Shadow Soul (Narun Book 1) Page 5

  A shiver crept up my spine. I nodded, although I was anything but convinced. I had only met Jill maybe four times in passing. I’d have to be at the mercy of Tony’s good judgement.

  “Don’t worry.” Tony touched my arm. “She’ll understand, and she won’t tell anyone. Let me explain it to her, though. Your narration kinda sucks.”

  “Whatever.” If anyone, I’d rather he told her than me anyway. “Hey, Tony, thanks for being so cool about this.”

  “Yeah, and what do I get in return” —Tony pinched his left bicep— “weak arm, my eye.”

  I knew he wouldn’t let it go.

  Tony left after making plans to meet the next day, leaving me alone with an anxious knot in my stomach. The unknown unsettled me.

  That night, the sword, tainted with blood, haunted me more than it had in a long time.

  Chapter 7

  I wiped the steam from the bathroom mirror. The face staring back at me was that of an acquaintance, at best—one I hadn’t properly given a second look in years.

  I’d lost weight: the sunken cheeks cried out for better care. The contours of my face had sharpened and the dent on my chin resembled the Grand Canyon. My green eyes were faded, my tanned complexion more ashen. The ends of my hair brushed the small of my back—the longest I’d ever let it grow.

  I scoffed at the reflection and combed the dripping hair into the usual sleek ponytail.

  The knock on the door startled me as I fastened my jeans. It had to be Tony or room service.

  The knock repeated itself and I checked the peephole to find my first guess correct.

  “It’s about time,” Tony huffed as I let him in and waved something brown in front of me. “I brought you a filled bagel—chicken mayo. Even Wonder Woman has to eat.” He pushed past me, shoving a paper bag against my chest.

  “I thought we were meeting at uni.” I closed the door. “At lunch.”

  “It’s two o’clock, Mil.”

  My eyes darted around, searching. What sort of a motel room doesn’t have a clock?

  “Oops. I’d no idea. Sorry.” I dug into the bag. The smell of fresh bagel provoked my stomach to produce a demanding rumble. Although we were rarely offered bread to eat on the Guard, I’d grown more than accustomed to eating it here.

  “Why didn’t you answer my call?” Tony walked to the bedside table, picked up my phone, and tossed it on the unmade bed. “Your phone’s dead.”

  “Again—sorry. I slept in.” I bit into the bagel. “Thanks for breakfast.”

  “Don’t mention it. It was ‘buy one, get one’.”

  I wiped a smear of mayonnaise from my chin. “You look tired.”

  Tony rubbed his jaw, dismissing the concern in my voice with a quick shrug. “Didn’t sleep well. Had a lot to think about.”

  I had kind of shoved a load on Tony.

  I took the rest of the bagel in one hand and threw the empty bag in the bin.

  “Oh, by the way, Jill’s back,” Tony said. “I met up with her this morning. So, she knows now.”

  Uncertainty rushed through me. “How’d… she take it?” The last time I saw her, she’d barely spoken to me. Not that I had been much better at small talk.

  “She took it well, considering.” Tony pulled out his car keys from his pocket and buried them in his palm. “It’s a lot to digest.”

  It’s a good thing I only scratched the surface then. Had I told the whole story, I doubt they would’ve been so understanding.

  “If it helps, think of me as a foreigner. That’s all I am.”

  “Yeah, a foreigner with some freakish gift that can detect internal bleeding, and kick butt.” Tony shot me a glare and moved to the doorway. “Although, the jury’s still out on the last point.”

  Rolling my eyes, I slid some cash into my pocket, gave the room a scan and followed Tony outside.

  Jill sat by a corner table at our usual study lounge, her handbag and jumper reserving two empty seats—not that there was a shortage of seats. Her wavy, sand-coloured, jaw-length hair hung on the sides of her face as her head was bowed, fixed marginally at the wrong angle for her to be reading the book in front of her.

  “Hey, babe. Sorry we’re late. Milla overslept.” Tony kissed Jill’s cheek and took the jumper on his lap as he sat down. I slid onto the free chair and apologised for making her wait. She smiled back coyly and folded a corner of a page before shutting the book.

