Page 37 of Shadowblood Souls: The Complete Series

Twenty-Six

Riva

S tones rattle under my feet along the side of the train tracks. The occasional kicked pebble patters off into the brush where it’s too dark for me to follow its path.

Enough moonlight streams down over the tracks as they cut through the sparse woodland for me to make out the two guys ahead of me, though they aren’t much more than silhouettes.

Jacob marches forward with purposeful strides like he could keep going all night—and maybe he could.

Dominic looks like he’s drooping a little, though.

It’s hard to judge how Andreas and Zian are doing from the crunch of their footsteps behind me, but they don’t sound particularly energetic. No one’s spoken in ages.

My muscles could keep going for hours longer, but my eyes are starting to get heavy. I only managed to get an hour or two of sleep on the train.

I suppress a yawn and peer through the scattered trees alongside the tracks.

We’re following the route that should take us closer to our intended destination, but since we set out, no trains have come rushing by.

We haven’t spotted any ideal place to steal a vehicle of our own either, although I’m not totally sure what criteria Jacob is going by to make that decision.

After several more minutes of trudging, the tree line peters out at our left. Fields sprawl out for miles, leading to low hills faintly outlined against the night sky.

Dominic’s head turns to gaze out over the same landscape. I sense his pause before he speaks.

“There’s a house down there. No lights, and the garage roof looks damaged. I don’t see any vehicles in the driveway. Maybe we should scope it out and if it’s abandoned, use it to crash for the rest of the night?”

Jacob lets out a disgruntled sound, but he seems to consider the possibility before he answers. “That might not be the worst idea. We’re not making a lot of progress like this, and who knows when the next train will be by.”

“We might be able to scrounge up something useful in the house,” Zian adds.

Andreas comes up beside me, stretching his arms. “I could use a longer rest on a floor that’s not shaking me around.”

No one asks my opinion, but I’m perfectly happy to tramp with the others down through the weedy grass and across the field toward the house. Imagine if the place still has beds .

Such luxury.

As we get closer, I make out a sign on a post out front. By the time we reach it, I can read the thicker letters even in the darkness.

“The place is for sale,” Zian says in a low voice, frowning at it.

Dominic motions to the smears of dirt on the sign and the crumbling edges. “That’s been here for a long time. Doesn’t look like anyone’s been trying to show off the property lately.”

Jacob squints at the garage roof, half of which appears to have caved in. “Could be once the roof went, they gave up, or at least couldn’t be bothered to get it fixed right away.”

We poke around the edges of the property, confirming there are no vehicles squeezed into the still-roofed side of the garage or parked elsewhere out of view. No one else stirs in or around the house.

Zian scans the walls with the tensed expression that comes over him when he’s peering through things. “I don’t see anyone inside. It’s pretty empty—like they left some basic furniture for buyers to see but that’s it.”

Jacob walks up to the front door. “All right. Might as well make use of what we’ve been given.”

I can’t tell whether the door is already unlocked or if he uses his talent. Either way, we’re walking into the front hall moments later.

The place is still and silent other than the creak of the floorboards under our shoes.

Like Zian suggested, the furnishings are totally spartan. The living room holds only a futon sofa and a plain coffee table.

There’s a dining room with only the table and four chairs, nothing along the walls. All the kitchen appliances are on hand, but the fridge and the cupboards are bare.

“I guess room and board would have been a little much to ask for,” Andreas says dryly, and then tries the tap. The faucet sputters and then expels a stream of water into the sink.

His eyebrows shoot up, and a smile crosses his face. “I, for one, could go for a shower before I get back to snoozing.”

My skin itches with the grime I’m abruptly aware of coating it. “Me too.”

Jacob gives me a pointed look. “You can have your turn last.” Then he glances at Andreas. “Go ahead, but don’t take too long. We have no idea how much hot water we might get, if any.”

Andreas nods and jogs upstairs. He’s already ducking into the bathroom when the rest of us follow.

There are only two other rooms up there, a larger bedroom and a smaller one, both with double mattresses on blocky wooden frames and no other furniture. Jacob considers them and then heads back downstairs.

