Shadows of Green & Gold: A contemporary young adult fantasy suspense (Green and Gold, book 2) Read online

  SHADOWS

  of Green & Gold

  ***

  Green & Gold, Book Two

  Jo Holloway

  ***

  SHADOWS of Green & Gold

  Copyright ©2019 by Jo Holloway

  ISBN: 978-1-9991359-3-5

  First edition. December 2019.

  Published by Jo Holloway Books

  Edited by Courtney Umphress

  Cover design by MoorBooks Design

  .

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.

  .

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events or locations is purely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  CHAPTER 1 | Tall, Dark, and Reckless

  CHAPTER 2 | Good One

  CHAPTER 3 | Stupid Stinking Raven

  CHAPTER 4 | Nice Summer

  CHAPTER 5 | Need to Know

  CHAPTER 6 | Not Possible

  CHAPTER 7 | Think Fast

  CHAPTER 8 | Seriously

  CHAPTER 9 | Don’t Overreact

  CHAPTER 10 | Evil Can Be Cute

  CHAPTER 11 | Get A Grip

  CHAPTER 12 | Not Him Again

  CHAPTER 13 | Only The Start

  CHAPTER 14 | A Tiny Crush

  CHAPTER 15 | Off Script

  CHAPTER 16 | Focus

  CHAPTER 17 | One Thing

  CHAPTER 18 | Too Hot

  CHAPTER 19 | Every Girl

  CHAPTER 20 | Purpose

  CHAPTER 21 | Good Save

  CHAPTER 22 | That Was Mad?

  CHAPTER 23 | Uh Oh

  CHAPTER 24 | Do Something

  CHAPTER 25 | Please Live

  CHAPTER 26 | Breathe

  EPILOGUE | One month later

  Darkness in Green & Gold | Chapter 1

  Acknowledgements & Author’s Note

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  CHAPTER 1

  Tall, Dark, and Reckless

  PACKED GRAVEL CRUNCHED under Cara’s feet as she approached the stables of Scovell Academy. Her smile grew while she walked, like it did every day at this time. The boarding school, tucked deep in the forest west of Portland, had come to feel more like home than she’d ever imagined it would.

  Squinting, she wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead and pulled open the stable doors to step into the cool building. The sweet smell of hay mingled with a lingering animal musk to fill her senses while her eyes adjusted to the dim light. She strolled past the empty horse stalls to the end of the row where paws and wet noses rattled at chain link doors. Jenner waited patiently with the other dogs at the kennels until she finished class each day.

  Her smile faded when she reached his door. Jenner’s tail wagged as usual, but something felt off. She crouched to peer through the opening in the wall to the grassy dog run outside. Orange fur flashed in the sun beyond the fence and her hand hovered over the latch to the kennel door.

  She glanced over her shoulder to confirm she was alone in the building before she spoke. “Tomyx? What are you doing here?”

  While it might have seemed strange to talk to a cat, the reality was even stranger.

  “Hi, Cara. Just came for a visit.”

  The answering voice echoed in her mind, coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. A year ago, she would have been startled, but now she knew the truth. So much had changed during her freshman year, and it wasn’t even over yet. The voices of the Pyx were nothing new, but Tomyx’s usual joking tone was gone, and the fact that he had brought Thomas the cat down to the stables during the day meant she was right. Something was off.

  Her bright gold eyes narrowed. One hand rose to rub across her neck before she caught herself. She unlatched the gate and bent to greet her handsome brown-and-black dog. Stroking his silky ears usually helped ease any tension she was feeling, but not today. A green gleam passed across Jenner’s deep-brown eyes.

  “Are you all right, child?”

  “I’m fine, I think. What were you and Tomyx talking about?”

  “Nothing to worry yourself over.”

  This voice was warm and kind and nearly as familiar in her mind as her own. After almost a full year of talking to the Pyx in her dog and living with him as a constant companion, she knew him well. It wasn’t like him to keep things from her.

  “It must be important if Tomyx came all the way down here to talk to you.” She picked up the food dish from the floor and carried it to the sink to rinse it out, keeping one eye on Jenner.

  “It is nothing of concern to humans.”

  “To normal humans, sure, but what about me?” Her voice sounded tight.

  “No, child. This is not for you to worry about.”

  “But it couldn’t wait until we were together? It’s not like you don’t see each other every night.”

  Her lips pursed as she peered at her dog. What could be important enough to the Pyx that it couldn’t wait a few hours? Thomas lived with her two best friends, and they were together all the time, meaning Jenyx and Tomyx had plenty of opportunities to talk to each other. Unless they needed to keep things from her.

  Silence stole across the space between them.

  “Fine,” she huffed. “Don’t tell me.” She called through the opening in the wall to the cat outside. “Tomyx, you’d better get Thomas back to the dorms before Jory comes looking.”

  “Jory worries too much,” Tomyx replied.

  She snickered in spite of her irritation with the Pyx and their secrets. He wasn’t wrong about Jory. Shaking her head, she set the clean dish down inside Jenner’s kennel door. It wasn’t so long ago she’d kept a ton of secrets of her own. She still did, from most people. Thankfully, she no longer had to hide who she was from everyone. Her two best friends knew all about the hidden Pyx in the world.

