Alex wiped her eyes as she stepped back and turned towards the source of the sound. “Zain?” she croaked, unsure whether or not he was real.
The Meyarin’s face was alarmingly pale and he held himself as if he was in pain. But he still smiled at her and said, “It’s good to see you, little human. You scared us all for a while there.”
Alex released a broken breath and launched herself at him, hugging him fiercely. He grunted but wrapped his arms around her in return.
“Aven said you were dead,” she whispered into his solid chest. “He said the Hyroa blood would kill you.”
“It almost did,” Zain told her, his voice weak. “If your headmaster hadn’t found me while he and the other teachers were out protecting the academy, then I fear I would have soon passed on from this world.”
Alex pulled away so she could study his face. “How long… How long were you out there?”
“Aven caught me by surprise on Monday night,” Zain said. “Right after I finished speaking with you. I told you I’d found a lead, but it turned out to be a trap. Aven and Jor—Aven and his Claimed accomplices managed to overpower me.”
Alex inhaled sharply at his near slip. She appreciated him changing his sentence at the last second, even if she knew what he’d been about to say.
“I found Zain near the perimeter of the wards,” another voice said, and Alex spun around to find Darrius standing directly behind her. “He was barely conscious, but he managed to say two words: ‘Jordan. Claimed.’”
Alex swallowed heavily and looked at the ground. So much for avoiding the painful truth.
“Fletcher immediately sought to stabilise Zain while I and some of your other teachers took off in search of you and your friends,” Darrius continued. “But I knew we were too late for Jordan. I’m so sorry, Alex.”
She clenched her teeth to hold back another round of tears, but she was able to choke out, “It’s not your fault, Darrius.”
“Nevertheless, I didn’t listen when you came to me with your concerns about Zain,” the headmaster continued, shaking his head regretfully. “I should have looked into the matter further. I didn’t think for a moment that one of my own students might have been in on Aven’s plans, let alone two of them.”
“Skyla didn’t know what she was doing,” Alex said quietly, barely able to say the other girl’s name. The memory flashed across her mind and Alex’s breath caught at the image of Skyla’s lifeless eyes gazing out from her unnaturally still body.
“I know, Alex,” Darrius assured her. “Your friends have already told me what happened here.”
Alex looked around the clearing, noticing again how many people were lingering inside the mushroom circle. As well as the numerous Meyarins, Alex was surprised to see Hunter, Fletcher and Caspar Lennox talking quietly to each other. Fletcher was peering over at Alex as if trying to assess her for injuries, and when she attempted a shaky smile for his benefit, he relaxed, if only slightly. All the while, the other two teachers remained deep in conversation.
Alex might have questioned Darrius about their presence had she not been distracted by the absence of someone else.
“Where’s Calista Maine?”
“She got away,” Bear said, as he and D.C. stepped closer. They each took one of her hands, as if they needed the contact as much as she did.
“When everyone arrived, Calista managed to force them back with her gift long enough to disappear into the forest,” D.C. said, her voice thick from crying. “I presume she’s with Aven now, wherever he is.”
“Speaking of Aven, how did you get away?” Zain asked. “And why did you appear back here through a cloud of Shadow?”
“I believe I can answer the second part of your question,” came the smooth, melodious voice of Caspar Lennox as he approached. “I see you figured out how to use the ring, Alex?”
She nodded and let him explain to the others. It didn’t take him long, and then it was Alex’s turn to fill in the rest of the story. That part was much harder. Fortunately, Bear and D.C. had already informed them of what happened in the clearing, which meant Alex could focus on what she’d experienced after regaining consciousness and how she’d escaped Aven. Even so, the pain of Jordan’s Claiming pierced her heart like a dagger.
As if he’d read her mind, Caspar Lennox caught her eyes and whispered, “Sometimes the Shadow can overwhelm us, just as it did your friend,”
His words took Alex back three weeks, when he’d said the same thing to her. She had been confused at the time, but now she wondered if his true meaning hadn’t been about the Shadow but something else entirely.
Alex gasped as the realisation flooded through her. She yanked her hands free of her friends’ and moved directly in front of Caspar Lennox.
“You knew, didn’t you?” she accused the Shadow Walker. “You knew what would happen to Jordan, and you didn’t try to help him. That stupid Shadow metaphor you gave me—you knew all along that Aven was going to Claim him and you did nothing to stop it from happening!”
She ended on a sob and had to bite her tongue to keep from breaking down in front of the Shadow Walker. And every “I didn’t do nothing,” Caspar Lennox told her while the others watched with baited breath. “I prepared you for what was coming. I warned you about the strength of temptation. And, if you can remember our conversation, I also told you that it’s almost impossible for someone to return to the Light once they’ve yielded to the Shadow’s temptation.”
Alex choked back another sob and attempted to control her emotions.
“Alexandra,” Caspar Lennox said, gently but firmly, “do you remember how I concluded my words to you?”
She couldn’t speak, so she just shook her head.
“I said it’s almost impossible for someone to return, unless there’s someone willing to help them.” His melodious voice softened further and he said, “Your friend is not without hope, Alexandra, not so long as you are a child of the Light. But to help him, you must be willing to fight for him. It won’t be an easy task.”
“But he’s Claimed,” Alex whimpered.
Caspar Lennox stretched out a mottled-grey hand and rested it on her shoulder. “As were you, once.”
“Jordan—” Saying his name hurt, and she winced before trying again. “Jordan’s gift won’t help him like mine helped me. I don’t know any other way for him to escape Aven. It’s a miracle that I managed it, and that was solely because of my willpower gift.”
“Then perhaps you need to follow the etiquette of a five-year-old,” the Shadow Walker said, somewhat mockingly, “and learn how to share.”
“I don’t—” Alex stopped talking when she realised what he was saying. “Do you think it’s possible?” she whispered. “Do you really think I can learn how to extend my gift to include others?”
“I wouldn’t have suggested it if I didn’t believe it to be possible,” he told her.
“I don’t know where to begin,” she said. “I’ve been trying, but I have no idea what I’m doing or how to strengthen it.”
“To build any muscle, you must exercise it,” he said. “Practice makes perfect.”