Amanda Bonilla - Shaedes of Gray - A Shaede Assassin Novel

Tyler’s face loomed in my memories; that last look into his eyes frozen in finite detail. His breath no longer cool, but warm against my skin. And then, as if I’d dropped from the sky, I no longer floated in a state of death-bliss. A throbbing from my hand drew my thoughts to the ring circling my thumb. I’d always wondered why the symbol on the ring that was supposed to guarantee my protection had looked like some prehistoric buffalo. I mean, why not something huge ? Something fierce, with vicious claws and weight to throw around. An animal with thick, warm fur and impenetrable skin. A beast worthy of the term protector . The ancient animal carved into the silver was fierce and large; a hulking beast, but no buffalo. My eyes opened wide in pain, and, finally, recognition. A Lyhtan’s scream pierced the air, and Tyler cocked his head toward the sound. The movement was almost . . .

“You’re not Tyler!” I gasped, struggling against the rope restraining my bleeding wrists. “Who are you?” I spit at the cloaked figure and kicked my legs. “Who the fuck are you?”

The teens had filled their bowls with my supposedly magic blood and filed in a respectful line, walking the clearing counterclockwise this time. Each took up their former positions in front of his or her corresponding statue. Each dipped a finger in the bowl of blood, and, in turn, anointed the forehead of the statue with a long, bright-red smear.

A cool breeze stirred from the center of the clearing, from where the bear had been chained, and hit me full in the face. The sweetest smell permeated my senses, and for a moment I could almost taste his cool kisses. Tyler was here, right under my nose the entire time, watching over me. How could I have let my eyes trick me so easily?

The furious chanting of the dark-haired guardians drew my attention. Their ritual had begun. One of the girls raised her bowl and paused. The moon pulled away from the sun, and a sliver of light shone onto the clearing. I observed the whole gruesome scene, noticing hundreds of details in a space of time no longer than a single second. . . .

Azriel stood, proud and smirking, at the bower, watching with sick delight as my blood drained from the gashes at my wrists.

The Lyhtans, worked into a frenzy, cried out in myriad voices for killing, for revenge, for retribution.

Nine teens stood before nine gargoyle statues, chanting in low, melodious voices, bowls poised above gaping stone mouths.

The moon traveled, undeterred by the events taking place below it, to reveal more of the sun’s glorious warmth.

Tall grass swayed, the short grass of the clearing quivered, and a breeze whispered through the trees, sounding like crumpling tissue paper and soft applause.

And at last I locked my gaze with the bear, pacing and pulling at his chain, desperate to free himself. I looked hard and deep into those eyes for the first time and noticed the beautiful hazel color, green with an almost-brown star blooming from the pupil. I’d had to learn so much in such a short time, I’d forgotten Xander’s Genie 101. . . . They possess a very powerful magic and can change shape and form, but only when their charge is threatened. . . . The shape they choose is the physical embodiment of their protection. It must have happened when the Lyhtans attacked him. A knee-jerk reaction, because he knew they were after me. All this time, my Jinn had been protecting me, and I’d been too stupid to realize it. But why remain in animal form? Did it make him stronger? More capable of keeping me safe?

“Tyler!” I called out. “I wish Raif were here! I wish he were here now! Please, Tyler!”

Tyler’s bear lips quivered and he mewled in answer. I turned to the imposter standing beside me. “Why don’t you show your true face, coward?”

The blood loss had begun to take a toll on me. My breathing was labored as I tried to focus on saving myself. There was fight left in me, and I wasn’t about to go out flat on my back.

As the moon finished its passage across the sun, the clearing filled with blinding sunlight. I realized as the rays poured down on me that I had become something more than I had been, and with the passage of the eclipse, that transformation was complete. I thought about the cuts on my wrists, bathing the lovely green grass in crimson red, and I visualized the cuts healing more quickly than even my supernatural body allowed. Close, I told the cuts. Heal. Stop bleeding .

A chill ran the length of my arms and snaked around my wrists like bracelets made of ice. The sensation intensified, and though I couldn’t see the wounds, I felt my skin pull together, sensed the bleeding as it stopped.

By small degrees, my strength returned and I pulled against the Lyhtan hair binding me to the stone dais. My right ankle and then the left broke free, and I rotated the stiff and nearly numb extremities until I was certain I could move. I pulled with my arms and they broke the Lyhtan hair as if I’d been tied down with merely a thread.

The imposter Tyler flinched, taking a cautious step back. Indecision marred his features as he looked back and forth from me to the kids, who carried on as if nothing disturbed their moment in time. My body tingled in the sunlight. A faint glow burst from my skin, filtering all around me, but I had little time to contemplate these changes. I had to do something to stop the insufferable teenagers, who proceeded as if the world held nothing more enchanting than these nine horrible statues and the bowls of my blood.

The first of the nine lifted her bowl above the gaping maw of the snarling gargoyle. She poured the blood into the mouth of the beast, draining every last drop into the lifeless statue.

A vicious snarl cleaved the air, and the earth shook beneath me. I looked wide-eyed to the first gargoyle and watched in horror as it sprang from its perch and mauled the girl, tearing at her flesh with razor-sharp teeth. It no longer resembled hard granite; the gray flesh appeared smooth and supple. The sinews of its body flexed, and its wings beat slowly, stretching a body frozen in stone for ages. Its dull skin quivered as it lapped at the torn and bloody body it held in a clawed grasp. And the tongue that had once been curled inside its gaping mouth flicked out, forked and seemingly as sharp as a whetted blade.

Tyler’s stolen form shimmered for a moment, a wave of clear energy reminding me of a mirage. Or a glamour. A clever creature, indeed, but no Shaede could change its form to that extent. I leapt toward the imposter and tackled him to the ground, surprised at how easily I managed the feat.

I wrestled the dagger from his hand, still dripping with my blood, and held the tip to my would-be killer’s throat. “Show yourself,” I said.

The mirage flickered, and dull, expressionless eyes transformed to a milky blue. His head deflated and became small and girlish, fragile even, framed with mousy brown hair. The masculine frame grew more female and much more delicate. I stared at the tiny woman beneath me with disbelieving eyes. All at once, the truth seemed stranger to me than the illusion.

“Delilah,” I said.

“There’s nothing you can do!” She seethed. “It’s already begun, and once the transformation is complete, the Enphigmalé will be free!”

I looked up as a second guardian emptied his bowl, mimicking his neighbor’s actions. He fed the blood into the gargoyle’s mouth and it sprang to life, devouring his body in large, crunching bites.

“Why?” I had a hard time wrapping my mind around her decision to see this awful thing through. She was Tyler’s friend . I thought she’d been mine. What was her motivation? What could have filled her with so much hate?