Shadow's Touch

by T. M. Hart

  I believed I understood her meaning and I had to hold back a gag. I wanted to fight her, to strike her . . . but I couldn’t. There was something around her, some kind of field or energy. And although she could touch me, and I could feel her, I could not initiate any contact with her.

  Those dead crystallized eyes of hers searched my own. Then a smile spread across her black lips, and she reached up to hold my face in both her hands. She tilted my head up a notch and kissed me.

  I tried to pull away from her. I didn’t want her anywhere near me. But I was powerless. She had a hold on me.

  She traced my lips with her tongue and then bit my bottom lip—hard. She sucked on the blood that welled there making an umm sound.

  Then she pulled back from me, smiling, with my blood staining her white teeth. “But,” she whispered, petting my cheek, “if you are a good little girl . . . you will be rewarded.”

  I cringed. Disturbed by her.

  I gathered all of my will, all of my strength, and I tried to hit her. But my hand wouldn’t move. Whatever shield she had in place was too powerful.

  I could try to make a run for it. I would have to get around her and those two things, but if I made it to the door . . . perhaps I’d have a chance.

  A black smoky shadow began to expand around her. It arched and grew like a cobra’s flaps, making her appear larger and more dangerous. The firelight in the room fought to remain, gasping as if the oxygen suddenly became sparse. The world became cold and black—so bleak and hopeless.

  And with an eerie stillness, those two things behind her lost their physical form. Their bodies shifted, and they seemed to dissolve. I realized what I had seen—the physical shape they had maintained—was merely a shell. It was a vessel for what they truly were.

  They became actual shadows. They were dark space, nothing more. Yet the evil they carried was somehow intensified, freed of the constraints of the bodies they walked around in.

  When she spoke next, her voice became layered and amplified, underscored by screeches and wails as if monsters from the grave had possessed her. “You stupid girl! Attempt to defy me one moment more and you will know suffering unlike any you could have ever imagined.”

  She held up both palms, curling and flexing them as if contemplating doing something. In the end, though, the shadows wavering around her began to settle and vanish. And as they did, the two Umbra behind her solidified once again.

  “Seize her,” she commanded. And she turned away to exit the suite without waiting for them to collect me.

  I tried to dig deep for a blast of energy, but I just didn't have any to release. I was empty.

  Really, it didn’t matter.

  One of the things made a low whispering gurgle sound and I felt a faint stir in my chest. I cringed at the feeling . . . at the horror . . . at the realization.

  I was connected to them.

  It was a paltry thread. One that I knew I could break. I knew if I could just purge more of the dark and cold from my body—if he would take it away again, completely—this connection would be destroyed. But none of that was comforting. None of it could cushion the shock of my newfound understanding.

  And they grabbed me.

  I didn’t fight them. I didn’t want them to release any of that black acrid smoke. I couldn’t bear the thought of inhaling more of it. Of having it take up residence within my body. Of having a piece of them inside me.

  They grabbed me. Swaths of evil, like long cold skeletal fingers, enveloped me. And as if I had never been, they turned me into smoke.

  ◆◆◆

  It was the ruins of an ancient castle. Remnants of stone walls were all that remained. We entered through a massive archway which at one time would have housed the portcullis. Above us was the night sky, full of heavenly bodies. The large expanse of the bailey was covered in grass and littered with piles of fallen rock. Pieces of the walls had crumbled and collapsed giving an uneven and odd shape to what was left of the structure.

  Perhaps Rheneas had known something. He had tried so hard to convince me to listen to Maxim and return home. Yet he had not warned me of this.

  After our visit with Belcalis, Rheneas and Stefan had driven me back to the manor. Apparently, Maxim had been called away on something urgent. I had found out that Rheneas was the one with dark brown hair and Stefan the dark blond.

  Both had been very reserved and detached in their interactions with me, but one thing had been clear; they both held a deep respect for Maxim.

