Page 45 of Shadowblood Souls: The Complete Series
Thirty-One
Riva
T he chilly autumn breeze winding between the trees north of Glenlily licks under my braid and makes me wish I had a proper jacket instead of just this hoodie.
We didn’t want to risk going into anywhere as public as a store, and the old clothes we found in the farmhouse didn’t include any outerwear.
At least I’m back in my comfortable shirt and cargo pants instead of that overlarge dress.
I tug the zipper right up to my chin and tramp on, aware of the guys around me at the edges of my vision.
We’ve spread out through the hilly terrain both so that we can select paths where we’ll make the least noise picking our way through the brush and so we have a wider view between us over our surroundings.
We skirted the tiny town called Glenlily about an hour ago, already having left behind the pick-up truck we commandeered after crossing the border into Canada by train. If the guardians suspect we might come this way, they’ll definitely be watching the roads.
We have no idea how much farther their surveillance might reach. There might not be any of them up here at all if they haven’t considered that we’d be interested in their former boss—or whatever exactly Ursula Engel was to them.
But we need to keep watch not just for possible attackers but for Engel’s property itself. Andreas has only gathered that it was somewhere north of Glenlily. He has no idea exactly how far.
I’m hoping “north” was at least relatively accurate. It’d be awfully easy to walk right by a secluded home in this dense forest.
There was a single gravel road stretching north from the town for the first mile or so, which we were initially following along. But it petered out into what was more of a private lane, and then an overgrown path I’m not totally sure most vehicles could even navigate.
Zian is keeping it within range of his penetrating sight, though, since we have to assume Engel has some way to bring supplies up here. Somehow I doubt she’s living off the land right through the Canadian winter.
Can you subsist on maple syrup and pine needles?
A stone dislodges under my foot, but I catch my balance before I even fully stumble. Two pairs of eyes immediately shoot to me—Dominic’s at my left and Jacob’s at my right.
But this time, neither gaze holds any hint of hostility. Dom veers a little closer with a lifting of his eyebrows that I know is a question, asking if I’m okay.
I give him a quick nod. My insides still twinge at random moments, like there are a few tiny cracks that weren’t perfectly fused, but I spent most of yesterday resting in one train car or another.
Right now, I feel better than I have for most of the past couple of weeks.
And that’s mainly because I no longer have any poison trickling through me, wearing me down bit by bit.
I ignore Jacob’s gaze, even though I can feel it lingering on me as we weave onward between the trees. Something about the night when the train nearly ended me spun him around from accusing to ashamed, but I haven’t totally recovered from the emotional whiplash of the switch yet.
How can I be sure he won’t change his mind all over again with some other move I make?
I inhale deeply, filling my lungs with the cool piney air, and freeze at the sound of a twig snapping.
Crack, crack, crack , three times in quick succession. That’s the signal Zian said he’d give if he spotted anything.
Without a word, the rest of us slink through the forest to join him. He’s pulled a little ahead of the rest of us, standing now at the crest of a low, mossy cliff.
He waits until we’ve all gathered around him and points down the steep slope. All I can make out are more trees, but Zian must be looking right through them.
“The path branches in two directions just up there,” he says under his breath, barely louder than the rustle of the wind through the leaves overhead. “There’s a small hut right at the junction, and I think someone’s inside it.”
Andreas peers in that direction as if he thinks he might see through solid objects too if he tries hard enough. “You figure it’s a guard house?”
Zian nods. “Or something like that. I guess it could be a park ranger thing, but… if the glimpse I got is what I think it is, the guy inside is wearing a metal helmet.”
A guardian. My pulse hiccups, and my muscles tense instinctively.
Jacob’s mouth sets in a grim line. “We go down there and question him, but we have to be careful about it. There might be others around, and he’s probably got a way to alert them if there’s trouble.”
Dom looks at him. “If there’s no one else nearby when we get close enough to check, you could yank him right out with your powers before he even sees us.”
Andreas shakes his head. “Not at first. Remember the guardians that caught us in the old facility? This one might be able to block me from getting a good look at his memories… if he knows he needs to be blocking me.”
