All Chapters of SHADOWS OF THE BLOODLINE: Chapter 91
- Chapter 100
107 chapters
CHAPTER 91
Author's POVShe closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel it. Really feel. All the fear she'd been carrying around - fear of her power, of failure, of letting everyone down. All the grief at seeing that girl die in the facility hallway. All the confusion about her grandmother, her mother, this family she'd never known existed.And underneath all of it -- deeper, stronger -- the loneliness. The gaping hole that was in her chest as long as she could remember. The surety that she was unwanted, unloved, and aloneExcept now she knew that wasn't the case. Her mother had loved her. Her grandmother had been looking for her. She had people.She had family.The fire in her palms responded and flickered to life. But instead of demanding that it take a specific shape, instead of forcing it into a ball and trying to aim, Eilish just . . . asked.Please, she thought. Help me. I need to hit that target. Can you help me?The fire pulsed once, warm and almost affectionate. Like a cat rubbing on her
CHAPTER 92
Zenna POVSchool was stupid anyway.I'd figured that out around the third period, when Mrs. Henderson started droning on about the Revolutionary War like anyone actually cared about dead people from three hundred years ago. The world was ending- not literally, actually ending, not like in the big, bold way that people said it when they failed a test- and she was talking about the Boston Tea Party.So I left.It wasn't hard. I'd gotten good at slipping out without being noticed. The door to the side near the gym was always propped open because this was where the janitor smoked during his breaks. Nobody ever checked it. Nobody ever looked at anything if you looked like you belonged.And was good at looking like I belonged.It took forty minutes by bus to get to the warehouse district. I sat in the back, headphones in, with no music, just watching the city go by through dirty windows. Zayan would be losing his mind if he knew that I was cutting school. He'd ground me, I guess, or try to
CHAPTER 93
Zenna POVMy phone buzzed. A text from Marcos: Where are you? Zayan's asking.Great. Perfect timing.I ignored it, got up, and brushed dust off my jeans. Maybe I was looking at this the wrong way. Maybe the case wasn't what I was supposed to find. Maybe there was something else going on here.I began my search of the rest of the room into filing cabinets, pulling out papers I didn't understand. Technical documents. Research notes. Names, dates, and coordinates that meant nothing to me.But it was something. More than the case in which I could not reachI picked up what looked important - papers with official letterheads, documents with multiple signatures, whatever looked like it might be important - and stuffed it into my backpack.At least I wouldn't go back empty-handed.Another text from Marcos:Seriously, where are you? He's freaking out.I needed to leave. Needed to get back before Zayan did something stupid like call the school or—Footsteps.Outside the warehouse.Multiple set
CHAPTER 94
Zenna POV"Who?" the ethereal woman asked, though her tone made it seem that she already knew."Multiple people," Aires said, and is still reading. "A consortium. "Scientists, politicians, Watchers gone rogue." He looked up, his look haunted. "And they're still active. Still working. Still trying to finish what they started five hundred years ago.""Cross," the woman said. It wasn't a question."Cross is merely the latest flavor in a long line of drinks," Aires replied. "There have been others before him." Dozens of them, for centuries. They pass down the knowledge, the resources, the mission." He put the file down carefully as if it would explode. "Bringing Grimfall through isn't a side effect of their research. It's the goal."My mind was reeling.What the hell was there in those files? What had I almost delivered to Dr. Cross?Tiago had said Cross needed these documents to stop people from messing with his important work. But according to what this Aires person was saying, Cross
CHAPTER 95
Zenna POVMore shots followed. I felt one graze my shoulder - even slowed down, bullets hurt - but it wasn't enough to slow me down. The shadows went where I went, and kept that sphere of heavy, thick air between me and the guns."Don't let her escape!" someone shouted.But I was already around the corner. Already, three buildings are a distance from them. The shadows were breaking up now, too hard to keep if running, but it didn't matter. I'd gotten far enough.I ran for 6 blocks when I finally stopped and collapsed behind a dumpster in an alley, gasping for air.My shoulder was burned where the bullet grazed it. My entire body hurt from whatever had occurred when my power had connected with Aires's corruption. My hands were shaking so badly that I could barely hold my phone, pulling it out.The files. I'd lost them again.Tiago was really going to be disappointed.No--worse than disappointed. He was going to question whether I was, in fact, capable of this. Whether or not I deserved
