Page 66 of Shadow Warrior
“Fucking bollocks,” Carlo snapped. “How the fuck does this help us with sector three?”
“Maybe there are bogs and forests in sector three?” Devon suggested from behind us.
It hit me then that none of us knew what sector three was like. We were used to barren terrain, but maybe sector three was different? Only the knights knew. Only Hyde knew, but he hadn’t had contact with us for almost a week. Better that way. Best to have some space to just breathe.
The mist thickened. Something was off with this whole situation. Why take the course into the mist? Unless we weren’t meant to go this way?
“Maybe we should turn back,” a cadet said from behind us.
Unease pricked my scalp. Maybe he was right.
“Shouldn’t be long now,” Lloyd said. “I bet the finish line is through here. We cut through, veer left, and we’ll link with the others.”
Unless the bog was meant to finish us off. Unless it had been the finish line. That same sense of wrongness assaulted me as well.
“Indigo, what is it?” Brady asked.
Did he feel it too? Or was he picking up on my unease?
I stopped cutting the vines. “Lloyd, I think we should retreat.”
Lloyd pushed forward. “Trust me, we’re almost through, I can fe—Argh!”
Lloyd was sucked through the vines and out of sight.
I froze, sword raised, heart pounding, and then my paralysis broke. “Lloyd!” I took a step forward, but Carlo snagged me around the waist.
“Easy, tiger,” he said, lips close to my ear.
I struggled in his grip, but he was surprisingly strong for such a wiry guy. “What the fuck, Carlo? Lloyd’s … Fuck, where’d he go?”
“Exactly,” Carlo said. “We need to tread carefully.”
Brady crouched to study the ground. He straightened, and his gaze swept upward to scan the vines where Lloyd had stood a moment ago. The vines that were knit tight once more as if they’d never been disturbed.
“Drag marks,” Brady said.
Carlo released me. “A trap?”
“Yeah, looks like.”
What? “The knights set traps?”
Brady’s jaw ticked. “There could be more.”
A low moan drifted through the vines, and then the scent of blood hit the back of my throat.
“Fuck,” Carlo gasped. “Lloyd’s hurt.”
The urge to rush through the vines was almost overwhelming, but Brady was right, there could be more traps. We needed a way to push the vines aside and scan the terrain ahead. Shit, we needed to get to Lloyd.
Darkness writhed at the periphery of my vision—shadows creeping closer as if drawn to me. No, as if called to me.
Back in Lunar Creek, shadows had wrapped around the sucker’s throat and snapped its neck. They’d been able to touch and do damage. Could I use them now?
The shadows rose up, like a mist of their own, and hovered as if waiting for something. Permission maybe?
“Um, Justice,” Carlo said. “Tell me those shadows belong to you.”
