Into the Dark: The Shadow Prince Part 19

giraffe or an albatross or something."

"Ostrich," I say.

"Huh?"

"You called me an albatross but I think you meant ostrich. An albatross is like a seagull. Ostriches are the birds with long necks. If you're going to insult me, at least get it right."

"What, now you think you're a freaking brain, too?" She puts her hands on her hips. "But all you really are is a pathetic little brownnoser, or whatever you call someone who uses her daddy to get whatever she wants."

"I barely even know him. I had no idea this play was the reason he wanted to bring me here, so don't blame me, okay?" I reach for her arm. "Let's just get you home." Lexie pulls away from me. "I don't need your help. I can take myself home." She takes a couple of unsteady steps down the path to the right of the fork that make it clear that she does need help.

"Isn't your house the other direction?" I call after her.

She responds with her middle finger. I stand at the fork in the path and watch her disappear around the bend of the tree-lined trail. Most of me wants to just let her go. She deserves to get lost in her drunken state for being such a brat. But then I realize that the path she took leads to the bridge to the grove, and I remember what happened the last time I let someone head in that direction when I should have stopped her.

"Lexie?" I call after her.

She doesn't respond and I can't see her anymore, so I start after her. I've only taken about six steps when I hear a noise that sounds like something falling over, followed by a m.u.f.fled swearword from Lexie. I smile, guessing she tripped in her shoes.

But then a horrible noise fills the air. At first, it starts as a low hiss and then grows higher pitched and grating. It reminds me of the screeching squeal of bad car brakes-only higher and much louder. It reverberates around me, making me s.h.i.+ver. When the noise dies away, Lexie's frantic scream replaces it.

Without thinking, I run in the direction of her scream. I think I hear footsteps following me, but it's probably just the pounding of my heart in my ears. I don't dare look back. I round a corner in the path and stumble over something. I fall hard on my knees and see, lying on its side like a lifeless corpse, one of Lexie's gold shoes on the ground in front of me.

At first, I can't find Lexie. The path in front of me seems empty. I look deeper into the woods that line the path, and see her. She's on the ground, backed up against a large tree about ten feet away from me.

She holds her hands up defensively and shouts for help. That's when I realize there's someone-or something-else in the trees with her. At least I think I detect movement in the shadows beside her.

It's so dark, all I can see is the outline of a large black form standing over her. Or maybe it's just the s.h.i.+fting of shadows from the tree branches as they move under the thin sliver of the crescent moon above us. Then the shadow seems to swoop down toward Lexie.

"Get away from her," I shout and grab the closest thing that resembles a weapon. Lexie's very pointy shoe. I push myself up from the asphalt path and lob the shoe at the shadowed outline. It pa.s.ses right through it.

I am sure it's just a shadow now, except it seems to turn in my direction.

That terrible screeching noise fills the air again. It seems to echo off the trees and slice into my ears. I can't tell if it comes from the shadow or from somewhere behind me. I swallow hard and launch myself at Lexie. I wrap my arms around her protectively as the shadow engulfs us. Lexie buries her face against my shoulder, her curly hair blocking my view of the shadow.

I do the only thing that I can think of next. I scream.

My voice echoes around me, almost as loud as the screeching squeal, matching it in pitch. I feel the shudder of the shadow against my skin but I don't dare look at it. A second later, a burst of lightning explodes just over our heads. I scream again. Lexie flails. The light illuminates the terror on her face before I clamp my eyes shut to protect them from the brightness. My lids are only down for half a second but when I open my eyes, she and I are alone beside the path. The shadow is gone.

But, no. I am wrong. We're not completely alone. Electricity tingles in the air around me as I push myself up to get a better look at the boy who stands on the opposite side of the path.

chapter twenty-nine.

haden

Another surge of electricity builds in my chest as I watch her approach. I try to push it down, but I'm fighting the adrenaline rush of what just happened.

"Haden?" she asks. "Is that you?"

So she's seen me. There's no running away now. That would only make things worse. I don't know where the thing went-its scent has evaporated from the air-so there's no point in trying to go after it. She moves even closer. Her eyes lock on mine. She brushes her hands up and down her arms, marveling at the way the fine hairs on her skin stand on end from the electricity that still crackles in the air around us.

She looks up and I can tell that she's noting that there isn't a cloud in the sky.

"How?" she says. "What . . . what just happened?"