I figure he’ll tell me I need to sleep on the floor while he and the other guys share the beds, and at this point I don’t even care. I rub my hand over my mouth to suppress another yawn and wait for my chance at the shower.

The guys are at least considerate enough to heed Jacob’s instructions and keep their time short, although that’s probably more for each other’s benefit than for me.

I don’t think Jacob considered that by having me go last, I can take as long as I want, since there’s no one left to delay or stiff on the hot water.

I strip off all my clothes except my necklace, with a faint twinge of uneasiness like Jacob might try to steal it if I remove it from my neck even for a second. Then I start the shower running.

The tub area doesn’t come with any toiletries, but there’s a pump bottle of liquid hand soap on the sink that’s damp from earlier usage. I bring it right into the tub with me.

Luke-warm water pelts me, but it’s better than the nothing-at-all I’ve had for days before. I rub the pearly white soap all over my skin.

My fingers graze the moon-and-droplet tattoo on my thigh. I glance at it, blinking through the spray, abruptly choking up.

One more sign that I belong with the guys I came here with. One more fact they’ve somehow decided doesn’t matter.

I yank my gaze away and finish scrubbing myself down.

My hair’s been tied in the same braid since the last time I showered, which was enough days ago that I’ve lost track.

I pull off the elastic, but the strands catch on each other, refusing to fully unwind.

So I work the soap into my scalp as well as I can and rinse it off, figuring that’s good enough.

As I’m shutting off the water, the door squeaks open, and there’s a soft thump on the floor.

“We found some clothes in a box in the basement,” Andreas says.

“And a washer-dryer set. Figured you might like the chance to wear something clean too, even if it’s a bit big.

I’ll grab your old clothes to take them down, if that’s okay? ”

“Thanks,” I call out, feeling weirdly exposed even with the opaque curtain between us.

When he’s gone, I ease out to find he’s left me with a simple cotton dress that’s only a little loose around the waist but falls to my calves when I think it was meant to be knee-length.

And it’s not exactly my usual style. But I’ll take it if it means I can have my hoodie, tank top, and cargo pants back clean in a few hours.

He took all my clothes, including my panties and sports bra. Which I’ll be glad to have clean too, but I feel oddly exposed even with the dress draped over me like a curtain.

Girding myself, I pull on my sneakers and head out.

Jacob is waiting by the top of the stairs dressed in a tee that’s stretched on his muscular physique and a pair of gym shorts, both obviously borrowed like my dress.

“I’m escorting you to your room so the rest of us can get our sleep,” he says.

I blink at him. “My room?”

He gives me a chilly smile and gestures for me to follow him.

We walk downstairs and through the kitchen to another, dingier flight of steps that leads to the basement. A damp, mildewy smell tickles my nose as we descend into the depths, but the guys have risked turning on the light down there where there are no windows, so at least it’s not pitch black.

On one side, there’s a laundry room where the washing machine is rumbling away. On the other side is what I guess is meant to pass for a guestroom to potential buyers, with a steel-framed twin bed and a tiny side table that holds the lamp responsible for the room’s light.

It doesn’t seem like such a bad deal until Jacob starts back toward the stairs with a caustic remark tossed over his shoulder. “The basement is the only part of the house we can lock from outside the room. You can stay down here until we come for you.”

Oh. I’m not being given the gift of privacy but the punishment of a prison. I really shouldn’t have expected better, should I?

I sink down onto the edge of the bed and wait for the sound of the door thudding shut at the top of the stairs. Instead, there’s a murmured conversation I can’t decipher until the end.

“Fine,” Jacob mutters. “But you should get some rest too.”

It’s Andreas’s voice that answers. “I will. I need to wind down a bit first anyway.”

His lanky form appears, ambling down the steps. He’s swapped clothes too, though the new tee hangs more loosely on his leaner frame and he found a pair of jeans that seem to fit him pretty well.

I peer at him. “Adding to the laundry?”

Andreas stops near the foot of the bed and offers me a smile that looks oddly hesitant. “No, I just thought… you might appreciate a little company, without Jake hovering around like a thundercloud. Unless you wanted to go right to sleep?”

My pulse skips a beat, both startled and happy. “No, I’m kind of wound up still too.”

And I’ll soak up every bit of friendship my guys are willing to offer while I can get it.