“You know nothing of my daughter!” She sobbed, large tears rolling from her crazy, widened eyes.
Pressing my back against the log, I pushed myself to standing and stepped toward her, ready, hoping that my plan would work. Narrowing my eyes in a furious slant, I hissed, “I’m ashamed of you, mother!”
“NO!” She howled. “You’re not my daughter! You’re not my Katelyn! He killed her! Darius killed her! You’re not her!”
Her face red, her maddened grin turned into a maddened snarl, she whipped her free hand forward, backhanding me. Pain exploded in my cheek. It ached through my jaw and echoed through my skull. I fell, forcing my body to fall at just the right angle, and when I hit the ground, something in my left knee popped. Ignoring the pain, I slipped my binds over the katana’s blade, slicing neatly through them. Then, as fast as I could move, I pressed my left hand to Trayton’s neck and lifted the katana with my right.
As I raised the sword, Instructor Baak brought her dagger down. She was fast. Too fast. I wouldn’t be able to block it in time. But maybe, just maybe, Trayton would heal in time to avenge my death. Beneath my fingers, he continued to bleed. There was no tingling in the palm of my hand, no sensation of power as I pressed my skin to his. There was just blood, and the overwhelming feeling that I was losing him.
My heart beat hard and fast, as if trying to get its last workings in before the dagger entered. Time had slowed again, and I watched the blade edge nearer and nearer to my chest. I brought the katana up and sliced into her arm, cutting deeply. But it wouldn’t be enough to stop her. The sound of metal slicing bone grated in my ears, and her blood poured out, drenching us both.
A hand closed over Instructor Baak’s injured arm and twisted it back, sending her flying. She landed several yards away, with shrill cries that hurt my ears. Darius met my eyes with so many questions that I didn’t know which to answer first. Then he looked at Trayton and his expression darkened with concern. In his eyes were the words that I didn’t want to hear: He’s dying, Kaya. If we don’t get him to the hospital wing immediately, he’s dead.
A sob choked me and I dropped the katana to the ground, pressing both of my hands to Trayton’s wound in desperation. But still, the sensation that I had experienced in our Binding ceremony escaped me. I was failing him and had no idea how to make him well again. “Don’t leave me, Trayton! Please don’t leave me. Heal. Just heal!”
Darius closed a hand over my shoulder. At first I thought he was comforting me, but as his fingers pressed, I realized he was trying to silently gain my attention. Sniffling, I turned my head, and my heart stopped.
Two Graplars were standing to either side of Instructor Baak, who was giggling madly. Her laughter pierced the air, sending a sharp chill up my spine. Her grin had returned, broad as ever, and if a miracle didn’t present itself soon, the three of us were as good as dead.
Stroking the amulet around her neck, Instructor Baak purred to the savage beasts at her command. “Kill the girl quickly, but leave the boy to me.”
My hand found the katana again before I could even think to do so. Slowly, I stood, forgetting about stopping Trayton’s bleeding for the moment. The Graplar to her left lunged forward, toward me. Darius turned to confront it, gripping the handle of his katana in determination. Behind him, Instructor Baak edged her way closer, raising her dagger high. I shouted Darius’s name, but he was already turning toward her, already countering her move with one of his own. He raised his blade and made contact. Once again the sound of metal on bone filled the air. Once again blood flew. But it was Instructor Baak’s blood. Her hand tumbled through the air, still gripping the dagger.
Instructor Baak didn’t make a sound.
The Graplar moved forward and I readied my blade. Lurching toward me, its foul breath filled the air, making me gag. But I gripped the handle, ready for the beast’s assault.
“Stop!”
Instructor Baak raced forward, her eyes once again clouded, her handless arm gushing blood, and flung herself between me and the Graplar, her eyes wide and terrified. “Leave her be. Leave my Katelyn be!”
The Graplar froze, unable to resist the whims of the amulet’s keeper. I didn’t know what to say, what to do. I also didn’t know how long this madness would carry on in my favor.
