Page 54 of Where Shadows Bloom
With their brother freshly killed, the two Shadows turned away from the man they’d chosen as their prey, dropping the crumpled form on the ground. I ran backward, luring them away from the man—or the body. Just as I’d hoped, the two of them bounded toward me, barreling on all fours, the shape of men, but the movement and swiftness of nightmares.
One leapt at me, and I twisted out of the way, heart racing. Half of me was thrilled by the hunt, and the rest was consumed by white-hot anger; utter loathing for the liars at Le Château who claimed these Shadows did not exist, and for these monsters, coming into our world and taking our lives away. Carlos. Other knights. Other children. Other innocents.
To my left, a Shadow cried, a hissing, rasping warning just before it swiped vicious claws at me. I dodged out of the way, sweeping my foot through the black vapor of its own legs as I moved. It collapsed to the earth. I had mere seconds before its legs would evanesce again. I surged to my feet and beat my boot as hard as I could into its head. It vanished with a soft crackling sound, like a dry leaf.
But I wasn’t through.
After years of training, my senses had become attuned to the presence of Shadows. It was their earthy, smoky smell, and the faint scrape of their claws against the gravel drive. And something else, something inexplicable that let meknowa Shadow was near. If I had been standing on the center of a clock’s face, toward midnight, I would havefeltthe monster somewhere around seven o’clock.
Swift as a snake, without conscious thought, I took the rapier and twisted behind me to strike the Shadow perfectly through its gaping mouth. It groaned, a hellish death rattle, and then it, too, bled into smoke.
I wiped my brow and glanced about the grove for any signs of other straggling Shadows in the dusky light. Just like on that evening at the Bouchillon manor, Shadows had emerged before they were due.
The perimeter seemed clear. With the sword in hand, I strode back to the soldier, lying dazed on the ground. Thank the gods, not dead.
“Can you hear me?” I asked as I stepped closer.
“Yes.” His voice came out in a hoarse whisper.
I offered the pale-faced man a hand.
He took it, groaning as he stood. Blood rolled down his temples in streams from where the Shadows had wrenched his head back. He wiped his forehead against the metal of his bracer and frowned at me. “You aren’t a civilian, are you?” he asked, his voice still strained.
“Not quite.” I kept my fingers tightly wrapped against the hilt of the rapier. “My company was hired by a noble family to keep them safe from the Shadows. It has been my charge since I was twelve.”
“Gods above,” he mumbled. “No wonder you know your way around that blade.” The soldier reached out a gloved hand. “I’ll be needing that back.”
I reluctantly returned the rapier to its owner. He slipped it back into its scabbard and then tipped his head down toward a lane of hedges, bright with torchlight. “Come, I owe you my thanks. The beasts don’t come near that spot. There’s too much light.”
Finally.Finally, someone who looked the Shadows in the eyes and acknowledged their existence. Finally, someone with a modicum of decency. I felt gratitude and kinship with him, as my fellow knight. Someone sensible, at last. In this new world of manners and dancing and lies, perhaps he would provide me with some truth.
Still, I swept up the penknife from the dirt.
The man laughed. “Very fair, Mademoiselle...?”
“La Caballera Lope de la Rosa.”
“Caballera de la Rosa.” He bowed his bloodstained head to me. “Just Guillem will do. I’m only a soldier. I’ve served His Majesty for ten years now.”
Ten years. Ten years of history in this place—of understanding the Shadows here.
With the knife still at my side, I followed at his heels. “You must know much about the Shadows.”
“About the same as you do. No one knows much about them. Just how to kill them.”
I shook my head, marching faster to keep up with his long strides. “No, there’s more than that. I have been charting the paths they take. I have been counting them. They always came from the north—from this very area.”
Guillem raised a brow at me. “What are you implying?”
My cheeks burned. “I—I don’t know; I’m only asking a question. These creatures... they haven’t been around forever. And sometimes they increase in number for no discernible reason.”
The soldier sighed and stood beneath the shelter of a tall, burning torch. “Mark me, the king does not favor talk of such things—”
“Why does he not?”
“The king represents holiness and prosperity. He cannot be associated with the Shadows.”
“But they arehere! They areon his grounds!” My hands balled into fists; I wanted to grab a sword or run or dosomething. But this place, this ridiculous place, was all about restraint,even while chaos reigned outside.
