Shadow Blessed (The Shadow Accords Book 1) (17 page)

The problem was, she had learned there
was
something going on, only she hadn’t been able to discover what exactly that it was. Worse, they knew she had been there.

C
arth sat away from a lamppost
, holding the shadow cloak around her. If she could come up with a way to do it the same as she had in the river, she might be able to move while holding onto it. Then she wouldn’t have to fear moving at night at all. Maybe there was something to the way she had floated while in the river, but how could she replicate that on land?

As she pulled on the shadow cloaking, she felt resistance, and a shiver worked along her spine.

Carth leaped to her feet and ducked back into a nearby alley, pulling on the cloaking again. There was resistance there, but not the same as before, and she managed to pull it around her, shrouding herself in the night.

Had the A’ras detected her?

If they had, and if there was some way for them to track her by her use of the shadows, then she needed to be much more careful than she knew. If that was possible, why wouldn’t Jhon have warned her?

Unless he didn’t know. Even Jhon had admitted to her that he was not shadow blessed. Without that, what could he really do to help her understand what she could do with this ability?

Carth waited, afraid that whoever had detected her manipulating the shadows knew that she was here, but nothing else came. There was no sense of energy in the air, no sense of her skin growing tight, and not even that itching along her spine that told her someone watched her.

Forcing herself to relax, she released her grip on the shadow cloaking.

It had to be well after midnight. Long since time for her to return to the tavern, and her bed, so that she could actually get enough sleep. The past few days, she had stayed out too late and then been awoken early in the morning by Etan bumping the bunk or by Kel and Taryn chatting excitedly. Maybe it was only fatigue that she felt tonight.

“You should be more careful.”

Carth spun, pulling the knife from her pocket. She relaxed when she saw Jhon. “You haven’t come back for days. After what happened—”

“I know what happened. The Thevers are of no concern of mine.”

Carth took a step back. “They concern
me
.”

“I thought you wanted to know about your parents.”

“I do, but I thought you’d have done more to tell me. Instead you keep it secret, making me wait to know what you want with my shadow ability!”

“I have certain responsibilities, Carth of Ih-lash.”

“You could have sent word.”

He nodded, motioning for her to follow him deeper into the alley. Had it been him that she’d detected? She hadn’t thought so, but the strange sense had appeared—and disappeared—about the same time he had come. “I could have sent word, but that would mean that you think I am beholden to you in some way.”

“You agreed to work with me.”

“I did.”

“How can you work with me if you’re not here?”

“You’ve been practicing. You don’t need me for that part of your training.”

He stopped near a wall at the back of the alley. Jhon waved his hand over the wall, but she couldn’t tell if he touched anything. A door opened with a soft click, and he motioned her to go through.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked.

“First you question why I haven’t been available to instruct you, and now you question how I will instruct you?”

Carth didn’t want to argue with him, but at the same time, she felt she had been through enough that she deserved some answers. “I question where you’re taking me. That’s all.”

“Good. Now come with me.”

Jhon stepped through the wall. Carth glanced behind her and attempted to pull at the shadows, cloaking herself briefly. Mostly she attempted it because a nagging feeling made her question whether she would be able to. There had been resistance against her when she had attempted it before. Would she have the same resistance?

The shadow cloak came to her, but slowly. Not with a resistance so much as it felt almost like when she attempted to pull on the cloaking during the daytime. Under the sunlight, even when she stood in the shade, reaching for it was more difficult. That was what it felt like now.

A crawling sensation ran along her back, up between her shoulder blades, and she shivered.

The shadows clung to her, but she still had the sense that someone watched her. She had thought her ability protected her from others observing her while she was cloaked, but if that wasn’t true, she would have to be more careful.

Carth turned away, stepping through the wall. Once she did, Jhon did something and the wall sealed closed again with another click. The pressure on her faded.

She let out a sigh.

They were in a small room. A faded wooden table took up most of the space, and three chairs sat around the table. Another low table ran along the far wall. A lantern rested on the center table, revealing books and vials stacked beside it. Another door on the far side of the room was closed.

Carth took a seat in one of the chairs and slouched back, letting out another sigh, this time relieved. She’d been searching for Jhon the last few days, and had worried that he had given up on working with her. Finding him again took away that worry but left her with other questions that she wanted answered.

Jhon watched her. “What is it?”

“Tired. That’s all.”

“Tired?”

Carth nodded. “I think I’ve been pushing myself too much with shrouding. It’s making me tired.”

“It wouldn’t do that.”

“What do you mean? When I attempt to use a shadow cloak, most of the time I can, but sometimes I find that it’s just too much work and I can’t hold on to the shadows.”

Jhon frowned at her for a moment and then shook his head. “Perhaps that is all it is. I will have to check with…” He trailed off before mentioning who he would ask. “You have felt this before?”

