Page 130 of Shadowblood Souls: The Complete Series

Thirteen

Riva

I scale the mountainside with swift, efficient movements, ignoring the growing burn in my arms. Whenever the terrain ahead of me is predictable enough that I can risk it, I take swift glances around at my surroundings.

I specifically picked this training exercise today so that I could get a better sense of the island’s landscape. Maybe even catch a glimpse of something that’d indicate a potential escape route.

We can’t fly away using Clancy’s private jet, since none of us knows how to pilot a plane. But if I could spot an obvious route through the mountains to a harbor or any sign of human civilization beyond the facility…

The latter option feels more and more impossible. It would make sense for Clancy to buy an entire island for his purposes rather than take the chance that we’d be discovered.

But surely they have some method of transportation other than the air route. He doesn’t seem like the type to put all his eggs in one basket.

Hell, I’d be willing to attempt a swim to the mainland if it turns out there’s some in sight.

Anything to not get dragged into more of his sick schemes.

When I reach the top of the climbing path and perch on the shallow ledge there, the view doesn’t offer much. There’s no easy way to scale the last fifty or so feet to the very top of the cliff, which is smooth and sheer probably by design, so I can’t look over the other side of this peak.

All I see sprawled out in front of me is the dense jungle that once looked so appealing. Now it seems to glower ominously at me.

I worry at my lip in the few minutes I can reasonably rest before I should start the climb down to avoid raising suspicion. Maybe we do need to focus on getting a plane—hijacking it, forcing one of the guardian pilots to take us off the island.

Although if the jets they have access to are all the same size as the one that took us on our mission, I’m not sure we could safely fit all of the shadowbloods on it. There are at least a few dozen of us here, and I don’t know if I’ve met all of the facility’s inhabitants yet.

Not only are the training periods staggered and unpredictable, there could be just as many prisoners who aren’t allowed out at all because they haven’t agreed to Clancy’s terms. Or he’s decided they’re even more volatile than the rest of us.

And I have no idea which of the guardians is trained as a pilot, or how we’d threaten them into complying if I can figure that out.

A wave of hopelessness washes over me. I close my eyes against it and then propel myself onward.

I start the scramble back down, relying mostly on my clawed fingers and my feet in their flexible athletic shoes, keeping the safety rope loose. When I figure out a plan, I want to be ready for whatever it’ll require.

Voices carry through the trees during the last short stretch before my feet hit the ground. Celine, Booker, and a few of the other older teen shadowbloods emerge along the path through the jungle to the climbing site.

The five of them keep chattering away as they stretch their arms and legs in a quick warm-up. The smiles flashing between them and relaxed tone to their conversation make my stomach knot.

I’m not sure how easily it’ll even be to convince the other shadowbloods that we should escape. They haven’t seen the darker side of this place—and Celine knows firsthand just how ruthlessly the guardians will hunt us down to reclaim their supposed “property.”

Funny that Clancy spoke about the child slavers with so much disdain when he and his colleagues have treated us like slaves since we were old enough to walk.

The guardians here make a show of giving us our space, but I can pick out a couple of figures hanging back among the trees along the fringes of the climbing site. I can’t talk safely here.

But I might be able to get a general sense of how content our younger counterparts actually are.

After I’ve stripped off the climbing harness, I amble over to where the teens are stretching. “It’s a good day for a climb,” I say, just to start the conversation. “Not too sweltering for once.”

One of the girls laughs. “I’m just glad to be getting out in the sunlight every day. It can swelter us all it wants.”

Okay, no sign of mutiny there. I drift a little closer to Celine. “Too bad the guardians didn’t give you more of a break to enjoy your new life here before sending you off on missions again, huh?”

I try to keep my tone light, as if I’m making a joke out of it rather than criticizing our keepers. Celine lets out a quick giggle with an energetic shake of her head.

“I like getting out there. Knowing I’m being useful. Maybe the next mission, I’ll get to do more than sit in a van!”

She sounds upbeat enough, but a trace of apprehension tickles my nose with its heightened sense of smell. There’s something about the subject she isn’t totally happy about.

I prop myself against the side of the cliff while the first couple of climbers gear up. “You ever think about what you’d want to be doing if we weren’t part of this whole Guardianship thing? Like what job you’d do or where you’d want to live?”

