The Return (Titan 1)

“She’s not in her room.”

Luke sent me a look, but wisely kept his mouth shut, and he pulled out a slim cellphone. “I’ll text and let him know.”

“Make sure he says who he is and that he comes in peace or some shit, because I left her with one of my daggers and instructions to stab anything that comes through that door.”

His brows flew up, but his fingers flew over the screen of the phone, and then we were jogging down the path, around the academic buildings, and hey, it was like old times. Great.

Floodlights were on, lighting up the entire campus in spite of the thick clouds that raced across the sky and hid the sun. As we passed several groups of Sentinels heading toward the dorms, I felt a little bit of relief. The students would be well-guarded. That meant Josie would be too, by default.

As we neared the main council building, I spotted Solos. “What’s going on?”

Eyes squinting into the chilly wind, he nodded in the direction of the walls. “Reports are a breach. No more than that.”

“Real helpful stuff right there,” Luke commented.

Solos glanced at him. “Thought you quit the Sentinel stuff.”

“Thought you were on the Council,” Luke returned.

I sighed, walking ahead of them. “I don’t think you ever can quit. Being a Sentinel is like being in the damn mafia.” I unhooked my dagger, feeling its slight weight against my palm. “You don’t get out.”

“You know, that’s a great comparison,” Solos replied. “Let’s hope none of us are taking a cement swim today.”

Smirking, we rounded the main campus building, and from that vantage point we could see beyond the courtyard, to the first wall. Wind picked up, carrying with it a scent of decay and soil.

“Shit,” muttered Luke.

My chest turned to ice as I scanned the scene we were racing toward. “Shades. Dammit.”

The three of us exchanged looks. This was not good, and that didn’t need to be explained.

“Now we know what happened to the scouting group,” Solos said with a sigh. “This is not going to be easy.”

If shades were here, there was only one reason. They were here for Josie. I stopped dead in my tracks. “I need—”

A shadow darted out between the statues, slamming into Luke and knocking him to the ground. It was a female Sentinel, and the scent of death clung to her. I spun around, reaching for the back of her dirtied shirt. Yanking her up and off Luke, I tossed her to the side.

She skidded across the pathway, her pitch-black eyes freaky as shit. It was a shame, I thought, as she popped back on her feet and rushed me. Once possessed, there was nothing that could be done. I sidestepped her easily, moving up behind her. Two hands on either side of her head and the twist. The crack was like thunder, and when I let go, she crumpled like a paper bag, but not before black smoke poured out of her mouth, hitting the sky.

And that sucked, because as it zoomed over our heads, it didn’t take a genius to figure out it was going to climb down the throat of another unsuspecting person.

“Well there,” Solos drawled.

I flipped around, sighing when I saw five Sentinels that reeked of death.

“How large was this damn scouting party?” Luke grunted as he picked his ass up.

“Twenty-three,” Solos answered, starting forward again.

To some that wouldn’t sound like a lot, but twenty-three trained Sentinels possessed by shades was some bad shit. Not only were they rocking some ancient, pure evil, they were able to tap into all the training the Sentinels had, and all of their knowledge. And there was the fact that we could sit here and kill Sentinels all day. The shades would just possess more.

The Sentinels closed in.

I went at the one closest—the one who was smiling. Ducking under his outstretched arm, I sprung up behind him and slammed my foot into his back, knocking him forward several feet. As he caught himself and whirled on me, I sheathed my dagger and lifted my arm, summoning akasha. Amber light rolled down my arm. Nothing short of a god survived a direct hit from akasha.

He drew up short, laughed, and then tipped back his head. Opening his mouth, the shade crawled out, a thick and oily substance that zipped over our heads. The Sentinel hit the ground, unconscious and maybe alive. It looked like the pures and halfs could withstand the possession better than mortals. All that godly mojo came in handy.

“That’s not any fun,” I growled as I lowered my arm and turned just as a fist went straight for my face.

Oh hell no.

I darted to the side, grabbing the arm of the Sentinel I’d seen a few days ago, but who now showed me a face full of rage. Unhooking my dagger, I shoved the blade into his shoulder, digging in deep. The Sentinel roared, and as I hoped, the shade got the hell out of there, puffing into the air, and when I let go of the arm, the Sentinel dropped, unconscious.

“You don’t have to kill them,” I yelled toward Luke and Solos. “Disable them somehow.”

Luke shot me a look, as if he was surprised that I cared, but what-the-fuck-ever. Solos was moving closer to the grove in front of the wall, and up there, bodies littered the ground.

The possessed Sentinels kept coming. Knock one down, two more took its place. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as the energy of the battle took hold. Using the handle of my dagger on the back of one of their heads, I then spun and delivered a powerful kick in the gut to the one creeping up behind me. He went down on his back, and I aimed for the same area, in the shoulder, hoping I could deliver enough pain to get the shade running, but hopefully…yeah, hopefully, not bloodying my hands any further.

Another came right at me.

Dipping down at the last possible second, I caught the Sentinel in the stomach with my shoulder, flipping the asshole over my back. I pivoted on my heel, thrusting the dagger into another shoulder, and then the air really began to stink. I straightened as Luke whirled, his shoulders thrown back, mouth nothing more than a slash across his face. He was thinking what I was thinking.

This shit was going to be never-ending, and there was too much space between me and where I needed to be, which was back in the dorm, standing between these fucks and Josie. Not here.

I spun at the sound of pounding feet and slammed my fist into the jaw of the approaching Sentinel, knocking him out at the same moment the glyphs on my skin went crazy.

Before the Sentinel hit the ground, his chest erupted as something shiny and sharp bulldozed through it. Leaping to the side, I watched the same projectile zoom past me and slam into another possessed Sentinel, right through the eye.