  She hadn’t believed it at first. Who could blame her? The first few times she’d seen the green gleams in the eyes of animals, and then the first time she’d heard a voice in her head . . . Shocking barely began to describe it. It was still hard to believe these immortal beings existed at all. Even now, she tried not to think too hard about the millions of years they’d spent on earth, sharing the bodies of other creatures. The concept of that much time, and sharing so many minds, was too overwhelming to consider.

  It wasn’t until she’d met Wes and discovered he saw them, too, that she had accepted they were real. She wasn’t crazy. She was different. Special. She was a Pyxsee.

  “There you are.” A familiar voice spoke outside the building to pull her from her reverie—a nice, normal human voice.

  Perfect timing, she thought as a knowing grin spread across her face.

  She bent down to peer through the dog-sized opening in the wall. A pair of legs came into view beyond the fence as her friend arrived beside the cat.

  “Busted, Tomyx. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Louder, Cara called through the gap, “Hi, Jory.”

  “Cara? Is that you?" He couldn’t see her inside the kennel from where he stood out in the bright sun.

  “Yeah. Hang on a minute. I'll be right out.”

  She shut the kennel d
oor behind her and went out the way she had come, with Jenner at her heels. She circled the building to find her friend.

  “Hey, Sunshine,” she greeted him.

  Jory made a face at the nickname she had bestowed on him. That was another difference from a year ago. Originally the nickname had been much more sarcastic. She had gotten off on the wrong foot with him and Wes, thanks to some misunderstandings that felt silly now. They’d finally cleared the air once they’d realized she and Wes shared the same special Pyxsee ability.

  She couldn’t stop herself from calling her friend Sunshine right now even if she’d wanted to. With the sun beaming down on him, Jory’s golden-blond head glowed brighter than usual. When you added his constant cheerful and friendly vibe, those absurdly blue eyes, and his permanent grin—which had slipped right back into place after his fake snarl at the nickname—he really lived up to it.

  “Seriously?” Jory teased. “You do know I’m finding a crazy annoying nickname for you one of these days, right, Care Bear?”

  “Nope, that one’s taken. No one but my uncle gets to use Care Bear, and you know it. You wouldn’t want to steal from the guy who helped save your life, would you?”

  The events of last November had cemented their bond, and now she used his bright nickname lovingly while he pretended to be annoyed by it. She gave him an innocent smile.

  “I still think saved my life is a pretty big exaggeration. I only got knocked out. Besides, all he did was drive our getaway car after everything was over.”

  “You did not only get knocked out. You had a concussion. It took you two months to recover,” she said. “Wes and I thought you were dead for a minute there. I still have nightmares about it.” Her mouth snapped shut and she looked away, but she couldn’t hide the shudder that rose up her neck to make her shoulders twitch.

  “Right, but I wasn’t dead. I’m totally fine, see?” He held his arms out wide and lifted his face to the sky, earning a smile from her. He dropped his hands. “I do wish we’d caught that bastard, though. I can’t believe the nerve of him, taking Thomas after all those other animals. That mansion isn’t even empty all the time, according to your raven friend. He could easily have been caught.”

  “Ryx is not a friend.” Cara scowled at the mention of the annoying Pyx who used a raven pyxis as his host.

  “You know what I mean. The guy was totally reckless. He deserved to get caught.”

  “What does that say about us? We broke in right after him, and you paid the price. I’m glad we saved Tomyx and the others, but I sometimes wonder if my uncle was right and we were being stupid that night.” She studied her feet, running the toe of her sandal across the grass.

  “Whatever it makes us, I’d feel better if we knew the guy was out of business for good, and not out there somewhere biding his time.” Jory cast a glance at Thomas still sunbathing next to Jenner’s dog run. He blinked before he turned back to her. “He was reckless before. If he decides to start up again, that might be to our advantage. And at least we have a vague description now.”

  Yeah. Tall, dark, and reckless.

  Cara’s lips twisted in a half smile. She swept her long hair off the back of her neck. “Anyway, the Care Bear nickname is still reserved, so you’ll have to find something else. Keep trying. I’m sure you’ll find it someday—like by the time we graduate.”

  She laughed and ducked out of the way as he swatted at her arm, grin beaming again from his handsome face. Her friend really was easy to get along with, and pretty easy to look at too. She glanced away to hide her own smile.

  “You walking Jenner?” Jory asked.

  “Of course.”

  “I’ll come with you. And, Tomyx, please take Thomas back to the dorm. Wes will get back to our room and wonder where he is,” Jory said to the cat.

  He might not be able to see or hear the Pyx, but he knew all about them. He managed to be supportive of both his Pyxsee friends, even though it had to be frustrating for him only hearing one side of so many conversations. Her heart gave a little squeeze. It would certainly bother her to trust others to translate all the time. Jory had spoken to Tomyx knowing he wouldn’t hear any response but trusting Tomyx would hear him and Cara would relay the answer if there was one.