Jacob offers him a hesitant smile, as if he isn’t sure how Andreas will take his interjection even if it’s in agreement. “Yeah, Drey should take a peek first and find out as much as he can that way before we get into a physical altercation.”
I assume we’ve settled it, but Dom’s gaze slides to me. “What do you think, Riva?”
It’s the first time any of them have asked my opinion while they’re working out their strategy on this mission. For most of the past couple of weeks, they’ve been ignoring my opinion even when I insisted on giving it.
I hesitate, feeling the pressure of their combined attention on me. I don’t really have anything to add. My skills aren’t going to be especially helpful in an interrogation.
At least, not the typical ones.
“It all sounds good,” I say. “But if he catches on, I guess I can bring out my sob story again to distract him from blocking Andreas.”
Jacob’s jaw ticks at the words “sob story”—his dismissive phrase, flung more than once in my face.
Andreas shoots me a smile even more uncertain than the one Jacob gave him. “I’ll do my best to make sure you don’t have to.”
I shrug as if it’s no big deal, but I’d really prefer to avoid baring my soul for some stranger all over again if I get a choice in the matter.
If I have to, though… I just want to find this woman and finish the mission. Then we’ll know what we actually have—and whether there’s been a point to any of this.
We ease down the hill, setting our feet even more carefully than before.
By the time we’ve reached the base of the cliff, I can make out a few slivers of a structure through the trees.
The hut is built out of wood to blend into the forest, but the logs have darkened with the beating of the weather over the years.
Andreas takes the lead, since it’s his talent’s range that matters for this first part of the plan. He walks slowly and softly through the brush, his gaze fixed straight ahead.
When he stops, we all do as well, a few steps behind him.
For several minutes, we all just wait there, making no more noise than breathing. Andreas stays still and silent too, but I can see the effort he’s making in the stiffening of his stance.
His shoulders come down abruptly with a faintly ragged exhalation. He treads back toward us.
“He definitely works with Engel,” he whispers, “but he’s been interacting with her for a long time. I can’t tell which of the memories I’ve seen are the most recent, and none of them showed how to get to the house from here—or even for sure that the house I saw is all that close to here.”
“Could you tell how many other guardians there might be around?” Zian asks, scanning the forest with a worried expression.
Andreas grimaces. “He definitely had memories of talking with her while there were one or two others with him, so I don’t think we should count on him being here alone.”
I hug myself. “Did you see anything about him hearing that we might show up?”
“No, but I can only narrow what I see by direct interactions. He’s never seen us in person. If someone talked to him about us or showed him pictures, I wouldn’t necessarily find that.”
Dominic frowns. “We could simply sneak past him and try one of the paths, and if that doesn’t get us anywhere?—”
His suggestion is cut off by a sudden blare of electronic noise that makes us all startle. As it resonates through the woods, Jacob slaps his hand to his pocket.
“The phone. What the fuck? I had it on silent.”
Andreas motions at him wildly. “It’s got to be some kind of emergency alert. Shut it off!”
But it’s too late. Even as Jacob jabs at the screen, the door to the hut thumps open.
“Jake!” Zian growls, low and urgent, and I know he isn’t hassling him about the phone now.
Jacob spins toward the guardian who’s marching toward our side of the forest with gun raised and whips out his hands.
The rifle hurtles away in one direction. The man crashes to the ground in the other, letting out a startled grunt.
We rush through the trees to the weedy path where the guardian fell. He glares up at us from beneath the brim of his helmet, his hands wriggling where Jacob’s power has pinned them away from his sides.
From the twitching of his lips where they’re pressed tightly together, I suspect Jacob is holding his mouth shut too. Only muffled sounds of consternation seep out.
“Check him for other weapons or anything he could communicate with,” Jacob orders, with just a hint of strain in his voice.
We all dash in. Andreas hauls off the man’s helmet. Zian jerks open his metal vest and pats down his shirt while Dominic checks his hip pockets.
I yank off one boot and then the other, peering inside them for knives and then tossing them away into the forest. Wouldn’t want to make it any easier for this asshole to run.