She nodded. “I’ve been practicing.”

“I can see that. You’re more skilled than the last time I saw you.”

“That was only a few days ago.”

Jhon stood behind one of the chairs and tapped the top of it. “Indeed. Something has happened that you do not want to share.”

Carth sighed and told him about the men abducting Taryn, sharing what had happened to the one attacker’s arm when she’d stabbed him with the knife.

Jhon watched her with a concerned expression on his face. “You should not have been able to use the knife in such a way.”

Carth pulled the knife from her pocket and set it on the table. “It’s a knife. You stab with it.”

Jhon stared at the knife. “What you describe is using the magic through the blade. That is what is unexpected.”

“I didn’t use the magic through the blade. And didn’t you say they’re poisoned?”

Jhon reached for the knife and lifted it more gingerly than Carth had since she had started carrying it. “The A’ras layer poison atop their swords and their knives, but this isn’t poisoned in that manner.”

Carth watched him. She hadn’t done anything with the knife, only stabbed the attacker. “Then there was no magic through the blade.”

Jhon considered her for a moment before handing the knife back. “Have you ever had a similar experience when you’ve used the knife?”

She thought back to the other times that she had flashed the knife. Not enough to know with certainty. “Maybe once, but I thought you said the blade was poisoned.”

“There is poison on an A’ras blade, but that is not what makes it powerful. It is the A’ras magic that does.”

“What is the A’ras magic?”

Jhon leaned forward, crossing his arms. “That is something that we have never understood.”

“We?”

Jhon met her eyes. “There are those who study, who seek knowledge. The A’ras are enabled in ways that we don’t fully understand.”

“Why do they want children?”

“What?”

“There was a girl I rescued when I stabbed the man. There are others as well. What are they after with them?”

Jhon stared at the knife before standing. He started pacing, tracing a small circuit through the room. “Children?”

“They go missing. Vera and Hal help the Reshian, but they don’t want to help all the strays.” It had taken Carth’s insistence to convince them to help Taryn.

Jhon sighed. “Is that why they have come?”

“Why who have come?”

“It would make sense. They would claim them early, and then they could use them, but why here?” Jhon spoke to himself, ignoring the way Carth stared at him. “What do they seek to know?”

“What are you talking about?” she asked him.

Jhon stopped pacing. “Where did you see this?”

“Near the docks. They’re fighting with the Thevers for them.”

Jhon frowned. “They wouldn’t fight the Thevers. They would care little about them.”

“I don’t understand. Who are you talking about? Why is that important?”

Jhon closed his eyes and his frown deepened. “Can you show me where?”

“I think so.”

“Can you shroud us?”

Carth bit her lip and thought of the last time she had been at the docks. The shadow cloaking had worked at first, but then it had faded as she became fatigued. If Jhon needed something longer lasting than that, then she wouldn’t be of much help. Would she have to hold the shroud while moving, or would she be able to release it while sneaking along the street?

“I can try, but I don’t know how long I can hold it.”

Jhon nodded. “It will have to be enough. Are you ready?”

“Ready for what?” she asked. “What lesson are you going to teach me?”

“Movement,” he said.

“I can’t. I’ve tried…”

Jhon smiled and patted her on the shoulder. “We will try again. I have faith in you, Carth of Ih-lash. You are one of the shadow blessed. And if you want answers about your parents, and maybe to help others like you, then you must do this for me.”

T
he night pressed around her
, almost a physical presence. When a gust of wind kicked up over the water, sending her heavy cloak fluttering, Carth shivered. Jhon stood unmoving in the shadows near her, shrouded beneath the cloak she’d formed. Within the shadows, she heard his breathing and could practically hear his heartbeat. Why should it be so noticeable?

“When are we going to move?” she asked. It wasn’t the question she wanted to ask. She
wanted
him to tell her what he knew about her parents, and why they had been killed, but Jhon had ignored her basic questions. She doubted he’d answer the harder ones.

He shook his head, his gaze fixed on the docks and the ships moored there. When they had arrived, Carth had pointed to the ship where she had detected movement, where she’d heard the northerner and the other men on board the night before. For some reason, the ship interested him.

Carth continued to hold the shrouding, wondering how long she would be able to cling to it. Jhon seemed convinced she shouldn’t have grown as weak as she had, but Carth had felt the way her control over the darkness had faded, weakened no differently than muscles used too long.

Nothing moved on the ship tonight. Lanterns glowed on the neighboring ships, but not on the one they studied. Somehow, she had seen the ship more clearly the last time. What had she done?

There was something about the way she had used the shadows. Could she pull on the cloaking, drawing it to her even more?

Taking in a deep breath, she used the sense of the darkness, feeling it as it wrapped around her. How could she draw it away?

