Born in the Shadows (In the Shadows Series Book 1)

by Courtney McPhail

  Despite the fact that they had just made love, she felt heat coil between her thighs at his words. She had the urge to climb under the covers and start things up again but she shook it off. Food first. Then they could get back to the sexy times.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said, kissing him on the cheek before scrambling out of the bed. She went to the closet and put on a robe before leaving the room.

  She practically floated her way down to the kitchen; she was way beyond cloud nine. Cloud twenty or thirty at least. She went to work on the fridge, going through the mountains of leftovers that Giovanni had wrapped up. She found herself humming a tune as she pulled out a tray and began to arrange various foods on it.

  “You seem happy.”

  Cordelia jumped in surprise, dropping a chicken wing on the kitchen floor. She turned to see Mary standing in the doorway, still clothed in the black dress she had worn to Olivia’s funeral. The funeral that had only happened a few hours before.

  Yet here she was, humming happily, as if she had no care in the world. She felt sick that she had forgotten about Olivia so easily.

  Her head dropped with shame and she looked at the floor, eyes glued to the streak of barbeque sauce that was smeared across the tile. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be acting like this. I just forgot myself.”

  “It’s okay, Cordy,” Mary said, her voice warm and reassuring. “It’s nice to see someone happy. And judging by that hickey on your neck, you have plenty of reason to be happy.”

  Now her cheeks burned with embarrassment and she looked at her reflection in the stainless steel fridge but couldn’t see any mark.

  “I don’t have a hickey.”

  “Nope, but you blushed which means that you thought it was possible that you had a hickey. That means you got lucky.”

  Cordelia couldn’t help but laugh as she snatched up a paper towel and set about cleaning up the mess on the floor. Mary came over to lean against the counter.

  “So tell me how was it?”

  “Amazing,” she replied, unable to stop smiling as she tossed the paper towels in the garbage and began to put away the leftovers. “It’s never been like that before. And I don’t think it was just because I’m a Shadow Walker now. I mean, yeah, I fed from him and that was mind blowing but it was more than that. I felt this intense connection with him.”

  “Aw, our little Cordy’s in love,” Mary said.

  “No I’m not,” she said quickly, her voice shrill even to her own ears. Mary arched an eyebrow in response but Cordelia kept up the denial act. “We had sex, that’s all. Sure it was great but I’m not in love with him.”

  “Uh huh, you keep telling yourself that.”

  She would because it was true. There was no way she was in love with Gabe. Love took time, lots of time, like years even, to grow. One night of great sex didn’t make you fall in love with someone. In lust, definitely, but not love.

  “You know I thought it was supposed to be brothers who teased you and sisters that gave advice. Apparently I was a grossly misinformed only child.”

  Mary chuckled. “Good sisters do both. So here’s some advice. Go feed your boy so he keeps his strength up. You can play with him all you want, just give him about eight hours before you feed from him again. Oh and try tying him up or telling him he has to obey your every word. Guys really like it when you are the dominant one.”

  “Thanks,” she said dryly before picking up the tray with all the food and heading back to her room.

  As she made her way through the manor, she mulled over Mary’s words. Not the sex advice but her mention of love. Despite her protests, Cordelia couldn’t stop thinking about the what-ifs. What if she was in love with him? What if it was true, what then?

  He was a human and he had a life outside the walls of the manor. He was here for now but as soon as Armand was caught, he would go back to his normal human life. She could try to fit in there but, even if she did, what kind of future could they possibly have together?

  Eventually he would want to settle down and start a family. That was something she couldn’t provide for him. She had given up the chance to give birth when she had become a Shadow Walker. She had also given up the chance to age. While he would continue to grow older, she would stay the same. Sure, she could ensure that by feeding from him the aging process would slow, but it wouldn’t stop completely. No matter what, their relationship would be doomed to fail.

  She had to face the truth. She and Gabe had no future together. Eventually she would have to let him go. Which meant she could not fall in love with him. She knew heartbreak when she saw it and she wouldn’t go down that road. This thing between them had to stay as just two consenting adults having some fun.

  No strings attached, no feelings, just pure fun, she reminded herself. That would be her new mantra, repeated any time she felt herself falling.

  She pushed open her bedroom door with her hip and walked in to find Gabe sitting up in the bed, remote in hand, as the television flashed in the background. She set the tray on the foot of the bed before climbing in next to Gabe.

  “I hope you don’t mind,” he said, nodding towards the television. “I just turned it on to check the time and then I saw my favourite movie was on.”

  “I don’t mind,” she said, pulling the blankets across her lap. He moved closer to her side and put the tray across their laps before putting his arm around her shoulders, cuddling close to her.

  No strings attached, no feelings, just pure fun.

  She wouldn’t think about love or the future anymore. She was just going to sit here, snacking on Giovanni’s delicious food and enjoy the antics of Steve Carell as a forty year old virgin with Gabe. And she definitely wouldn’t think about the fact that being here in this moment with Gabe felt right.

  Chapter 14

  Matthew paced the floor of the cabin, making a perfect square as he walked from the cot to the table to the wood stove to the door and back again. He had been making the circuit for what seemed like hours but could have been minutes for all he knew. The lack of windows and clocks made the passage of time irrelevant inside the cabin.

