Shadow Dancer Boxed Set

by Courtney Rene

  Lucas gave me a toothy grin from where he leaned negligently against the trunk of a green shaggy pine tree. Even as shadows danced over him, he still looked really good to my eyes. His dark blue almost black jeans were just tight enough to show off his long muscled legs. His arms were crossed over his wide t-shirt covered chest. His biceps were cut and defined in an easy show of strength without him even trying.

  "Lucas, you scared the poop out of me! What are you doing sneaking around the woods anyway?"

  "I was making sure you didn't leave without saying hello this time."

  "Oh. I'm sorry, Lucas," I said as I realized he meant the night before. "I needed to get home. It was getting late."

  I turned to head toward the castle. Lucas fell into step next to me. "Do you know where Gabriel is?"

  "Yeah, he's down at the training field," he said. "Where he's been since four. Waiting for you."

  I glanced down at my watch and grimaced as I realized it was almost five. I hurried faster, in the direction Lucas has indicated. "I didn't say I would be here at four, I said I would be here by five but would try for earlier."

  "Doesn't bother me any, but for argument sake, why are you late then?"

  I sighed. "Prom."

  He hesitated a moment then said, "Prom? I don't know what that is."

  "You know, prom. Dresses? Dancing? Twinklie lights?"

  He shook his head. "Nope. No clue."

  Oh. No proms in Acadia? "Well, it's a dance that's for the juniors and seniors," I began, but Lucas was already shaking his head in confusion.

  I tried a different way. "Um…in high school the last two years are the eleventh and twelfth grade, also called juniors and seniors."

  "Okay," he said as he followed along.

  "As we are getting close to graduating, we have a celebration dance, called prom. We get to dress up in fancy dresses and have a nice elegant dinner, and then we all dance and have a wonderful time. After the dance ends, there is another party called the after-prom, where we go to different places and do different things. This year, it's a night at a gym, er…a workout place. They are turning the gym into a movie theater and casino, and the party lasts until morning."

  "What is a casino?"

  "It's a place where you play cards and gamble. We are gambling for prizes though and tickets. Not real money."

  "So you are going to this prom?" he asked.

  "No," I said and shook my head.

  "Why not?"

  That was the question of the day. I ticked off the reasons I had already mentioned. "Well, I don't have a dress. I don't have a date. I don't have the time."

  We had reached the training field. Even though Gabriel was on the other side of the field, I could tell from where I stood that he was not impressed. He had his customary wide stance, arms crossed act going.

  Great. "I better run," I said, and without waiting for Lucas' response, I did just that and sprinted across the field to where Gabriel stood.

  "Hey," I said a big wide smile on my face.

  "You're late."

  "Nope, I'm not. I told you I would be here around five. I'm right on time."

  He growled and turned away from me toward the two guys that were standing behind him. Big, burly, old guys. They looked familiar. I couldn't place them though.

  "This is Jack," he said, and indicated one of the men.

  He was scruffy looking and scarred. Along his bare arms and face, the part not buried under by beard anyway, was pocked with several small puckered places. His hair was long and dark brown mixed with silver and hung down in shiny waves to his shoulders. He stared me down with eyes of deep brown and said, "We've met. Yes?"

  My confusion must have shown on my face as he added, "In the spring. You had an arrow in you at the time."

  Ah, he must have been in the little group with Gabriel when I had first met him. One that had tried to protect me, when he didn't even know who I was. I smiled a genuine smile at him and said, "Yes, I remember."

  Gabriel drew my attention back to him when he said, "And, this is Simon."

  Simon was full gray and a bit on the skinny side, although no less muscled than any of the others. He just seemed a bit frailer to me for some reason.

  "Hello, Simon," I said.

  He nodded once but didn't speak.

  "They are here to discuss training your army. If you need me, I will be back at the keep."

  "Wait," I shouted when I realized he was about to leave me with the old men, alone. "Where are you going? Aren't you going to help?"

