Page 118 of Shadowed Whispers

Fear grips me, my heart pounding so hard it feels like it’s going to burst from my chest. I turn and sprint down the alley before my brain registers the pain, the sound of their laughter and growls echoing behind me. I don’t know where I’m going, only that I need to get away, but the shadows press in around me, the darkness feeling more like a trap than a refuge. I can hear them following, their footsteps echoing through the empty streets. I’m running blind, my breath coming in ragged gasps, every instinct screaming at me to keep moving.

I stumble and fall, scraping my hands against the rough pavement. Pain shoots through my palms, but I force myself to get up and keep going. I can’t stop, not now, but it’s no use. They are too fast, too relentless. I feel them closing in, their presence a suffocating weight. My vision blurs with tears, and I choke back a sob, the hopelessness overwhelming. I’m alone—truly, desperately alone.

That’s when the pain sets in, and I stumble into a brick wall. My chest feels like it’s burning from the inside out. All the lights in the town are off, but I glance down at my chest. With shaking fingers, I lift my sweater up and over my head. My bra is completely shredded, and there are multiple long gashes across my torso, spewing blood. They are deep. I swear I can see a rib and intestines. Breathing shallowly, I grab my sweater and press it against my chest, trying to stop the blood flow.

I need to get somewhere safe. Where? Tori’s. If Amanda and Chloe can shift, though, then that means she can too, and for some reason, that feels like a betrayal. It cuts just as deeply as this cut.

Dorian? Bishop? Leo? Matteo? Did everyone keep this secret from me?

Tears burn the backs of my eyes as I crash against the brick building, my body feeling too heavy to go on, and I slide down the wall. I feel defeat, pain, and anguish. Tears fall for the first time in years.

Get up. Get up, and fight, I tell myself. With one last push, I stand up and yelp in pain, only to slap a hand over my lips. I push off the wall and round the corner, but I run into another object. With a cry, I fall to my knees, hitting hard enough for them to crack, and a sharp pain reverberates up my legs.

“Frankie,” a voice calls. “Fuck, Frankie.”

Hands reach for me, holding me up.

My head lolls to the side, and I squint. “Dorian?”

“You need to shift,” he tells me, holding my face with his palms. I swat him away, betrayal burning in my gut.

“You knew too,” I cry out. My pain isn’t just physical. I feel like it’s burning me from the inside out, and the only one who hurt me that deeply before was… was… Valerie. Tears I’ve held back for decades spill down my face.

“Come on, Frankie.” Dorian pulls me into his lap, cradling me. “Shift, Frankie. Shift, and your wounds will heal. I promise.”

“You knew,” I accuse with what I feel is my last breath.

“Shadow Locke University.” Those three words make everything click into place. My mouth falls open, and the tears keep coming. I hate them. I hate that they exist and fall from my eyes. I thought I could build something here. I thought this was how I planned for my future, but this whole time, I lived in a place with people just like me, and they never told me.

“Shift, Frankie,” Dorian says again, but I feel myself fading fast.

“Damn you.” He shakes me. “Fine.” I can just make out his scent of leather mixing with the iron of my blood. “If you won’t help yourself, then I will.”

My eyes flutter closed as the world spins all around me. Dorian jostles me, and pain slices through me again, causing me to cry out.

“It’s okay. We’re through,” he assures me, but I have no idea what he’s saying. Thunder rumbles in the distance, and lightning as red as a fire hydrant zips through the sky.

“Stay awake for me. I need you to stay awake.”

“What?” I push off of him, but he doesn’t budge, lifting me with ease. My eyes frantically sweep around us, and it takes everything in my power to keep them open.

“Where?” Everything is the same, but darker and almost dead.

“Welcome to the shadow realm, Frankie.” Dorian cradles me close as he rushes down the road, almost too fast for a human. “Welcome home.”

Home?

It’s the last thing I hear before darkness takes over.

---