  He had not heard from Armand since the previous night. After the excitement over his kill had worn off, he had set about making plans. He had given Matthew the names of Shadow Walkers from various clans that might be sympathetic to their cause. He had instructed Matthew to make contact and arrange to meet up with them at the docks.

  Making the contacts had been easy. Initially he had been worried that they would shut him out when he said he was there on behalf of Armand but the worry was unfounded. Either the High Council was slower than usual and hadn’t condemned Armand yet or these Shadow Walkers were serious and had no fear of the Council. Either way, they had all been receptive to Armand’s invitation.

  They were a motley group, some with the obvious carriage of criminals while others looked like they would be most comfortable behind a desk at H&R Block. He wondered what their reasons were for risking their necks. Even the act of not reporting the invitation to the Council was considered treason. The Council was not known for mercy for those who went against them.

  Matthew knew he had good reason. When he heard Armand speak at the bar, his insistence about the true nature of Shadow Walkers echoed his own feelings. Matthew knew the true nature of the race and it certainly wasn’t what the Council had deluded the populace into believing.

  The Old Ones were not gods from another world who were forced to coexist with mankind. There was only one true God and to have His name corrupted by such creatures was blasphemy. The Old Ones were wolves in sheep’s clothing. They were demons sent here by Lucifer to corrupt human souls in the ancient battle of good and evil.

  Matthew had spent his entire human life learning of the wrath of God and he knew everything about the punishments that awaited those who were not righteous. He had done his best to live a life free of sin, the salvation that could be his in the afterlife always at the forefront of his mind. Yet in the e
nd, all his piety had meant nothing.

  When he had encountered his sire on the streets of Boston years ago, he had been on his way home from evening mass, his well-worn Bible clutched to his chest, armour against the sinners who haunted the streets at night.

  However, the holy tome had done nothing to ward off the Shadow Walker and Matthew found himself being lured into a dark alley, his body responding to commands that weren’t his own. His sire had whispered promises into his ear: power, wealth, freedom, immortality.

  Just like the snake in the Garden of Eden, Lucifer had tempted him with promises of hedonistic pleasures and he had fallen. In the end, the battle for his soul had gone to the side of evil.

  The loss had not upset him as much as he would have imagined. He had spent his human life working towards Paradise where his soul would return to His Holy embrace. He knew now that his soul was lost to the pits of Hell for eternity. But what if he could demonstrate to Lucifer that he was useful? Perhaps when the end of times did come, instead of burning for eternity, he could be a general waging war on Heaven itself.

  He had thrown himself into sinning with zeal. He had indulged in every urge and impulse that came to him and he had loved it. Eventually, however, he realized that it was not enough. Humans and Shadow Walkers alike did exactly what he did every day without a thought. How could he stand out if he was just one of billions?

  Then Armand had come to him. Like a disciple hearing a prophet for the first time, his ideas had pulled him in. It was time for war. A battle between the Shadow Walkers with thousands of casualties, both human and Shadow Walker, was sure to get the attention of a Higher Power. And if the Almighty took note, His vengeful fallen angel would too.

  It wasn’t brotherly fealty that had drawn him to Armand. It was the knowledge that their paths led to the same destination. It was better to travel with someone to watch your back than go it solo.

  A loud thump sounded outside the cabin door and Matthew halted half way between the cot and the table. He could hear some shuffling sounds outside and then the door opened. Armand was silhouetted in the doorframe carrying a large load over his shoulder.

  He staggered into the main room of the cabin and Matthew realized that it was a large Shadow Walker over Armand’s shoulder. He rolled his shoulder and the man dropped to the floor, his great weight causing the floorboards to groan.

  “Did you get the things I asked for?” Armand gasped, winded from carrying the man. Matthew nodded in response, his eyes never leaving their prone guest.

  “Good, now help me get him in there.”

  Matthew grabbed their captive’s feet while Armand hefted his shoulders and they brought him into the skinning room. Armand looked up at the hooks suspended from the ceiling, smiling in appreciation when he saw that Matthew had made the modifications that he had requested. Instead of straight chains hanging from the ceiling, Matthew had mounted the chains on a pulley system and had reinforced the anchors in the rafter.

  They placed the unconscious Shadow Walker face down on the floor and Armand went over to look at the tools that Matthew had spread out on a tarp in the corner. He had practically cleaned out the hardware store; there was everything from screwdrivers and hammers to power saws and nail guns.

  Armand picked up the electric drill that had been at the top of the list and the box of large metal screws that went along with it. Matthew watched as he went to the bag that he had placed under the cot the night before and rummaged around for a moment before pulling out a giant metal ring with two large holes cut through the metal.

  Armand came back to the room and kneeled down next to their prisoner’s head, indicating Matthew join him on the opposite side. “I’m going to need you to hold him down. He is drugged but this might get him kicking again.”

  Matthew did as instructed, pressing his full weight down on the prisoner’s shoulders as Armand slid the metal ring down over his head until the two holes lined up with the prisoner’s temples. He placed one of the screws on the end of the drill and lined it up with one hole.

