Page 22 of A Bond So Deadly

Blake shrugs. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. You have four of the most powerful men in the shadow realm obsessed with you, and clearly, you’re hiding some of your own power. I can feel it, Shade. You’re not like the other students, and none of this seems right. The prophecy? Why would Lady Fate match you with those four if it meant the end of the realms? It makes no sense. You need to find that oracle. Find the truth about the prophecy, or at least get your immortality so you’re harder to kill. Either way, you need to try something.”

“But you heard what they said. He’s gone.”

“I heard their story, sure,” Blake replies. “But all it means is that the oracle is in hiding and you need to find him. What if the prophecy doesn’t even mean what everyone thinks it does? I know you, Shade. You’re not a killer, and I don’t believe you’d willingly help to erase the realms. If we can prove you’re not destined to make them lose the war, Queen Krosia will have no reason to kill you.”

“You mean less of a reason,” I correct. “Something tells me she doesn’t like me very much and might still find an excuse to kill me.”

“You need to try. It’s worth a shot.”

“And if I find out I really am destined to end the realms?” I say, voicing the worry that I’ve been carefully trying not to think about.

My bestie’s lips flatten. “Then you focus on gaining your immortality, and we try to stop that outcome. At least with your immortality, if the time comes and you can flee, then you won’t die if you leave the shadow realm.”

“But if I’m destined to break my mates and end the realms, that includes the demon realm. Hiding isn’t going to work,” I say.

Blake grabs my shoulders, looking me in the eye. “Like I said, I don’t believe that part of the prophecy, and you can’t stay here indefinitely. As long as the shadow queen thinks you’re a threat, you’re in danger, whether the demons have an alliance with her or not.”

“But—”

Blake spins, and her knives are out in an instant as she darts into the darkness of the trees. Someone shrieks from the shadows, and I rush after my friend.

I dodge past a few trees, my heart pounding as I run through the possibilities. Has there been another breach? Have the Xalgrith made their way past the barrier and onto academy grounds again? I spot Blake a short distance away, and my heart nearly stops. Kenzie’s animali snarls at the demon queen. The wild shadow dog has her lips peeled back from her fangs as she slathers and growls, but Blake doesn’t look concerned. My bestie has her arms outstretched, each hand holding a knife that’s poised at the throats of…

“Holy crap, Kenzie?” I yelp, hurrying over to my roommate. “Don’t kill her! She’s a friend!” I blurt, eyeing Blake to make sure she’s not about to decapitate Kenzie or something equally gruesome.

“I figured,” Blake says, smirking as she removes her blade, and I pull Kenzie free. “Considering I heard her whispering about trying to save you. But what about this one?” She’s still holding the other figure prisoner, and I stare quizzically at…Satine? The woman’s face has gone pale, and I give Kenzie a questioning look.

“Don’t look at me,” Kenzie says quickly. “She followed me here.”

Moving the blade a few inches away from her throat, but still keeping it poised, Blake slowly circles Satine. “Is this one also a friend?”

Satine gives me a pleading look.

“Don’t kill her either, she’s harmless,” I tell Blake.

Satine looks like she wants to protest at being called harmless, but thankfully, she has enough sense to keep her mouth shut.

Kenzie calls Nellie off, and the animali reluctantly slinks into the darkness of the trees.

“What did you hear?” Blake asks, stepping back as she stares at Kenzie and Satine.

Kenzie rubs her neck. “Not much. Only that you think Shade is in danger.”

Satine doesn’t say anything.

Blake slides her gaze to me. “Do you trust them?”

I consider that. I could explain Satine is one of the least trustworthy students at Shadowbone, but then I remember how she’d saved me during the graduation games. Satine holds my gaze as I reply, “I trust they wouldn’t be stupid enough to say anything, no matter what they’ve heard.”

That’s good enough for Blake, and she sheaths her knives. “And I trust you,” she tells me.

I smile and really hope I’m not making a mistake by trusting Satine, but there’s not much of an alternative anyway. Not unless I can live with Satine being locked up in the cells again, or worse…

Now that she’s not worried about losing her life, Kenzie squeezes me in a hug. “Shade, thank god you’re alive. Never do that again.”

I frown. “Do what?”

“Almost die,” Kenzie blurts, saying it like she thinks I chose to almost be executed. “Do you know how horrible that would have been?”