Last Shadow || Deception Book III

Chapter 5

Mid-May, four months later

Luke

"Get into formation!" Alabster yellled, trying to organize the chaos on deck. "Everyone, shut up!"

"I wish you the best of luck trying to organize this mess," Nicole snickered, nodding towards the two groups of demigods arguing on deck, a crowd of monsters jeering on the side.

"Just kill a bunch of people and they'll shut up," Ally offered, her dark eyes flickering purple.

"Wh-" Alabaster started, whipping around to stare at her. "You can't just—"

"It was a joke, calm down," Ally said. "Jeez."

"Well, I'm sorry that your jokes are so morbid," he shot back.

"Yeah? And I'm sorry that we've had to kill so many people and things that making jokes about death isn't morbid anymore."

"Shut up, you two," I growled. "Now is not the time to be arguing with each other. Get everyone in line. This has gone on long enough."

"This is what happens when everyone is cooped up in a closed area for weeks," Nicole muttered before stalking over to the far side of the deck where a group of monsters were hollering insults at the demigods. "Hey, you dumb-dumbs! Shut the bloody damn hell up!"

I left her to it and made a beeline for the main throng, feeling the dull pulse of a headache. I didn't have it in me to force everyone to behave. To be honest, I didn't have anything in me. Nicole had said I'd turned into a shell of myself, and I couldn't even argue with her. Days passed, each blurring into the other until all I knew was that there had been me before Ri had left, and there was me now. In a haze of days, the snow that had covered the decks of the ship and the icy breeze of the Pacific had somehow turned warm, and the distant shoreline was green. Then the air had turned warm and I'd started seeing sunlight, although I hardly felt its warmth on my skin when Alabaster forced me out of my cabin each day because I was "turning into a hermit."

Nothing mattered anymore, because she wasn't here. The only thing keeping me going was the knowledge that Ri would return one day, but it'd been so long, that I felt like the wait would be forever.

I will wait forever, though, I thought. One step at a time, one task at a hand, one day at a time.

"Hey, guys, stop," I ordered, using my sheath as a stick and whapping people back. "Step away from each other, or everyone is running twenty laps around the mountain."

"It'll be better than being stuck here," someone yelled. My eyes instantly found the source: a blond-haired, blue-eyed jerk with the arrogance of a high school jock. "This isn't what we signed up for! You said we'd see action, not this dumb shit of sitting and waiting!"

"You'll get your action if you behave," I hissed. "We need to wait for the right opportunity!"

"Yeah?" the guy said, shoving forwards to the front of the crowd. "And who decides when that is? You? Who gave you the right?"

"Alright, you must be new," Alabaster said, his sword flying out to press against the dude's neck. "Have some respect, will you? That's our leader, chosen by Him. Defying him is defying the Lord. So, unless you want your head to start flying, I suggest you shut the fuck up and listen."

"Get your stupid ass blade away from me," he growled, glaring at my second.

"Make me."

He raised his chin, staring balefully at him. "Fight me like a proper man, you wimp."