Archetype (The Shadow Code Book 3)

By J.M. Callaghan

When Rowan wakes up in Ireland, she is confronted with a man who has been alive even longer than her own five hundred years. When she and her friends find that their plans to end the Pure must be enacted immediately, she must ask for his help. When she discovers the truth about her past, however, will it be too late?

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.M. Callaghan
• Release date: Feb 17, 2015

Book preview

The Shadow Code: Archetype

By J.M. Callaghan

CHAPTER ONE:

Leonine leaned against the doorframe, reluctantly taking in the contents of the small room before him.

They’d returned to Shade Cove the night before, and this morning, he’d been wandering aimlessly through its numerous tunnels, with no destination in mind. He didn’t know how he had ended up in front of Rowan’s room. He didn’t want to be in here, not when it was a blatant reminder that she was dead.

No one had touched it yet. Everything was exactly as she’d left it: the dark blue comforter was still spread neatly on her bed, the matching pillow still lay in front of the headboard. The bed was tucked against the wall in the far left corner of the room, and there was a desk with a mirror on the right-hand side.

Without thinking about it, he walked across the room, turning when he reached the bed and sat down on the edge. The floor was covered in backlit white tiles, illuminating the smooth gray concrete of the walls and eliminating the need for an overhead light—Leonine searched the ceiling, but couldn’t find one anywhere.

He leaned forward, interlocking his fingers and resting his wrists on his knees. When he looked down at his hands, his eyes fell on the dark leather cuff wrapped around his left wrist.

He lifted it to his face, turning it in the light from the floor until he could see the rowan tree stamped into its surface.

He grimaced, almost wishing he hadn’t noticed it. It reminded him of Rowan so much that his heart twisted, and he had to resist the urge to tear the cuff off and put it in the drawer of Rowan’s bedside table, where he would never have to see it again. He didn’t like painful reminders. The lion-head necklace that had given him his name was something he’d kept out of loyalty to his mother, and even then, he’d hidden it under the floorboards of his last apartment, where Rowan had found it, years later.

Hey.

Leonine jumped.

Ben was standing in the doorway, his hands in his pockets. His eyes were rimmed in red, like he’d been crying a few minutes ago. Leonine guessed that he’d been visiting Owen and Avery’s rooms before he’d arrived at Rowan’s. Shade Cove may have lost most of the Triune, but Ben had lost his only family.

Hey. Leonine winced at how rough his voice sounded.

Ben didn’t say anything else, just stared around the room. Leonine’s gaze fell back to the rowan tree cuff. He knew, deep down, that he couldn’t bring himself to get rid of it, not now. It was the last reminder of Rowan that he would ever have.

In that moment, something occurred to him. It was the tiniest thought, embedded in the back of his mind as though it had been waiting to break free. As he focused, it grew, the effects spreading through him quicker than he could quell them.

He leapt off the bed, closing the distance between him and Ben in a few short strides.

Ben, who had turned sideways and was now staring morosely at the doorframe, did not appear to notice his approach. Leonine shook his shoulder.

What? Ben asked, his voice hollow. He didn’t even glance toward Leonine.

He held up his left wrist, displaying the rowan tree cuff. Ben, look at this.

Ben’s eyes slid over to it, then back to the doorframe. What about it?

Rowan gave this to me, he said, willing Ben to understand what he had already grasped.

Ben shrugged. Why does it matter? She’s gone. My sister’s gone. He stared desolately at the floor.

Leonine grabbed his arm. "Ben, Rowan conjured this."

Ben’s eyes were watering when he finally met Leonine’s gaze. He just stared, the look on his face one of betrayal—like he couldn’t understand why Leonine was bringing this up at a time like this.

Leonine looked intently back him, trying to communicate this vital clue. Come on, Ben, he thought. Put the pieces together.

Ben’s eyes abruptly widened, and he stared at Leonine in shock. When a Forever dies, all of their Shades die with them, he whispered.

Leonine dropped his hands, a mixture of hope and relief swirling in his chest. She’s still alive.

