Page 251 of Shadowblood Souls: The Complete Series

Twenty-Eight

Riva

I climb up the stairs to the ground level of the facility so that my phone has a signal again. In the whitewashed hallway, I sink down on the freshly scrubbed floor with my back against the wall and tap out a quick search.

The latest news reports about the hunters’ recent public statements are just rehashing yesterday’s articles.

The clip of the New York City group commenting on how they’ve heard that “there are people who’ve been standing up to these monsters for a lot longer than us” and “they’re working on a weapon that can defeat any of their crazy powers that’s almost ready for action” has circulated all around the world.

Rollick’s people made sure the vaguely phrased inside info was passed on to a few different groups across the country in a way that encouraged them to talk it up. The vigilantes have no idea the source was the exact “monsters” they’re so worried about or anything else about this supposed weapon.

The shadowkind who—very carefully—approached the rogue shadowbloods delivered a more detailed message, including the location where they’d supposedly seen the guardians bringing in equipment to put the finishing touches on their weapon.

We figured having the hunters know about it gave the story an extra dollop of authenticity, but we don’t want any mortals showing up to join the party.

Well, any amateur monster-hunter mortals, anyway. As I flick over to the map app, a text message pops up from Pearl. Guardians are almost there—fifteen minutes’ drive away. Should we slow them down, or are you good?

I pause to focus on the power I’ve borrowed from Griffin again, thinking of Nadia and then of Devon. My finger falls to the map on a spot dozens of miles closer than when I last checked a half hour ago.

At their current pace, it looks like they’ll be here in less than a half hour more.

No, let them come , I reply. That’s perfect timing.

We want the guardians here when the rampaging shadowbloods arrive to make it look like the facility has been in use, but not for them to have had enough time to get very far into the building.

I push to my feet and walk over to the main door. Even opening it a crack makes a huge difference, the cold but fresh winter air sweeping in to wash away the tightly sealed stuffiness of the hall.

I drink in the chill, letting my gaze wander over the parking lot, the fence, and the forest beyond. Nearly five years ago, the guardians who imprisoned us here used this as a site for their own brutal trap. Now we’ve made it our own.

We’re leading the scattered remains of the Guardianship into a slaughter, and I can’t bring myself to feel the slightest bit of guilt, even after seeing what the rampaging shadowbloods did to the people who met with Balthazar. We are what they made us.

They have only themselves to blame.

And one way or another, tonight we’re going to wipe the slate clean, destroy the legacy they created before the results of that legacy ravage even more of our world.

And that wiping of the slate might include destroying even ourselves.

It wasn’t my decision alone. I barely needed to touch on the subject with the guys before they understood what I meant—and agreed wholeheartedly.

We’re going to take every possible measure to ensure that Balthazar’s insanity and the guardians’ cruelty end here and now.

With that knowledge tight as a vise around my lungs, I give myself one last glance over the forest and the sense of freedom it offers before shutting the door for what should be the last time. Then I hurry over to the stairwell.

On the landing inside, Sorsha is waiting for me. When I nod, she lifts her hands and lets loose a controlled spout of flame that melds the lock and deadbolt into a solid lump.

The guardians won’t be able to open it, no matter what keys or codes they bring. They’ll come inside when they arrive, but they won’t get past the first floor.

They might not even try, with the fodder we’ve left in the rooms above to keep them busy while the rogue shadowbloods make their final approach, but it seemed best to take a precaution just in case.

Sorsha grasps my shoulder before we head down the stairs side by side. Her head sways a little with the movement, even though we’re keeping our steps slow and steady to try not to provoke too much dizziness.

Even after a few days to recover from the last attack, she’s too disoriented to fly.

My concern must show on my face. She shoots me a reassuring smile. “I’ll be fine. I’m already a lot better than I was that first day afterward. I couldn’t stand up without puking then.”

I let out a laugh that doesn’t hold much humor. “Okay, I’ll agree that’s an improvement. I just hope the effects don’t take too much longer to completely wear off.”

“You and me both. Sweet simmering soda-pop, that was a brutal blow, whatever the power was.” She rubs her forehead for a second before her hand darts to the railing to catch her balance. “But you came up with the perfect plan. No moving at all! Just charbroiling.”