I don't know how to answer that question. I don't know the how or why of it all, either. It should be impossible. The shadow beast-that thing that attacked-I think I know what it is, but it shouldn't be possible. How could it be here?

It was the smell that sent me after Daphne. I was still sitting on the gate, intent on trying to read Simon's and Mayor Winters's lips-making a mental note to research how to do that better on YouTube- in order to follow their conversation, when I saw Daphne leaving the party alone. I wasn't going to follow, noting how Dax would approve of my restraint, when I caught the strange smell on the breeze.

It was the metallic tinge of blood in the air, followed by the wafting scent of sulfur.

It was enough to make me forget about Simon and the mayor. I jumped down into the front yard, following the smell. I bypa.s.sed the catering van in the driveway, and noticed that the helmeted man and his motorcycle were gone. My footsteps quickened as I realized the sulfuric scent led in the same direction that Daphne had gone. But it was the scream that sent me running.

I wouldn't have believed the scene I came upon if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. The short girl, Lexie, was cowering against a tree trunk, seemingly under attack by some sort of shadow creature- and Daphne had thrown herself in the middle, using herself as a s.h.i.+eld to protect the other girl as the shadow swirled around them. I didn't understand it. Why would Daphne help this girl, who, for all that I could tell, had been cruel to her all night? The thought snapped away from me as the shadowy thing reared back, as if preparing to take a swipe at the girls. Daphne screamed and the thing seemed to quiver. For the briefest of moments, it seemed to take solid form. I thought maybe I had just blinked or just imagined it or my eyes were just playing tricks on me, but I caught a glimpse of feathers and claws before it turned back into a misty shadow again.

"No," I whispered out loud. It can't be. A pulse of electricity flooded through my body. I directed it into my arms, then hands, then fingertips, and flung it at the creature. The lightning pa.s.sed right through the misty creature and exploded against a tree only a few feet from the girls. Lexie wailed, clasping her hands over her head. Daphne screamed. The creature became solid once more, long enough for me to see only the look of shock-or perhaps recognition-in its red eyes as it glared at me. It went misty again and then vanished altogether, evaporating into the shadows that surround the path.

Another surge of lightning crackled up my body. I knew I should go after the creature. It's not injured.

I'd probably only frightened it away. It could attack again. But how could I stop something that I couldn't strike?

It's the sound of Daphne's gasp that made me hesitate. She'd seen me and was approaching tentatively, leaving Lexie looking as though she had fainted against a tree.

"What just happened?" she asks again.

I don't say anything. I don't even know what I would say.

"What was that?"

I shake my head as if to say I don't know. But I do. I recognized it for what it is, just like it recognized me as an Underlord.

But I have no idea how a Keres could have gotten here.

"You saw it, though. Please tell me you saw it?" I can see the pleading in her eyes. She wants me to rea.s.sure her that she's not crazy.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"What? You had to have seen the shadow and the lightning." "A shadow and lightning?" I ask, edging my voice with incredulity. "That's what you saw?"

"Yes. I mean, no. I mean, it was more than that!" She throws her hands up in frustration. Deep red stains paint her palms. Her dress is torn. "Geez, security is going to think I'm even more of a loon." I swallow hard, but it isn't the thought of security guards that concerns me. "Are you bleeding?" I try to keep my voice even and not betray any sign of panic.

She looks at her hands. "Oh. It's not mine. I think she fell." We both look at Lexie. She's curled up in fetal position, her hair splayed out around her head. One of her knees is coated in blood. It smears down her leg.

I know now why the Keres went after her. Master Crue taught us that the Keres are attracted to the smell of blood. It's how they find their victims.

"We need to get her out of here." I scoop the tiny girl up in my arms. She groans a little and blinks at me a couple of times, so I know she's not really unconscious, but it'll be faster if I carry her. "I need you to come with me," I say to Daphne.

She hesitates. I can feel her reluctance to go anywhere with me. I guess I brought that upon myself with what I tried to do in the grove.

"It isn't safe here. We need to get your friend home."

"So you did see something?" she asks. I can hear both the hope and the fear in her voice.

I don't answer.

I set a quick pace for us, hoping to get away from the grove before the Keres decides to return. It seems to be concentrating its hunting activities on this side of the lake, but that isn't a guarantee that it wouldn't stray in order to come after us. I can hear Daphne's breath quicken as she tries to keep up with me. Getting away from the Keres' hunting grounds isn't my only motivation for moving quickly -if I keep Daphne out of breath long enough, she won't be able to ask any more questions.