The guys retrieve a walkie talkie and a pistol. Zian hands the second of those to Dominic, who needs the offensive boost the most.
As he clutches the walkie in his broad hand, Jacob glowers down at our captive. “You’re going to answer our questions, or you’re going to die very slowly and painfully. I think that should be an easy choice.”
It wasn’t for the guardians we interrogated before, though. This man doesn’t look like he’s going to be much more talkative. His eyes narrow, dark with anger even though I can smell his fear at the threat.
“Where would we find Ursula Engel’s house?” Jacob asks.
He must have loosened his grip on the man’s mouth to give him the option of speaking, but when the guardian’s lips part, it’s with a hasty inhalation that sets all my nerves on edge.
Only a fragment of a shout of warning slips from his mouth before Jacob has slammed his mouth shut again. The man lets out a frustrated whine and squirms as well as he can against the ground.
“Wrong answer,” Jacob snaps, and swivels his fingers. The man’s thumb twists with a crack of breaking bone.
A fresh whiff of stress pheromones tickle my nose—and an idea sparks in my mind. Maybe there is a way my usual talents could help get us some answers.
“Wait,” I say, holding out my hand.
I expect Jacob to argue, but he goes silent, watching me. I walk up to the man and step over him so I have a foot planted on either side of his chest.
Setting my hands on my hips, I stare down at him, getting to be the taller person in a confrontation just this once.
This man doesn’t know what powers I might have. Even the guardians who were in charge of our captivity must realize by now that we’ve shown skills we kept hidden from them before.
So let him imagine I’m reading his mind.
I pin him with my gaze for a few thumps of my heart and then point to the left path. “We go this way.”
Nothing shifts in the air. I furrow my brow as if I’m picking up something new and then let out a little chuckle. “Oh, no, you’re not tricking us that easily. It’s this way.”
When I point to the righthand path, the spike of stress I expected wafts into my nose. A grin crosses my lips with a flicker of exhilaration.
I have him.
“Definitely that way,” I say with increased confidence, and eyeball the path to the right for a moment before peering at our captive again. “Now let’s see how much company we can expect to tangle with along the way, and exactly how to get the jump on them.”
Another spurt of nervous pheromones. There are other guardians down that way, and now he’s worried for their safety.
With his own animalistically heightened senses, Zian catches on to my tactic first. He steps closer to the man, looming into his view with his brawny arms flexing.
“He’s trying so hard to yell. There must be someone pretty close.”
“Yep,” I say when I get a whiff of confirmation. “But we just need to take care of that one and then one… no, two…” There’s another surge of anxiety. “Two more. Three altogether, and we’re home free.”
Zian cracks his knuckles and grins at me, the admiration in his eyes warming me despite my intent to stay totally detached from these guys. “That shouldn’t be too much trouble.”
“I wouldn’t think so. Especially since they’ve only got guns like this dude, and maybe a couple of tranqs.”
Another flare of stress confirms my guess. He wouldn’t be worried if I was underestimating his colleagues, if they had some other trick up their sleeves.
I study him for several seconds longer. “Too bad for the guardians that the ones back home didn’t think there was much chance we were headed up here. They couldn’t be bothered to send a whole army.”
The man grimaces at me, unable to express his futile anger in any other way. My statement must at least be close to the truth, because it’s pissed him off and frightened him all over again.
I shove myself away from him and glance at Jacob. “I think that’s all we need to know.”
Jacob gazes steadily back at me and inclines his head, a gesture of trust that sends an unexpected ache lancing through my heart. He believes me, just like that.
He turns his attention on the guardian and, without a word, snaps the man’s neck.
Zian moves automatically to haul the body into the woods out of sight. Andreas catches my eyes and lets out a soft whistle.
“That was pretty badass, Tink. We’ll have to remember that trick.”
I look away, my nerves jumping at the compliment and the affection in his tone. “Let’s hope we don’t have to. Come on. We’ve got three more of these assholes to deal with.”
And then, if I’m right, we’ll come face to face with the woman who started it all.