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MALAKAI

W e finish off the last of the dark beasts after what feels like days of fighting them.

“Let’s get out of here,” Theon says. “I want to get back to her. Something doesn’t feel right,” he says with a frown.

We move out of the edge of the black zone where the second test was. General Reed meets us halfway, a wide fake smile on his face.

“Congratulations, boys. I knew you wouldn’t let me down. Only four teams made it, but I have a feeling you’ll be the ones to bring us victory this year.”

“How many hours were we out there?” Knox ask, ignoring his attempt at kissing our asses. “It felt longer than usual.”

“Time works a little different on the edge. You were there 12 hours, so just over two days our time.”

Fuck . I share a worried look with the others.

“We need to go,” Cyrus says glaring at him.

“Of course. Get some rest. There will be a celebration tomorrow night. Make sure you’re all present. Commander’s orders.” He opens a portal for us, and we ignore his greasy smile and walk straight on through.

I head straight for the tent with the others right behind me.

The minute I walk in, I know something is wrong. Seth and Hawke are pacing the length of it, both looking like neither has slept in a week.

My stomach drops when I glance around but don’t see Sena. “Where is she?” I grit out, my patience already wearing thin.

Seth jolts. “She was taken by the general the minute she got back. We’ve been trying to find her, but they put her in isolation and wouldn’t tell us where.”

I freeze as every inch my body thrums with rage. “When was this?”

Hawke grows pale. “Two days ago.”

Storming out of the tent, I feel the others follow as I head straight for that fucking bastard of a general.

Lucky me, he walks right onto our path after coming out of a portal, a wide smile still on his face that I can’t wait to fuck up.

I step forward and slam my fist into his face. He flies backward, landing on the ground as blood pours down his face.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” General Reed shouts, his face red with fury. “I’ll have you for this?!” he shouts while trying to scramble to his feet.

Everyone Shadow around us steps back, not one of them daring to help him. They can sense what’s going to happen and choose to back away slowly.

They’re all afraid... Good… They should be.

“It’s kill or be killed. Isn’t that what you told us the first time you sent us to the Void?” Theon says as his shadows coil out around him, waiting.

Knox gives him a vicious grin. “The academy doesn’t like the weak,” he reminds him. The same words we were told when we just kids and sent to the Void.

“And you’re looking pretty weak right now,” I tell him.

He crawls backward from us. But he’s not getting away from us.

“Now… Where. The fuck . Is our mate?” I grit out.

“M-mate?” His eyes widen in horror.

Theon’s shadows uncoil around him and snap out before yanking him upward. His screams are music to my ears.

“Where. Is. She?” I ask one more time before I rip him apart along with everything else here.

Theon releases him just enough for him to answer.

“Blue zone,” he gasps. “Near the edge.”

I step forward, and hit him, again and again. I don’t stop until nearly every bone in his body is broken.

Someone very fucking smart gets a portal open for us, and we head straight into it while I barely contain my rage.

There’s about a dozen isolation holes in this area, so we break up and look in each. That she’s even in one of these makes my stomach twist into knots.

“Here,” Theon calls out, and we all head over to him.

Glancing down, my fucking heart breaks. She looks so fucking frail. So tiny.

Theon starts to send his shadows down to her. “I won’t hurt her,” he promises and focuses as they move down to her and curl around her before slowly pulling her up.

Cyrus grabs her the minute she reaches the top and pulls her close to his body.

“She’s trembling,” Knox whispers and feels her forehead with a hiss. “She also has a fever.”

Theon frowns. “How is she able to block us out like this? I can’t feel anything from her.”

“Something she’s going to explain and get punished for…” I tell them with a look. “Later.”

After she’s healed and gets a drip full of fluids into her. Or ten.

“Cyrus, take her back.” I share a look with Theon and Knox.

After we’re done, she won’t ever have to worry about this place again.

I wait until Cyrus has stepped through the portal with her before letting go. I unleash my rage, and the others join me. Our mass of dark shadows rip through the area, up turning every hole and destroying the entire place.

Instead of a dozen holes, there’s now one huge open pit.

We leave it as it is and move through the portal and I head straight for the tent, needing to see her. To hold her and know that she’s okay.

But the minute we come around the bend, I freeze when I spot the entire camp surrounded by a mass of dark shadows.

I reach out and touch one and instantly know what it is.

“Is this what I think it is?” Knox asks, already coming to the same conclusion.

“Cyrus’ nightmare shadows.” I give the others a look before stepping into them.

Screams and shouts echo around me in the darkness, followed by the sound of blades and grunts. But nothing touches us. We keep walking through to the direction of our tent. There are thicker shadows surrounding it. As if trying to protect it the most.

Heading inside, I find Cyrus with Sena in his arms, her body curled into him. I jolt back when he glances up at me and fear tries to take over.

His eyes. They’re completely black.

It can’t be the madness, I tell myself. We have a mate. It’s not possible.

“Cyrus?” I call but he doesn’t look at me. Instead, he glances down at Sena and frowns.

“We left her alone,” he says, his voice cold and empty.

“It won’t happen again,” I promise him and her before making our way over to them.

Sena’s eyes blink open, and I’ve never been happier to see those turquoise eyes in my life.

“You’re in a lot of trouble,” I tell her, hoping she hears the anger in my voice and not the fear.

She winces and gives me a small, sad smile and it breaks something inside me knowing I fucking let her down. Again.

SENA

M alakai glares at me from down the table while Knox, Theon, and Cyrus do the same.

Apparently blocking out your mates to ensure they don’t get distracted and killed is a fucking crime.

