Touch of Shadow (The Shadow Sorceress Book 5)

by Bilinda Sheehan

  Tess appeared in front of me, the pain and rage in her eyes tugging at my heart.

  "Save me," she said, reaching out toward me and grabbing my shoulders.

  I felt her pass into me, the cold of her touch turning the warm blood in my veins to ice. There was a split second where she took control, but it was gone as quickly as it had happened, the demon mark on my shoulder blazing to life and forcing her back out into the open.

  I dropped to my knees, the air I sucked into my lungs painfully freezing in comparison to the blaze of heat that spread through my chest. Staring down at the ground, Jasper's booted feet came into view and I raised my arm in time to block the blade he brought down with enough force to rattle my teeth.

  Pushing up onto my feet, I thrust my good shoulder into his chest and shoved him backwards, hard enough to cause him to stumble. He growled and brought the blade up again, stepping into my body as he jabbed at my injured arm with his fist, causing my breath to escape in a pained hiss. With his other hand, he swung the knife down in a wide arc that narrowly missed plunging into my heart as I clumsily hopped backwards. But Jasper kept his attack up, moving after me with the speed of a trained fighter.

  "You can't fight us all, Amber," he said. The second the words left his mouth, I felt cold hands on the back of my neck. I tried to slide out of the reach of the grasping hands but they slid up into my hair, wrapping around my ponytail and jerking my body backwards. I spun around in an attempt to ram my body into whoever had a hold on me, but as quickly as the hold had materialised, it disappeared, and I crashed to my knees.

  The sound that Jasper's blade made as it whistled through the air raised the hairs on the back of my neck. I rolled to the side, but my injured arm made me clumsy and Jasper's knife tore through my jacket and bit into the muscle of my uninjured arm. I bit back the pain as Jasper lost his measured pace and hacked at my arm, worrying the knife back and forth the way a dog might worry a bone.

  Drawing the pain into my core, I used it to fuel my power as I drew away from him, preparing to dive out of reach as soon as I was free. I imagined my power subduing him, halting his movements, visualised it forcing him to relent. But Jasper touched my skin and I felt my power short-circuit through his body and pour back into my own. I jerked and dropped to the dirt, unable to so much as raise myself onto my hands and knees anymore.

  Jasper crouched next to me, tugging the blade free of my arm as he wrapped his hand into my hair and wrenched my head up so I could stare into his face. His eyes danced with magic, power I had never come across before, but it was still painfully familiar. It tasted of Voodoo, but there was something so much deeper to it, and the rage that flashed in his green eyes spoke to me of something or someone much older than Jasper could ever hope to be.

  "He doesn't want you to die, thinks we can use you. But...." Jasper trailed off, his eyes momentarily unfocused, seeing things that I couldn't even begin to imagine. And then, just like you'd click your fingers, he was back, shaking his head as though that action alone could rid him of whatever was happening inside. "I say different, and I'm the one directing this shit show," he said, pressing the blade to my throat.

  Closing my eyes, I searched for the demon mark and the power it gave me. If my own magic wasn't going to work against Jasper and whatever he had, then my only choice was to use the part of me that didn't belong to me.

  I found it deep in my core, almost buried beneath my own power, but the dark tendrils came sluggishly when I called on them. There was definitely something wrong with it, and it had started when Fionn had taken me to Faerie.

  Now wasn't really the time to think about what might be happening to it. Instead, I called it forth, allowed it the control it sought, and there was one glorious millisecond when it felt as though it might actually work. And then, the power stuttered, the way and old engine might, flaring and then dying back down to where it had hidden.

  The blade slid against my throat and my eyes flew open. I wouldn't die like this.... Summoning the last of my energy, I sucked in a deep breath as power washed over me, the feel of it scorching my skin. I screamed as it called my magic to the surface.

  Through the blurring of my tears, I watched the power as it slammed into Jasper and knocked him from his feet, sending him tumbling across the ground so that he writhed and screamed in wordless agony.

  "Amber!" The voice was so familiar, comforting even, and I managed to roll onto my back, my eyes focussing on the darkening blue sky above my head.