  There was an answer, but not one worth relaying to Jory. She walked ahead to hide her smirk at the comment. She wouldn’t normally betray Jory’s trust, but Tomyx was being rude about him being much more of a worrywart than Wes. It wasn’t anything he needed to hear.

  “Where is Wes?” She turned to walk backward until Jory fell into step beside her. “No, wait, let me guess. Library.”

  “Surprisingly, you’re wrong. Actually, I’m not sure where he went. He said something about training.”

  “With the archery team? That’s good. It’s not like he’s the one who needs to study, anyway. We should probably be the ones at the library.” She stepped over a fallen branch as they passed between the trees into the cool forest.

  Jory snorted. “Your grades are almost as high as his. You have nothing to worry about for final exams.”

  “I hope not.”

  They paused to let their eyes adjust to the lower light under the thick trees. It was strange for Wes not to tell Jory exactly what he was doing. He’d been vague like that more often lately, and she’d started to wonder if there was something going on with him.

  The path through the forest offered a small relief from the hot day as she and Jory resumed walking. Contrary to an unseasonably rainy June the previous year, this year, summer hit hard at the start of May. They’d been sweating through sweltering days for the last few weeks, even here in the middle of the forest. Portland’s local news station reported almost daily about the crime rate across Oregon going up with the temperature.

  She put that thought behind her as they followed the trail they had taken many times over the last several months. Between exams and the lurking threats of the kidnapper, there was enough for her to worry about here. She couldn’t take on the problems of the world too.

  “How do you feel about your race next weekend?” Jory asked. “Are we going for a run again on Wednesday?”

  Her stomach gave a little squirm at yet another thing to worry about. She still got nervous before races. That hadn’t changed.

  “I want to, but I’ll see what Coach says after practice tomorrow. It probably depends how much she wants us to rest after whatever torture she has planned. She knows I like to run on the days we don’t have practice, though, and she usually makes adjustments. So probably. What about you? Have you decided on a new sport for the fall yet?”

  “Not sure for the fall, but I’m leaning toward baseball for the spring. I just wish I wasn’t going to be the new guy all over again.” He rubbed the back of his head with one hand while he stepped nimbly over a protruding tree root.

  “Seriously, Jory? You? You have nothing to worry about. Everyone loves you.” She rolled her eyes at him. If there was anyone who wouldn’t have trouble fitting in, it was Jory. She and Wes might be a different story, but not Jory the golden boy. “Half the football guys are still begging you to come back. I’m sure you could go back if you still wanted to.”

  “Nah. I’m not hanging out with Nate and Theo. I don’t care what team it is.”

  Jory had still never told her why he had quit football unexpectedly in the middle of the semester last fall, and she was trying to wait for him to be ready to talk about it. Either way, she could agree with him. Nate was definitely a class A jerk.

  “It’s crazy. I’ve always been on teams before. This year has been super weird for me.” Jory sounded distracted.

  “Um, I think it’s just been super weird period, end of sentence,” Cara joked. “At least, I hope it’s been weird. I’m not planning on discovering any more immortal beings or going off on rescue missions to save them on a regular basis. Are you?”

  Jory laughed. “I guess not. I didn’t think of it that way.”

  “A nice, normal school yea
r would be great.” Cara tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and scanned the trees ahead, like someone might spring out at them at any moment. The worry never stopped, and a brief flutter hit her chest.

  “Hey, don’t worry. I’ve got all kinds of nice, normal plans for the summer. We’ll have fun. And I’ll relax more when Thomas is at my house where the guy doesn’t know where to find him.” Jory had grown attached to the scruffy alley cat he’d inadvertently adopted.

  Jenner stopped walking and sniffed the air. Something big moved in the forest to Cara’s right side. She jumped sideways. A small squeak escaped her lips as she bumped into Jory. He steadied her with one hand. A large brown deer picked its way through the undergrowth, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Jenyx, may I speak with you?” The usual green gleam passed across the deer’s eyes when the voice rang through her mind.

  Cara muttered an apology for crashing into Jory, and he flashed her a quick grin in response, watching the deer approach them. Jenyx and Tomyx had spread the word to the friendly Pyx in the area that Jory, though not a Pyxsee, could be trusted. At least he could be included even if he couldn’t hear them when they spoke.

  “Certainly,” Jenyx replied. “Do you have news?”

  “Not here. Sorry, Pyxsee, this is not for your ears.” The newcomer addressed Cara.

  “Oh.” Cara turned with stiff shoulders. “Jenyx?”

  “I’ll be along shortly, child. Please continue your walk, and Jenner and I will catch up with you.”

  She frowned but nudged Jory’s arm, and they continued down the path. For the second time in only twenty minutes, she was missing something. Now she knew how Jory felt waiting for someone to fill him in on what was being said. She hoped Jenyx would share with her later. She hated being left out.

  They passed a familiar fork in the trail. Two trees wrapped in gold bands flanked the way straight ahead, indicating the edge of the school grounds. Memories distracted her from her current thoughts. Last November, they had raced through those trees on their mad dash to save Tomyx from whatever fate the kidnapper had planned for him. Last month, Cara had come back from another trip down that same path to find Jory waiting for her at this very spot.