Page 71 of Shadow Warrior
Twenty-Two
Islammed into Henrich’s office, chest heaving, tongue burning with the need to curse and lash out.
Henrich looked up calmly from his desk. “Ah, Justice. No Stonewall to hold you back today?”
I had minutes, if that, before Brady caught up to me, so there was no beating around the bush.
“You bastard, you almost killed a cadet with your little trap trick. And to top it off, you didn’t even inform your medic to keep blood bags on hand or an antidote to the toxin you coated the trap with.”
He stared at me blankly, uncomprehending, and realization slowly prickled across my mind.
He had no clue what the fuck I was talking about.
A little wind seeped from my sails. “You didn’t set traps in the southeast edge of the forest, on the cusp of the mist?”
His jaw tensed. “No, Justice. We did not.” He rang a bell on his desk, one that made no sound that I could hear, but a knight came running into the room regardless. “Gentry, grab a troop and scout the southeast edge of the forest. Look for traps.” His gaze flicked to me. “What kind?”
“Metal jaws.”
“Go.”
Gentry ducked out of the room.
Henrich fixed his gaze on me. “Will the cadet who was hurt live?”
“Yes. No thanks to you.”
“I thought we established I didn’t know about the traps.”
“But you set up a dumb obstacle course, and you made us run it just for sport. You could have checked the terrain.”
“Why?”
“Excuse me?”
“This is our territory, we didn’t set any traps, so there would be no need to check for any.” His expression was stony. “Traps mean the enemy has reached our borders. It means they’ve found a way to circumvent the traps we have set at the cusp of sector three and entered our fortress grounds to leave traps of their own.”
“You know the threat is growing. You’ve known for weeks. You could have prevented it. There was no need for the obstacle course or the trials. We should have moved straight to aggressive defensive maneuvers. We should all be out there patrolling right now.”
A flash of rage crossed his features. “You think it’s that simple. You think anyone can be a knight?”
My hands curled into fists. “I think we’ve proven ourselves already.”
“You have no idea what lies in sector three. You have no idea the perils the landscape itself presents.”
His words pricked my bubble of rage, letting out some of the heat. The obstacle course … “The course was a taste of the terrain?”
“Forestland, bogs, uneven ground, and something on your tail. Yes. Just a tiny taste. This is no easy task. Only the strongest of body and mind can enter sector three and survive. We can take only the best, no matter what the circumstances. We cannot afford to lower our standards or cut corners. As we speak, dozens of knights are sweeping sector three to ensure it’s clear of fomorian threat, our barriers are being tested, and the terrain is being prepared for the trial because sector three bridges both worlds. Half lies on our side of the veil and the other on fomorian soil.”
Damn. “I didn’t know.”
“It isn’t something we advertise. But you’d have found out soon enough.”
So, the traps weren’t his, and the course had a purpose, but … “Keeping information from us doesn’t help us. When do you intend to tell everyone about what happened to Harmon? When are you going to tell us what the green shit inside his veins was?”
Henrich froze, and then his eyes narrowed. “You saw him.”
Fuck. I lifted my chin. “I did.”