  He glanced at Jack and Simon and then back at me and said, "No. That's what they are for."

  "But, Gabriel,"

  He shook his head and said, "It's your army, Sunny. Not mine."

  He turned again and sauntered away, a bit too happy in my opinion. He knew, knew, that I didn't have a clue what to do with the two men. I turned back to them and smiled again, a bit shakily yes, but I was out of my depth. "So…"

  When they didn't respond I said, "I don't know where to start."

  Simon said, "That's what I figured." He dropped down to the ground, crossed his legs and said, "Let's see what we can put together."

  Jack and I glanced at each other and joined Simon on the ground.

  "First," Simon said, "how many troops do we have?"

  ~ * ~

  It was ten till seven and I had to run, again. Simon and Jack and I had a good start. We would meet again the next day, same place, same time, to continue our discussions and put into action some of our plans. But for that day, I had to get home.

  I ran to the woods already focusing on the pine tree in my back yard. I was just about to phase over when I heard Lucas shout, "Wait!"

  I stopped mid stride, shadows clasped in my hand, cool against my fingers and said, "Yeah?"

  "You want me to go to this prom with you?"

  To say I was surprised is an understatement. Shocked would be more like it. "You want to go to my prom? With me?"

  He shrugged one shoulder and said, "You said you needed a date."

  I had also said I needed a dress and more time. "Yes…I do." Why not? I did want to go. Silly waste of time that it may be, I still wanted to go. I had never been to prom. "You don't mind? You'll have to get a tux."

  He frowned at me. "What's a tux?"

  I smiled and laughed. "A tuxedo. It's a fancy outfit the guys have to wear."

  The frown didn't leave his face. "Where do I get one of these tuxedos?"

  "Uh," I said eloquently. That was a good question. I had never bought or rented one before, strangely enough. "I'm not sure actually. I can find out though."

  He nodded once, firmly. "Okay. Find out. I will go with you."

  I smiled wide at him and said, "Okay."

  Realizing I was out of time, I said, "I gotta bolt, but I'll see you tomorrow. I'll even try to get here earlier."

  "All right."

  My smile still wide on my face, I said, "Thanks, Lucas."

  He smiled back and said, "Anytime."

  I pulled the shadows and phased.

  Chapter Three

  I bolted up the steps and into the house. Before my mother or father could say anything, I all but shouted, "I'm not late! It's still two minutes to seven."

  My mom and dad looked at each other. My mom said, "We didn't say a word."

  Yeah, but they were thinking about it. We sat down to eat and as casually as I could I said, "So, I guess I am going to go to prom after all. I mean, I have been working to get the decorations and stuff set up and put together. I may as well see how it all turns out, don't you think?"

  My mom beamed such joy at me that I felt bad for thinking even remotely about not going. "That's wonderful!" she said. "Oh, I'm so glad. You won't regret it. You will have such fun and you will make memories to last you forever. Do you have a date?"

  Touchy issue that. Knowing how much they loved Leif being from Acadia, I was a bit unsure how to explain Lucas. "Yeah, I've got a date. Since its so last minute
, we are going to go into Lancaster to get his tux and my dress on Saturday. You can meet him before we go."

  "Is he from around here?" my dad asked.

  I turned and sent a sharp glare in his direction. "No. He's not," I said.

  My mom and dad again looked at each other in silent communication. Then after an almost non-existent nod from my mother, my dad asked, "So, does he have a name at least?"

  I let go of the breath I had been holding. Relief coursed its way through my body. I had been expecting the worst from them; the twenty questions that turned into a hundred, or the hard 'no' that would lead to a big fight.

  "Yes. His name is Lucas," I said, as a smile spread its way over my lips. "He's nice. I think you'll like him."

  ~ * ~

  "Yeee! I can't believe it," Tara screeched at me first thing the next day upon hearing my news about prom. "You'll need a dress! When can you go?"

  It was hard to concentrate on Tara sometimes, as she was so…bouncy. I laughed out loud at her obvious giddiness and said, "I am going to head to the mall in Lancaster on Saturday with Lucas. We're both going to need last minute clothes."

