Pathetic

'Crap!" Jake grimaced with a regretful expression as he arrived too late in front of a hole-ridden young woman. The powerful radiation emitted from those spikes was charring the surrounding tissue at a frightening rate.

How could Carmin have been so careless that she forgot the most elementary principles of precaution? He could only blame himself for overestimating her maturity.

Then he froze, even carefully drawing his saber as he backpedaled.

Had Jake really overestimated her? That wasn't the point. It didn't matter if he overestimated her or not, because he wasn't relying on his judgment alone to make his plans.

His Shadow Guide hadn't moved all along. That Wyatt didn't want to be found was one thing he could accept, but that his Shadow Guide remained unmoved in the face of a Carmine in mortal danger? Even if he were a hundred times dumber he would have realized something was wrong.