  Just as he had done outside the inn, Rheneas had urged me to return home. He had told me they could take me that night. At the time, I had a feeling it had to do with the uprising that was brewing, and the fliers for the rally. However, as I was led into the castle remains, I wondered if they had known this woman would come for me. Only a few hours had passed since they had dropped me off, and now I was being bound.

  The woman had one of the Umbra secure my wrists. The other slipped a hook through the bindings and then my arms were raised by a pulley hanging from a beam which had been rigged to one of the walls.

  The Umbra pulled until my bound hands were directly overhead. Then it gave an extra yank so that my feet were no longer flat on the ground. My toes just skimmed the earth and I was left hanging there.

  But being restrained and held captive was not the worst offense in the darkness of the castle ruins. What turned my stomach, was the oozing mess gurgling on the grass.

  I almost vomited when I realized what I was looking at.

  It was the third Umbra. I knew it was. It was the one that had breathed into me. The one that had poisoned me. The one that had forced itself into me. I could feel the connection to it.

  It was in its physical form, yet much of its midsection had liquefied, turning into a congealed mess of body parts. Organs and skin floated in black greasy oil.

  And because of the flicker of connection I felt with the thing, I knew it suffered in untold agony–the likes of which most would never be able to comprehend.

  Following my gaze, the woman gave a wicked smile. “You see,” she said crossing to me. She began to circle around me, skimming her fingers along my body as she did. “You don’t want to defy me princess. I will make you pray for your end. It is ever so much better if we get along.”

  I had changed into leggings and a t-shirt after Rheneas and Stefan had dropped me off. Now hanging from my bound wrists, my shirt had ridden up, exposing my midriff. The woman stopped to rake her black fingernail over the exposed section of my waist. Then she trailed the nail up from my navel to my chin, curling her finger there. I felt compelled to look at her, and those iced eyes chilled me.

  “What?” she asked. “Don’t tell me you have pity for it.” Rage contorted her face and she leaned into me. A sickly-sweet scent filled my nose.

  “Do you know how difficult it is to manipulate dreams? Have you any idea the level of power it takes to manifest a waking fantasy? To influence another from a great distance with nothing but a single strand of hair?”

  She reminded me of the Shadow Prince then. There was a madness in her eyes—the same as that which I had seen in him. And I couldn’t stop the shiver that spasmed over my skin.

  I tried to appease her, wanting to buy myself time. “I can’t imagine,” I murmured.

  “No,” she snapped, pulling her finger back with a flick. “Of course you can’t. Your puny mind is nothing. You have lived but for a speck of time in the unending drudgery of existence. You are not capable of understanding.

  “I have spent thousands of lifetimes waiting for this. Planning and sacrificing for this. And this cur thinks to ruin it all in an instant?!”

  She crossed to the Umbra lying on the floor, and reached down to stroke its matted, gurgling head. “But I am a forgiving mistress, am I not?” she cooed. “I have shown leniency.”

  The thing looked up at her with black ooze dribbling out of its mouth and moved its lips wordlessly.

  “I know,” the woman reassured, pat
ting the Umbra. “You are forgiven.” Then she gave its head a shove and walked away from it. “Only three more days of sunlight for you,” she called over her shoulder.

  The woman looked at me then, shrugging a shoulder. “You see the mercy I show?”

  I glanced at the sweeping view of the open sky above. Although it was night now, it seemed obvious that the Umbra was being tortured by the exposure to the daylight.

  “What did it do?” I asked.

  “It disobeyed me, my dear. They were not to kiss you. Only to fetch you.” She threw up her hands. “And yet here I am, forced to do the work myself. Such banality.”

  “What do you want with me?”

  The woman crossed to me again and began to pet my cheek. She put her lips next to my ear. “Oh, fair princess,” she murmured, “I’ve come for your Light, of course.”

  My reply was calm and firm. “I don’t have any. I used the last of it to try and stave off your minions. And I haven’t seen the sun in days.”

