Ame Perdue

Chapter Twenty-One

Colt grinned wickedly at me, "I never did get the chance to thank you for pushing me out of the way of that semi," I could do nothing other than stare at him while he spoke, watching as the illusion he had himself wrapped into fades away, piece by piece, "Thank you for that. The impact wouldn't have killed me, but it would have put me out of commission for a few months and that certainly would have complicated things."

I stared at him. The illusion of Kam faded away before my eyes, Colt's features replacing it. It was almost as if he was sucking the shadows from the walls into him; his hair soaking in the inky blackness, his skin darkening as if he had spent hours in the sun. I watched as the bones in his face reshaped, Kam's gentle features shifting into something rougher with stubble covering his jawline. Even his outfit changed, the lightweight clothes of this world vanishing along with his shoes, leaving him barefoot.

In a matter of seconds, he was wearing a loose pair of what looked like sweatpants. There were hanging dangerously low on his hips, something that I knew for certain because he didn't have the common decency to where to a shirt. I was certain that it was deliberate, as it put his tattoos on full display. The one over his heart, a simple design of an owl was the only one that didn't have my heart plummeting in my stomach. It was the others, the ones crawling up his arms, wrapped around his neck, crawling up his side that captured my attention. They were all the same thing.

I had been right.

He was the Master.

There was no mistaking the creature. It wasn't just any fox expertly drawn across him. It was a fox with more black than red, with a wild look in his familiar yellow eyes. Even an idiot would have been able to recognize the unique coloring of the animal. Even its left ear was down in black with the left ear being red. It was the same fox in every tattoo, drawing so loving across him. I had been right not to trust Shadow.

And right not to trust Milo.

All familiars had a master, a creature that was bonded to them in both life and death. Their energies were forever intertwined. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that Colt was his. That Shadow belonged to Colt just as much as Colt belong to shadow. Even the chain necklace around his neck portrayed a fox. And Milo had sworn up and down that Shadow was trustworthy, sworn that he was alright because he knew his Master. Someone that he had asked for help. Someone who someone managed to have the answers.

'It was your idea.'

I had heard him say it and thought nothing of it. I didn't think twice about it. Looking back, it was so freaking obvious. The way that he suddenly didn't trust him, the second looks, the curtness. He had figured it out. He knew that it was Colt, knew that he was here. He knew that it wasn't Kam and he didn't say anything. Why would he? He called Colt a friend, he was working with him. He had been working with him from the start. He knew that Kam was dead.

The Wanderers' had lied.

It was the only thing that made sense.

Riquoiston was destroyed over a week before we arrived there. Amil would have known that it was destroyed, no matter which way I spun it, he would have known. And he sent us here anyway. Everything was connected. All of them were working together, it seemed so obvious. I just happened to dream about this world and it was the one that we were sent to save? Yeah right. They knew that I had these powers. Knew that they existed and wanted me to learn how to use them.

I was an idiot for falling into their trap.

I glanced briefly back at where Kam laid. He had been dead for at least a day. He was twice the size that he should have been, his features distorted with bloat. His translucent skin was discolored both by bruises and by the creatures that had been feasting on him while he was down here. I couldn't look at him, the sight of his decaying body too much.