Darius slowly returned his katana to his saya. I wanted to scream at him not to trust her, not to believe that this was the end of her violent desire for justice, but my voice froze in my throat. Darius fell on his knees in front of Instructor Baak, his brow heavy. “I’m sorry, Instructor Baak. I never meant for anything to happen to Katelyn. I should have protected her. And I’ll never forgive myself.”
I took a step toward Instructor Baak. She was facing away from me, her eyes on Darius. Both looked pained beyond belief. Tears welled in Darius’s eyes. “Please. End it. Set her soul free. But spare the others. Katelyn’s death was no fault but my own.”
Instructor Baak’s eyes filled with hatred as she looked down at Darius. Her grip on the amulet tightened, and I knew the next words that left her mouth would cause Darius’s demise.
I reached out to snatch the necklace from her neck, but she yanked it away before I could. Cursing at us, she ran off into the growing darkness with more strength than I thought was possible in her current state. Instinctively, I moved to go after her, but then felt Darius’s hand on my arm. The look in his eyes was more serious than I had ever witnessed. Darius stood, hoisting Trayton into his arms. “We have to get him to the Master Healer, Kaya.”
Trayton’s skin was a deathly pale. His arms hung limp, his eyes were closed. If I had to guess, I might have thought him to be dead already. But I clung to the hope that Darius was right to believe there was a chance at saving his life.
With a determined nod, I gripped the katana tightly in my hands and led the way. Instructor Baak would have to be dealt with later.
C H A P T E R
Thirty-three
We made our way through the darkness to the hospital wing, which was packed with people—many moaning, some screaming in pain. Darius laid Trayton on an empty gurney and was checking his pulse when I grabbed the shoulder of a passing Master Healer. “We need help. My Barron is—”
“We’ll get to you in a minute.” He turned as if to rush down the hall.
My skin flushed, almost burning. “No! You don’t understand, he’s dying!”
It was only then, when Darius’s hands closed over mine, that I realized that I was holding Trayton’s katana up in a threatening manner. He slipped the blade from my trembling hands and met my eyes with complete understanding. Then he looked back to the terrified Master Healer and said, “She’s very upset, as you can understand. But she’s also right. Trayton is in dire straits. Please.”
“Trayton?” As if his name was well known—and it likely was, due to his father’s fame—the Master Healer forgot all about me and hurried to Trayton’s side. After just a moment, Trayton was rushed away, and Darius directed me to a bench in the hall. I sat down, tears welling from my eyes, and when Darius sat beside me, I cried into his shoulder, soaking his bloodstained shirt. After a while, I shoved him from me, so overcome with the bitter mixture of grief and rage. “Where were you? You could have saved him!”
His shoulders sank, as if weighed down by guilt. “You’re right. I should have been here. I traveled to Haruko, not far from Darkmoon Academy. I like it there. It’s where I go to clear my head sometimes. But the moment I overheard two of Darrek’s drunken guards in this pub I frequent discussing a teacher at Shadow Academy who was loyal to Darrek’s cause, I hurried back.”
My eyes ached from crying. “You shouldn’t have left in the first place.”
He said nothing. Mostly because there was nothing to say.
My Soulbound Barron had died. Now I was about to lose my Bound Barron too. The pain was overwhelming. Before this moment I had never truly understood what my father had meant by the term “soulbroken.” But I did now. My heart ached. My insides f
elt hollowed out. I was hurting, and there was no end in sight for my pain.
After minutes, maybe hours, with my throat raw from crying, I finally asked the question that had been burning through my soul since I’d laid a hand on Trayton’s wound. “Why couldn’t I heal him, Darius? What did I do wrong?”
Tightening his arm around my shoulders, he breathed into my hair. “You did nothing wrong. Being Bound isn’t as strong as being Soulbound. It’s not as reliable. More serious injuries are questionable. You may be able to heal them. You may not. But you tried. And that means everything in the world to Trayton right now.”
I dried my tears and sat up, tugging his sleeve. I was still mad at Darius, still so angry that he’d ever exposed me to Trayton’s watchful eye. But for the time being, I needed him. “Come on.”
