The Council (Darkness #5)(11)

A blast of magical fire flayed my shield. I stepped back, pumping more energy into the shield so it held. The guys at the other end of the hall hadn’t made the same preparations. And even if they did, it wouldn’t have helped. The magic scoured the three, blistering their skin. Gashes tore their flesh, an assault of razor blades all over their bodies. Girlish shrieks drowned the hallway as the men staggered backward. One fell, screaming. The others tripped over him, stumbling backward, scrubbing at their faces.

“Fucking bitch!” the leader shouted, smashing into a wall with a thud.

The wave of magic rolled over them and disintegrated, leaving three bloody, whimpering men in its wake. As one they got up and staggered back the way they’d come, gingerly touching their skin and moaning.

“This one’s over, right?” I clarified. “This challenge is done?”

“The Boss would be proud.” Jonas lifted his chin and puffed out his chest. He gave me a solid pat on the back that had me staggering forward.

“He might be proud, but I’m a little terrified. That was way worse than what she did to Toa.” Charles stared at the backs of the three guys.

“I added a little twist of awful. Toa got blasted with paper cuts. These guys got a razor blast.” I let my shield fall away.

Charles shivered.

“How many more tricks like that you got up your sleeve, human?” Jonas asked, his own shield winking out. Apparently he hadn’t trusted mine.

“Ones that only hurt? Probably not enough.” I sighed and continued up the hall. “Probably not nearly enough. Toa got creative and nasty with what he taught me. I think he’s trying to make a statement through me. I don’t know what I find worse—Toa needing to make a statement, or the fact that I am his vehicle. I can’t imagine the heat it’ll bring on us.”

“Whatever it is, we’ll handle it.” Jonas rolled his shoulders as his muscles flexed.

I really hoped he was right.

After a quiet walk through busy halls in which absolutely everyone stared at me, I finally arrived at Tim’s door. I nearly cried as I knocked, so thankful there was a crowd of shifters who would fight right beside us. My crew was grossly outnumbered in this place, and worse, they hated me because I was human. I was the gross insect they weren’t allowed to step on. I could see it in their sneers.

“You’re probably good for tonight,” Jonas reflected. “You got the first challenge, you answered, and now they’re going to take a lesson and find someone to come at you harder. You tore those guys up. I bet you just stepped up the competition.”

“Good and bad though, right?” I leaned against the doorjamb. “It’s going to get harder that much quicker. I should’ve hit that guy with something lighter. Like a shock or something.”

“No. You gotta play this hard and fast, human. You gotta match the Boss, because that male is going to take this place down. You have to show you deserve him.”

“Not much of a pep talk, Jonas,” I muttered.

“It’d be way more fun if we could join in.” Charles picked at the doorjamb in irritation. “Knock harder, Sasha. What are they, running around with four legs in there? They don’t have hands to open the door? What’s taking so long?”

I knocked harder.

“It’s a sad day when we have to turn to the mongrels for aid,” Jonas grumbled.

“You protect a human, Jonas. One you tried to off once. Isn’t every day a sad day in your book?” I asked in a dry voice.

He stared down the hall and ignored me, his way of saying, “Touché.”

The door opened slowly, the space filled with the stocky and robust body of John, a shifter I had met at their forest compound. He beckoned me in immediately as his gaze scanned who I was with. “This it?”

“This is it.” I walked into the spacious room. Ann and four other shifters were spread around the room. Hard gazes in wary expressions surveyed me. No one gave a sign of greeting.

“Hey, guys, you okay?” I edged toward the couch in the center of the greeting area where Ann rested, her hair a vibrant blue. “Kind of keyed up, huh?”

Ann grimaced at me as I sat, but didn’t say anything, which wasn’t like her.

“Got your hair done, huh?” I asked, uncomfortable with the vibe in the room.

“Everyone’s nervous about where we stand in this place,” Ann said quietly. “We didn’t exactly get a warm welcome when we were being escorted to our rooms. I think Tim thought it’d be different. It’s put everyone on edge.”

Before I could say anything, I heard “Sasha.”

Tim emerged from a bedroom in the back, a six-foot block of solid and steadfast muscle. Angry red gashes marred his neck and upper arms where the demon gouged and scored him from the last battle. He’d nearly died, but being as stubborn as they came, he was in the process of making a full recovery. “In the process” being the operative phrase.

“How’d it go?” he asked, his smooth and sure step crossing the room and taking a seat on the coffee table in front of me. His soft brown eyes delved into mine. “Are you still mage?”

Suddenly I just felt tired. “Yeah. I have black, I have talent, and I am incredibly naïve and untaught. Oh, and apparently my form of magic tends to kill most wielders like me, so I’m all set.”