Page 82 of Shadow Warrior
“Huddle,” Lloyd ordered.
We fell together, back to back, weapons out. Brady panted, his head drooping, and my heart sank. I needed to get him out of here. I didn’t know why, but the sector three mist was fucking him up. Bad.
Figures stepped out of the green, naked and covered in gray mud. Fomorians. My gaze scanned the faces, all eyes and smeared features, and snagged on one set of peepers.
I knew those eyes.
It was the fomorian that had saved me in the mist all those weeks ago, the one I’d seen arguing with another fomorian the day Harmon had been taken.
“You!” I pointed my blade at him. “What is this? I thought you didn’t want to hurt anyone.”
But his gaze slid from me to fix on Brady. In fact, all of them were looking at Brady.
I turned my head to follow their gaze, and ice filled my veins because Brady was glowing, his body wreathed in green. It clung to him like ethereal moss.
“What the fuck?” Carlo said. “What are you doing to him?”
The violet-eyed guy looked like he was about to pass out or jump with joy. His expression was awe, gratitude, and excitement all mixed together.
“It’s him,” violet eyes said. “Take him.”
The other clay-covered figures moved forward, raising wicked-looking axes.
“Back the fuck off.” I stepped in front of Brady, allowing Carlo to take his weight. The other guys tightened formation on instinct.
“What is it?” Lloyd asked me. “What is he saying?”
“They want Brady.”
“Because of the green shit?” Devon asked.
“I don’t know.” I locked gazes with violet eyes. “What are you doing to him? Why do you want him?”
Violet eyes finally looked at me, and his eyes widened. “You are with them. You are one of them.”
“Yes, and you’re not taking anyone.”
“I am sorry,” he said. “But we must. Your friend is our salvation. We will not harm him, but if he remains here, in the mist, he will die. Look at him.”
Brady was blinking hard, teeth gritted as if he was trying to keep conscious.
“I can get him out of the mist.”
“Maybe, but he belongs with us. We do not want to hurt you. But we will do what we must to protect our salvation. His blood is power.”
What the fuck was he talking about? More of them appeared from the green fog. Too many for us to take on.
I needed to do something, to stall, to think. “How do you know? How can you be sure it’s him you want?”
“We used the blood of a fomori-touched and created a beacon. The beacon guides us to salvation. It marks your friend as the one.”
The blood of a fomori-touched. Harmon’s blood? “You took Harmon?” Anger surged through me. “You hurt him?”
He blinked at me slowly. “We returned him unharmed.”
“Unharmed. You fucked him up, you bastard. He’s something else now.”
“We meant no harm. We do not wish to hurt you.”
