Page 40 of Shadow Warrior
“Because I had no fucking choice … Oh.”
“Right.” Larkin crossed his arms. “No choice. But now you know about Lunar Creek, I can talk about it.” He smirked. “Finally.” He looked Kash over. “Can he be trusted?”
I slipped my hand back into Kash’s. “He’s with me.”
Larkin nodded. “Fine, come with me.” He led the way to the empty lounge, all dark and gloomy, with no signs of life.
All the cadets were either in the mist or on portal leave.
“Sit,” Larkin said.
I wanted to go find Payne, not sit. “There’s no time.”
“Sit!”
I plopped down on the nearest sofa.
Larkin began to pace. “I’ve been in your world for a long time, Justice. Ever since the weavers first summoned me, tearing me out of my reality and pulling me from my blissful slumber to bring me here. They bound me, and they used me to create a pocket of reality that they could access. But Lunar Creek has become so much more than that over the centuries. It’s a world of its own, evolved and with its own challenges.” His eyes were lit with excitement. “My creation has blossomed and melded with a neighboring reality, so the people that inhabit it aren’t all from this world. Many were born there. The show is merely an enchanted window to that world. The weavers have a whole team recording and splicing the feed to create the show. But Lunar Creek is so much deeper than what we see on the screen. Unfortunately, the only way to get there is to be banished using the enchantment, and only the weavers have control over that. Also, once you’re there, there’s no way out.”
“Bullshit. You said you could travel to different realities. You said—”
“Yes. I have the ability.”
“Then why can’t you …” Wait a second …
“Yes, Justice, work it out.”
“Oh, shit. You’re trapped here. Of course, they bound you.” I wanted to kick something. “Shit!”
“I’d have returned home a long time ago if I could,” Larkin said with a heavy sigh. “The room I showed you is the total extent of what I can achieve now. I’m sorry. I want to help, but I can’t get you where you need to go.” He pulled up his pajama sleeve to reveal a toned, hairy arm, and there, on his bicep, was a thick silver cuff. “I’m stuck here. On this plane, at the Academy.”
They’d cuffed him. Like the Nightwatch council had cuffed me. But my cuffs were off, and all it had taken was a key. A key that was in Brunner’s office. What if that key could work for Larkin?
My stomach quivered. “If I can get that cuff off, will you help me get Payne back?”
Larkin froze for a fraction of a second, and then his chest began rising and falling with excitement. “Honey, if you can get these cuffs off, I will do whatever the fuck you want.”
I turned to Kash. “Brunner has a cuff key in her office. My cuff key. Do you think weaver magic can modify it to work on Larkin’s cuff?”
Kash frowned in thought. “Cuff keys are created by the head weaver at headquarters. The keys respond to weaver magic, so it stands to reason I could manipulate it.”
Larkin looked from Kash to me. “You really think you can do this?” He touched the cuff at his bicep. “You can take this off?”
I had no skill. Our only hope was the dark-haired weaver sitting beside me. “Kash?”
He touched the amulet at his chest and smiled, his signature cocky, lopsided smile that for some reason had a gentle heat crawling up my neck to kiss my cheeks.
“I’ve never had a problem with picking locks if I have the right tools,” he said. “We may not be able to make your cuff key fit, but I can use it as a tool to pick Larkin’s lock.”
“When was Payne banished?” Larkin asked.
“Three hours ago,” Kash said.
“Then we have five hours to get him out. If you’re still in Lunar Creek when the time’s up, you’ll forget not only who Payne is but who you are, too, and I may not be able to get you back out.”
“I have to try.” I looked to Kash. “But you don’t have to come with us.”
“I know,” Kash said. His gaze was warm honey caressing me. “I want to. Now, let’s go break into Brunner’s office.”