Booker snaps his fingers. “Hell, yes. I don’t know about jobs, but New York City is where it’s at. At least out of the places I’ve been. Could be there’s someplace I’d like more outside of the US.”

As he cocks his head with a contemplative air that clashes with his surfer-dude appearance, Celine shrugs. “I don’t know. With the missions, we could end up seeing all kinds of places anyway.”

“As much of them as you see from the inside of the van,” I say.

She giggles again. “Well, yeah. I’m sure we’ll have more action on other missions. And once we’ve proven ourselves more. Maybe Clancy will even let us take vacations or whatever!”

So she would like a chance to have more freedom, whether she’s fully recognized how stuck we still are or not. That’s a start.

And Booker seems to have dreamed about other things, despite his easy-going attitude.

“I like to think about that stuff sometimes,” he says, his grin going a bit crooked, “but mostly it makes more sense to focus on what we’ve got right now. Especially when this is a heck of a lot better than we ever had it before.”

I force a smile in return. “That’s true.” Though I’m not so sure I’d agree about the “a lot.”

Celine wanders away to watch her friends on their climb, but Booker lingers near me, his stance turning unusually hesitant. Has he guessed why I was asking these questions?

He glances at the ground and then back at me, and asks in a lowered voice, “You and Nadia have gotten kind of friendly, yeah?”

Huh. Where’s he going with that?

I dip my head. “Sure, I’d like to think so. Not that we’ve had the chance to get to know each other all that well yet.”

“I just wondered—and maybe this is a weird thing to ask, so you totally don’t have to say—has she mentioned anything I did that bothered her?”

I blink at him, feeling totally out of my depth. He thinks Nadia is upset with him?

At my startled silence, Booker barrels onward. “It’s just, her aura gets kind of… strange when I’m around, like agitated or something, even though she always acts nice. If I did offend her or something, I’d want to apologize. I mean, I really like her.”

He stops abruptly, a flush coloring his cheeks.

I’ve never had anything like a normal family, but in that moment, swept up in a rush of amused affection, I have the urge to ruffle his hair like I’m the worldly big sister in a sitcom. Except it’d be a bit of a reach when he’s nearly a foot taller than me.

I can’t stop a real smile from tugging at my lips. I’m not going to betray Nadia’s secrets, but it seems fair to say, “I think she’d really like to hear that. She’s definitely not upset with you.”

Booker studies me as if trying to read more into my words and lets out a chuckle with a rush of breath. “That’s—that’s good to hear. Sorry if it was a strange thing to bring up?—”

“No,” I say quickly, meaning it. “I don’t mind at all. I know most of us have only just met, but we’re all kind of family, right? We should help each other when we can. At least, I want to.”

“Yeah.” He flashes me a more confident grin. “Thanks.” Then he lopes over to join the others at the base of the climbing route.

I watch them for a moment with an uneasy twist of fondness and apprehension in my gut.

Maybe he and Nadia will find something special together like I have with my guys.

Maybe Clancy will force the issue if he realizes they’re into each other, to see if they’ll form the same kind of connection we have.

My teeth set on edge. I can’t let that happen.

I don’t know the best way to get us out of here or how to protect us once we’re gone, but I know we can’t stay here any longer than we can help.

I have a while yet before I’m due back at the facility for my lunch period, so I set off for my other planned training activity: firearms. I might prefer close combat where I can use my supernatural strength and claws, but when it comes to dealing with people as well-equipped as the guardians, weapons could definitely come in handy.

And I want to take into consideration all the weapons we could have access to.

The shooting range is set up in a cavernous room at the top of a carved flight of steps leading from the valley floor. A broad waterfall covers the entrance, the warbling of the water drowning out any sound that resonates out of the mountain.

When I duck past the waterfall, a guardian is standing several feet down the hall on the other side, keeping an eye on things. No doubt I was watched along the path I took to get here as well.

I could kill any of them if I wanted to—but that wouldn’t do us any good. Clancy knows I’m not going to go rogue without my guys. And the second I attack any of his people, their ankle bands will let him know.

We’re still shackled; he’s just given us a longer chain.

As I step into the shooting range, my spirits lift a bit. Andreas is standing down by the end, next to a younger guy I don’t know and little Tegan.