Page 6

S unlight flickers across my room, waking me. But instead of making me annoyed, all I feel is happiness.

I’m warm, in a bed, and got to take a hot shower last night. So many simple things people take for granted.

The assholes also left the front door open last night. Either they learned their lesson in some way or forgot to lock it. But my bet is on the latter.

The sound of something crashing makes its way up to me, and I smile as I remember my little payback last night for their dick move.

Throwing the blankets off me, I quickly head downstairs to get a front row view of it.

The four dicks stumble about, all looking like Bambi on new legs as they attempt to get the Vims out of the house.

It takes a few minutes—and only after they’ve fallen into the table and counter a couple of times—but they eventually manage the small feat and close the door behind them.

They glance at one another, all looking relieved, and the expression on their faces makes me laugh.

Four pairs of eyes veer straight to me.

“You!” Bastard #1 growls.

I give him an innocent look and point to my chest. “Me?”

“You brought the Vims in and put one in each of our room,” Hazel Eyes grits out, but it lacks any of his usually energy, so I just roll my eyes at him.

Bastard #1 frowns. “Why the fuck did I get two?”

I give him a deadpan look, wondering how someone so pretty can also be so dumb.

Quickly switching it up, I change my expression back to that fake innocent look and glance at all four of them. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Maybe they just sensed some bad energy and wanted to get rid of it.” I shrug.

They narrow their eyes on me, not buying it one bit.

Hazel Eyes opens his mouth—more than likely to call me out on it— when his eyes drop to my legs, and he pauses.

The others glance at him and his silence and then in the direction he’s looking, and all their expressions quickly change.

I frown, wondering why they’re all silent now, and glance down only to realize I’m only wearing an oversized tee and short shorts. It was too hot after the shower, so I didn’t put on any leggings like I usually do.

Ignoring their heated stares and how it’s starting to make me feel, I glare at them and then turn and move back upstairs, heading straight for the shower and making it cold before eventually heating it up.

I quickly get dressed—relieved that there’s drawers of clothes available to me—and head downstairs.

Four pairs of eyes follow me as I move to the counter, hoping to make myself some breakfast.

Dimples moves closer to me and glares at me. “Do not touch anything that belongs to us,” he grits out.

My heart drops. I guess that also includes their food.

Ignoring me, they start moving about, making their breakfast, so I slip out and turn toward the canteen to grab something quick.

Robin comes up beside me on my way there.

“Hey. I’m heading to the canteen, wanna join?” I ask, remembering the weird looks from the Shadows and hoping with two of us there, I can block them out.

Robin squints at me, thinking it over. “Still don’t remember anything?”

“No,” I laugh, and she smiles. A smile that has every part of her tense body easing.

“Good. You were kind of a snob beforehand,” she says, and I wince.

My stomach drops. “Yeah, sorry.”

She chuckles, shaking her head as we make our way inside to the canteen. There’s only a handful of people here with some of them being female. I instantly relax, and Robin gives me a questioning look.

“I came here yesterday. There were a lot of stares.”

“Ah,” she says nodding. “Gotcha. Sometimes I think the Shadows have never seen a female before in their life.” She shrugs. “Maybe they haven’t.”

I chuckle as we grab our food and move to a table at the side.

“Are there no female Shadows born?” I ask as I dig into my food.

She shakes her head. “No. Not that I know of. Shadows are all always male. A female companion can give birth to a Shadow, but it will always be male.”

“But we’re?—”

“Compatible but human,” she points out making me even more confused. “They just call us that to claim us as theirs.” She rolls her eyes. “But technically I think our DNA comes more from the royals. An extremely watered-down version of it.”

“The royals?” I ask.

She nods. “Before they were killed in the war, they were the only thing that kept the Shadows from going mad.”

I glance around watching the men sitting throughout the canteen. Some just blatantly stare at us in confusion and interest. Others look a little more than angry. But many look beyond hostile. “Shadows weren’t always like this?”

