Page 249 of Shadowblood Souls: The Complete Series

Twenty-Seven

Andreas

“ I don’t understand,” the boy says for what might be the tenth time, looking down at his hands where he’s sitting on the end of the hotel bed and then glancing up at me. “I hurt someone? I can’t remember… I can’t remember anything.”

I take a deep breath before repeating the explanation we decided on. “It’s because of that accident I told you about. It seems like it affected your memory. We don’t know if you’ll get those memories back—but we can help you figure things out from here.”

Griffin nods where he’s standing next to me. “It’s like you were sick, but you can get better now. You’re surrounded by friends. We’ll make sure you’re safe.”

I know my friend is sending wave after wave of calming emotion over the kid whose mind I wiped half an hour ago.

The shadowblood boy who nearly pulled Zian’s arm out of its socket a few days ago, who when he woke up before wouldn’t do anything but thrash against his restraints and shout threats at us.

Just in case the boy’s temper snaps after all, Pearl and Dominic are standing by in the new hotel room Rollick got us for this purpose. Pearl’s ready to attempt her succubus persuasion on him and Dominic to drain him into unconsciousness if the former strategy doesn’t work.

But so far we haven’t needed them. After talking with the kid for several minutes at first and getting Griffin’s confirmation that he didn’t see any reason for alarm, we removed the chains. We’re still staying wary, but my trepidation is giving way to a bittersweet sense of relief.

Riva’s suggestion may have actually worked. By cutting Balthazar’s shadowbloods off from their memories of everything they had to rage about, we’ve diffused their fury.

The fact that Griffin even can soothe this kid’s emotions is proof that we’ve made progress.

I just can’t help feeling a little sick about how much else I had to steal from him to accomplish that.

The boy rubs his forehead. “You say my name is Keith? I… I don’t even remember that .”

Neither had I, if I’d ever known it. But we had a little extra help in that department.

I motion Ajax over from where he’s been waiting near the door, braced in case he has to duck outside for his own safety.

He steps closer, his telepathic voice traveling into my mind at the same time.

I’m not picking up on any violent thoughts.

He’s just confused. And he doesn’t like the idea that he hurt people.

Well, developing a conscience seems like important progress too.

I tap the slim boy’s shoulder. “This is Ajax. He did some training with you at one of the places you lived before, so he can tell you some things about yourself. If you’re ready to talk more about that.”

Keith wavers for a moment with a slight sway of his posture before offering a tentative smile. “That—that would be nice.”

The door eases open to reveal Zian’s face. “Lull says that the girl—Bethany—is going to wake up soon. If you want to try on her too.”

I glance around at the others, not sure whether I want to be told to go ahead or held back from wiping out my second mind of the day.

Dominic dips his head. “I’ll stay, just in case.”

There are a few shadowkind watching from the shadows who can step in if they need to too, Ajax informs me silently. It turns out he can sense their thoughts even when they don’t have a physical presence, although he says the impression is pretty foggy.

I square my shoulders. “All right. I’ll see how it goes with Bethany.”

One victory isn’t proof of success, only a good sign. We need to see if I can repeat it.

Griffin turns to follow me over to the next room, where Rollick’s people moved the captured shadowblood girl. “I should come along for calming purposes. Keith seems pretty stable at the moment.”

I shoot my friend a quick smile in thanks. At least I don’t have to carry out this awful job on my own.

In the other room, we find the lamia poised next to the bed. The girl lying on it is bound with chains wrapped around her body, the gag still in her mouth.

I wasn’t there when she started singing the first time she woke up, but apparently her crooning is powerful enough to send whoever she focuses it on into a panic.

“The sleep I put her under will last about ten more minutes,” Lull says, looking down at her charge. “I’ll stay in case you need to send her under again. I shouldn’t need to check on the older one for another couple of hours.”

I swallow thickly. “Thank you. We should take the gag out so she can at least talk once she wakes up. I don’t want her to be more freaked out than she needs to be.”

Lull reaches to release the gag. “Just be careful. That power of hers seems to work fast.”

“Absolutely. If she starts singing—or even humming—you’d better knock her out right away.”

But when I’m through with Bethany’s mind, she shouldn’t remember that she even can wield a power like that.

