Page 33 of Shadebound (Dark Fantasy #1)

We don’t fall for kindness. We fall for the ache.

For the anger. For the slow unravelling beneath someone’s skin that mirrors our own.

If someone feels like home to a shadebound, then something inside them must be splintered.

Something must be dying, or dangerous, or already lost. We only ever recognise what we already carry.

And maybe that’s the curse. That we love what reflects us, even when it wounds us. Especially when it wounds us.

L unch at Mors Academy wasn’t really lunch. It was a pause between punishments, held in a hall that smelt faintly of mildew and burnt herbs. A cruel joke considering herbs and seasonings were not a thing anyone here got to touch, aside from with magic.

God, I would have killed for some seasoning. A sprinkle of adobo. A little dash of Tajin. At worst, even just some lemon and herb to lighten up my life from sludge.

My pack and I took our usual spot near the back. Far away from the prying un-dead eyes of any robed monster that wanted to float around the halls. The porridge on my tray steamed. All hideously thick. It tasted like liver and something darker, gamier.

Something a little more human.

I savoured every bite, dragging the spoon along the bottom of the bowl and licking it clean like it might vanish if I looked away. I was hardly enjoying it, but out of all the flavours I ate, when it tasted like human’s it was the best. The most tolerable.

Nothing like real humans. Nothing like the softness of their meaty flesh or the richness of their dying screams when I shifted into my true wolf form and devoured them whole.

And normal things. Normal thoughts.

When my bowl was empty, I people watched.

Using my real-life reality show to entertain myself.

Other students took exaggerated care not to drip food down their fronts—there were only so many uniforms, and if you ruined one, you suffered through the stains.

And if you asked for a new one, they made you bleed for it.

It was easier not to be a messy eater.

I didn’t have that problem. No shirt meant no stains, which was why I’d removed mine after class. One of the few perks of being constantly half-dressed. Besides, it was one less thing to worry about ruining. I didn’t need to scrub blood out of cotton.

I’d done it enough times before growing up when my father was drunk. Or bored. Or sad about his pathetically empty life.

Or on a random Tuesday, just because he was a cunt.

Across from me, Jinx sat silent. Her posture relaxed but unreadable, like always.

Her black hair curled softly where it fell past her shoulders; her braid a little loose.

The front two ribbons of soft pink shimmered when the light caught them, and despite knowing she hated the colour, I hated to admit it suited her.

Like one bright spark in an otherwise deadly demeanour.

One tiny bit of light left in an otherwise hollow shell.

She looked paler today—her skin a true grey in the flickering torchlight. Ethereal, not sickly. Like a statue carved from moonlight.

But I noticed all the things actually wrong with her. The little parts other people would have missed.

Blood trickled from beneath her cuff. A thin line slid over her wrist and dried near her elbow.

She hadn’t wiped it. Hadn’t even acknowledged it.

The damn thing had probably dug deeper again.

Maybe she’d been trying to loosen it. Or maybe it just hated her.

Honestly, fair enough. Most magic did. Especially ones designed by sadistic people like Hightower.

But Jinx’s eyes were empty. As though she were in the room with us, but not truly in the room. And sure, she often zoned out and sat in silence. But it was different.

It was the look she’d worn since Tyler had shoved Draven, and she had... had zoned out. Had gone into a trance-like thing where all she could do was use her magic.

She hadn’t heard me talking to her. Hadn’t felt me grabbing her. She’d just been locked onto her shadowy games with Tyler, and I had no idea how the fuck that had occurred.

Her magic should have been locked down. Thoroughly .

Maya arrived with the grace of a storm. Her tray smacked against the table as she dropped onto the bench. Shiny blue hair swung forward until she tucked it behind one ear, revealing the flicker of her neon blue eyes narrowed.

She leant forward, eyeing Jinx’s bowl. “I genuinely think you’re a psychopath. Who actually eats lemon flavoured things for fun?”

Jinx didn’t look at her. She didn’t look at anyone as she muttered, “Someone with taste.”

Further down the bench, Eris’s voice was soft. “I like lemon. I used to eat them from the lemon tree in my garden.”

I hadn’t even noticed her before this morning. If I were being honest, I didn’t notice anyone outside of my small circle, least of all quiet people who were kind of... weak . But if Jinx had taken her under her wing, then so would I. And I’d make sure the rest of my pack followed suit.