CHAPTER 96
Author's POVAstoria was kneeling next to him, with her hand on his shoulder. "Still with me?""Unfortunately," Aeris said, muttering."Good answer."The others crowded in the doorway - Eilish and Wilder and Zayan, all of them looking scared and uncertain. Even the tactical team members seemed rattled, which was saying something given how professionally calm they usually were."Someone wants to explain what the hell happened?" Zayan asked."We got the files," Rune said. He was standing near Aeris, hands fidgeting, obviously wanting to help, but not knowing how."But there was someone else there. A girl. She tried to steal them back and--" he looked at Aeris, "--and when he caught her, she used some form of power to affect his corruption."What kind of power?" Wilder asked quietly. His shadows were agitated, creeping along the walls, reflecting his anxiety."Entropy manipulation," Astoria said. "The ability to speed up the decay. To significantly break down things at the molecular leve
CHAPTER 97
Author's POVThe training session had moved outside.It was Astoria's idea - get them out of the underground facility, get them outside to practise in natural conditions where variables were unpredictable and harder to control. The weather was overcast and threatening rain, with wind that gusted in an unnatural way and made everything more difficult.Perfect, in other words.They'd set up in the empty lot next to the Sanctum's hidden entrance--a patch of cracked concrete surrounded by chain-link fence and abandoned buildings. Not so ideal, but private enough that they could use their powers without drawing too much attention to themselves."Eilish," Astoria called out, standing at the center of the makeshift training ground. You're learning something new today.Eilish looked nervous. She always looked nervous before training, but this was different. More uncertain."You have been practicing control in static environments," Astoria continued. "Keeping your fire when nothing else is mov
CHAPTER 98
Author's POVFive feet from the entrance.Aeris yanked the hidden door open, the metal hinges screaming in protest--And then the world exploded.Not from the attackers. Not from the coordinated assault that had been battering against Richard's forcefield for the last thirty seconds.From the forcefield itself.It detonated like a bomb.The translucent barrier, already pushed beyond its limits, already cracking at the sustained assault on it, became violently shattered. Every ounce of energy that Richard had put into maintaining it came out at once in a catastrophic failure that sent a shockwave rippling out in all directions.And it slammed into Astoria's heat wall.Fire met force. Superheated air is compressed and expanded at the same time. The chemical reaction was instantaneous and disastrous.The blast toppled them backwards like rag dolls.Rune hit the concrete hard, his shoulder taking the blow, pain traveling down his arm. Eilish was sent flying into Kaladin, and they tumbled
CHAPTER 99
Author's POVBut he should have let Zenna in on it.Maybe if she'd known what was really going down, what they were really fighting, she wouldn't have been susceptible to whatever lies Tiago had told her.Maybe this was his fault.The thought made something break inside his chest. Made it hard to breathe. Caused the world to shake under his knees.But he could not stay on the ground. Couldn't stay broken. Not when Zenna was walking toward them, her skin marked with corruption, her hands black.Something compelled him to give it a try. I would like to reach her. To make her snap out of whatever stupor she's been put under.Because this girl, with the gray lightning bolt spreading over her shoulder, with power that was hundreds of years old, with eyes that looked at him like he was the enemy, couldn't be his sister.It couldn't be.Zayan stood.His legs shook. His whole body protested. But he stood.And he walked toward her."Zenna." His voice cracked on her name. "Why are you doing thi
CHAPTER 100
Author's POVAnd then it happened faster than lightning.One moment, Tiago was standing there, that sly smile still on his face, clearly savouring the moment.Next, he was moving.Not running. Not charging. Just moving with a speed that defied human capability, that made the air itself seem to bend around him.Astoria saw it first. Years of combat experience, decades of fighting Grimfall's agents-her instincts screamed warning before her conscious mind could process what was happening.She moved to intercept with the Fire element already flaring to life.Too late.Tiago's fist struck Aeris in the face with the sound of a gunshot.The impact sent Aeris stumbling backwards, his head snapping to the side, immediately, blood streaming from his nose. He caught himself just before he fell all the way down, one hand flying up to his face, the other up defensively."Tiago--"Tiago didn't let him finish. Threw another punch, this one towards Aeris's ribs. Aeris blocked it, but barely, the forc