shaede assassin 05 - shadows at midnight by amanda bonilla Page A

it back in my pocket. “Looks like we’re headed this way.”
    I started off but Tyler grabbed onto my arm and tucked me behind him. “Do not leave my side,” he warned. “It’s going to get dicey from here on out.”
    Seriously? What could be dicier than booby traps, illusions, and bloodthirsty goblins? Then again, I’d met the head bitch in charge. She was worse than all of those horrors put together. “We all need to stay on our toes,” I said to the group at large. “We already know what we’re up against, but it’s going to get worse.”
    “How much worse?” Louella asked.
    I waited for Tyler to supply the answer to that one.
    “Goblins are a piece of cake in comparison to the Rakshasa,” Tyler said. “Goblins will simply kill you. If a ghoul gets their hands on you…”
    I shuddered at the memories of what Padma had done to me. Panic welled hot and thick in my chest and I breathed through the anxiety that numbed my limbs and caused my heart to pound in my chest.
    “What?” Louella asked with the slightest hitch of trepidation.
    “They thrive on fear,” I said. There was no use in sugarcoating it. Every one of them needed to know what we were up against. “It gives them power. They drink the blood of their victims and they eat living flesh.”
    “Darian.” Asher’s voice broke the ensuing silence.
    “Not now.” I wasn’t about to go into detail about what I’d gone through in these very caverns. “Just don’t let one of them get their hands on you.”
    “Got it,” Julian said quietly. “I think it’s a good idea to close ranks.”
    “Agreed.” From here on out, we’d need to watch each other’s backs.
    “Don’t trust what you see or hear,” Tyler added. “The wave that crashed over us was nothing in comparison to the illusions they can conjure.”
    “How in the hell are we going to know what’s real or not?” Myles asked.
    I thought back to when Ty showed up to take me home. The way his homey scent and the chill of his magic couldn’t be replicated. “The illusions are empty representations of reality,” I replied. “Your eyes and ears can be tricked. But your other senses can’t. Scents, sensations…that’s what you have to pay attention to. Don’t fall down the rabbit hole. Your mind has to be sharp. Don’t fall for the tricks.”
    “Easier said than done,” Liam muttered.
    I knew that better than anyone. But I’d been alone in Padma’s dungeon. “We have each other,” I said. “And we’ll get through it together.”
    I spoke the words with confidence I didn’t feel. Only Asher remained silent during my pep talk and I looked through the darkness in hopes of getting a glimpse of him. I had his back. I had all of their backs. And Ty would get us through this. I knew it like I knew my own heart. There wasn’t anything in this world or any other that he couldn’t do.
    “All right then,” Julian said. “Let’s get a move on.”
    “Ready, Ty?”
    He took my hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Ready.”
    “I want bodies touching,” I said. “Everyone accounted for. Ash?”
    “Yeah.” His tone vibrated with tension.
    “You ready?”
    “Yeah.”
    He wasn’t ready. But he didn’t have a choice. I’d meant what I said. We’d get through this together. He wouldn’t have to go it alone. “Okay, time to move out.”
    Ty let go of my hand but he kept his body close to mine as we continued down the dark corridor of the labyrinth. The air thickened and sweat trickled down the back of my neck and into my shirt despite the chill that permeated my clothes. Every step forward took a concentrated effort as every instinct in my body urged me to turn around and run back the way I’d come.
    Quiet descended on our group, the only sound that of our footfalls on the solid ground beneath us. My mind raced with questions, so many things I wanted to ask Tyler in the hopes that he’d finally open up to me. The words he’d asked me to speak aloud in my