Page 10 of Solar Shadows

Talk about an overstatement.

The light became a puddle, luminous white liquid splashing around its edges. Within seconds, it launched a jet into the air, changing, twisting into the shape of a blazing white shade.

Oh. Shit.

Chapter 3

ISAAC

The shade looked the same as its shadowy counterparts. Humanoid in shape with scarlet eyes burning in its head and packing some seriously nasty claws. But those claws were made of crystal, each one a deadly yet pretty spike.

Handy for plucking eyes out.

Shudder.

The shade hissed. I expected it to spout some murderous stuff before it launched itself at us. But it skipped that part, surging forward in a terrifying rush.

We parted at the last moment, the fucker barreling past us. It spun, hissing its fury.

Riley unleashed his Tidal Pull, dragging the creature forward, then sent it hurtling through the air. It crashed into a shooting range, the whole thing collapsing in a burst of dust and debris.

“Sorry. A bit heavy handed,” Riley said.

The new type of shade leaped out of the pile ofrubble, spinning through the air, shards of light shooting from its body.

One hit the ground, inches away from my feet. Not light, but a jagged chunk of crystal, smoking around its edges.

Holy crap!

I launched my sunlight. The shade hit the ground with a furious hiss, hurling another storm of shards before it collapsed into a puddle of liquid white.

Unable to move in time, a shard buried itself into the middle of my chest. My energy shut down in an instant, and I went to my knees, the air sucked out of my lungs.

“Whoa…” I rasped, ice flooding my veins, smothering me in a cocoon of numbness.

“Isaac!” Riley cried.

No pain. No blood from what I could see. But I felt something pass from me into the crystal, as if sucked out by a straw. The shard glittered, then collapsed into dust.

I tumbled onto my side, clutching my chest. No wound, no hole, still no blood or pain. But I was so cold. I shivered as if trapped in a freezer, my insides resting on ice.

From my position, I watched Riley launch his power at another shade, slamming it into the ground hard enough to break it apart. The fractured pieces tinkled like a group of tiny bells as they bounced everywhere.

Pretty sound…

Drake fired his gun at another shade, Jake joining him. The storm of bullets added more fragments to the bell party.

I shivered, desperate for one small kiss of warmth.

Ollie appeared above me in a crouch, the Brambles right behind him.

He touched my shoulder. “Are you alright?” His lovely hazel eyes moved down my body. “There’s no wound.”

I continued to tremble, words freezing in my throat.

Shit. This wasn’t right.

Ollie pressed the back of his hand onto my forehead. “He’s burning up.”