Ben straightened up, and he walked past Leonine, pacing back and forth across Rowan’s room. That means she’s a Never now. We’ll have to find some way to contact her, unless she’s already on her way back here….

Ben’s outward thoughts became background noise as Leonine began to form a plan. It evolved quickly, and it wasn’t long before he was interrupting his friend’s musings.

Ben, he said. Ben stopped pacing and looked at him curiously. What’s today’s date?

Ben’s expression was incredulous as he told him. His eyes narrowed as he said, Why? What are you thinking?

Leonine exhaled in relief, leaning against the wall by the doorway as he spoke. When we turn into Forevers—or Nevers, in this case—we turn into a shadow and go to the next place we’re meant to be, right?

Yes, Ben said slowly, still not seeing where Leonine was going with this.

Well, the place I’m meant to be is with her. She could be in trouble, and today is my twenty-first birthday.

Ben’s head tilted to the side. Your birthday is the day after Rowan’s?

Leonine shrugged. We died on the same day.

Ben nodded. Makes sense.

Leonine turned, not giving Ben another look as he walked out the door, calling over his shoulder as he went. Find the others. Meet me on the top of the cliff in five minutes.

Andrea gripped Ethan’s hand tightly as they followed Ben and Kaitlyn through Shade Cove. She couldn’t believe what she’d heard Ben say.

Rowan was alive.

Though the logic Ben had used to explain the situation seemed sound, she couldn’t bring herself to believe him. Not until she saw Rowan in person.

She caught sight of Leonine when they reached the top of the cliff. The morning sun had risen high in the sky behind them, and it illuminated his tall form against the edge, where he was looking down at the waves below. He was perfectly still—not tense, really, just determined about the task he had decided on.

She couldn’t imagine what he had gone through when he’d seen Rowan die—she squeezed Ethan’s hand at the thought—but she was worried. What if he was wrong? Not just about Rowan being alive, but about the way to become a Never? His mistake could prove fatal.

She left Ethan’s side and walked to Leonine’s. He turned toward her, and his face held an odd light. She didn’t smile back, only frowned at him.

Are you sure about this? she asked.

He held up his left hand, displaying the cuff Rowan had conjured for him. Definitely.

She bit her lip. But are you sure you’ll end up where she is?

He looked out at the horizon. No, but it’s worth the risk. She could be in trouble.

And what if she is?

He looked at her sharply. What do you mean?

She held up her hands, palms facing toward him. Don’t misunderstand me. She dropped her arms. "I mean, what if she is in trouble? If you end up where she is, you might land yourself in the same trouble, and then you won’t be able to help her."

He sighed. I’m willing to take that chance.

She turned away, intending to wait with the others, but she felt his hand on her arm. She stopped, giving him a questioning look.

He gave her a small smile. Can you do it?

She arched an eyebrow. What?

Turn me.

Why?

He sighed again, releasing her arm and looking past the cliff before returning her gaze. Because you’re my sister. I trust you.

A surge of pride swelled inside her, and she grinned wryly at him. You don’t trust Ben?

He laughed. Of course I do. But with something like this, I need someone I know to do it, and I know you better than I know him.

With that, he laid down on the edge of the cliff, resting his arms by his sides and wrapping his fingers around crevices in the rock. He closed his eyes.

I’m ready, he said.

Andrea sucked in a sharp breath and held her hand over the side of the cliff, which was casting a large shadow on the water below. Her Sireblade came hurtling out of it, and as she gripped its hilt, she noted that the difference between this time and the last time she’d held this blade was staggering. Then, she’d had the intent of killing the Nevers.

Now, she would be creating one.

She got to her knees, holding the dagger over Leonine’s chest, and with a forceful push, sent it into his heart.

Leonine sat up with a start, blinking rapidly.

Compared to the bright sunlight that had been at Shade Cove, the dim fluorescent lighting of the room he was in now was remarkably low, and it hurt his eyes. He rubbed his eyelids as he stood up.

The room was large and completely enclosed in concrete, and the walls and floor were smooth to the touch. And unusually cold, he noted in suspicion. The space was long and rectangular, and