Page 109 of Shadowblood Souls: The Complete Series

Thirty-Four

Riva

I pull the black cap tight over my hair and tuck the end of my braid under the springy fabric. Then I slip my cat-and-yarn pendant under my shirt collar, both for safe-keeping and to keep it out of view.

We might not be able to merge right into the shadows, but the stealth gear Rollick got for us cloaks us in darkness from head to toe.

As I hop out of the helicopter after Dominic, Jacob right at my heels, the thick fabric of the mock turtleneck and athletic pants presses against my flexing muscles. The Kevlar in it should protect us from knife slashes and the jab of a tranquilizer dart.

If the guardians decide they’d rather kill us than recapture us, the thin but dense padding across the torso and throat should help protect us from regular bullets. There isn’t much that could properly shield our heads, though.

We’re working with a balance of security and flexibility so we can dodge the attacks we can’t absorb.

Pistols of our own rest against our hips in the dual holsters that hang from our belts. We’re prepared in every possible way in case our supernatural abilities aren’t enough to get us through the trials ahead.

The military-grade gear should add to my confidence. But as we hustle through the stretch of forest between our landing site and the facility, draped in the shadows of the early night, my pulse wobbles with uncertainty.

No matter how much reconnaissance Rollick’s people were able to gather, they’ve only observed the outside of this place. We have no idea what’s waiting for us inside , other than it’ll probably look uncomfortably like the prisons we’ve already escaped.

I can’t help feeling like a kid playing dress-up, pretending at being the superhero Jacob once claimed I am when I don’t actually have any clue how to fight a war.

Go in, take down any guardians who get in our way, get the other shadowbloods out. That’s our mission, boiled down to its simplest essence.

Whatever complications arise along the way… we’ll just have to deal with them as they come.

A familiar figure wavers out of the gloom up ahead. Rollick tips his head to us silently and makes a few brisk gestures.

After our urgent phone conversations hashing out the initial plan, I follow his meaning well enough.

His people have disabled the few guardians who were patrolling outside the facility’s protections. They’re waiting to escort the younger shadowbloods to the camouflaged vans parked on the nearest road.

The facility itself is just up ahead.

We nod in acknowledgment, and Rollick vanishes again. My stomach twists tighter.

The shadowkind have a few more tricks up their sleeves, but once we cross the protective barrier that wards them away, we’re on our own.

Then again, that’s how we started. And for all Rollick’s wealth and influence, it’s always come down to the five of us when the shit has hit the fan.

If we can’t pull off this mission, if we can’t even protect the kids who are going through the same things we did, then what was the point of claiming our freedom to begin with?

As the trees start to thin, a glimmering trail catches my eyes through the underbrush up ahead. One of Rollick’s allies—one of the few who wasn’t too terrified of us to join in the operation—laid down a line of phosphorescence to show us where the boundary of anti-shadowkind protections lies.

They can’t cross over that line—at all or without being significantly weakened. Our job is to get the younger shadowbloods past the barrier so the shadowkind can escort them the rest of the way to safety.

All of us know how to slink silently across terrain like this. I don’t hear or see our companions approach, but the tingle of my mark tells me Andreas is getting closer.

Jacob, Dominic, and I pause at the edge of the clearing that holds this facility. I glance in the direction where I can sense Andreas is just arriving, twenty feet away.

We can’t risk any sound passing between us. I have to assume he wouldn’t be here if he and Zian weren’t ready.

Then I turn my attention on the structure ahead of us.

From the photographs and descriptions Rollick’s people passed on, I had some idea what to expect. Still, seeing the place for real, turned ominous by the darkness, makes my gut drop to my feet.

Here, the guardians took a different tactic from what we’re used to. There’s no electrified fence, no secure concrete bunker hiding the labyrinth of levels underneath.

They were counting mainly on disguise this time. The nearest proper road is miles away, so no one’s likely to stumble on it. All their supplies must be coming on foot or by helicopter to the small clearing at the base of the cliff we’re facing.

The cliff that holds the gaping black maw of a cave.

The guardians built this facility into the intimidating natural features of the landscape. The cave opening looms at least ten feet high and nearly the same across, surrounded by mossy crags of stone.

