Shadows of the Night | BOOK 2 DRAFT

38

38. 

The night swallows me whole.

I dart between trees, camouflage amongst the shrub. The moon glares down, piercing the thick foliage above. Branches reach out, clawing my arms, but I blend with the shadows. Once so threatening, the forest is a haven of protection, sheltering me from the shifters in the courtyard surrounding Elias. His back is to me, body attached to the pole with the neck brace and shackles. I'm no more than five feet away, the small distance between us seems to burn. But I can't help him, not yet.

Malik's guards stand more than 20 feet away, poised, ready to react. Whatever they injected him with to keep his gifts are bay is long gone. The earth around him is charred black, along with his singed clothes. Blood stains his skin, dried around the neck brace. My nails dig into my palms as I repress the urge to run to him.

It's been less than five minutes since I scaled the castle, but each minute that passes is like a tipping scale. Because Malik could awake at any moment; he could already be awake. We don't have any time to waste.

Come on, I think.

I can't see them on the other side of the clearing, but I know they're there, Cassia with her deadly hands and Eric his terrifying skills. A distraction won't last long, but all we need are seconds. Elias' gifts are back. If I make quick work of the shackles, he can protect himself. I bounce on my legs, nerves racing through my body. What are they waiting for?

The castle doors burst open, disrupting the tense silence. Elias lifts his head, blocking my view. I shift slightly, heart sinking in my chest. Malik's gaze burns across the clearing, his walk purposeful until he stops mere feet away from Elias. I freeze, as if he can hear me breathing.

"She's gone," he says, so low I almost miss it. "Find her, now."

The guards behind him stumble into the trees. I should move, it won't be long before someone catches my scent and finds me here, perched in the bushes behind Elias. But I can't take my eyes off Malik. He takes slow steps toward Elias, his expression unreadable, those once warm eyes so distant. He stops a few feet away and stares down.

Elias says something low, but his voice gets lost in the wind. Before Malik has a chance to respond, there's a commotion in the bushes by the side of the castle. Malik spins around, crouching low, just in time for two wolves to burst from the trees and head straight for Malik—Cassia and Eric.

In the space it takes me to blink Malik is a wolf, coat as black as night as he leaps into the air, clashing with Cassia and rolling a few feet away, around the side of the castle, leaving the clearing free.

I don't think twice before crawling from my hiding spot, my heart hammering against my chest as the wind picks up. Elias tugs against the restraints, causing his skin to sizzle. I put a hand on his shoulder first, snaking it down the length of his arm. His entire body tenses.

"Don't struggle," I whisper, "it's me."

"What're you doing here?" he hisses, low.

His neck brace keeps him from turning to look at me, and I keep my eyes focused on undoing the shackles around his wrist, revealing raw skin beneath.

"What do you think? Freeing you."

The shackles drops from around his wrists and I'm quick to shift around his frame, reaching reach for the brace around his neck. The scent of smoke hangs off him, mixed with dried blood. I bite my tongue as I unscrew the brace. Bile rises in the back of my throat as the nails twist out from the holes they made in his skin, but Elias doesn't even flinch as I pull it away from him.