Page 39 of Shadow Caster
“We won’t have any of the same lessons.”
“So, we meet up at lunch and after class.”
“Do the shadow cadets even get to have downtime?”
Her expression said it all. My stomach felt queasy.
“We’ll make time. We’ll find a way.” Her expression was earnest, and hope bloomed in the despair.
Maybe we could still see each other. Maybe things didn’t have to be so … serious. “Yeah. Yeah, fuck it. This isnotthe end.”
She hugged me. “Maybe … if you let it. It could be a beginning.”
A shiver skated up my spine at her words.
She pulled back. “Come on. I’ll walk you to the east wing.”
* * *
The temperature droppedas we reached the shadow wing, and Minnie’s grip on my hand tightened.
Before coming here, I’d never had a friend to hold my hand. The most physical contact I’d had was when I’d been beating on someone or grappling with them in a wrestling match.
Minnie had turned me soft.
The archway that led to the shadow wing was closed off by sturdy oak doors. I tried the handle and rattled it to no avail. Locked. An intercom sat snug in the stone wall beside it.
I pressed the buzzer and waited.
“Name?” The voice was male and sounded slightly bored.
“Indigo Justice.”
“Ah. Yes. The anomaly. Do come on up.”
The door clicked, and when I tried the handle again, it opened easily.
“So, I guess this is goodbye for now.” Minnie pressed her lips together, and her eyes glittered with tears.
“I swear, Min. If you cry …”
“Fuck that!” She waved a dismissive hand. “See you at lunch tomorrow?”
We hugged, and then I slipped through the door and into the shadow wing.
* * *
A stone staircaselit by electric wall sconces led up to the floor above. The walls were bare gray stone too, and a heavy chill pervaded the air, but thanks to my nightblood constitution, it didn’t really affect me. In fact, my body was pleasantly warm.
An effect of the activation of the shadow knight gene, maybe?
Did it affect the feyblood shadow cadets the same? It would have to for them to cope with these arctic temperatures.
I reached the top of the staircase and stepped into a huge foyer area. Three doors led off it. One was unmarked, the others had copper signs marked cadet quarters and master quarters.
Master Hyde had said I’d be staying in the tutor wing, so maybe … I reached for the master quarters’ door just as it swung open, and a figure stepped through. Four-foot tall, with pointy ears, slanted cat’s eyes, and strange tiger stripe markings slanting down from his hair line across his forehead, the creature was unlike anything I’d ever seen. And that hair … Impressively gelled and funky. The strange-looking man-creature looked up at me and then let out a purr.
I backed up.
