Page 39 of Marked

Damien nodded, threading his fingers with Blair's.

"I agree. We can make a plan in the morning.

" Damien said, pulling Blair behind him toward the open spot in the grass.

"Oh, and Blake?" Damien said slowly as he passed, rearing up his fist and pulling it back.

Blake tensed and blocked his face, squealing with dramatic effect.

"Two for flinching..." Damien laughed, punching him squarely in the shoulder twice, his muscles bulging from the force.

Blake winced as a small smile broke on his face.

Damien bent and quickly grabbed the sack that held the tent as his shadows slowly unfurled.

Working together to stretch the fabric and anchor the poles into the ground, Blair watched as the job was done within a couple minutes.

She gathered the wood Blake had found and created a fire.

Soon, flickering shapes began to dance across the stretched fabric behind them.

Blair crouched near the firepit, stirring a battered pot of beans suspended above the flames. It wasn't much of a dinner, but it was the substance their body needed. The only other items retrieved were different cans of vegetables and dehydrated meat .

As dinner warmed fully, Blake finished hammering down the last stake for his tent, dusted off his hands, and dropped beside Damien on a fallen log near the fire.

"You know," Blake said, glancing toward the forest, "it's been a while since I sat around a fire without someone trying to kill me."

Damien snorted. "There's still time." Blair smiled, pulling the spoon out of the pot and tasting the beans.

Damien watched her and gave a small smile back as she lined up makeshift bowls.

Ladling scoops of beans into each one, she methodically measured equal portions into the three dented metal containers.

"This is what we're eating?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow. Blair gave him a look in response; her tongue sharpened from hunger.

"You're welcome to chew tree bark instead."

He grinned up at her. "Eh, No complaints here, really. The food is good, and I got to say, it smells better than half the things I’ve eaten before."

They ate in silence for a few minutes, the sound of the fire and the occasional crack of a twig breaking the stillness. Then Blake leaned back and stretched out his legs, letting the heat warm his boots.

"So," he began, eyeing Damien, "you've got shadows." his eyes then shifted to Blair, “...but you don't?"

Damien didn't respond, but Blair nodded, taking another bite of beans. Blake didn't seem bothered by their lack of enthusiasm. He took another bite of beans, swallowed, and then continued talking through bites .

"As you saw, I can move through them-" he swallowed, spooning another mouthful in, "-it's like stepping through a door, and the distance can go pretty far. Although-" he spooned more in, almost gagging at how big of a bite it was, "-I've never tested how far I can go."

Blair looked down at her bowl; her dinner was almost gone. "It almost seems like second nature for you."

Blake nodded. "I call it Shadowstepping." He paused, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before continuing, "Feels like falling sideways. Cold, but fast. You learn not to puke after the first dozen times."

Blair watches him, her eyebrows raising in surprise. "And your other ability? You said you can… sense others?" Blair asked.

"Yeah. Everyone who wields shadows carries a kind of... hum," Blake explained, tapping his temple. "It's not sound, but I feel it like pressure in the air. I can't tell exactly where they are, but I get an internal warning if they are nearby. It's like my insides vibrate."

He turned his attention to Damien. "So, what can you do?"

Damien didn't look at him but finished his last few bites, only raising his eyes to meet Blair's. The fire popped, casting sudden sparks skyward. Blake waited, then looked at Blair. She set down her tin with a small sigh.

"He's not the bragging type," she said. "But I've seen him do things with shadows I didn't think were possible."

Blake leaned in, intrigued. "Like what? "

"Well," Blair said, holding up her fingers as if ticking off a list, " he can build barriers, forcefields, he’s even ripped the ground open."

Blake raised his brows.

"He can shape them into objects, too," she continued.

"Daggers, hammers, anything he might need.

The first time I ever saw his shadows, they were being used to cover parts of his skin like gloves, protecting his hands from fire.

" She looked up in thought, recalling other moments she had witnessed, "I think he can do more, too.

" she murmured, squeezing her hand where a scar should have been.

." We just haven't tested other things out yet. "

Blake stared at Damien, slack-jawed for a moment.

"That's... That's not normal."

Blair blinked. "Excuse me?"

Damien finally looked up but didn't speak.

Blake sat forward, voice low but firm. "Every shadowborn I've ever met, myself included, has one or two gifts. That's it. One specialization, maybe a side trick..."

Blair frowned, looking at Damien, who had returned his eyes to the fire.

"Damien’s shadows seem different , even from yours. They react instinctively." Blair said defensively.

"That's exactly what I mean." Blake's eyes didn't leave Damien.

"You're not supposed to be able to do that much.

Barriers? Constructs? Splitting the ground?

That's three or four talents minimum, and every one of those would take someone years to master on its own.

But one person having that many, it's unheard of. "

Damien was still, firelight flickering across his face.

Blake leaned back slowly, thoughtful now. "There are old stories about Shadowborn like that. People who weren't bound by the usual limits. They were the first of our kind."

Blair's voice dropped. "You think he's one of them?"

"Well... he's definitely not normal, as far as our normal goes," Blake said, almost with awe. "Out of all the people I could be following, of course, I found the anomaly."

Damien didn't respond. He stared into the fire, shoulders tight, the air around him darkening just a shade deeper than the rest of the night. He looked up then, casting his eyes into Blair's direction.

Damien set his bowl down next to the fire.

"Well, he is tired of people talking around him like he’s invisible.

” He then turned to Blair. “Let’s go to bed.

" He stood, walking over to her and helping her up by her hand.

Damien then turned and addressed Blake. "Do not wake us up unless you're dying or things are on fire.

" Damien declared. Blake eagerly straightened at that and brought his fingers to his forehead in salute.

"Sir, yes sir!" he replied with a mocking voice.

Damien opened the tent flap and ushered her inside. Blair's eyes showed questions, and as she opened her mouth, Damien spoke over her.

"I don't want to talk. I just want to feel your skin."

She nodded, feeling the uneasiness rolling off of him. They lay down on the cold earth, only a thick blanket separating them and the ground. Damien laid on his back, pulling Blair to his chest and breathing in her scent .

"I'm sorry if I shared too much. It wasn't my story to tell. I understand why you didn't want to tell me about Grei's," she said quietly, wrapping her arms around his torso.

"I know your heart was in the right place, but if the wrong people knew about me... it would end badly. So, maybe next time, let me at least give you a thumbs up or something," he replied, his hand roaming her back.

"Deal." she yawned.

Both closed their eyes for a brief second before falling asleep to the sounds of Blake muttering to himself.