Ravage by Lacey Andersen (ebook reader online txt) 📕

The dagger tumbles from his fingertips, and his mouth opens in a silent scream of pain. And then he tumbles to the ground, unmoving. But I can’t tell if he’s dead, not when some power kept him hidden from me.

Heart racing, I wave the torch around me, searching for any other attackers. I stretch my senses out, and realize something strange and horrifying. I can’t sense anyone or anything now. Never before have I felt this way. It’s as if a cloak has been dropped around me, and the cloak has left me vulnerable.

This man. How did he get so close without me sensing him?

Something is wrong. Very wrong.

I kneel down beside the man and touch his throat. There’s no pulse. So one enemy is dead, but were there more? I rise, my heart racing, true fear making my blood run like ice through my veins.

And then to one side of the tunnel, I feel them. A dozen minds that burn of iron. A dozen beings immune to my powers.

I don’t think, I just run. I run past the shadow man’s body. I run past the blood that soaks the stone like a scarlet pool of death. My torch just barely lights the way in front of me, allowing the shadows to stretch out in all directions.

Some sick logic recognizes that as quickly as the creatures appeared behind me, they could appear in front of me too, but my terror won’t let me slow. It’s as if every bit of fear I haven’t felt in this life has suddenly awakened, and it’s got hold of my heart. Maybe I’ll run until I’m too tired to run any further. Or maybe I’ll run straight into their trap.

Is this how they killed my brother? Did they surround him before driving that blade into his belly? And how did he escape to find me?

I don’t know. I have too many questions and no answers. But my feet pound the stone, and my heart races. Behind me, they’ve given chase. They blink in and out of my awareness. Not quite like the iron demon, but a brethren of sorts. And I know that should they catch me, my life will be over.

I’m fast. But somehow, they’re faster. I feel them gaining on me. My breath burns in my chest and a fire moves over the muscles of my legs. Sweat trails down my back, and I know what prey feels like. I know what it is to be hunted.

Is this how my brother felt? Did he die as prey too?

I round a corner and slam into a wall. Gasing, I step back.

I can’t go back.

I can’t go forward.

Fuck. The torch drops to the ground, and I turn slowly to face my death.

15

Dwade

We’ve never run so fast in all our lives as when we move through the secret tunnels beneath the school. Rayne had taught us ways to navigate this place, to avoid the traps set up to stop people, and to avoid the creatures charged with killing any who should trespass.

But it might not be enough to reach her in time.

I stretch my senses out and her fear is so powerful that I nearly stumble. Esmeray, our Esmeray, is afraid. And she’s never afraid.

As we draw closer to her, Lucian shoves at the secret door, but it doesn’t budget. I push him out of the way and grit my teeth. At any other time, I might not have the strength to move it, but this time I do. Pulling the heavy wall of stone to the side, I open it just enough to see Esmeray on the other side.

I don’t hesitate. As her huge eyes fall on me, I grab her and pull her in behind me. A groan tears from my lips as I drag the door back into place. Seconds later, there’s a sound on the other side of the door. A strange, deep sound that sends every hair on my arms standing on end. I stretch my senses out but feel nothing.

What the hell can hide itself like that from a fae?

Someone grabs my shoulder, and I turn to see Bron gesturing that we need to go. I look at Esmeray. Her shoulders are drawn back and her eyes have that fire that belongs to her and her alone, but she’s also pale. If we do nothing else in life, we have to protect her. I know that down to my very soul.

We surround her as we start forward, and none of us speak or slow until we come to our room deep in the tunnels. The one place we feel relatively safe down here. We close the door behind us, sealing us in, and even though there are a few bulbs in this part of the tunnels, Lucian lights torches to chase the shadows away.

When he’s done, I turn to face Esmeray. She still looks terrified, and somehow angry too.

God, I want to touch her. I want to hold her and bring her comfort more than anything in this world. When we were kids, she always seemed to mask her emotions with anger, or with an I don’t care attitude, but I would hug her, and slowly she’d let down her walls. I hate that things are different now. That instead of holding her, I just freeze, not sure if I have the right to touch her.

“Are you okay?” Bron asks, and I can sense the terror he felt when he couldn’t find her, even if Esmeray can’t.

Her chin lifts. “Yes, I’m always fine. But you three have a lot of answering to do.”

She sounds so confident, so angry, but I can still feel her terror echoing through me. It shatters something in my soul that tells me I failed her. I’m supposed to one day lead my people. I’m supposed to one day direct the armies of