Darius looked at me with one eyebrow raised. “Where are we going?”
I stood and picked up the katana, determination replacing my immense sorrow for the time being. “We’re going to find Instructor Baak and get that amulet.”
C H A P T E R
Thirty-four
Darius and I moved across the campus, sticking as close to buildings as we could. Graplars ran by, their giant, muscular forms pounding the ground all around us. Some glistened with sweat from the effort of their assault on the school’s occupants. Others were dripping with blood. But it was those who seemed to grin as they passed us that bothered me the most. I didn’t know for sure whether or not Graplars were capable of emotion, but their lips stretched so wide to reveal their teeth in a horrifying grin. The absolutely worst part of it was that between the rows of razor-sharp teeth were bits of chewed meat—meat that had likely been a person just moments ago.
The Graplars screeched as they continued their assault, their voracious appetites refusing to cease. A particularly large beast bit into a girl as it crossed the cobblestone of the courtyard, carrying off a snack for later. A still-screaming, still-very-much-alive snack. But who knew for how long? Horrified, I moved forward to engage the beast, but Darius stopped me with his fingers on my shoulder. When I looked at him, his eyes had narrowed, his mood darkened. “Stop. This one’s mine.”
An angry heat filled me. Once more I was being told what not to do. Once more I was being pushed to the side. I gripped the katana in my hand and ran forward, toward the beast.
Darius had broken into a run two seconds before I had, and he was already engaging the Graplar. He slashed at its front legs, and it reared up in response, growling, but refusing to release its prey. The poor girl screamed, her blood running freely into the creature’s mouth, drizzling onto the cobblestone below. As the Graplar whipped its head to the side, she fell back, her eyes wide with terror. For a moment, our eyes connected, and then the beast moved its head once more, shaking her like a lifeless doll.
I couldn’t see the girl’s face at that moment. All I could see were things my imagination had conjured up about the night my life had changed forever. Avery’s terrified eyes, Avery’s screaming mouth, Avery’s blood spattering onto my father’s shirt as the Graplar tore her to bits.
Before I even realized what I was doing, I’d jumped up, bringing my sword down on the Graplar’s neck. Its head flopped forward, still connected to its body by just a thin layer of tissue. The jaws opened and the girl was free. She lay on the ground, sobbing. I stood in front of the monster that had almost taken her life and watched as its body staggered to the left before landing in a lifeless heap. I flicked its blood from my blade just as Darius came to stand beside me. “In case you didn’t hear me, I said that this one was mine.”
My jaw ached from being clenched so tightly. “After today, I never want to see you again, Darius.”
He paused, but only briefly. “Why?”
Glaring at him, I said, “Because bringing Trayton in to spar with me was wrong. Because you endangered my parents’ lives with your stupid move. Why him? Why Trayton? Why not any other Barron?”
“Because you care about him. If you can stand against even an ally, that means your training has reached a certain admirable level. Plus, he distracts you. And we both know that you struggle with distractions.” He eyed me for a moment before continuing. His tone was even, almost completely devoid of emotion. In the background, the girl’s sobs were quieting, but slowly. Her injuries were terrible, maybe deadly. I didn’t know.
Darius shrugged. “But you did well. The lesson went better than I’d hoped. So what’s the problem?”
A Barron that I didn’t recognize ran by, and I stopped him with a hand to his chest. “Wait. Take this girl to the hospital wing.”
With a nod, he scooped her into his arms as gently as possible and ran off, without argument. I turned back to Darius.
“The problem is that you risked my parents’ lives with that stunt. And you did it without consulting me at all.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, still very angry, but not wanting to lose my temper. “I want an apology. Strike that. I deserve an apology.”
He was silent for the longest time, as if taking everything that I had said into consideration and mulling it over. A chorus of death surrounded us. Then he parted his lips and said, “No.”
“What?” My eyes flashed with fury “What do you mean no?”
