by Jan Stryvant
“Does Jake know about me?” He asked.
“He knows her father is a super who I once lived with, that I was sent away because you didn’t want me to be like you. That you wanted me to be better and that you spent a lot of money on getting me well educated.”
“Did you tell him I was evil?” Shadow asked curiously.
“Of course not!” Karen said and gave him a weak smack.
Shadow smiled, she was getting her spirit back now.
“I told him you were bad, yes, but deep down you were good.”
“Thanks. So where do you want me to take you?”
“Umm, can’t you just leave me here and call the police or something.”
Shadow shrugged, “I could do that, but I’d rather not leave you here in case one of them comes back. Just a sec.”
Shadow walked over to the body and took the cell phone that was clipped to its belt.
“Here, use this one. But let me move you first.”
Shadow changed to his flying form then, enjoying the gasp of surprise from Karen.
“You look like a demon!” she exclaimed. His flying form had large bat-like wings and he had a pair of wicked looking horns sticking up from his head now that curved out slightly then curved back up straight, rising above his head.
“Cool, huh?” He grinned, “I married the Angel, so I thought it was only fitting, plus it’s fun flying with her.”
“Aren’t the horns a bit much though?”
Shadow laughed, “Actually it’s so the kids can sit on my shoulders and have something to hold onto. But don’t tell anyone I told you that.”
Karen giggled. “Anyone else, I’d say they were full of it.”
Shadow picked her up carefully then, noticing the wince.
“How about I just drop you off at a hospital, okay?”
Karen nodded, eyes a little glazed. She’d forgotten how bad she hurt until he’d moved her.
“Okay, you point and I’ll fly.”
“That way.”
Shadow nodded and was off. He listened as she dialed her husband and told him where to meet her. He could hear the initial panic when the phone was answered and the cry of relief when her husband knew she was safe. Hearing the concern gave Shadow a nice feeling inside. Karen had done well.
“So what do I tell everyone when they start asking what happened?” Karen said as he started to back wing to a landing on the helipad at the hospital.
“Tell them you summoned a demon,” Shadow said grinning, and showing a lot of fang in the process. He was sure at this point they were on a security cam or something. “It’s not like it’s far from the truth. Besides, if anyone ever does kill you, I promise that what I do to them will look positively demonic by the time I’m done.”
“I don’t know that that’s right, Shadow,” Karen said as he set her down.
“But that is what will happen, Kitten.” Shadow kissed her on the forehead again. “It’s not a matter of what’s right, it’s a matter of what the powerful do when they’re in a righteous rage.”
Karen watched as he flew off into the night. He was barely out of sight when the hospital staff came rushing out and put her on a stretcher and took her inside. She had called him, and he had come. She was sure if she ever called again, he’d come again, he all but said as much. So she knew for sure, he did love her, and apparently he’d finally found someone who could love him back. She was happy; she had worried about him often over the years. He had been right to send her away, she could see that now. But sometimes she wondered what if she had stayed? Sure she’d be less than she was now, but what would she have gotten in the trade?
Shadow waited until he’d put a couple of miles between the Hospital and himself, then he called Shirley and told her where he was.
“Is everything alright hon?”
“Everything is fine dear. But it’s going to be a while before I make it home. Probably noon tomorrow.”
“Why so long?”
“Cause I’m flying on my own power.”
“Can’t you get a car or another plane?”
“I lost my wallet, and my money, when I jumped out of the plane. Which reminds me, could you cancel my credit cards?”
“Sure, I’ll do it in the morning. Sure you don’t want to land and call the local feds? I could ask them to send you home as a favor to me.”
“Trust me hon, the less people that know I was here, the better.”
“Oh, one of those,” he heard her sigh.
“I’ll tell you all about it when I get home.”
“Okay dear.”
Shadow hung up and put the phone in his pocket. He gained a little bit of altitude and tried to pace himself. Six hundred miles was a long way to go. At least he could see the highway and follow it. Keeping up with the traffic turned out to be easier than he thought, and having only to stop twice to relieve himself he actually made it home ten hours later. Wing’s sore, and tired, he crawled into bed between his wife and his slave and didn’t even wake up when both got out of bed to begin their day a few hours later.
Priorities
A week later Shadow was sitting at Shirley’s desk killing time. They were practicing in their local danger room, the team that was, Shadow was just drowsing in her chair waiting to take her out to lunch when they finished. He did go out with them on occasion these days, but he laid low and no one usually knew he was there. He only intervened if it looked like someone was going to get badly hurt, or if Shirley was going to get hurt at all, and even then still kept out of sight if possible. He had no honest desire to be associated with crime fighting of any stripe.
“Excuse me, Shadow,” Shadow looked up, it was Chelle, one of the secretaries from downstairs who worked with the regular agents, “but we have a guy downstairs from one of the southern federal offices. He wants to talk to Tomas about something, but I told him they were busy, so he asked if he could wait up here until they were done.”
Shadow nodded, “Sure, send him up. I’ll keep an eye on him for you.”
“Thanks, Shadow!” She smiled and a minute later she brought up a man and introduced him.