  Hmm, awkward silence.

  Tony stroked the back of Jill’s hand, staring at nothing, while she looked down, blushing. What had Tony made me out to be like?

  “So…” Someone needs to break the ice. “Should we address the elephant in the room?” I quipped, a knot forming in my stomach.

  “Sorry, Camilla. I didn’t mean to—” Jill spoke softly. “I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

  I hurried to shake my head. “I should be the one apologising. I’m sorry I lied to you both.”

  “It’s okay.” Jill straightened her posture to near perfect. “You weren’t in a good place. Tony told me what you did for Aaron: you saved his life.” She smiled warmly; I’d never realised how pretty she was.

  “It doesn’t make up for anything. What I did—”

  “What’s done is done.” Tony lifted his hand to cover a yawn. “Let’s forget it and start off on a clean slate.”

  I eyed the pair of them. I didn’t deserve this. I didn’t deserve them.

  My conscience pounded my insides. Surely, there’d be internal bleeding soon. “It’s not right what I did.”

  Jill and Tony exchanged glances. Tony cleared his throat. “Mil, really, it’s not like we’ve never lied. Honestly, we sort of get it. Well, maybe not the fascination with death” —Tony shook his finger at me— “but the only person you really hurt was yourself.”

  “We want to help.” Jill reached forward.

  I felt like I’d been brought to therapy.

  “Guys, I’m not suicidal,” I clarified. Another exchanged glance. Would they stop with that lovers’ telepathy?

  “Tony said you’re trying to forget someone,” Jill said. “Maybe we could help you, so you could go back home.”

  I shifted on my seat, uneasy. I had run away from home and betrayed our people by fleeing from my duty. And still, treason was the least of my crimes.

  There was no going back.

  The shreds of my life were now here and the two people in front of me were the only ones holding it together.

  I forced a polite smile. “Thanks, but going back isn’t an option.”

  “Then we’ll help you move on.” Jill’s chocolate-button eyes were the dictionary definition for ‘empathy’.

  I mumbled my gratitude.

  “Right, so,” Tony spoke up, scratching his chin. “In that case, we need to find you a place to stay. Unless you were a millionaire back in… wherever you can’t stay at a motel. You can crash on my couch until we find something permanent.”

  “You sure?” I aimed the query more at Jill than Tony, and she reassured me rather enthusiastically. She certainly wasn’t one for jealousy, or she trusted Tony when he said we were just friends.

  Tony winked and made a comment about me doing his housework in return for the favour.

  Could it be that easy? Could settling down be the answer to finding peace within myself? Or was I only postponing the day I’d have to pay for what really happened the day I left Narun?

  One thing became clear. If I was to live in peace, without always glancing over my shoulder for people looking for me, there was one thing I had to do before anything else.

  When I was six years old, I’d taken an oath in blood to serve the King as Guard. To settle the Blood Debt, I’d have to spill blood once again. Perhaps then I could find peace.

  *

  “All right, line it up, kids,” Bar’Aelia said for the second time in his serious voice.

  We shuffled into two lines, elbows knocking into each other. The boys behind us were the first to q
uieten down; a few girls beside me let out a nervous snicker. Bar’Aelia stood poised to the right of me, his playful smile reminding me of my father.

  It had been three weeks since I’d last seen home—my old home. The King’s palace was my home now. The kids around me, the Guard, were my family.

  And yet I barely knew their names.

  The girl next to me, the one with the quick heart rate making her dizzy with nerves, shifted her feet so our arms no longer grazed each other.

  She knew. They all knew. Nobody wanted to get too close to the girl who could write a shopping list of their shortcomings.

  I imprisoned my bottom lip under my teeth and focused on the powdery dirt of the training ground. I willed Bar’Aelia to get started with the lesson.

  A stone, skimming to knock against my heel, made me take a quick glance back.

  The stocky boy with crewcut hair smiled at me again.

  Chapter 8

  “You almost done, love?” The janitor jingled a bunch of keys as a subtle hint.

