AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I sighed.
One freaking moment and now I was exposed to the entire damn school.
“Well, Kasi, I see you’ve finally mastered the ability to yank people where you’d like them to go.” I glanced up and found Professor Dewar standing over me, Verity cradled in her arms. “Though I’m also beginning to understand why you were reluctant to do so on a non-emergency basis.”
I winced.
I hadn’t fully registered it at the time, but I now realized that Professor Dewar had also been in the shadow realm when I yanked everyone free.
“Itwasquite the dramatic way of transporting someone,” Professor Pulmeyer agreed as she joined us. “I think I prefer the mirrors, myself, but I am grateful, my dear, for the save. I’ll see you in class tomorrow.” She turned and walked away.
“I’m quite grateful as well,” Professor Dewar said. “Verity is even more so, since she would have been left all alone had you not come after me.”
I nodded. “I’m glad she’s okay. I didn’t sense her in the shadow realm with you.”
“No. She happened to be across the room when the shadows grabbed me. I trustyourShadow is also safe,” Despite her words, she had a worried look on her face, proving once and for all, that while Shadow might be scary to some, for cat people, she was simply another cat to be adored.
I smiled up at her. “She’s in the infirmary, keeping Mikaela and Jasmine company. Shadow helped me find Mikaela and save her, you know.”
Professor Dewar nodded, then laid a hand on Verity’s head, carefully covering her ears before leaning forward. “I think I shall knit her a hat for her bravery, but don’t tell Verity.” Without waiting for a reply, she turned and walked away.
“I’m not sure Shadow will appreciate her efforts,” Jahrdran observed.
I snickered. “She’ll have it shredded in two minutes, guaranteed, and if Verity sees the hat before it’s destroyed, well, the rivalry between the cats will reach new and unparalleled heights.”
Jahrdran chuckled, then rose to his feet and held his hand out to me. “Come on. Let’s go see how Mikaela’s faring.”
I set my hand in his and let him pull me to my feet.
The journey back to the infirmary took quite some time as both students and professors kept stopping us, some to thank me for pulling them out of the shadow realm and others simply out of curiosity, wanting to speak to the only shadow-beast in existence.
“Do you realize who that monster was?” One of Jahrdran’s classmates, a dragon named Elliot, stopped us to ask.
I shook my head. “Not a clue.”
“He’s a chameleon dragon, like me,” Elliot said. “They’re super rare, able to take on the characteristics of those around them to blend in. Did you notice how his wings were as black as night?”
I nodded.
“They were blending with the shadows.”
“Theywerethe shadows,” I said. “Even when he was in human form, they didn’t look fully solid, especially at the end, when they just exploded into shadows and dragged him away.”
“It’s the gift of the chameleon, but it’s dangerous too,” Elliot said. “If you absorb too much of whatever’s around you and then fail to shake it off, you can lose yourself in the camouflage. Based on what I just saw, his wings are probably more shadow than real now, especially if he’s been in the shadows for as long as I suspect he has.”
“How long do you think he’s been in there?” Jahrdran asked.
“A couple hundred years, maybe more. He’s got to be about three hundred by now. He was mated to a shadow-beast who died.”
“How do you know all this?” I asked.
“I’ve seen his picture in family photos. He was my father’s best friend, once upon a time. Then his mate died and my dad never really saw him after that. I honestly thought he was dead. If his fated mate died, heshouldbe dead.”
“And because he isn’t, he’s been killing millions for hundreds of years,” I said.
“Wait. You think hewas the Shadow Killer?” Elliot asked.
“You saw what he did in there, right?” Jahrdran asked.