“This is Gene Fuller; he’s with the Saint Louis office. Gene, this is Shadow.”
Shadow nodded and examined the other man as Chelle left the room closing the door behind her. Shadow had immediately recognized the name. It was Karen’s husband.
“The room’s safe. Swept it myself an hour ago,” Shadow said stretching out and yawning. He was in his sex form; he liked appearing harmless and attractive around the offices. Made for a more friendly reception.
“So you know who I am obviously.” Gene said sitting down.
Shadow noticed he didn’t sit close, leaving a nice bit of distance between them.
“I won’t bite,” Shadow said with a toothy grin.
“I must warn you, I am not without resources of my own. I am quite capable of defending myself.”
“Let’s not go there, okay?” Shadow warned with a faint growl.
“Why? I feel it’s only fair to warn you.”
Shadow sat up in the chair and put his feet flat on the floor and looked Gene straight in the eyes. “You are Karen’s husband. She loves you. Therefore I cannot do anything to you as it would hurt her. So let’s not get into any dick sizing contests, alright?”
Gene blinked, “I’m not sure I understand.”
“I’m not human; I have a different value system. Now, why are you here?”
“Karen told me what happened.”
“Only you I hope?”
“And she made me promise not to tell anyone else.”
“Better still,” Shadow purred.
“Yes, as much as I detest it, you will not be connected to the murders of those men in the warehouse.”
“Self defense,” Shadow smiled.
“Some of those men appeared to have been taken unawares,” Gene said sounding rather cross.
“My position on self defense is rather proactive,” Shadow sa
id and tried not to growl, settling instead for one of his nastier smiles. “I wasn’t going to give them a chance to kill me first. Besides they had already kidnapped and killed. Does the term ‘justifiable homicide’ mean anything to you?”
“You had no idea they had killed.”
“Don’t be so sure of that.” Shadow leaned back in the chair again, “So you’ve rubbed your moral superiority in my face and gotten that out of the way. Of course as I said before, I have a different value system so you just wasted both of our times. Now why are you here?”
“Doesn’t it bother you? The killing?” Gene looked surprised.
Shadow pointed at his own head, “Hello! Leopard, predator, highly evolved killing machine. I thought Karen said you were a genius?”
Shadow noticed that Gene actually looked embarrassed. “She was right about you.”
“Of course, she’s my kitten.”
“That’s my wife you’re talking about there,” Gene replied a little hotly.
“Yes, I know she’s your wife. These are not mutually exclusive things, and the fact that she called me shows that she still feels the same way. Which brings us back to the original question.” Shadow growled softly, “Why are you here? It is best for all concerned that there are no connections between Karen and myself. It means my enemies do not ever become your enemies. It is for her safety, and her daughter’s. So why are you here? Either tell me, or leave.”
Shadow could see as he talked that Gene looked upset, and angry. Now if he’d just talk things could progress.
“She called you. It’s been what, ten years? I’ve been married to her for five now? And she called you! She didn’t call me. She called a vicious sociopath and not the man who loves her!”
Shadow sat back up and looked surprised. He could hear the jealously in Gene’s voice, and the possessiveness. Karen really had done okay; this guy really had it for her big time.
“If she had called you, would you have survived? Would she have survived?”
“It doesn’t matter!” Gene literally thundered at Shadow, “I would have saved her or died trying!”
“That’s the point you’re missing here Gene. Died. She had just seen one of your team killed; do you think she wanted to risk the life of the man she loves next? Think like a woman here. She can call you, and maybe get you or her killed, or she can call someone who she knows probably still loves her, who’s saved her before, and is the meanest, nastiest, son of a bitch alive, who will stop at absolutely nothing to save her. And if he gets killed? Well at least the man she loves is still alive!”
Shadow watched Gene struggling with that one for a moment.
“But that, that’s cold blooded ....”
“No Gene, it’s a woman protecting her family. It’s instinct. It’s nature. It’s what I would expect. Besides I’m a sociopath, you said so yourself, why should you care?”
Gene blushed then. “Sorry about that.”
Shadow waved a hand and laughed, “Don’t worry about it; I’ve been called worse names.
“But the simple fact of the matter is, she was so worried about you getting hurt that she took a chance on getting me. And it worked. She’s safe, you’re safe, and everyone thinks that when she got desperate she summoned a big damned deadly freaking demon that has no conscious and shows no mercy. Next time, if there is a next time and I dearly hope not, the bad guys will be thinking ransom and ‘lets get her the fuck out of here and back home safe before she wigs out and we all die’. Right?”
Shadow watched as Gene turned that one around in his mind and thought about it. He was silent for about a minute.
“In a weird sort of a way, that makes sense.” Gene finally said.
“That’s why I landed in view of the security cam at the hospital. But not dead center in plain view. I saw the fuzzy photos they got of me. And the guys that survived, do you think they’re going to say they got beat by some regular guy when they can make up stories about a fearsome demon that materialized out of thin air? Course not; they don’t want to look like wimps. In a week I’ll have been calling fire, or shooting acid, or something equally strange.”
