energy to turn my head and see Zade there, magic swirling around him like a fallen star, his amber eyes nearly black.

“Fun’s over, I guess,” Altair whispered against my ear.