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Chapter Twelve
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I just want this over with," I whispered back, keeping my eyes forward and locked on a twitching Aaron.I'd never seen him nervous before, and it was putting me on edge. My eyes flicked to the orange curtain that parted, allowing the beloved councillors to step through."Here we go," Lillith breathed, taking my hand.I squeezed it, faining confidence. She still had no idea what we were doing here and I hadn't had the heart to tell her. As for the part about Nick... That secret would stay with me for as long as I could keep it. Forever if I had the choice.The five councillors, two women and three men walked in and took their places on the curved row of chairs facing us. They looked like normal, every day people, with grey in their hair and lines at their eyes. They were dressed in formal robes, stark white with a deep hood folded back over their shoulders. A blazing torch of orange fire had been stitched over their hearts, its colourRelated chapters
Shadow Hunter Chapter Thirteen
"I wonder who will cover drills for Stan.""No idea," I said, leaning my head against the rock wall. We'd been told to wait in our rooms until called for our briefing. We'd been waiting two hours. "Me neither. I wonder where Dave and Lills are."I shrugged and he went quiet."I wonder why Aaron -""Would you quit wondering for two minutes?""Geeze, snap my head off why don't you.""Sorry.""I'm sick of waiting too you know.""I know.""And getting crabby at me isn't going to speed things up.""I know," I said again, eyeing our blue curtain.He sighed. "She won't let you leave without saying goodbye. What? You think I don't know you well enough to know what's bothering you?"I gave him a side eye. "Aren’t you full of suprises."He grinned at me as he rocked his chair back, balancing it on two legs. "I know you better than you think.""Yeah?" I said, his smile relieving some of my anxiety. "Like what?""Like you miss your gun."I rol
Shadow Hunter Chapter Fourteen
I opened my eyes, staring at the wall a few inches in front of me, the hushed voices drawing me back into the waking world. Lillith? I steadied my breathing, hoping it was enough to keep them from noticing the change from my sleeping state. "Are you going to say goodbye?" It was Burney."I don't think I can.""She's pretty upset about not seeing you.""I know she is," Lillith whispered, sounding like she was about to cry. "You'll take care of her for me, won't you?""You know I will.""If anything happened to her...""I'll keep her alive, I promise.""Thank you," she said, her voice hoarse. "I'll go now, and let you get some sleep.""Where are you guys sleeping?""With your brother.""Lucky you.""I don't understand how you two could come from the same mother," she said, a mystified smile filling her voice."Me either.""Don't tell her I was here, okay?""I won't.""Thanks Burney. Oh, one other th
Shadow Hunter Chapter Fifteen
Mike strode over to Stan and Ronnie. He was the tallest of us, a sandy haired string bean of rope like muscles dressed in dark green trousers and a checkered shirt. He beckoned us over. "You two ready to go?""Yep," Burney said, his face smeared by a giant grin. I nodded, unable to match even half his enthusiasm. We were leaving and Lillith hadn't come. She'd told Burney last night that she probably wouldn't, but somewhere in me I'd held to the hope that she would. Probably wasn't a no. Burney put his hand on my shoulder, as if reading my thoughts. "Time to cover up," Stan said, handing Burney a strip of cloth and a clean pillow case.He took it, shooting me an apologetic look before stepping behind me. "Ready?"I sucked in a deep breath and nodded, searching one last time for Lillith's face before landing on Aaron's. His blue eyes met mine, piercing me, holding me steady as Burney lowered the red blindfold and knotted it, blanketing my world i
Shadow Hunter Chapter Sixteen
I lay on the only bed in the room, the one I'd been made to share with Burney, feeling like this part of my motel hopping life had never stopped. "Do you think it'd fall on us if I touched it?""Huh?" Burney asked, opening his eyes. "Nothing," I said, staring back up at the custard coloured roof. There had to be a leaky pipe running above us, or a hole in the roof somewhere."The lights are done," Mike said, striding from the small bathroom nestled in beside the kitchenette. The room's layout was almost identical to the last place I'd stayed in, it just looked a heck of a lot older and not as well lit. "I'm going next door for a bit, stay put til I get back.""We will," Burney answered, closing his eyes again. "Bang on the wall if you need me."I waited til he'd shut the door behind him and I'd reach the count of thirty before I got up. The lighting in our room sucked and I wanted to make sure Mike had done the best he could with our extra