  "Amber!" The familiar voice shouted again, and the feeling of warmth washed across my skin. Home. That was why the voice seemed familiar. Everything about it was comforting, reminding me that I was safe....

  That I was loved.

  "Nic," I whispered, but my voice was lost in the rush of power that swept over me, keeping me pinned to the ground.

  His face appeared above me, blocking out the sky, his body blocking out everything else. But it was his eyes that sent the tears gathering in my eyes sliding down over my cheeks and into my hair. His beautiful eyes ... gone.... The brilliant white that had replaced them was filled with power that I could only imagine, his skin all the way up his neck decorated with dark tattoos that writhed across his skin as the power of the Saga Venatione rode him.

  It was his power keeping me pinned in place. His power slowly chipping away at my ability to keep my own magic in check.

  A strangled cry ripped the air, but I was too weak to turn my head to see what Nic's power was doing to Jasper. He lifted his gaze from me and stared at something a few feet away. The smile that curled his lips was not an expression I recognised on his face and it filled me with fear.

  The intensity of the power increased, like the fist of a giant pressing down on my chest, pushing me into the ground.

  "Nic, please...." My lips moved but I wasn't sure any sound actually left my mouth.

  "I'm sorry," he said then, his gaze staring straight through me, and the power increased again.

  I screamed, giving into the agony as my heart broke in my chest.

  Power flooded up my throat and the world was reduced to nothing but blue fire, and he left me there to burn.

  17

  The pain subsided as quickly as it had arrived, leaving me gasping for breath. I wriggled my fingers and my toes, slowly moving up through my body, checking for any signs of permanent damage. When I couldn't find any, I dragged myself up into a sitting position. The grass and dirt I lay on was scorched and smoulderin. Using my hands, I managed to put out the remaining sparks dancing across my clothes.

  The smell of singed hair filled my nostrils and I shook my head, fluffing out my ponytail in an attempt to prevent any more of it from getting burned.

  "Are you all right?" Nic asked, his voice coming from somewhere behind me.

  The sound of it was enough to send my heart racing in my chest, and not in a good way. He had left me to burn—that much had been obvious. What had stopped him? Maybe some part of him still felt something for me, but I'd stared into his blank eyes, and I just couldn't quite bring myself to believe it. No matter how much I wanted to.

  "A little scorched around the edges," I said, examining the edge of my leather jacket. Another one destroyed.... The Elite needed to start coughing up a clothing allowance. The random thought popped into my head, making me laugh out loud, but the sound was far too screechy and hysterical even to my damaged eardrums.

  When Nic didn't answer, I chanced a glance at him. He was standing where I'd seen Jasper fall, but the other man was gone. The earth beneath Nic's feet was scorched like the grass beneath me, but there was no sign of Jasper ... not even a mound of ash.

  Nic had failed ... or let him go.

  "Amber, are you all right?" Jason's voice cut through my thoughts, and I lifted my head in time to see him jump a broken headstone. "Jesus Christ..." he said, trailing off as Nic turned to face him.

  "Why haven't you taken care of this, brother?" Nic asked, gesturing to the destruction in the cemetery.


  "I just got the call, drove over here as fast as I could..." Jason said, pausing next to me. He crouched down and brushed a strand of hair back from my face before I could move away from his touch. "What happened?" he asked me, but it was a loaded question, and I knew what he was really asking me.

  "Jasper ... or at least, I think that's his name … bad news in the world of Voodoo," I said. "I don't know what he was doing … some kind of ritual..." I cast my gaze around the cemetery. "We need medical help in here. Marcel is hurt back there somewhere—” I gestured in the direction I'd originally come from "—and Victoria is...."

  "Right here," she said, striding across the cemetery. It wasn't the direction Jasper had tossed her in, and I studied her carefully as she gave Nic a wide berth, refusing to meet his penetrating gaze. Reaching me, she extended her hand. I took it gratefully, allowing her to pull me to my feet.