As I walk up on the other side of the bed, my stomach sinks with every step. I prop myself against the edge of the mattress and reach over to rest my hand on the girl’s forehead where the messy strands of her thin, flaxen hair have fallen aside.

I don’t have to touch a person to wipe their memories as long as I can see them, but it’s easier to focus like this. It takes a little less out of me when there’s no distance to compel my ability across.

Staring at Bethany’s slack, pale face, I can feel all the recollections whispering inside her skull. If I wanted to, I could tip myself right into them and experience those glimpses of her life.

But I already know too well what sort of experiences she’s had. I know where they’ve brought her.

Is it fair to wipe them all away like taking a magnet to a hard drive? To force her to start over from scratch?

I’m still not sure. My gut has clenched even tighter as I prepare myself.

I’ve grappled with that question a lot in the time since Riva told me what she was thinking. I kind of hate that I’m doing this… but I also can’t see any better way.

It’s this or we end up killing all those kids, all the criminals who maybe could find a better path. I’m stealing the details of their life before, but I’m also giving them a second chance they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.

I focus on the sluggish stirring of the girl’s mind and push . Almost like when I extend my talent for invisibility over someone else, but more concentrated. As if I’ve condensed the power into a psychic acid that’s eating away every piece of her past that was stored inside her brain.

In a few minutes, her mind will be as blank as my body becomes when I remove it from sight.

The room is cool, but sweat forms on my forehead. An ache creeps up the back of my own skull.

If I’m going to do this with a bunch of the other shadowbloods, we’ll probably have to space out my efforts. I’m not sure how many I could do one after the other without totally wearing myself out.

The memories dissolve beneath the sweeping wave of energy I’m propelling into Bethany’s mind. Then I sense nothing within her head at all.

I drop my hand, balling it when it starts to shake, and pull myself back from the bed. No one wants to wake up not just disoriented but with a stranger right in their face.

Griffin’s expression tenses slightly. He’s already projecting soothing emotions into her, even as she sleeps.

I guess there’s something to be said for getting a head start.

By the time Bethany shifts her limbs against the chains, my mouth has gone dry. She lets out a soft, startled sound that jabs at my heart.

Her eyes pop open. She stares at the bindings wrapped around her and then at the three of us standing around her bed.

Griffin frowns. “It’s okay,” he says in a voice soft as silk. He isn’t aiming his power at me, but the conjured calm tingles at the edges of my awareness. “We’re here to help you.”

“You had an accident,” I add. “You were badly hurt—you may not be able to remember anything.”

Bethany jerks against the chains. “Why am I all tied up? What the hell is going on?”

An edge of anger has already crept into her voice. I hold up my hands in a gesture of apology. “When the accident happened, you weren’t totally in control of yourself. You hurt some people. We just want to make sure that?—”

“Let me go!” Bethany interrupts, outright thrashing now. “You can’t do this to me. You’re all going to regret it when I get out of this shit.”

Griffin eases closer to me. “It isn’t working,” he murmurs. “The rage flared up right away, as soon as she saw her situation—so intense I can’t get through it.”

Just like before when she still had her memories.

“You’re all assholes!” the girl keeps shouting, the viciousness of her voice even more horrifying coming from a skinny fourteen-year-old kid. “I’ll hurt you if you don’t stop this shit. I’ll?—”

A quaver enters her voice, and her expression shifts. She must sense a hint of her power.

The next sound that bursts from her lips is an emphatic, wordless crooning.

Fear rattles through my nerves, propelling a yelp up my throat and my feet toward the door. In just the second or two before Lull passes her hand over Bethany’s face, my heart nearly bursts from my chest.

Then the girl slumps back into a doze, and the adrenaline rush fades, leaving my body wobbly but a hell of a lot steadier.

“Fuck,” I mutter.

Griffin swipes his hand over his face, his mouth slanted at a pained angle. “I’m sorry. I tried every angle I could think of—she got worked up so quickly.”

I clear my throat, but a rasp still colors my voice. “It’s not your fault. It’s that prick Balthazar.”

Why was Bethany still so aggressive when Keith came to in a much more cautious state? I stare at her prone form as if it’ll give me any answers and then extend my thoughts toward the one person who might have a clue.

Ajax? You knew both Keith and Bethany from training on the island. Can you think of any reason they’d react differently to this ‘treatment’?