It’s pitch black beyond the small strip of moonlight that touches the very edge of the yawning entrance. We have no idea what we’re dealing with even before we’ve gone inside the building itself.

Andreas and Zian steal over to join us. Relief washes through my chest at having our group all together again.

Without speaking, we move farther around the clearing, over to the side. We’re going to help clear the way into the facility, but the shadowkind are going to kick off our invasion.

Our allies must be watching. The second we’ve gotten into place, a resonant boom reverberates through the woods, shaking the ground beneath our feet.

As I grab hold of a tree trunk to steady myself, the sound of another blast rattles my eardrums.

Firelight dances through the trees beyond the other side of the clearing. We pull back a little deeper into the forest to ensure its glow doesn’t reveal us.

Then we simply watch.

Three guardians in the familiar metal helmets and vests dash from the mouth of the cave. Guns glint in their hands.

One raises a walkie talkie with the other to report to colleagues inside. They march to the edge of the clearing, peering at the flames, but don’t venture farther into the forest.

They’re being more cautious than when I broke the guys out. Maybe the surviving guardians from that escape told stories about how I diverted them.

This bunch shouldn’t have any idea that we were heading their way or that we’d even want to invade their workplace. But with every passing moment, the chances increase that the guardians who’ve been tracking us will figure out where we’ve converged and spread the word.

Every instant could make a difference.

Thankfully, it doesn’t take long for more guardians to come loping out of the cave. A dozen of them set off through the trees to investigate the fire, but five hang back by the cave entrance, scanning the entire clearing.

Yes, they’ve definitely gotten smarter. But I don’t think they’ve gotten stronger.

We can take five no problem.

I flick my claws from my fingertips.

We don’t want to use the guns yet if we can help it. It’s better if the guardians who’ve ventured farther away from the facility don’t realize there’s trouble back here.

The main force of guardians vanishes into the darkness of the woods. And we launch ourselves forward.

Before we’ve even reached them, Jacob has already flung two of the figures against the cliffside, denting their helmets and cracking their skulls against the jutting crags. Zian snarls and pummels one into the ground with a heave of his fist.

I throw myself at the figure nearest to me and plunge my claws right into his throat.

The final guard lets out a bark of warning that’s cut off with a gurgle. Andreas has blinked out of invisibility behind him, jabbing a knife into his heart.

More shouts echo from the depths of the cave. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, but I glance around at the guys and see a resolve in their eyes that solidifies my own determination.

We aren’t the monsters here. We’re freeing tormented children from the real beasts.

I can be a hero, in every way that counts.

And we’re working like a team again—a real one with all the trust and understanding that should go with that word. With only a look and imperceptible nods, we spread out to either side of the cave and dash in close to the walls.

The guardians come charging forward down the middle of the space. One has a light fixed to her helmet, the beam bobbing through the darkness.

We spring.

Bodies smash against the walls as Jacob lashes out with his powers.

I sever another throat.

Dominic’s tentacles whip from his back to slap around a neck and crush a windpipe.

A guardian next to me stumbles, and Andreas is on him with his knife before I need to whirl around.

“The door!” Zian calls out, his voice low but urgent.

The lit helmet has spun toward the far end of the cave—where we can see a solid wall with a steel door on the verge of slamming shut.

Jacob jerks his hand forward, and the door jolts to a halt just a crack from locking. The muscles in Jake’s arm bulge with the strain.

Zian heaves himself forward, and I dart after him just as fast. He catches the edge first, but his thicker fingers can’t push inside the crack to yank it farther open.

There’s no handle on this side.

I dive in and squeeze my own fingers into the tiny gap. With an ache I feel all the way through my shoulders, I haul at it.

The door shifts toward me, just enough for Zee to get a proper grip too. He yanks it wide?—

And another squad of guardians barrels into us.

Electricity crackles with a prod that smacks my arm. My limb spasms, but I hold on to enough control to kick my attacker aside with a force that must crack several ribs.

Jacob hurls himself at the man who jolted me with a growl that could match Zian’s wolf. He crushes the guardian’s skull against the rocky floor with his bare hands.

Darts whiz toward us, and I fling myself around so my face and head are protected. With another jab of my heel, I snap someone’s jaw.