While everyone around us is celebrating for those that made it into the war games, the four that actually did are sending me nothing but furrowed brows, squinted eyes, and expressions of irritation and rage.

“Why are your mates looking at you like they want to kill you?” Robin whispers, glancing from them to me.

“At this point, I don’t give a fuck.” I knock back my drink and try to ignore them. “I’m tired. I’m heading back to my tent,” I tell her.

“I’ll let you know if anything interesting happens,” she says as she glances across the way to the other celebration the winged shadows are having. One that looks a hell of a lot more fun than this side, with games and small competitions.

The minute I get up and start moving away from the table, my angry mates get up and follow. But instead of walking beside me like normal people, they keep their distance, walking further behind me, and end up looking like my damn bodyguards… or stalkers.

I glance back and spot a couple of male Shadows stop them to congratulate them, but I keep moving.

“Straight to the tent,” Knox says into my mind. “You still have to receive your punishment.”

“Fuck you,” I tell them, even as an excited thrill runs down my spine at the thought of it.

Just before I make it to the tent, the winged male that helped me in the first trial steps in front of me. Two other winged males are by his side.

“I heard what happened. I wanted to make sure you were okay,” he says.

“I’m fine. Thank you.” I move around him, but he steps to the side stopping me.

“You didn’t look like you were having a good time. I can promise you; our celebration is much better. Come join us,” he says.

“I’m tired. Maybe another time.”

“We feel drawn to you,” he says, ignoring my words completely while moving a step closer as if he can’t help himself.

I freeze. “I have four mates that are a handful. I’m not interested in adding anymore.”

He chuckles. “It’s not like that. But I am more than willing.”

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Dakson?” Malakai growls, appearing beside me with the others.

Knox drags me back to him and the others step up around me.

Dakson’s entire demeanor changes, becoming more smug and cocky. “This poor female looked bored. We thought we’d offer her a chance to come to the better side of the celebrations.”

“This female is none of your fucking concern. Now get the hell out of my face before I make you unavailable in a permanent sort of way,” Theon says as his shadows leak from his body.

Fear flashes across the other two Shadow’s faces beside Dakson.

“If you change your mind, Sena. You know where to find us.” Dakson narrows his eyes on them and leaves before the guys follow through with their threats.

“I don’t understand why you’re all so fucking angry.” I head into the tent, happy that it’s empty for once and that the others won’t get front row seats to our little showdown.

“You should have told us what was happening instead of blocking us out!” Malakai shouts.

“You were fighting for your survival and trying to win a trial that you’ve been working years toward. I wasn’t going to mess that up,” I shout back.

Theon storms past me into the bathroom, slamming the door.

Knox steps forward and clenches his fists in front of me. “I can’t. Someone else deal with her.”

Malakai glares at me. And Cyrus sits down on his bed with a heavy sigh.

Fuck them. Getting into bed, I cast the shield around me and block them all out.

They each try to break it, but I’m fueled on nothing but frustration and rage. There’s no way in hell they’re getting past it.

They soon realize this and get into their own beds instead, glaring over at me like this is all my fault.

I roll my eyes at them. “Will you all get in trouble?”

I catch Knox’s frown. “For what?”

“What you did with the general.” I heard it’s going to take him months to recover from what they did, even with the healing devices they have on hand.

“The general is lucky he’s still alive,” Malakai grits out.

“How do you get away with it?” I ask them and they look at me like they haven’t got a clue what I’m talking about.

“I get yanked into isolation for punching a girl in the face and you literally rip the camp apart, tear the hearts out of two other Shadows, and break nearly every bone in the general’s body.”

“Who did you punch?” Malakai asks, finally looking intrigued instead of angry.

Knox frowns. “Yeah, why are we only hearing about this now?”

I sigh. “That’s not the point. The point is that you all?—”

“They’re afraid of us,” Theon says, making me pause. He turns to me in his bed. “They sent us to the Void so often that the energy inside it melded with our own. They have no other punishment that they can enforce.”

I blanch and accidentally drop my shield. “Was that an option?” I glance between them all. “Sending you to the Void?”

Theon’s eyes soften. “No. They stopped sending us when we really came into our powers. It can’t harm us anymore.”

I lie back down and stare up at the black cloth. “Promise? I don’t want any of you to ever have to go back to that place.”

Silence spans out between us, and I’m too afraid to look at any of them to see their expressions. I now know what the old Sena did, and I need them to know that’s not something this Sena would ever do to them.

“Promise,” Cyrus says, and I nod, finally starting to feel a sliver of relief.

The threat hanging over my head from Sena’s family slowly loosens and falls away.

They lied. They had to have. And now I don’t have to give a shit about them or their threats.

“The academy is not for the weak,” Theon says, drawing my attention.

“It’s barbaric and cruel. They encourage fights between the Shadows.

Encourage animosity, hoping it will bring out the strong and squash out the weak.

If you’re weak, you’re dead. That goes for females too.

” He raises a brow. “If you think the females have it hard, you should see what they put the males through when they start here.”

And they have no other choice. A heavy weight sits on my chest thinking about what they’ve gone through.

“Stop worrying and get some sleep,” Knox says, and I hear him moving around in his bed. “We’re back in the academy tomorrow and you still have an obstacle course to pass if you want any of those privileges.”

Malakai chuckles. “And now with no instructor, we will be the ones to train you.”

I narrow my eyes on him. “You wouldn’t happen to know what happened to Instructor Dick, would you?”

“Not a clue,” he says with a savage smile. And I don’t believe a word of it.