AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Our heart was pounding and I was reeling emotionally, uncertain whether that had been real or part of thesimulation.
It hadfeltreal, but wasn’t that the point?
Still, I felt like I’d learned something very important about my powers and how to combat Zowen in real life, but I needed time to put it all together.
The shadows that had surrounded us the entire time slowly pealed away, revealing the walls of the empty lab.
I expected to see other students milling around, but there weren’t any in here with us. Weird.
Miki-Leopard tired.
Okay, sweetheart.I imagined stepping forward on my human feet and for the first time, I shifted on purpose from leopard to human.You were amazing, Miki-Leopard.I imagined stroking my hand downher back, then scratching between her ears, and received a happy rumble in response. “You were amazing too, Shadow. Thank you for coming to help.”
Shadow twined her way around me, brushing against my legs, and I trailed my hand down her shadowy back, trying not to freak out when it looked as if my hand was turning to shadows everywhere it touched her.
She wrapped around me again, nudging the back of my legs to get me moving.
“All right. I guess it’s time for me to get back to class and you to Kasi.” I walked toward the door we’d entered what seemed a lifetime before, Shadow at my side.
When we entered the outer room, I stumbled to a halt. Whatthe?—
The lights were off and the room was empty.
Were we still in the simulation? Where were the other students? Mrs. Diaz?
I flung open the outer door and immediately registered the lack of noise. The second floor was completely deserted. Shouldn’t classes still be going on?
Shadows exploded from a recess in the wall and contracted into Kasi’s form.
Jahrdran arrived right after her.
Shadow flung herself at Kasi, who somehow caught the shadow-cat in her arms and nuzzled her. Shadow climbed onto Kasi’s shoulder, twined around her neck and settled all along her right arm into tattoo form.
Oooh,Miki-Leopard said sleepily.Miki-Leopard do that?
I don’t know, sweetheart. You can try later if you want. Sleep now.
Miki-Leopard want Elli-Dragon.
Okay. We’ll go find him soon.
“What happened?” Kasi demanded. “Where have you been? Mrs. Diaz said you disappeared from the simulation. Everyone’s been looking for you.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. We were in that room the entire time. We just got out.” I glanced around at the deserted hallways. “Is class already over?”
“Class hasbeenover for hours. You missed your tutoring session with Elliot. And the school’s security system said you weren’t anywhere on campus. Everyone’s been completely freaking out. Shadow just disappeared. I couldn’treach her and Elliot couldn’t reach Miki.”
“He’s pretty upset,” Jahrdran said, pulling out his phone and typing something on it. “I just texted him where we are.”
“Jahrdran and I even searched the Shadow Realm,” Kasi said, “but I couldn’t sense you or Shadow there either.”
“Then where the hell were we? I thought we were just in the simulation. Mrs. Diaz said we’d be confronted by our fears, so when Zowen showed up, I wasn’t even surprised. I figured he’d?—”
Elliot arrived in a burst of movement, flying up and over the railing that surrounded the central staircase, landing on his feet and lungingtoward me.
Seeing the stark look on his face, I met him halfway.
He caught me in his arms, lifting me so that I could wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. He wrapped both arms around me and buried his face in my neck.