I restrain a wince at her flippant tone. From her grim expression, I don’t think she really thinks so lightly about potentially incinerating a few dozen fellow hybrids.

We talked about the direst aspect of our plan with her ahead of time too, of course, but I can’t help prodding at the subject. “You’re prepared for all of it—everything you might have to do?”

Sorsha pauses at the bottom of the flight and looks over at me with the bright brown eyes I’ve come to realize hold a lot of compassion behind their frequent gleams of mischief. She gives my hair a gentle pat.

Even though she doesn’t look more than ten years older than me, I’m struck by the idea that if I was going to have a mother—one who was alive and who wouldn’t be horrified by my existence—I wouldn’t mind it being her.

Not that the phoenix strikes me as particularly maternal. But there’s a warmth to her that’s more than just fire.

And she understands.

“If things start to get out of control and it looks like they’re going to escape, I’ll burn the whole place down,” she says. “But I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure it doesn’t come to that, okay?”

“I just…” My mind swims with images from the news over the recent weeks. All the rubble, all the bloody corpses. “This is the best we can do. If it isn’t enough, I’d rather not make it than know we let them go off to kill more people so that we could spare ourselves. So don’t hesitate.”

Sorsha nods solemnly. “They won’t hurt anyone else after today, one way or another.”

She’s the only one who can ensure that, if worse comes to worst. With her phoenix fire, she can turn the entire facility into an inferno and emerge from the flames just fine herself.

It’d only be us shadowbloods who ended up ashes.

I push that knowledge away and heave open the door.

The idea of my potentially imminent death has plenty of other uncomfortable thoughts to compete with.

As we walk together down the hall toward the gymnasium where the guys and I spent so many of our days, impressions of the past flit through my awareness, as if I can see our history as well as Andreas can read it out of someone’s minds.

The rap of the guardians’ boots against the tiled floor. The disinfectant tang to the air that still lingers after years of disuse—or maybe I’m only hallucinating it.

Yells and yelps, protests bit back. The gnawing loneliness every time our keepers marched us away from the training rooms and I knew it’d be hours and hours before I got to see the boys I loved again.

Even if our plan succeeds and we can leave this place alive, I think I’ll ask Sorsha to flambee the building once we’re all out. I wish we could burn away every physical trace of the Guardianship’s presence in this world.

But ensuring the damage they’ve done is over with will be enough.

At the end of the hall, two doors stand wide open. One leads into the cavernous space of the gym, the other into a smaller but still sizable room where the guardians sometimes set up a swimming pool like a massive aquarium to test our skills in water.

Andreas is standing in the second doorway. He catches my gaze with a questioning look.

“The guardians Rollick’s people are leading this way should be here in about ten minutes,” I say. “The rogues will be right behind them.”

He offers me a tight smile. “We’d better get into position then.”

He hesitates and then steps forward to slide his fingers along my jaw. If there’s a hint of desperation in the avidness of his kiss and the quiver of emotion that passes through our bond, I’m not going to comment on it. I’m pretty desperate to get us through the next hour myself.

When he eases back, Dominic and Griffin have emerged from the room behind him. Dom tugs me to him for a kiss so ardent I could lose myself in it, both his arms and his tentacles holding me close.

Griffin only brushes his lips briefly against mine, but the fleeting moment seems even sweeter that way. Then he hugs me tight with a waft of love that feels as if it flows right from his heart into mine.

“We’ve got this,” he says. “We’ll handle our part. Don’t spend any energy worrying about us. I’ll see you when it’s over.”

My throat constricts. “Yeah.”

Andreas touches me one more time, to cast invisibility over me with a tingle of his talent. “I’ve already done Jake and Zee. They’re in position.”

I summon all the bravado I can. “Let’s do this.”

After Drey has worked his power on Sorsha as well, the three guys head back into the smaller room. They’ll be the ones taking care of any of the shadowbloods who seem to have enough moral compass left that they might be saved.

I can’t see the phoenix now, but she keeps her grip on my shoulder as we head into the gymnasium. The immense space feels hauntingly empty.