He turned from me then and began making his way out of the courtyard. I moved quickly, quietly, on the balls of my feet, lifting my katana as silently as I was able. At the last moment, he freed his weapon and spun around, our blades meeting in midair. The clang of metal rang through my ears. “You owe me an apology, Darius.”
He pushed back with his blade, but I dug my heel into the ground, gritting my teeth against his strength. To my surprise, my stance held for longer than I thought it would, but then Darius reached the end of his patience and shoved me back. I stumbled backward, but when I recovered my footing, I swept his left leg and Darius lost his balance. Bringing my katana around fast, I counted on his Barron reflexes to deliver and they did. He jumped back, straight into the fountain, and I stopped my blade against his throat. He swallowed and the metal nicked him, blood drawing a thin line down his neck. Holding my weapon steady, I leaned closer and said, “I said I want an apology. You owe me at least that much. I have kept your secret, after all. Despite what you’ve done. The least that you can do is apologize.”
His gaze, full of surprise at my skill, softened then and fell to my blade, then rose to my mouth. As the words passed over his lips in a whisper, a chill tickled up my spine, and he raised his eyes to meet mine. “I’m sorry, Kaya.”
A loud screech jolted me, and before I realized, I’d dropped my sword to waist height in distracted fear. In seconds, Darius had his katana poised, ready for action. I whipped my head around, searching the immediate area for any sign of a Graplar. I saw nothing near us, but the sounds of the beasts moving through academy grounds filled my ears. Then I heard another sound. The voice of Instructor Baak in the distance, her words accompanied by mad laughter. “Kill them all! Kill them all!”
Darius took off, pausing briefly to throw a wordless glance over his shoulder at me. I broke into a run. We had to get to Instructor Baak, had to get that amulet away from her and stop this attack before any more people died.
She was standing at the center of the Barrons’ training area, arms raised, eyes so wide that there was no questioning her sanity level anymore. Her arm had been tightly bandaged, but I was still shocked to see her conscious. She’d lost so much blood. Maybe, I wondered, she knew something about herbs that Instructor Harnett hadn’t taught me.
As Graplars clashed with students all around her, she twirled in slow circles to the music in her head. I’d never thought anything would frighten me more than a Graplar. But seeing Instructor Baak lose her mind completely, watching as her madness took over any ounce of reason that she’d once had…it terrified me.
Darius ran at her, but just before he could make contact, a Graplar dove into him, knocking him to the side. Instructor Baak cackled with glee. Fury i
gnited my movement—fury that a crazy, selfish woman like Instructor Baak was standing here laughing, alive, while poor, giving Trayton was lying in the hospital wing, dying. I moved carefully around the edges of the training area, my eyes on the amulet—the cause of this whole mess.
The training area was filled with Barrons, Healers, and Graplars, with Instructor Baak reigning over the chaos from the center. Her eyes were alight with madness, and though several of the creatures nearly hit her as they ran by, she seemed completely oblivious to the danger she was in. It was as if she were in another time, another place, one where she and her beloved Katelyn were at peace. I crept around the perimeter of the area until I could see Instructor Baak’s back clearly. But between us stood three Graplars, and a handful of Barrons who would only prove to be in my way.
Breaking into a run, my heart slamming in my chest, I jumped up and planted my foot onto the first Graplar’s head as it bent down. Pushing off, I jumped toward the second, but slipped on its scaly skin and fell to the ground. My ankle twisted some, but I hurried to stand before the beast could lunge at me, snapping its shimmering teeth in a bite. One of the Barrons engaged the beast and I hurried behind its massive form, using it as a hiding place as I crept toward Instructor Baak.
The amulet glimmered from its place on the thin chain around her neck, beckoning to me. Taunting me.
Another Barron stepped in front of me in a protective stance, katana raised at the Graplar between Instructor Baak and me. “Get out of here. It’s not safe!”
But I couldn’t leave, couldn’t run. I was the only one who had any idea how to stop this horror, and I wasn’t about to stop until I grasped that amulet in my hand. I shoved the Barron to the side. The movement caught the Graplar’s attention and it dove after the Barron, but there was no time for me to assist him.