Jhon described it as cloaking, and when she did it, there was a sense that the shadows became something real. Could she
shift
the cloaking somehow?

She pulled.

There were no other words to describe what she attempted, and she grabbed at the air, almost like there was a physical thing that she could touch, and dragged the shadows, swirling them around her.

Jhon looked over at her, his eyes narrowing. “What are you doing?”

She noticed how the shadows eased away, leaving the night lessened somewhat. No longer did the ship appear as gradations of darkness. Now she managed to see the distinct outline of the ship and that nothing moved on the deck.

“Can you see it?” Carth asked.

“I do not need to see it. I can feel it.”

“What can you feel?”

“There is power in the air when you use the shadows, much power.” Jhon studied her for a moment before turning his attention back to the ship. “As to what I can see… there is nothing but the night.”

“I thought that when I pulled the shadows, others could see them.”

Jhon glanced in her direction. “As I said, I do not need to see anything to know that you are here. My eyes might not show me anything, but other senses reveal you to me.”

“You can’t
see
me?”

“You are shadow blessed, Carth. You are shrouded in shadow. That much I know.”

“When I wrap myself in the shadows, I can see the ship easier. Like the night disappears.”

Jhon frowned. “There are stories of those shadow blessed who can become a part of the darkness itself. A rare ability, perhaps rarer even than the ability that you possess. What is it you see on the ship?”

“Nothing.”

Jhon nodded. “Then we go.”

He started across the street, not waiting for her. Carth slowly released the shadows, letting them unfurl. As she did, she moved within them. Every few steps, she paused and gathered the darkness back to her before releasing it again, letting it ease away so that she could remain within it.

“You will need to learn caution in using your abilities,” Jhon said.

“You said that you can’t see me.”

“I cannot. But I do not need to see you to know that you are there. I can
feel
you, as would anyone else sensitive to it. Every time you pulse”—he waved his hand up and down as if to emphasize what she did—“I detect it again. There is a signature to it, if you listen.”

“Can anyone detect it?” She had thought herself protected by the night, and by the shadows, but if that wasn’t true, then her ability would be much less useful than she had thought.

“Only those attuned to such things, and those shadow blessed.”

“Like you?”

“As I said, I am not shadow blessed. My ability is with the detection only. It is much like the A’ras. Only another of the A’ras can detect when their magic is used.”

Carth released most of the shadows without taking another step. “That’s not true. I can tell when the A’ras use their magic.”

Jhon frowned and pulled her to the side of the street. “What do you mean?”

“I feel it when the A’ras use their magic. It’s like after a lightning strike and my skin gets all tight. I feel it. Is that what you feel when I gather the shadows?”

“No,” he said carefully. “When you pull on the shadows, I feel a pulsing within my blood. It is an ability tied to me, and my kind.”

“Your kind?”

Jhon nodded without answering. “You should not be able to detect the A’ras magic. I do not know what it means that you can.”

They stood in the shadows off to the side of the street, near a warehouse much like the one where Carth had rescued Jhon, keeping the A’ras from discovering him. Jhon cupped his hands together and brought them to his face, breathing slowly, like a Assage priest meditating. Carth decided not to interrupt, but wondered why she should be able to detect the A’ras magic.

“I think,” Jhon began, tearing his eyes off the ship and looking over at her with a blank expression on his face, “that it is time for you to return to the tavern for the night.”

She wanted to hide the disappointment she felt. She hadn’t found him for three days, and now when she finally did, he wouldn’t work with her. What had she said that offended him? “I thought we were going to practice.”

“And we did. You demonstrated the strength of your ability. That is enough for tonight.” He took her by the elbow and guided her back onto River Street. “You must be careful practicing with the shadows. I had not thought it an issue before tonight, but it is too easy for me to detect when you do. Such a thing places you in danger.”

“From the A’ras?”

Jhon shook his head. “There are worse things than the A’ras.”

They reached the Wounded Lyre, and Jhon released her elbow. “Remain careful until we meet again.”

“I thought you were going to tell me about my parents!”

Jhon’s mouth tightened. “It is not what I know about your parents that’s important, but about how they died. And that… that I think is too dangerous to share with you right now, especially with what you have demonstrated. I will continue to look for you as often as I can, but I may not be as available as I have been.”

She nodded, wanting to snap at him that he hadn’t been available to her the last few days at all, but decided not to risk angering him. “If I can’t practice, how will I continue to learn?”

“I did not say not to practice, only to be careful. Practice in the daylight. It will be safer that way.”

“There aren’t enough shadows in the daytime.”

“No? I think you have yet to find the right places. Have you never stood in the shade of a tall tree under the summer sun? Have you never eased against a cool building to relax? There are places of shade even under the brightest sun, Carth Shadow Born. Practice, but do so with caution until I see you next. Hopefully by then I will have the answers I need and we can progress.”