“You know, you don’t sound half as bad as Karen said you were.”
“Well back when I sent Karen away, I would have killed them all for the insult of attacking that which was mine. I’ve mellowed since then.”
“I’d hate to have seen what you were like then if this is mellow!” Gene said with a chuckle. “I do have one other question if you don’t mind?”
“I mind, but ask anyways.”
“Why did you send her away?”
Shadow sighed, “Because I love her.”
“I don’t understand.” Gene shook his head.
“Understanding isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.” Shadow leaned back in the chair, “I hear them coming. Go see Tomas, he’s smart enough to not ask why you were really here and cover for you.”
Shadow watched as Gene got up and moved to a seat further away, then got up again when the team entered the room to go talk to Tomas. Shadow grabbed Shirley and went off to get some lunch.
“What’s he want?”
“A private word about last week,” Shadow said softly once they’d gotten out of earshot.
“Who is he?”
“Karen’s husband, but no one is supposed to know that, okay?”
“Sure, Hon. Any problems?”
“Nah, I think he saw the logic of the situation.”
“And you didn’t have to threaten him? Wow, I’m impressed.”
“Ha ha. Let’s go eat.”
“Yes, dear,” Shirley grinned.
Road Trip
A Trip East
“No, Tomas,” Shadow said, “I’m not interested.”
“Shadow,” Tomas said exasperated, “do you think I would be asking you to do this if I had any choice? This is serious. It is serious beyond anything I’ve ever dealt with in my life.”
“I realize that, Tomas, but the answer is still the same.”
Tomas gave a grunt of frustration. “Why? Why won’t you help?”
“Because it’s outside of my territory,” Shadow said it in a tone that made it seem that he was explaining the obvious.
“You’ve been there before, you know the area.”
“That was then, this is now. I have children, my mate, others who depend on me. My territory must be protected.”
Tomas stopped mid-stride and looked at Shadow, he realized suddenly that Shadow would not help him not because he didn’t want to, but because he couldn’t. The cat had put down roots and did not care what went on elsewhere if it didn't affect him.
“You realize that they could come here, as well as anyplace else.” Tomas tried a different tack, “Actually the odds are fairly good that they will come here eventually if they’re not stopped. Wouldn’t you rather take them on before they enter your territory? The best defense ....”
“Is a strong offense, yes I know. If they come here, they'll soon regret it. If they show any signs of coming here, ask me again and we'll see. But for now they seem content to stay where they are. Let the Fed’s deal with them, Tomas.”
Tomas threw up his hands, “I can’t do that, Shadow, it’s not in my nature.” and he walked out of the room.
“So what did Tomas want?” Shirley asked him later that day.
“He’s worried about the situation in some city back east. Nothing that concerns us.”
“Oh you mean the Volksburg case. Yeah, he brought that up to the team this afternoon.”
“He - Did - What?” Shadow said slowly enunciating each word carefully.
Shirley continued, apparently not noticing. “Oh, just told us what they knew, what had happened, that he had been asked to go and help and he was going.”
Shadow felt his muscles tense, “and?” he growled.
“Oh, he asked for a few volunteers.”
“Who?” Shadow growled again, turning to look into Shirley’s eyes.
&
nbsp; Shirley smiled at him, “Why the whole team of course. We couldn’t let him go without us.”
“You can’t go!” He growled.
“Oh?” Shirley looked at him curiously, “Why not?”
“I won’t allow it!”
“Oh you won’t will you?” Shirley put her nose against Shadow’s and growled right back at him.
Shadow flinched. “I already told Tomas I wouldn’t go, so you can’t go.”
“Guess I’ll just have to go by myself then. Won’t I, Dear,” Shirley said.
“I am not going to let my mate go off on a dangerous expedition without me,” Shadow tried not to growl, but Shirley could see her mate was extremely angry. “Don’t do this to me.”
“This is important, Hon, someone has to do it, and you know it!”
“Then let someone else do it! It doesn’t have to be you!”
“They need help, we have the skills they need, and we’re available.”
“Shirley, please!”
Shirley sighed and hugged her mate, he was extremely tense, “Sorry, Hon, I’m going. This time you’re not getting your way.”
“I can’t let you go alone!” He growled.
“Tomas and the team will be there, I won’t be alone,” Shirley teased.
“You know what I mean!”
“Well, I guess you’d better go tell Tomas you’ve changed you mind then, hadn’t you?”
“Right after I beat him to death with his own arm,” Shadow snarled.
“Now now, Dear, he outmaneuvered you fair and square.”
“You didn’t have to help him!”
Shirley leaned back a bit and looked up into Shadow’s eyes, “I didn’t intend too, I didn’t know you’d turned him down. To be honest I don’t know why you don’t want to go, and unless you have a damn good reason, like outstanding arrest warrants or the like, I’m not changing my mind. So be a dear and don’t break him, you owe him just as much as I do after all.”
Shadow growled again and nodded slowly. “I’ll be back shortly, Dear.” And giving Shirley a quick kiss they separated and he stalked out of the room and headed to Tomas’s office.