Page 39 of Shadow Warrior
Twelve
Iwanted to say goodbye to Joti, to say sorry for missing the ball, but if I did that, then I’d have to explain to herwhyI was leaving, and there was no time for that.
A few hours, Kash’s gran had said.
How few were a few?
We made it out of the gated community and into the village in less than twenty minutes, and then we were running for the portal, hand in hand, his fingers wrapped tightly around mine.
We materialized in the fountain at the Academy to a full moon and the sound of howls in the distance. The moonkissed were running tonight. Harmon would have been running.
A sharp stab of sorrow shot through my heart. Fuck. Not now. I couldn’t fall apart right now. I’d failed my best friend. I couldn’t fail my father. I had to save Payne.
“This way.” I climbed out of the fountain and ran toward the Academy.
Regular cadets weren’t permitted in the shadow cadet dorms, not without authorization. Not without Larkin’s permission, and as far as I knew, I was one of the only cadets that used the entrance via the Academy—the entrance where Larkin had to buzz us in—and that was only because I went to weaver classes, which took place in the main building. The rest of the shadow cadets came and went via the tunnel entrance.
I buzzed now and waited. Kash stood behind me. I could feel the residue of the million questions he wanted to ask me right now. Thank God he was perceptive enough to know he needed to wait, that shit would unfold in due course.
I had to respect him for his restraint.
I buzzed again, longer, holding my thumb on the button in desperation. “Come on, Larkin.”
“Who dares disturb my sleep?” Larkin’s voice drifted out of the intercom. He sounded as if he’d just woken up.
“Larkin, it’s me. Let me in.”
“Me? I don’t believe I know anyme?”
Usually, I’d have played along, but not today. “Fuck, Larkin. This is urgent. Open the damn door.”
There was a pause, and then a click as the lock to the door disengaged.
I was through in a flash and took the stairs two at a time. Larkin was waiting for me in the foyer, complete with purple silk pajamas and an irate expression on his humanly feline face. His hair was tousled, but his orange eyes were wide with questions.
“Well? What in the world is so urgent?” he asked.
“Payne. They’ve banished him to another realm. Lunar Creek. I need you to take me there. I need you to help me get him back.”
Larkin’s mouth parted, and his eyes widened. “Motherfucker. Who told you?”
“My grandmother,” Kash said. “She’s on the weaver council.”
Larkin’s expression hardened. “Yes. The weaver council. Bastards, the lot of them. Every single generation, bastards.”
“Whoa!” Kash held up his hands. “I’m just as shocked as Justice.”
Larkin shook his head. “They banished Payne …” He gnawed on his bottom lip. “I was afraid that might happen. Hoped it wouldn’t but worried it might.”
“You know about the banishment? About Lunar Creek?”
He locked gazes with me. “Oh, I know. I fucking created the place.”
* * *
“You created Lunar Creek?”I stared at him in horror. “Why the fuck would you do that?”
He crossed his arms and glared at me. “Why are you here, at the Academy, huh? Why did you come here all those weeks ago?”