  I tied the bin bag, hooked it on a finger, and placed the broom back in the cleaning cupboard. The janitor whistled a tune as he strode towards the exit, and soon I followed, walking through the door he held open for me.

  “See you in a few days, Arthur.” I took the rubbish to the bin and quickened my pace in the chill air. The few hours of work dusting and sweeping floors at the dance studio were just what I needed: adequate money, low profile and had nothing to do with the past me.

  Too bad not everything could be swept under the rug so easily.

  Letting Tony and Jill in the loop was a relief in some ways but starting over was only simple on paper—the decision had done little to help me forget him and what I’d done. Tony insisted I’d find a way to move on, but he wasn’t someone to move on from. He had been the very core of me. What was worse, now that the previous pain relief method was no longer an option, I had to learn to live with it: day, night and in between.

  Yet, having a job and my own place had at least offered a distraction. A bit too much of a distraction.

  Resolving the Blood Debt had taken persistent residence on my to-do list.

  I sped into a jog as a faint thunder rumbled above. I should make my one-bedroom flat before the heavens opened.

  “Hello, stranger.”

  My jog halted mid-air, if it was possible. The voice came from a young man leaning against a light post. He hadn’t been there a second ago.

  I assessed his features, which I somewhat recognised. It’s been a while. He looked slightly older than me—early twenties, I guessed—and had brooding eyes that could turn faces. His dark hair previously covered by a cap was now tousled by the breeze. He stood a head taller to me, but his slender build was deceiving. He knew how to handle himself.

  “Looks like rain, don’t you think?” he said with a crooked smile. What a cliché.

  “I know you.” For a fraction of a second doubt flickered in his eyes. “You’re that guy. From the park.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “From the park.”

  Was that a question or a statement? “Who are you and what do you want?” I took a step back as he straightened his posture.

  “A friend.” His voice toyed with me.

  Which question did he answer? “I have enough friends.” I checked to see if the road was clear for crossing.

  “It’s not wise to talk to strangers, you know,” he said as I stepped off the curb.

  I glanced over my shoulder, baffled. “You ought to heed your own advice then.” I hurried across the road, not giving him a chance to respond. As I turned the corner, I heard one set of footsteps—my own.

  I slowed to a walk. A stone presented itself along the path at the opportune moment. The tip of my shoe launched it in the air, curving the rock off the pavement. It skipped, resting next to a car wheel.

  Late nights really do bring out the weirdos. Why did the guy have to resurface now? Why hadn’t I demanded answers out of him?

  A few drops of rain tied the distance from sky to ground.

  I was semi-succeeding at having a life as Camilla. I couldn’t take a complication. I didn’t want to know who he was.

  *

  Head leaning on one hand, I enforced the figure eight shape I’d doodled on my notebook. The guest lecturer droned on about the charity he’d founded. He’d lost me during the first quarter. The girl next to me sported equal enthusiasm: her notepad was full of flowers, signature rehearsing, squares and stick men. Neither of us excelled in art.

  A nudge to my ribs made me jolt. “You have an admirer,” my fellow doodler whispered in a Scottish burr. Her strong perfume lingered in the air around me.

  “Say what?” I replied too loud. The lecturer paused and searched for the source of the voice. The girl next to me waited until he carried on with his slides.

  “Fourth row, to the right of me.” She barely moved her lips as she spoke. “The guy keeps staring at ye.”

  I angled my head, darting my eyes back the second they met his. What is he doing here?

  “He fancies ye,” my neighbour persisted with a knowing wink. “He’s hot.”

  Yeah, he was a real kettle of boiling water.

  I slammed my notebook shut. Student or not, it wasn’t a coincidence he was here, not after last night. Annoyance swelled up in me. What does he want?

  “Do you know him?” the girl asked, but my firm ‘No’ was drowned in the mandatory applause as the lecturer finished. I was out of the lecture theatre, notebook in hand before the clapping faded.

