"Why?" I was already on the verge of a major freak out just at his request.
"The keepers don't know what they're messing with. My dad's human, that's how they haven't figured it out yet, and why they grabbed me in the first place."
I stiffened with a gasp, like I had a hundred volts running through my body.
Not in the void. My dad's human. I already had my magic.
Magic that glowed the darkest shade of silver, pretty close to black. Almost like void magic.
I covered my mouth with my hands, my heart racing almost as fast as my mind. His dad was human, but what about his mum? Was she a monster like all the nightmares killing and eating humans? DidVanneat humans?
"Don't eat me," I squeaked out, and jumped when he laughed.
"Hal, I'm not gonna eat you." Vann rolled his eyes. "Didn't you just hear me raving about nachos?"
Um. He had looked really excited looking about the cheesy corn salsa, or whatever it was.
"So youwon'teat me?" I breathed.
"Nope. I swear it. Cross my heart and hope to die." He made a cross over his chest, and I scowled.
"I really don't like it when you say that."
"It's just a saying," he laughed, his eyes gentle on me but … afraid?
This was still Vann, my only friend, the only person who ever smiled at me and meant it, who made me laugh, who listened to my worries and fears and made me feel better.
"I won't eat you, Hal," he promised seriously, watching me closely.
"But you're a…"
"Shadowkind?" He laughed, a little strained. "Yeah. On my mum's side. My dad's completely normal, or I'm told he was before he walked out on us."
"Say that again," a dark voice demanded before I could reply, and I jumped when a shadow fell across Vann and I.
Oh, god, the keeper with the bald spot and angry face heard us talking. And now he sneered down at both of us, already reaching for his cattle prod to punish us.
"It was a joke!" I rushed out breathlessly. "A really bad one. Sorry, sorry, we won't tell it again, I promise!"
But he wasn't even looking at me; his eyes fixed on Vann as my only friend unfolded to his feet, much taller than even the keeper and with more muscle.
"Vann," I breathed in warning, quickly scrambling to my feet and yelping when the keeper's attention snapped to me. I knotted my hands in front of me to show I was harmless, keeping my palms hidden.
"I said," the keeper growled in a dangerous tone that always ended in one of us screaming in pain, "say that. Again."
Vann bared his teeth in a semblance of a smile and said nothing. I rushed forward as if I could do anything to stop the keeper before he shoved the glowing end of the cattle prod into Vann's stomach, but I was too slow.
I waited for Vann to crash to the ground screaming, but he kept smiling. My heart stopped when he gripped the burning end of the metal and twisted it back on itself with inhuman strength.
"Thattickles," he said with a smirk, and yanked the prod out of the keeper's hand.
I exhaled in relief—he was safe—but it didn't take me long to realise all the tentative conversations stopped around us, and boots slammed into the shiny floor as other keepers raced towards us. Towards Vann.
"Go," I choked out, pushing at my friend’s arm. "Do whatever you've been planning andrun. Now!"
"Without you?" he shot back, his eyes narrowed and body bristling with readiness for violence. "Not a chance, Hal. Stay behind me; follow close."
18