Page 64 of Bright Soul

I seethed for its death, and the others noticed. Cress smiled after a moment, saying in a two-toned voice full of forced levity, “Plus, if we have to wait for nightfall…shopping spree!”

“Everything left is free,” Ben agreed.

Even Geo cracked a little grin. “Park the truck right by the doors to load it up.”

And I will ensure no unnaturals disturb your fun,I thought.

“That’s a great idea,” Cress and Braza enthused.

With the help of Wren’s phone, we arrived at Highfall’s Mall in a short time. “Don’t turn the stream on until we know what we’re dealing with,” I said before ghosting out of the vehicle as shadows through an open slit of window. I stretched as the others climbed out and Ben muttered “showoff” in my direction.

“I’ve grown to master a proper entrance or exit in my time,” I said.

“Proper? Try dramatic,” he replied. “Well, this is your kind of place, Big P.”

He pointed through a set of glass doors, where the insides of the mall were shrouded in darkness. “I’ll do some scouting.Stay here,” I said, turning to shadows before anyone could air a complaint.

I felt for the small tether of power connecting me to Braza. Neither of us had severed it, even once my free will was returned. It gave me a good idea of how far I could travel before my mind was susceptible to Myuna or Endaeron.

That thread grew taut before I was done scouting the whole complex. It was four stories of shops, play areas, and kiosks. The lights were out and the air stale. I’d expected survivors and detected none…but Myuna’s creatures had infested the food court and restaurants, while her torchbearers shuffled along like sleepwalkers in the common areas. I blinded and unbound the souls of the closest two to the entryway, then dragged their unconscious bodies back to the truck.

Cress’s eyes widened when I took form in the blinding sunlight and laid them in the bed of the truck. “Seems we have something to occupy our time, after all,” I said, sharing with the group what I’d seen.

“Once we take care of all the torchbearers, I could drive them back to the library?” Ben suggested.

“Perhaps. I don’t like the idea of splitting up further,” I said. The first batch I’d unbound from Myuna’s will still rested in their containment rooms without waking. These victims had a similar level of soul damage, unfortunately. Early victims of the goddess’s sloppy work.

Cress drew her sword and handbook and set the edge of her blade alight. It’d be a beacon for any unnatural the moment she stepped into the mall. Geo nudged his way in front of her after transitioning to gargoyle form, holding his tower shield and a mace made from his quartz spikes. And Ben turned on the stream, placing the phone in a sling over his chest and taping a small device to his ear.

“Yeah, I hear you,” he muttered into it while he drew blood runes up his arm. “I don’t need you chattering in my ear, Bianca… Uh huh, fuck you too. For those early watchers, hi, it’s Ben. Today we’re going extreme shopping.”

I shook my head, bemused by the whole idea of streaming. “Ready?” I asked.

Cress, now wearing the purple-black shadows of Braza’s power, nodded first. She wrapped a concentration of darkness around her blade to dim it.

I hissed toward Ben for quiet and pointed at the nearest shopfront. A sheet of what looked like chain-lengths covered up the entrance, except a huge hole had been ripped through the metal. Dozens of white eyes turned our way from the bowels of what’d once been a restaurant.

Geo charged, catching the first lunging rat-creature with a swing of his weapon. It died with a piercing squeal, and I hung back, hearing the death cry echo further into the enemy-infested mall.

Footsteps pounded their way toward us. I sheathed my sword and raised both hands, warping the shadows into grasping things. Three more turned supernaturals threw themselves into my snares. I made quick work of unbinding their souls and was about to carry them through the shadows to our truck when a flash of green brushed the back of my hand.

Stinging pain followed the line of a two-inch long cut. I passed through a second shot of energy and swirled into the shadows in search of the culprit. A verdant witch clutching a wand stooped just behind a counter, her blind white eyes roaming for where I’d disappeared to. I reappeared behind her, and she froze as my claws tugged her soul free.

I clucked my tongue as I inspected the loose knot her soul had been tied into. Just as I’d feared—Myuna was figuring out how not to destroy her victims utterly during the bindingprocess. We’d have to be more careful to weed out intelligent torchbearers. There were countless hiding spaces in this mall for ambushes.

The others were waiting for me when I returned with the verdant witch’s unconscious body.“Trouble, my prince?”Braza asked privately.

I switched to answering in Soiluirian, knowing she’d translate for Cress,“Perhaps this location is too infested with Myuna’s victims. That last witch still had access to her magic. Imagine if there are many more like her… We will exhaust ourselves clearing out the mall before nightfall.”

“Let’s try it,” Cress answered in English. “Imagine if we gained control of the mall and used it as a rendezvous point for survivors.”

I shrugged and gathered up the unconscious torchbearers two at a time to deliver them to the truck. In the meantime, Cress explained our exchange to Geo and Ben. The former expressed a desire for us to leave before nightfall, while the latter wanted a good fight.

“Let’s see how we feel after a couple hours of this, then,” I said.

The beast of shadows and teeth hiding just under my skin relished the idea of a true fight. I could’ve taken on the challenge ahead of us on my own if it weren’t for the hole in my soul and the consequences that came with it.

Cress lit the way for Ben and Geo while I prowled at the edges of her magic. I had to turn my head away from her radiance. It made my mouth water. Another reason to despise the Hungering Darkness, for infecting me with this desire to taste my mate’s soul. It was truly relentless.

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