  "Well, I guess that makes sense, but now I don't get to go with you," she said with a pout. She then shrugged, replaced the pout with a smile and asked, "So, who is this guy? Where did you meet? What does he look like?"

  Most of those questions were unanswerable as they all had to do with Acadia, so I hedged a bit and said, "It's not like that. Come on, we're going to be late for class."

  "Oh, no! Spill it!" she demanded.

  "Oh, fine," I said, "but let's do it on the way." I slammed my locker closed and started toward my first period class, geometry. Boring.

  "Tall, dark, built, dreamy dark blue eyes," I said.

  "Ooo, he sounds good, promising," she said, her eyes going all soft and unfocused.

  "He has a nice face. Open, honest. It's one of the best things about him."

  "What about his hiney?"

  A loud burst of laughter popped out of my mouth with that. "Tara!"

  "Well, it's important."

  Face hot, I looked quickly around to make sure no one was listening in with any real attention and said, "It's not bad at all."

  "Not bad as in not good," she said, "Or not bad as in oh la la."

  "Lord," I whispered.

  ~ * ~

  "Mrs. G? Do you have a second?" I asked as I stepped into the guidance counselor's office between periods. I was going to be late for lunch, but I had more important things on my mind than food right then.

  "Just," she answered absently and looked up from her computer screen, her eyes magnified eerily by her thick glasses. "What can I do for you, Sunny?"

  "Uh, I was wondering if it would be possible to graduate early?" I said. "Maybe take a class or two over the summer to finish up what I need?"

  "But why on Earth would you want to graduate early? Your senior year is the best year," she replied.

  Well, because I was trying to take over a kingdom, destroy a king, calm a rebel force, form an army of my own and all that went with that, oh, and graduate from high school all at the same time. I needed something to give. Instead of saying all that though, I simply said, "I need to get started on my life. I'm ready to be out of high school."

  She shook her head excitedly, her eyes wide and intense on my face. Her gray curls swaying back and forth around her face. "What about senior pictures, and senior prom, and senior activities like the camp out and the trip to Kings Island?"

  "Well, I'm going to prom this year. I don't expect they're all that different a year later. I can get photos taken anytime I want. I don't like to camp, and I don't really like roller coasters anymore," I said, as I thought about the twisty twirly ride between the realms. Who needed roller coasters with a ride like that?

  "It's a shame," she said, still shaking her head. She bent over her computer and tapped away for a moment. "Well, as long as you complete all your credits this year, the only credits you will need in order to graduate are one credit which is two semesters of English, one of science, and government which is a half credit or one semester." She looked up at me and said with a bit of a snide tone, "That's a lot to take over the course of a summer."

  I sighed. I needed to finish up high school.

  "What about college? What are your plans there?"

  College? Who had time to think about college? "I don't know yet, Mrs. G."

  I sat thinking about how to make my life work. "How about I take the government class and one semester of both science and English over the summer? Then I only have one semester left to complete. I will still have a senior year and I can still take part in the activities." Another thought hit me. A ray of hope. "Can I get an early release too? I mean, if I can complete the summer work, can I take the two classes in the morning and then leave?"

  If I only had to be at school for like two hours, I would have more time to focus on Acadia. It was a perfect solution.

  "You will have to get your parents' permission to take the summer classes. Here is a brochure with instructions on how to enroll and payment information."

  "Payment information?"

  "Yes, each class will cost one hundred and sixty dollars," she said.

  Each? I quickly glanced down at the brochure in my hands. "But they're on-line? How can they cost so much?"

  She shrugged at me, but in her eyes there was a little touch of glee. Apparently trying to get out of high school early didn't fit with her idea of how things were supposed to be.

