Page 56 of Shadow Weaver
Away from the weave and the light. Into a darkness with teeth and claws.
“I can do this. I got this.”
Kash?
It hurts. I couldn’t … I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.
“That’s right, Mr. Raj, invert the energy, good, good. There’s color in her cheeks.”
Please, stop. No. Too much. Too much pain. Let me go.
“Hold on, Indie. We got you.” Joti’s voice sounded strange, strangled.
And then pain ripped through me, tearing me in two. I was broken, I was lost. I was floating.
* * *
Heat caressedmy face and nudged my eyes to open, and Hyde’s citrus scent filled my head, but when I opened my eyes, it was Larkin looking down on me, his face haloed in light.
“Angel …”
He chuckled. “Why thank you, pet.”
I blinked slowly as my memory came back online. Sunlight filled the room. Daytime … which day?
“Did it … did it work?”
“Oh, yes. It worked all right, but it almost killed you.”
I groaned as my head throbbed sharply. “How am I still alive?”
“A young man named Kash. He’s a siphon. He used his ability to draw energy from your fellow classmates, and then Madam Latrou helped him invert his ability to siphon that energy into you. You saved their lives, and they saved yours. Med bay is now filled with weaver cadets and a very grateful tutor all recuperating from severe exhaustion.”
“Oh, shit.” I tried to sit up, but he gently pushed me back against the pillow. “They’re alive. That’s all that matters. But you need to rest now. Recharge.”
“What about barracks?” What about Hyde, and Brady, and the guys.
I belonged with them.
He snorted. “You’re stuck here with me, Justice. At least until you can walk on your own steam. The cave-ins didn’t work. They had to stop or risk bringing the whole Academy down. It’s all hands on deck out there right now. Patrols are up, and guards are posted at every known tunnel exit.”
“How many exits?”
“Four known so far. It’s why you need to be in top form before you head back. But…” He wiggled his brows. “You have me to take care of you.”
“Thank you. I think.”
Larkin was there, but what about Hyde or Brady, or any of the other guys. Had they come to see me?
Larkin studied my face, and yeah, he was probably reading my thoughts, but right now, I didn’t have the energy to fight him.
“You had visitors,” Larkin said. “I sent them packing. You need rest. You need sleep. Besides, all the testosterone was starting to give me a headache.”
I wanted to say nightbloods didn’t need sleep, but all that emerged was a groan because my body disagreed with me. Larkin was right. I doubted I’d be able to sit up right now. Every bone in my body felt like it was coated in lead. Carrying the weaver class out from under a collapsing ceiling had almost done me in.
Still, the idea of lying around doing nothing, of just sleeping, was alien. “I’m not used to inaction.”
“You don’t have much choice,” Larkin said.