  She laughed then. It was a cackle unlike anything I had heard before. The crazed, demented sound bounced across the stone walls and assailed the quiet night sky. When she had calmed, she stood in front of me and played with the strands of my hair that tumbled down the front of my shoulders, gently pulling and tugging, twisting tendrils around her finger before letting them fall.

  Her black lips parted in a smile. “You don’t know, do you?”

  I said nothing.

  “Although,” she chastised, disregarding her own question, “I am very unhappy with you.” She continued to caress my hair, letting her nails claw over my neck and collar bone as she did. “I sent you all kinds of wonderful dreams and fantasies. I gave you your deepest desires. And I know my pet must be frothing at the mouth for you.”

  She yanked on my hair. “And you two do nothing. You waste my time!”

  Taking a deep breath, she released her hold and began to fix my hair into place. “Still, I have you here now. And I know my pet will join us shortly—he will not be able to stay away from you.”

  She smirked. “I am so delighted that you accepted my proposal. It has made everything I’ve worked so hard for begin to fall into place. I’m so close now, I can feel it.”

  “Your proposal?” I asked.

  “Of course,” she replied. “You didn’t really think my little pet had anything to do with it, did you?”

  “I thought it had been the decision of the Shadow Court,” I replied, hoping she would keep talking.

  Her eyes slitted and the air around us froze. “I am the Shadow Court,” she hissed. “Those twits in parliament are there to serve me. They do my bidding. I am The Contessa.”

  She reveled at her own title and it seemed to soothe her. She took a breath and notched her chin, calming. “It matters not. What we need now is my pet.” She began stroking my hair again.

  “The Shadow Prince,” I established.

  “It has been ever so long since I paid him a visit. He must miss me terribly,” she huffed. “But I’ve been rather busy, haven’t I? Tell me, does he talk of me? Does he regale you with tales of our time together?”

  I gave a crooked smile and replied. “Not at all.” She was too vague with information, and I was beginning to get annoyed. I wanted to piss her off.

  She took a step back from me and hissed, “You insolent girl. You will be punished.” She looked at one of the Umbra in a silent command.

  It came towards me. I tried to kick at it, but it clutched my legs and yanked them apart before stepping between them. As it put its face into mine, I ticked my neck back to head-butt it.

  Except as the thing opened its black hole of a mouth, The Contessa grabbed its head, yanking it in her direction and put her lips over the Umbra’s. After their gruesome kiss, she pushed the thing away. “Leave us!”

  Vestiges of black smoke whorled around her lips. She licked and sucked at them, staring at me. The caustic stench of burning rubber permeated from her, assaulting my nose with each breath I took. I openly cringed.

  And I could immediately see a difference in her. Those dead gray eyes became newly crystallized. Her hair became shinier. Her lips and the lining around her eyes, blacker. Her deathly white skin paled even more. And the air of malevolence around her amplified.

  She also seemed revived, in a sense. She raised an eyebrow at me. “I think I’d like to have a little fun while we’re waiting. What about you?”

  I didn’t answer, though. Because it was then that I sensed a presence just outside the ruins.

  And the very tips of my toes iced. The ground below frosted over. And a large frame filled the archway of the crumbling castle.

  He paused, taking in the scene before him. Time seemed to still and then a heinous roar erupted from his chest and blackness swirled in his eyes. He began to stalk towards me.

  The Contessa’s voice was quiet but lethal. “That’s enough, mutt.”

  He stopped but didn’t take his eyes off me.

  “You can have her as a treat. If you behave.” The Contessa skimmed her fingers across the swell of my breasts and up the column of my neck where she started to squeeze, slowly cutting off my air supply. “I might even let you keep her as a plaything after I’ve drained her.”

  Something within him snapped and he charged The Contessa throwing her into the stone wall where she crumpled to the ground. She looked up at him, stunned and disheveled.

  “What are you doing?” she screeched. She staggered to her feet, menace rolling off her in icy blasts. She reached him and backhanded him across his face. “Kneel before me,” she commanded.

  He grabbed her by the throat and hefted her into the air. Her hands came up around his and her toes dangled two feet above the ground. He was breathing so heavily that his words came out between gulps of air, like an animal’s growl. “If you . . . touch . . . her . . . I will end you.”