  Every inch of my body ached. I honestly felt as though I'd been run over by a truck. Tomorrow—if I lived that long—was going to be all kinds of fun. I winced and Jason caught my elbow, steadying me against his chest.

  "You bastard," Nic snarled.

  I jerked my gaze in his direction. He crossed the gap between us, towering over me as he jabbed his brother in the chest. Heat radiated from his body, and it took all of my strength—what little of it I had left—to not reach out to touch his chest.

  "Woah," Jason said, raising his hands, releasing his hold on me, leaving me to stand, crushed, between the two brothers. They were handsome, sure, and maybe if I'd had a lobotomy alongside Jasper kicking the snot out of me, I wouldn't have minded being so close to them both that I could practically taste the testosterone rolling off their skin.

  I loved Nic, despite everything. I just didn't particularly like him after what he'd done. And Jason beneath his asshole exterior was definitely growing on me, but there was not a chance in Hell that they were going to make me their bone of contention.

  "I'm gone five seconds and you've already seduced her into bed," Nic said, jabbing Jason as though to emphasise each word.

  "Can't bear to see anyone else making her happy, eh?" Jason said, slapping his brother's hand away.

  Anger flooded my veins, and I slammed my hands into both of their chests, pushing with all of my might. Pain ripped through me from my damaged shoulder but I didn’t care, my anger helping to mask the worst of it. Clearly, they weren't expecting it, and they both stumbled backwards as though I'd burned them.

  "You both make me sick!" I snapped. "We've got people hurt, some dead, a crazy powerful Voodoo worker on the loose, and you've both decided to use me as a way to score points off one another." I moved away from them, every step I took sending shockwaves of pain radiating up through my body.

  "Amber, I—" Nic cut himself off, and I didn't turn to look at him. But Goddess did I want to.

  Crossing the cemetery, I found the place where I'd seen Heddou's fallen body and dropped to my knees next to him. Brushing aside the dirt and rubble, I pressed my fingers to his throat and sighed with relief when I felt a faint pulse.

  "If you're done squaring off against one another, can you tell the paramedics to get their asses in here and see to the injured?" I called over my shoulder, but Nic was already striding away.

  Victoria gave me a thumbs up as she helped Marcel into a sitting position a few yards away, the dazed look on his face suggesting he was in for one heck of a concussion.

  "Bridgette," Heddou muttered as I pulled the rubble away from him and checked his body for injuries.

  "Who is she?" I asked, leaning in closer to him.

  "He took her … you need to help her," he said, his words growing fainter before his eyes rolled back in his head and his body went limp.

  "Shit," I said, searching for a pulse. What I found was weak, barely fluttering beneath his skin.

  The cemetery came to life, paramedics spilling in from every direction, and I waved to the nearest crew as they carried a stretcher between them through the tombstones. Stepping aside, I watched as they slipped an oxygen mask over Heddou’s face, working to bring him back to a more stable place.

  "Morgan, you need to see the medics," Graham said, causing me to jump. I'd been so intent on watching the crew working on Heddou that I hadn't even heard him arrive.

  "I'm fine," I said, cringing as I shrugged.

  "Don't lie," he said, softly taking me by my good elbow and leading me away from Heddou and out of the cemetery.

  He didn't release me until we found an ambulance and a crew only unpacking their equipment.

  "We need some assistance," Graham said, his tone brooking no argument. The minute the paramedics took a look at me, they nodded and ushered me to take a seat inside the vehicle.

  There was no point in fighting against it. I had work to do, but if I didn't get something to kill the pain then I wasn't going to get much work done. After all, I’d spent the evening being flung around as though I was nothing more than a doll.

  "I'm sorry," Graham said, standing in the open door of the ambulance.

  I winced and shook my head as one of the paramedics lifted a scissors from a drawer and moved to cut the sleeve from my new leather jacket.

  "I can do it," I said, shrugging my shoulders and sliding one arm free. Pain lanced through my body and I bit my lip hard enough that I could taste the distinct metallic tang of my blood.

  The other arm was harder; Jasper's blade had gone through the leather and the muscle of my upper arm, the blood causing the material of my clothes to stick to the wound, making it harder to shake the jacket off.