Shadow Hunter Chapter Seventeen
My consciousness skirted around the edges of my sleep fogged brain. I didn't want to wake up yet. Opening my eyes and dealing with reality meant thinking about Lillith, left behind with Aaron and Dave. It meant worrying over how easy it was to get a hotel room and how many rooms were taken. And it meant thinking about Nick, and how we were going to rescue him. I snuggled closer the warmth next me, letting Burneys regular breaths lull me back into my false sense of safety. It would all be okay. It had to be okay. Didn't it? Glass shattered and a woman screamed. Burney and I were on our feet in an instant. "Ronnie?"My friend nodded."Where's Mike?""Not here," he said, glancing at the couch. Something thumped into our shared wall, knocking the faded picture of a sunset off its nail. It shattered on the carpet."Where are the guns?""With Stan.""Then let's go," I said, sprinting for the door."Fayle!""What?" "Catch," he said, throwing me a
Shadow Hunter Chapter Eighteen
We drove for half an hour before pulling over in a small clearing, just off the main road. Mike slid out and swapped seats with Burney. We all knew I wasn't his first pick as nurse, but Ronnie's hands were still shaking and Burney hadn't had enough practice for this type of wound.I tipped some of my bottled water over his shoulder, washing away the congealing blood. The puckered wound was a mess and tweezers or not, I couldn't get all the shrapnel out. Not that it mattered. The HG was lethally toxic, it was only a matter of time before he died. I focused on the needle in my hand, ignoring the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Stan was gone, Mike wasn't far off and with each of their deaths, Nick was slipping further and further from my grasp."Are you sure you want me to stitch you up? The wound's not clean.""Poison or infection, we both know I'm gone. Just patch me up as best you can."I touched the butchered site and felt the needle slide into his bur
Shadow Hunter Chapter Nineteen
I would've smiled if fear hadn't gripped my heart, threatening to still the pounding thuds hammering in my ears. Henchmen was the Scorcher's name for the law enforcers that patrolled the perimeter of the walled Cities. Each town had their own legion and the scorchers hated them all, almost as much as the henchmen hated them.The Henchmen ran by their own code and rarely had a problem eliminating the Scorchers that crossed their path. To City dwellers, Scorchers were vermin that had barely a thread of sanity between them and the only reason they weren't lumped into the same category as the shades and taken was because they were technically on our side. Up until now I'd always been on the other side of the wall, turning a blind eye to the atrocities that passed between them. This time however, I was on the receiving end. Ronnie slowed the car and pulled over, the blue and white lights signalling from behind. The driver got out and walked over, stopping outside Mike's window
Shadow Hunter Chapter Twenty
My calves burned almost as much as my lungs. I could taste the blood sliding down the back of my wind torn throat and it made me want to vomit. I shook my head, forcing aside my tears. The image of Burney lying there, screaming at me to run was etched into the back of my eyelids and it was the only reason I hadn't crumpled into a useless heap on the ground.As far as I could tell, Lance wasn't following me. He'd got his kill and had a massive mess to clean up, and I was just one little girl running in the opposite direction of Quanu. But I'd looped back a while ago, and once I'd been sure of my freedom, I'd kept just inside the tree line. I would never have put myself in such a dangerous position if I'd had the choice, but it was this or risk the henchmen again. By some miracle I'd avoided being taken, by them and the shades and now it was getting harder to ignore the small seed of hope blossoming in my heaving chest. The road into the city was drawing closer and not only
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