  A wave of blackness pulsed from The Contessa sending shadows screaming through the open air all around us. They obstructed all the light from the night sky, and I could see nothing for a moment. Then in a whomp of vibrating space, they were sucked away as if through a tear in the fabric of this world.

  The Contessa and the Umbra were gone.

  He stood there with his back to me, his shoulders heaving. After what seemed like a small eternity, he turned to face me. I gasped at the unadulterated hatred consuming his black eyes.

  His dark hair was disheveled and wild with the gusts of arctic air blasting around him. Again, he wore only dark slacks. Each rigid muscle along his chest and abdomen flexed with the erratic breathes he took. And the black mark over his heart seemed to shimmer under the moonlight. It was enough to make me want to believe Maxim’s tale.

  He began to take one halting step after another towards me until he stood just an inch away. And in that inch of space I had no choice but to breath him in as he stared down at me.

  I swallowed, looking up at him. I couldn’t think about the ache in my arms restrained above or the icy chill on my exposed skin. I was trapped, bound in place, and he was too close. All I could do was breathe. And with each inhale, there he was.

  I began to lift my legs up inch by inch, dragging out the motion, careful not to startle him in the state he was in. Until finally, I wrapped my legs around his hips. I closed my eyes for a moment and let out a breath. Then I felt his hands envelope my waist.

  He lifted me up and I was granted enough slack that I could slip my bound wrists from the hook. I didn’t dare lace my arms around his neck. Instead I brought them down between us, to let them cover my chest, feeling the sharp sting as blood rushed back into them.

  And leaving behind the deserted ruins to bask in the quiet moonlit peace once again, we slipped away.

  Chapter 20

  “What. The. Fuck.” I shouted at him.

  The instant we had slammed back into the Dark Manor—into that same room again, he had thrown me out of his arms and retreated from me.

  “What the ever-loving fuck?
!” I repeated.

  There was no reply, and I snapped. “Oh, that’s it.” I began to make my way to the door, fuming, muttering to myself the whole way. “That is it. I am sick of this boll-shit.”

  I flung the chamber door open and stormed out into the dark hallway. “Someone is getting murdered tonight. I don’t care if it’s him or me, but someone is getting killed. And this time I mean it!”

  I gave the bindings around my wrists a snap. I could feel him following behind me, and I was glad I wouldn’t have to come back looking for him. It would make stabbing him that much easier.

  I had put this all off for too long, and look where it had gotten me. It was time I stopped waiting for answers and did something.

  “I’m getting my dagger and I’m running it straight through his heart or I’m gonna die trying.” I raised my voice and called over my shoulder,” Fair warning, Shadow Boy! You’d better make peace and prepare yourself for your ending.”

  Having done the honorable thing, I returned to my muttering and I made the long trek through the darkened hall on my way to my suite.

  “And right after I stab him, I’m going back to that god forsaken place and I’ll wait for that psycho-bitch and stab her too. Right in her black shriveled heart. Then I’m going to hunt down whoever is leading this resistance and personally shake their hand while contacting the Radiant Court and sending reinforcements.

  “And finally, I’m going to make Maxim take me to his mother to learn how Shadow Boy’s, here, fucking father locked away the Umbra, so I can bury them. Which should be his goddamn job—not mine. But it seems that he’s too fucking lazy to put on some goddamn clothes and take care of his own fucking business.

  “And then I’m taking a goddamn vacation. And I’m going to lay out in the sun all day every day. I’m going to go to the Caribbean with Kill. I’ll figure out whatever incubus type bullshit has been going on here and I’ll figure out how to use it in my personal life. And I can finally have a normal adult relationship with someone.”

  When I reached my suite, I flung the doors open and marched straight to my music player. I cued up one of the songs I liked to play before I went out hunting with Killian, Watts, and the other guys from The Unit. Going to Hell by The Pretty Reckless began blasting from the speakers.