Free Shadow Reign (Shadow Puppeteer Book 2) by Christina E. Rundle

to brush this off than it was for me. Rose was covered in blood and smelt like Amber. Everything inside of me wanted to push Zephyr to the side and go after her. It was exactly what Rose wanted and she was clearly the best fighter. I had to bide my time.
    With that in mind, I went back with Zephyr.

EIGHT
    I laid in bed listening to the fire crackle. This was my designated sleep time, though it did little to rejuvenate my cramped muscles. The cuts managed to scab over, but certain spots kept pulling apart. I threw my legs over the side of the bed and felt a pull in my lower back. There wouldn’t be time to heal before Utan came for me.
    The days and nights rolled into one large blur. The one thing that remained consistent was the intensity of Utan and Zephyr’s lessons. Utan wanted me dead and because of this, he was training me hard. Whatever Zephyr’s reasons were, she was training me hard too.
    I pulled a vile from my pocket and popped the top. It smelt like swamp water and coated the back of my throat, but it did wonders for the cramping and the aches. It was a mix Zephyr made. I kept my guard up, but little things like this began to forge trust.
    The mix went straight to my belly as I drank a little more water to get rid of that horrid taste. It would take a minute for the concoction to numb the pain. I needed to sleep, but my anxiety was increasing. Rose found new ways to taunt me with Amber’s life and one day she’d go too far. I couldn’t wait for that to happen.
    Kelaino didn’t check on my progress and Zephyr didn’t tell me what I was training for. I could barely stand knowing that I was waiting for an opportunity while Amber was tortured. I took a huge risk trying to kill Kelaino before I was ready. Was I willing to do something just as risky again?
    I drew my fingers through my hair and couldn’t find comfort in even that familiar motion. My finger strayed to the back of my ear where my tracker was still intact. Draken lied to me about turning it off. There were a number of reasons not to trust him, but at the moment, I really wished he’d pop in here and save the day.
    The only weapon with me was a
b
o
I was supposed to be constantly training with. The heavy wood and metal triggers felt good in my hand. It was solid and now that I had practice under my belt, I knew how to wield it in battle.
    This was crazy and dangerous. There was no reason to believe I’d be able to help them, but if I didn’t try, she was going to die here. That bothered me more than nearly getting sucked into the obsidian mirror. The residue of that moment stayed with me. Sometimes I woke feeling like my skin was peeling back.
    I stuck the
bo
in my shoulder strap and the weight was reassuring. Despite the way I felt about the fur coat, I wasn’t opposed to staying warm. I pulled it on and did a few practice moves to make sure I could still quickly pull the
bo
.
    The beaded curtains shifted and I turned around, expecting Utan, but it was Zephyr instead. “I heard you told Kelaino that you were ready.”
    I shrugged. There wasn’t a better way to help Rex or Amber. Bliss wasn’t coming and Rose needed to be put down. I’d fight her, though I harbored some doubt. Rose had a few tricks of her own and I witnessed those during the Ardent Asylum takedown. I needed a better plan and I’d figure that out once I was in the ring with her.
    “You must master the basics. If you don’t control the spirits, they’ll control you. You leave yourself open for possession.” She stopped in front of me. “You have one foot in the grave. I can feel it. You’re already halfway dead.”
    I didn’t like the sound of that. “Halfway dead?”
    Her presence was much larger than her actual size. For a dwarf, she filled the room. I couldn’t shift without feeling her attention. Much like D’s presence, I felt it even with my metaphysical fields up.
    “What is the first law to casting a spell?”
    I grew more flustered by the second. “I