She shakes her head. “No. There was a time before the war when they didn’t have to worry about going mad.”

“But how is that possible?” I glance back at her trying to understand any of the setup here.

“The royals’ power.” She shrugs. “Something about it made them stronger and kept them sane.” Robin glances around and dips her head closer to mine while lowering her voice.

“Shadows are technically not supposed to be able to exist without them. I think it’s similar to a beehive.

Without a queen, there is no hive. And without their royals to ground them, they can go mad. ”

So, they weren’t always like this, always balancing on a tight rope between sane and madness.

I get lost in my own thoughts, thinking about the four males I’m living with and what I should do about them. When I finally zone back in, I catch Robin frowning at me. Well, not at me. Even though her stare is directly on me, her look is somewhere far away.

“I’m really not looking forward to going to the war camps in a few weeks. Or being forced to watch the war games with the other academy at the end of this semester,” she says with a fearful look in her eyes.

The fork in my hand freezes halfway to my mouth. But Robin doesn’t notice my shock, too absorbed now in something behind me and the information she’s sharing.

“Being close to the Hollow actually helps the Shadows stay sane for some reason, and they keep it from seeping out further, so I guess it’s win-win,” she says but doesn’t look too convinced by her words.

“But we’re expected to go and fight?” I place my fork back on my plate, my stomach now twisting and churning.

I’ve heard there are hundreds of terrigons there, considering it’s right beside the entrance to the Hollow. And many other dark, horrifying beasts.

Robin finally looks at me and nods. “We won’t have to participate in the war games.

But we will need to stay near our Shadows, and sometimes that means joining them in a fight.

Other times there will be tests setup specifically for us.

” She gives me a look full of frustration.

“They may see us as something special and rare, but they also do not want weak females.”

She scans my face for something, but her frown only deepens. “Technically, you should have been doing some form of training since you were younger. When you found out you were a companion to Shadows.”

I lean back in my chair and glance down at my body. No wonder this body is strong. It’s more than likely been training for war these last few years. But to go to the war camps… That’s not something I expected.

Robin shrugs. “Hopefully your muscle memory will win out. If not, your Shadows will keep you safe.”

I scoff, very much doubting it. They would soon rather throw me to the terrigons and laugh about it than ever save me.

“Come on. I’ll give you a tour of this place, so you don’t land yourself in any more trouble,” she says.

I give her a questioning look, and she gets up and rolls her eyes.

“Cora and Sage already have it out for you,” she says.

I frown. “Who?”

She glances over at me and smiles. “The blonde and the other half of her braincell.”

“Ah.” I chuckle. “I’m not worried.”

Robin shows me the layout of the main building, where the males’ dorms are—and a place I will be completely avoiding if the looks I’m getting are anything to go by—before bringing us outside to a huge field that’s lined into different sections.

There’re small group of males already training in the different sections with groups of other males watching and waiting for their turn.

I immediately spot the four assholes, and Robin chuckles at the look on my face.

“Is it Malakai or Knox giving you trouble?” she asks, and I give her a confused look that makes her brows practically hit her hairline.

“You don’t know their names?” she asks with complete shock in her voice.

I shrug glancing over at them. “I’ve been calling them by their eye or hair color, and when they really piss me off, they get demoted to bastard, dickhead, or asshole.”

Robin barks out a laugh and then points at Hazel Eyes. “That’s Malakai. He’s a Shadow shifter. He can transform into most prey animals and beasts.”

She points to Dimples next. “That’s Knox. They call him the assassin because he’s able to slip in and kill without you ever realizing he was there.”

She finds Indigo Eyes next, he’s standing against the wall, observing everything and everyone around him. “That’s Cyrus.” She shivers, and I glance at her as she frowns.

She gives me a look full of worry. “He’s a little different. He can literally create nightmares with his Shadows.” She glances back over at him but then looks somewhere else just as quick. As if she’s a little frightened to stare at him for too long.