  The whine of the drill split the silence as it bored through flesh and bone, blood spraying all over them as the screw went deep into the prisoner’s skull. Despite the excruciating pain that it must be causing, the prisoner didn’t move a muscle, even when Armand moved to the other side and drilled in the remaining screw.

  Armand sat back, a satisfied smile on his blood stained face. “There, even if he wakes up, there is no way for him to contact anyone or get into our heads.”

  “How do you know it will work?”

  “My sire told me about it, decades ago. The metal in them is a special alloy that renders a Shadow Walker’s mind tricks impotent. The Council banned them decades ago and ordered all of them destroyed but my sire got his hands on one of them somehow. When he died, I took it. I figured it might come in handy some day.”

  Armand disappeared into the main room before coming back with a couple rags, one of which he tossed to Matthew, who wiped off the blood spatter that coated his face and hands.

  “Time to truss him up,” Armand commanded, grabbing up the length of chain that Matthew had bought at his request.

  They worked silently as they bound the prisoner’s hands behind his back, using several padlocks to secure the chains. Matthew lowered the hooks from the ceiling and watched unfeeling as Armand pierced the bunched muscles of the prisoner’s shoulders with the hooks. When they were in deep enough to satisfy Armand, Matthew pulled on the chain and the pulley system worked just as it was designed.

  Their prisoner rose off the ground until his feet dangled a foot and a half off the floor. In this position, even if he was fully conscious, there was no possible way for him to find purchase or leverage to get himself off the hooks. He was completely at their mercy.

  “Perfect,” Armand said, standing back to admire their work. The prisoner’s chin was resting on his chest, his legs swaying lifelessly, blood dripping down his back and onto the floor, the fresh crimson mixing with the dark brown stains of old blood.

  “Did you make contact with the names I gave you?”

  Matthew nodded. “They were receptive. They will be meeting us at the docks tomorrow night.”

  “Good. I want to size them up and see who we can trust enough to meet our guest here.”

  “Who is he?” Matthew asked, genuinely curious. He had to be someone important for Armand to have gone to all this trouble but Matthew did not recognize him.

  “He’s the key to winning us followers,” Armand said, his fangs flashing menacingly as he smiled. “What better way to show the others what I’m capable of than kidnapping a second son of Zopyros.”

  Matthew looked back at their prisoner and the realization of the true extent of what had happened here tonight hit him. What he had participated in was something that he would never be able to take back. If this was who Armand claimed it was, they had kidnapped one of the progeny of Nicomachus, one of the most prominent members of the High Council. If they did not succeed with their plan to overthrow the Council, both he and Armand would be skinned alive before being strung up to burn in the sun.

  Which meant that Matthew needed to do some serious work to make sure they did not fail. Armand had taken the first steps and Matthew was going to go even further. He had some ideas of avenues to pursue in order to secure victory for their side. Armand’s sire had not been the only one to pass along secrets about their world.

  The war had begun but the enemy had no idea. By the time they realized how serious it was, it would be too late and they would fall beneath the armies of Lucifer with Matthew leading the charge.

  ***

  Nicky stood at the edge of his property, studying the stars that had already filled the sky. There would be more later in the night but he enjoyed the sky when there were fewer stars. It seemed less crowded and made it easier to breathe.

  Unfortunately, he wasn’t out here to enjoy the night sky. He was out here to escort the Enforcer into his home, where the me
mbers of his family would be interrogated about the death of one of their own.

  He hated that he would have to subject them to the process, knowing that he was more than capable of giving all the information to the Enforcer. But the law dictated that everyone present at a murder be interviewed in order to rule out any foul play on their parts. This was one of the times when he hated the old laws. There was no compassion or empathy in them, just logic and rational thought with no willingness to bend.

  The snapping of a twig alerted him to the Enforcer’s presence and Nicky turned around slowly, eyes searching the shadows. All he could see were the outlines of trees but then one of the trees moved and the shape of a male formed before his eyes.

  “Hello Isaac,” Nicky greeted him, craning his neck to meet him eye to eye.

  Isaac was well over six and a half feet tall and dressed in all black; it was easy to see how he could be mistaken for a tree. His chest was as wide as an oak and the long sleeved cotton tee he wore showed every line of definition there. His arms were thick with muscle and each leg was a wide as Nicky’s chest.

  “Nicomachus, first son of Zopyros,” Isaac greeted him formally. “I am here tonight to question your clan about the death of your Datores Sanguis.”

  “I accept you here,” Nicky replied with the formal acknowledgement. Isaac was all business, all the time. It was why he was so good at his job. Unfortunately, his dedication over the years had moulded him into a hard male. Nicky could remember a time when Isaac had smiled freely but that had been a very long time ago.

  Now he kept his mouth in a hard line and his amber eyes no longer shone with happiness. There was just a cold purpose, the light offering no warmth whatsoever. One could not help but feel a menacing air surround them when they gazed into those eyes.

  Nicky did his best to shake it off as he turned and began to lead the way back to the manor. He knew he could not blame Isaac for the aura he projected. After the existence he had led, Isaac had more than earned the right to be hard.