  ~ * ~

  The rest of the week went pretty fast. No surprise there, as I went from school to prom decorations, to Acadia for work with Jack and Simon on our plans, then home for dinner by seven, followed directly by homework. After that, I usually dropped into bed and an exhausted sleep. One good thing about being so busy and running around like crazy? No time to worry about the boogieman. As long as I had my nightlight, I was good to go.

  Saturday arrived and with it a bright sun-shiny day. I showered and dressed quickly and phased to Acadia from directly inside my room. Why I hadn't thought of this before is beyond me. Maybe because in the past I had always met Leif and the others up on the hill by the cross.

  I made it easily to Acadia. One good thing about going back and forth so much was that I was getting used to the trip. I hardly had any nausea anymore. A definite plus.

  "Are you ready for this?" I asked Lucas.

  "Yeah," he replied.

  He looked cool and relaxed, while I was nervous as heck. I hadn't tried to take anyone with me before. What if I lost him along the way? Where would he end up? Was that even possible?

  "Well, I'm going to explain the basic idea to you, in case you need to get back without me."

  "Why would I need to get back without you?"

  "Well, in case something happens to me or there is an emergency or just to be safe all right?" Geez. I was so nervous that my hands were sweaty as all Hell.

  "Okay. Sure."

  "Okay," I said. I scrubbed my hands over my face and continued, "This is how it was explained to me. To get to another realm, you have to first phase into the shadows. Then from there it's like you phase again. Same process really. The only difference is that you have to have in your mind where you want to end up. I am going to phase us to a wooded area close to my home. It's a safe place to phase, should you need to."

  I took in his relaxed expression and body language and decided we were as ready as we were going to be. "Okay, let's hop into the shadows."

  I immediately pulled the shadows up and over me and waited for Lucas to do the same, which he did immediately.

  His aura was a nice clear purple with waves of gold. Honest and trustworthy, no surprise there.

  "Okay, I'm in," Lucas said.

  Oh, right. I had to connect with him. I reached out and placed my hand on his. His mouth dropped open and he flinched in surprise, which made me giggle.

  "How do you do that?" he asked.

  Wh
en shadow walkers are in the shadows, in most cases they can't see one another. I was the exception to that rule, maybe the only exception. I could not only see other shadow walkers and their auras even while in the shadow, but I could also connect to other walkers and give them the ability to see me.

  "It's one of my gifts," I said. "One of the more pleasant ones."

  I wrapped my arms around his waist and held on firmly. Warmth radiated from his body to mine. I quickly jerked my thoughts away from the feel of Lucas' hard body and back to the task at hand. "Okay, this is going to feel a bit strange," I said as I remembered my first trip. I also remembered not being properly prepared so I added, "Not painful or anything like that, but it's quite a ride. Are you ready?"

  "I trust you, Sunny," Lucas replied and wrapped his arms around my waist as well.

  That didn't make me feel any better, actually. I was scared, but I wasn't about to let a silly thing like fear hold me back. It had too firm a hold in my life as it was. "Okay, on the count of three. One. Two. Three!"

  At the first tug, my arms instantly tightened their hold on Lucas. I felt the harsh yank at my belly and then Lucas and I were spinning and tumbling our way to Earth. We landed clumsily. Our arms still tight around each other, our legs a tangled mess, we fell to the ground in a heap, my hair a wild curtain of yellow in my face. I hastily sat up and shoved it out of my face so I could see Lucas.

  His face was a grayish green color and his eyes were tightly closed. "Are you all right?" I asked anxiously.

  "Yeah, but can you get off?" he groaned.

  I realized I was sitting directly on his stomach, so I rolled quickly off and to my feet. "Lucas?"

  He groaned again, but said, "I'm good. Just give me a second."

  He lay still as stone. I could hardly see him breathing and I was starting to get really nervous. Finally, he opened his eyes and said, "You weren't kidding when you said quite a ride. How do you do that every day?"

  I smiled in relief. He was going to be fine. "Actually you get used to it and it's not quite so bad anymore. It's still not easy, but better than it was the first time I made the jump." I laughed at the memory and said, "You did better than me anyway. I hurled the first time."