Page 11 of Shadow Warrior
Three
The mist beyond the windows of the watchtower swirled as if echoing the turmoil inside me.
Thomas was gone. They’d sent him back to the mortal world via portal two days ago, and I’d been back at barracks six for almost a week. Back to work as if nothing had happened, as if we hadn’t been attacked by a killer super virus, and as if a knight hadn’t just returned from fomorian territory with tales of bloodletting and strange rituals.
Henrich still hadn’t released Harmon. If I didn’t hear anything by tomorrow, I’d head back to the fortress and speak to the Shadow Master myself. The foreboding sound of the machine haunted my dreams, and the thought of my Harmon in pain made me sick.
I needed him back.
I’d filled the troop in on what had happened to Harmon, and after bawling me out for taking such a risk, Lloyd had been speculative. Yeah, we’d all been on high alert the past few days.
After two days patrolling round the clock, Lloyd had ordered me to sleep and then take tower duty. My body was still lethargic from my snooze, but the coffee helped. I missed Brady’s cocoa. I missed Brady. Half term officially kicked off in two days, and many cadets would be going home on portal leave. Would Brady be leaving too? Would I get to see him before he left? We weren’t officially together, so did he even have to tell me his plans?
Lloyd said Brady would be back soon, but that had been two days ago. There’d been no sign of Hyde either. And Payne … Payne had been gone for over a week. Surely the weaver council, or whatever their internal governing body was called, would have come to a resolution by now? My stomach hurt thinking about it.
I needed to speak to Kash, find out if he could get information on my father. He’d asked me to go to the weaver ball with him during half term, and at the time of agreeing, I hadn’t considered my cuffs. Brunner had yet to get back to me about the council’s decision to remove them. Another thing I needed to chase up.
It looked like I had plenty to do once this shift was over. I was already packed to head back to the shadow cadet dorms at the Academy. Larkin would be glad to have me back.
The door to the tower opened, and my heart skipped a beat before shooting up into my throat and pulsing in excitement.
Brady closed the door and then stood staring at me.
Neither of us spoke, and then I was out of my seat and in his arms. Legs around his waist, arms wrapped around his neck, face buried in the hollow between his shoulder and throat. He held me easily, one hand under my butt while the other splayed across the small of my back.
“You’re back.” I hugged him tight. “I fucking missed you.”
His chuckle was a warm vibration against my torso. “I missed you too.”
He moved with me clinging to him like a rhesus monkey and then lowered himself into the seat I’d just vacated.
I pulled back to look down at him. “Remember the last time we were here, like this?”
He ran the pad of his thumb across my bottom lip. “It’s branded in my mind.”
I smiled down at him. “I’m glad I got to see you before the break.”
His face clouded. “Me too. I need to leave for a week. Portal leave. Fast-tracked first years have all been granted leave, but the knights have only granted a handful of portal leaves to the older cadets this half term. Too much shit going down in the mist, so they need the manpower, but it’s been a while since I went home, so mine was approved.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “No. I get it. You have a family that loves you.”
He cupped my cheek. “I don’t want to leave you. I wish I could take you with me.”
I brushed the tip of his nose with mine, eyes fluttering closed. “These past few days without you … I hated them.”
He lifted his chin, brushing my lips with his. “So, what are you going to do about it, Justice?”
I kissed him softly with every ounce of longing I’d been feeling. My lips molded to his, lingering, tasting him, memorizing the shape of his mouth. A warm feeling expanded in my chest, accompanied by that aching throb that had the L-word blooming in my mind.
I cupped his face and broke the kiss, rolling my forehead against his. “Brady …”
His hand settled on the nape of my neck. “Say it.”
I pulled away slightly to lock gazes with him. He was holding his breath, expectant and tense beneath me.
My stomach quivered because there was no denying it any longer. No running from the truth. “Brady, I l—”
The tower door swung open, and Hyde stepped onto the balcony. His gaze raked over us, and something akin to anger flashed across his face, but it was gone in a blink, and then he was staring down his nose at us.