“Progress to what?”

“To keeping you safe.”

“What about what you wanted my help with?”

“I am no longer certain that is wise.”

“But you said you needed me!”

“I was wrong. Be careful, Carth of Ih-lash. I will find you again soon.”

He left her and quickly disappeared into the night, heading along the shore, as if leaving the city. Carth watched, tempted to pull away the shadows so that she could watch him go, but decided against it. If he was right, if she could somehow be detected when she used her shadow magic, she shouldn’t risk the A’ras—or whatever Jhon thought might be worse—detecting her.

Carth considered returning to the streets, wandering back into the night, but Jhon’s words left her concerned. How many nights had she risked herself unnecessarily, thinking herself hidden when she used the shadow cloak, when in reality, she made her presence known to those with the ability to detect it, those who would be dangerous for her to find?

She didn’t want even to stand in the shadows now. If she did, would she be able to resist the temptation to pull the cloak?

With a sigh, she entered the tavern.

Lanterns hung from two of the posts, giving some light to the dining portion of the room. A crackling hearth provided additional light and warmth, pushing back the chill she’d felt while out in the night, a chill that her cloak hadn’t managed to dispel. She counted seven people still sitting in the tavern, taking up three tables. There was no sign of Kel or Taryn or Etan.

She headed toward the kitchen, wanting to find Vera or Hal. Instead, Etan greeted her on the other side of the door, a dark sneer parting his lips.

“About time you returned,” he said.

“What’s that supposed to mean? I’ve collected all the scraps I needed for today.”

She hadn’t collected anything today, but she still had enough from a coin purse full of silver that she didn’t really have to collect for a while. Etan didn’t need to know that, though. For that matter, Kel didn’t need to know, and she hadn’t told him.

“Means that you’ve been gone a long time. The others have noticed.”

“Kel knows I left.”

His sneer faltered a moment. “I’m sure he does. Since you came, you’ve been pulling him away, haven’t you? Now you’ve even got your new friend working on him. Those of us who used to do fine with our scraps now get nothing. I suppose you had something to do with that, too, didn’t you?”

“What are you talking about?”

A thudding of footsteps came from the back hall and Etan glanced over his shoulder. “Doesn’t matter. Pretty soon it won’t. I’ve got all the protection I need now.”

Etan started past her and she noticed the streaks of wetness down his cheeks. Etan had been crying. She hadn’t seen him display any emotion other than his joy when she’d nearly been caught. He had barely expressed any fear when Kel had been hurt, not bothering to ask
why
he hid a bruise. What would make him cry like this now?

“Etan,” she said, trying to catch his arm as he reached the door out of the kitchen.

He jerked his arm away. “Best stay back from me. Of course, that won’t matter soon, will it?”

“What
are
you talking about? Have you been dipping into Hal’s ale?”

He hesitated. She thought he might say something more, but he sniffed and shook his head, pushing out of the kitchen and back into the tavern.

Carth watched the door swing shut before making her way toward their room. A lantern glowed through the cracks in the door, and she pushed it open, wondering why Kel would still be awake. She found him sitting on his bunk, staring blankly.

“What is it, Kel?” she asked.

He didn’t move. He didn’t even look over at her. His eyes remained fixed straight ahead of him and he stared, unblinking.

Carth closed the door and approached him carefully. “Kel?”

He swung his head to her, his wild hair brushing the top of the bunk—Taryn’s bunk—and he blinked, as if seeing her for the first time. “Carth?” His voice came out as a whisper.

“What happened?” She stood on her toes and peeked into Taryn’s bunk but found it empty. “Where is Taryn?”

“She’s gone,” he said.

“What do you mean, she’s gone?”

He shifted his focus back to the door, still staring blankly. “They came for her.”

Carth’s heart sped up. She grabbed Kel’s chin and turned him so he met her eyes. “Who? Who came for her?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does! You need to tell me what happened!”

“We were… we were in the street. Taryn said we needed to return to the tavern. Insisted on it. I thought she’d made a mistake trying to collect scraps, but she told me she didn’t. They followed us here.”

“Who followed you?”

“Hal tried to intervene.”

A terrible sensation started to rise in her stomach. “What happened to Hal?”

“When he… when he did, they knocked him to the ground with barely more than a flick of their wrist. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Kel started trembling and pulled himself away. “You should have been with us, but you left! Always sneaking off into the city. She was your responsibility, Carth!”

Even though she thought she knew what had happened, she still needed him to say it. He had to tell her; otherwise it wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.

“Who came to the tavern?” she asked carefully.

Kel turned his focus back to the door. “I don’t know. I hid from them.”

“But you have an idea, don’t you?”

Kel’s eyes closed. “I think it was the A’ras, Carth. They attacked Hal and they took Taryn.”