  "Sorry for what?" I finally asked Graham, keeping my gaze trained firmly on the defibrillator at the other side of the ambulance, my mind conjuring memories of the CPR I'd done on Graham when he'd been attacked. It felt like a lifetime ago, but in reality, it had only been months.

  "Don't make me say it," he said, keeping his voice low and urgent as he leaned into the ambulance.

  "I need to hear you say it," I answered, digging my fingers into my leg as one of the paramedics began washing the wound. The other tilted my head, forcing me to look up at him as he raised a pen light and shined it into my eyes. "I thought we were past the lies and secrets."

  "We are. I made a mistake, is all," he said. "I thought it was best if you didn't know my connection.... You know how particular they are about that kind of thing."

  I did know. I knew he'd been removed from everything to do with Jessica's case, that the top brass had ensured he had zero access to her files.... They'd almost banned him from being able to see her, believing that he might be overcome with his parental feelings, and do something stupid and let her go.

  How was I supposed to stay angry at him, especially when the situation had gone to shit so badly?

  "We need to take you back to the hospital for X-rays," the paramedic who'd blinded me with the pen-light said, cutting across my conversation with Graham.

  "You go—we'll catch up later," he said, pushing away from the back door of the ambulance.

  "Wait a minute," I said. "I need to check in with Victoria, find out if Heddou is still alive, and coordinate the search for Jasper."

  Graham shook his head. "That's why I'm the boss. You're hurt, and you're no good to anyone in the field if your injuries are enough to compromise you.”

  Letting out a sigh, I slumped down in the seat I was in and cringed again as pain flared through me. I was a liability, and even if I caught up to Jasper, in the state I was in, he would just wipe the floor with me again. No, I needed time to re-group, to heal and get my head straight. If I didn't, then pursuing him would be a complete waste of my time.

  "You'll keep me updated, though, right?" I asked, hating the whiney tone that came out of me. It gave my voice an edge it didn't usually have.

  "Rest, Morgan. We can talk later." He walked away, leaving me to the mercy of the paramedics who continued to prod and poke at me. I knew they were doing their jobs, but I couldn't help the irritation that spread
through my chest at my inability to do my own job.

  The one who had shone the light in my eyes started to close the back doors to the ambulance, but a hand caught the edge of it and tugged it open, almost taking the paramedic with the force of it.

  "Sir, you cannot—" the paramedic started, but Nic ignored him and climbed into the ambulance, dropping into the seat opposite mine.

  The paramedic started to open his mouth to protest again, but Nic glared at him, the colour slowly disappearing from his eyes as the white mist I had come to associate with the Saga Venatione's powers filled his gaze.

  "Fine, you can stay there," the paramedic said, climbing out of the ambulance hastily and making his way around to the front cab.

  Lifting my arms, I started to fold them across my chest, but the ache in my shoulder stopped me and I let my hands drop into my lap instead.

  "What do you want?" I asked, meeting his gaze head on.

  Whatever he saw in my face caused the prickle of his power to instantly dissipate, and his shoulders dropped. "I want to apologise."

  "So, what's stopping you?"

  He shook his head. "You don't understand. You don't know what it's like to have this kind of power, to lack the control you so desperately need to stop it from hurting the ones you love...."

  It was rich, coming from him. He knew what I was, how I struggled to understand and control my own powers … yet I was still incapable of understanding how hard it all was for him. A snort escaped me before I could stop it and Nic's eyes darkened.

  "Did you care about me at all?" Anger brought the rush of his power flooding back as the ambulance engine started up and we moved away from cemetery.

  "You have some nerve," I said. There was a part of me regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth. Everything he had done, he had done for me ... but that only served to make it worse. "I didn't cause this—you know that.”

  "And you think I did?" he asked.

  "No ... yes ... I don't know, Nic. I just know I love you, but I don't trust you." It hurt to even say the words, but it was the truth. I didn't trust him, couldn't trust him. He had done what he thought was his best, but it made him dangerous.