Jinx pointed at Eris. “See? Someone here has class.”

Eris looked down quickly, cheeks flushing as she tugged on some of her inky hair.

“Traitor,” Maya muttered as she stabbed her spoon into her porridge.“You’re corrupting her. Eris was sweet until she met you. Now she’s going to turn sour,” she added, shooting Eris a wink that only made the smaller girl blush harder.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” I licked stray porridge from my thumb and leant back against the wall. “Heartache loves corruption. The darker the better.”

Jinx finally glanced at me as Maya snorted. “Awh, look at you having her back.”

“Always. Even if it’s sometimes from behind something fireproof.”

Jinx liked fire too much for her own good.

The way it moved. The way it erased things with such permanence.

To her, there was something poetic about that kind of destruction—about her affection for it.

Dangerous, yes. But almost beautiful, the way she gravitated toward things that could burn everything down.

I was surprised she hated Alessandro. Not because I didn’t think he was an irritating fool, but because he was a walking fireball.

The pair would have got off to the destruction together as the rest of us more normal people hovered behind with a fire extinguisher and a heavy side eye.

“Coward,” Maya rolled her eyes as I tried not to grin at the mental image of Jinx with a packet of matches, eyes glittering like she was born to burn the world down.

“Strategist,” I countered with a final lick of my spoon as I glanced around my group to ensure everyone was okay.

Draven sat a few tables away, chuckling with the younger wolves.

His cuff twinkled softly as he leant in toward them, gesturing as he spoke.

His shoulders were relaxed, and he honestly looked unbothered about the day’s events so far.

Nothing like Jinx, who watched him as if she hadn’t eaten in weeks and he was the only thing that mattered.

Her spoon barely moved through her bowl. She took one bite and then just kept staring.

“Psychopath,” Maya muttered again under her breath.

Jinx didn’t reply. She went deathly still, like every cell in her body had frozen mid-thought. If you weren’t watching closely, you’d have mistaken her for a corpse.

Then she spoke quietly. “I need to get to town. Or to somewhere with a phone or the chance to send a letter.” She lowered her voice even more. “With what happened with Tyler today, I think the dragons might try to come after me again. I want to be sure it happens after Draven has left, not before.”

Maya blinked.I didn’t blink at all. I’d expected this the second my deadly bundle of darkness walked through the gates. Plans had already been forming the moment I saw her. I’d already mapped half the route in my head. Already knew the best time, the best path, the way to cover it all up.

I was going to help her get Draven out of here, and I was going to make sure the only one who could get in trouble for it was me.

Then I was going to eat some dragons for dinner so they couldn’t lay their filthy hands on her again.

“Friday,” I said under my breath. “Hightower’s got some mandatory meeting, and the rest of the staff trail after her like ducklings.

After lights-out, the cuffs always glitch.

No tracking or anything for us.” I wiggled my eyebrows.

“The older students usually use it as an excuse to blow off steam—bonfires, drinks, sneaking into the woods. For orgies and murder. The usual fare. But for you, it could be a perfect cover. A chance to slip into town.”

Jinx finally looked at me properly. Her grey eyes were clearer than usual, like storm clouds split with lightning.

I’d never wanted to be struck so much in my life.

Maya snorted, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “He is right, J. It works. Zayden has used it every month to party and run around like a weirdo under the moon.”

“Field research,” I replied. “Purely academic.”

Jinx didn’t smile, but something in her face eased. A flicker of something not-quite-soft as though she was thawing again.

“It really works?” she asked. “Hightower won’t know I’ve gone?”

I shook my head. “If you’re quiet. Then no. You’ll be able to get to town and send the letter.”

She nodded slowly, still thoughtful. Eris shifted beside her, reminding me she was actually a real person. Not just part of the décor.

“I know a guy in town,” she whispered. “He runs the local bar. Not the most trustworthy place, but... if anyone could help get a letter out, it’s him. He’s one of those people who get you anything you want, no questions asked.”

“I’ll come too,” Maya said, stabbing at her meal with unnecessary force. “I’m good at talking our way out of trouble. And I look amazing when I lie. I can back you both up if you need, you know, magic that works.”

“You look suspicious by default,” I told her. “And I’m happy to distract on campus. I’ll make everyone think you were here.”