  I marched along the corridor, took an abrupt left and sneaked outside through a side exit. The swinging door narrowly missed a guy squatting by the side of the building. I left a mumbled “Sorry” to hover in the air. When the cigarette smoke no longer found me, I dropped the notebook to the ground in a statement, flung a leg over a bench and sat on it. Sooner or later I’d have to confront this guy.

  Today was not the day.

  “Hey.”

  The voice behind me caught me off guard and my neck spasmed at the abrupt turn of my head.

  “You left this.” The guy placed my bag beside me. I drilled my eyes into him, annoyed I hadn’t even noticed my bag missing, and because he’d once again surprised me.

  He sure is light on his feet.

  “What do you want?”

  “I think it’s time we talk, Camilla.” He sat on the bench, opposite me, ignoring my scowl.

  I shuffled back, annoyed at the intrusion to my personal space, and stuffed the notepad in the bag. “You can start by telling me your name since you already know mine.”

  “You can call me Leo.”

  “Okay, Le-o.” I mocked for no particular reason. “Why are you following me?”

  He flashed his pearly whites with an assuming grin. “Maybe I like what I see, rosebud.”

  Rosebud? Did he have a death wish?

  “So, you admit you’ve been following me?” I took in his relaxed composure, close to rehearsed in its perfection. Last night I hadn’t noticed the colour of his eyes: piercing blue, like the deep of the Caribbean Sea.

  “Would that flatter you?” He cocked his eyebrow to match mine.

  If I weren’t so annoyed, I’d laugh. “Stay away from me.” I stood up, but his sudden grip on my arm pulled me back. “You have three seconds to—”

  “And what are you going to do after three seconds?” Leo challenged.

  “You have no idea what I can do in three seconds.”

  “Likewise.” The playfulness melted from his face. A blink later the glimmer was back in his eye.

  My muscles tensed under his grip as a shot of adrenaline deluged through me. I recognised the surge of fire bubbling inside. I’d missed it. Raising my free arm, I bent my fingers halfway, ready to—

  “Yo, Mil, you finished for the day?”

  My arm went limp at the sound of Tony’s call. I threw Leo a warning look. With a wink, he let go of my arm, tilting his head to smile at the approac
hing Tony.

  “What’s going on here?” Tony asked, catching the tense vibe and no doubt the exasperation written all over me. I walked up to him and let my expression ease. Bringing Tony in on this would make it an issue.

  “Nothing.” I smiled. “Come on, let’s go.”

  Tony ignored my tugging hand. “You’re that guy who keeps turning up everywhere.” Leo got up and introduced himself. Tony pounded his extended fist and measured up Leo from head to toe with quick, repeated scans. “Do you know each other?”

  “We don’t.”

  “Well, that’s not entirely true, Milla,” Leo added, once again passing me my bag.

  “Yeah? How so?” Tony turned to me, searching for an explanation for my apparent hostility.

  “Apparently, we share a lecture,” I said under my breath, and Tony eased his poise, theories of stalker behaviour wiped from his mind.

  I shot a glance at Leo as he cleared his throat. “To be completely truthful” —he smirked in my direction— “I’ve actually been plucking up the courage to ask her out.”

  I wanted to pluck him bit by bit. He was either one for a gamble or he could read Tony well. I gathered the latter as Tony burst out in hearty laughter. He placed his arm around Leo’s shoulders and started to tutor him on how to win me over. So much for loyalty.

  I spun on my heels, intentionally flinging my bag so it smacked Tony’s chest.

  This is not over, Leo.

  Trampling the ground flat, I pushed the dining hall doors open and tossed my bag on the nearest free table. The chair screeched along the floor as I pulled it out.

  What did the guy want with me? He came across awfully confident, and he was fast on his feet. That time in the park he was gone within a blink. He was agile, lean. Egotistic, annoying, pretentious…

  Personal feelings aside… Obviously, he wasn’t from Gorah, or I wouldn’t be standing tall anymore, but could he be from Narun? There was something familiar in his features, but if he was Guard, I should’ve recognised him, not to mention, he would’ve just said so. It was unlikely another fugitive was searching me out.