“They use him when they want to torture someone. Most end up killing themselves.”

Damn. “And him?” I point to the white-haired asshole.

She follows my line of direction and nods. “Theon. He can cause pain.”

I frown at her, and she explains. “His Shadows, he can use them to literally send out pain to others. One touch and you’ll be in excruciating agony.”

“That sounds… lovely.” I stare at him and the other three, wondering what the hell I’ve gotten myself into.

“They’re all powerful. Scary as fuck. And Elite.”

“Elite?” I ask.

Robin nods. “Shadows are divided into four sectors after they pass their tests. Elites. Sentinels. Seekers and Shields.” She points to a male at the top of the queue. “See his white glowing markings?”

My gaze follows to where she’s pointing, and I find a male with glowing white tattoos swirling along his arms.

“If they’re white, it means they’re Shield. It means their Shadows are more defensive.” She points at another, but this one has purple glowing swirls. “Purple are Seekers. Meaning they’re good at finding things.” She tilts her head to the one beside him. “Blue is Sentinel. They’re the watchers.”

I watch each of them, quickly learning that their glowing tattoos only glow when they’re using their Shadow abilities.

“What about him?” I dip my head to the male a few feet away from us that looks to have black tattoos. The four assholes also have them, but they don’t glow. At least not that I’ve seen.

“Some get normal tattoos.” She gives me a look. “It should come as no surprise that your four are Elite. Highly trained. The best of the best. But…” She gives me a worried look. “That also makes them more susceptible to the madness.”

“What color are their Shadow tattoos?” I ask not really seeing any of them glow. But I guess none of them are using their abilities yet.

“Black.”

I whip my head to hers, and she nods her head. “Creepy, I know.”

My eyes find the four of them, and something they said tumbles around in the back of my mind.

‘They mentioned something about having to spend time with me each day,” I admit, wondering if anything they tell me is even true.

“Considering they’re Elite, they should be spending more than just some time with you.” She frowns at me, opening her mouth to say something but shakes her head and thinks better of it.

I don’t push her on it, still reeling from the information she’s already shared with me.

My eyes draw back to Malakai as black swirls slide along his skin as he shifts, his shadows growing and growing until he becomes a black mass. It morphs, and seconds later there’s a huge beast similar to a tiger. But one that looks at least three-times its size.

He rips into the male Shadow that looks to have volunteered for a fight, taking him down in seconds before backing off and waiting for the next male Shadow to step forward.

Every single one of them have nothing but violence in their eyes.

“He’s trying to help them,” Robin says, her voice low as she quickly glances around us. “Take the edge off so they don’t end up in the Void.”

“The Void?” I ask.

She nods as she watches the fight. “If they tip over the edge, they end up in the Void to try work it out of their system.”

She winces when Malakai tears into another male Shadow, leaving him barely alive. “I’ve only ever heard horror stories about it, and to be honest, I wouldn’t even send my worst enemy there.”

“How does it help them?” I ask, no longer able to look away as Malakai destroys each Shadow as if they’re nothing. The strength in every move he makes. The calculated way he ensures each stay alive, but barely. And the power he wields and controls like it’s child’s play.

I am well and truly in over my head.

“It helps purge the dark from them. But it’s extremely cruel.

None of the Shadows want to end up there.

The academy only believes in the strong.

That weakness should be killed or snuffed out.

Kill or be killed is their ethos. I’ve heard they even send the Shadows to the Void when they’re barely teens. ”

“Seriously?” I ask and she nods, her eyes growing sad.

“There are vicious dark beasts and creatures there, always on the hunt. Barely any food or water and the weather is constantly violent and brutal.”

It sounds like a horrible, cruel place to send anyone to. But so is living a life where you don’t know whether or not you’re going to snap any moment.

“What happens if they can’t control it? If they go into the Void but it doesn’t purge the madness from them?” I ask, a little afraid to hear her answer.

Robin gives me a look that already tells me everything I need to know but she says it anyway. “They die.”