The short girl regained herself enough to tell me her address and then she nestled her head against my shoulder and seemed to go to sleep. I used my iPhone for directions.

We have just deposited a very dazed-looking Lexie into the arms of an equally confused-looking housekeeper at the girl's home-the air is clear of any hints of sulfur, so I feel safe leaving her in the care of someone else-when Daphne turns to me with a concerned expression on her face.

I know what's coming. . . .

"She isn't my friend."

Or maybe I don't. . . .

"What?" I ask.

"Lexie isn't my friend. I don't hang out with people like her, you know."

"Okay," I say, not sure why she's telling me this.

"She doesn't like me at all. She made that pretty clear, and then she went off toward the grove. I should have tried harder to stop her, but I didn't. Just like that Pear Perkins girl. But I wasn't thinking then. . . ." I can hear the guilt dripping from Daphne's voice, and know why she's telling me all this. She blames herself. "And then I heard her scream. . . ."

"And you went to help her?" I look her in the eyes. "Even though she treated you with such disrespect?"

"Yes," she says. Her cheeks twinge with pink.

I did not expect such bravery from a human. "That was stupid," I say and look away from her face.

"What?"

"You should have run away."

"I'm not weak," she says, standing at her full height, which is only a few inches shorter than mine. I can tell it irks her to have to look up to meet my eyes. "I could have -"

"Fought it?" I ask, unable to hide the amus.e.m.e.nt in my voice. This girl is unbelievable. "You think you could take on a wild animal or a monster?"

"So you do think something was out there?"

I look down at her. A soft breeze catches her golden hair, blowing a few stray strands about her face.

I feel the sudden urge to reach out and catch one in my fingers. A strange heat tingles through my body at the thought. She startles-as if she could see it in my eyes. I train my face into the stony, emotionless look I have practiced since I was a child. "I think nothing of the sort."

"I know you're lying."

My stony mask almost cracks.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that you just happened along tonight when something weird was going on in the grove, and I don't think it was a coincidence that I saw you there before that other girl was attacked."

"She had a health scare. She wasn't attacked."

"You're lying again."

I purse my lips. What is she getting at? Does she think I had tried to kill that girl? Does she think I was the a.s.sailant tonight? How on earth am I going to explain my way out of this? How can I ever get her to trust me?

"I think you followed me tonight because you knew something was wrong. And I think you tried to get me to leave the grove the other day because you knew it wasn't safe. You were trying to protect me." I blink at her, not knowing how to answer. Is she really handing me the explanation I need?

"Maybe," I lie.

"But how did you know?"

I flounder for an answer. "Maybe I . . . just did." I stifle a wince, thinking I probably sound like a complete dolt.

But she nods. "I know what you mean. I felt something like it before Tobin and I found Pear. I just knew something was wrong. Is that what it was like?"

"Maybe," I say, suddenly unable to say anything else. I don't want to tell her more lies that I might need to corroborate later. I clear my throat. "Maybe . . . we should get you home," I say. "I don't know what really happened out there, but I'll go back and take a look around if it makes you feel better."

"And you're not afraid?" she asks. "What if you get hurt?"

"Do you care?"

She bites her lip, turns, and starts down the block. "Maybe," she calls back to me.

Her maybe sets that heat tingling under my skin again. I follow her, staying a few feet behind her, not wanting to push my luck. After a couple of blocks, she stops in front of a house with a red sports car parked haphazardly in the curved driveway.

"Looks like my father beat us home," she says. "I'm good from here." "I'll wait until you get inside." She gives me a look I can't read and then places her hand on top of mine. The tingling under my skin shoots through my body. She pulls her hand back as if I've shocked her without realizing it.

"The strangest thing," she says, looking up at the sky, "is that it was a burst of lightning that scared that thing away, but there isn't a cloud in the sky."

I slip my stony mask back on and step away from her. "Must be some freak of nature." She squints at me and I wonder if I've used that expression correctly.

"Freak of nature," she mumbles to herself as she heads up the driveway. She glances back at me before slipping into the house and shutting the door behind her.

I may have lied to her about why I'd tried to get her to leave the grove with me before, but I keep my word about going back there now. Lexie had been attacked on the path leading to the island. I don't find much evidence there, but when I cross the bridge and enter the grove, I find that it looks very different from when I was here last. Small saplings have been pulled up by their roots, and holes have been burrowed into the ground. It looks as though someone, or something, has been searching for something.