Touch of Shadow (The Shadow Sorceress Book 5)

by Bilinda Sheehan

Jerking free, I kept my voice low and commanding. "We've got nothing to talk about."

  "You gave my brother the chance to explain," he said, and there was something in the way he said the word explain that set my teeth on edge.

  "Look, what happens between Nic and me is none of your business."

  "And that's where you're wrong. Now, you can either come with me and we can have a nice little chat, or...." He trailed off.

  "Or?" I pushed, my stomach churning.

  "Or I'll be forced to do something I regret," he said, his eyes flashing with anger.

  "I don't have time," I started to say, but Jason's large hand splayed on my stomach as he pushed me back to the wall, halting my escape.

  "I know what you are, Amber," he whispered against my ear, his breath hot enough to scorch my skin. "Now, we can talk or I can haul your ass in to custody and we can have a far less pleasant conversation."

  The blood in my veins turned to ice, my heart stalling out as his words registered in my mind. I had been right; he knew. But knowing and actually hearing the words leave his mouth, well, they were two very different things.

  "I...."

  He silenced me with a glare. "Think very carefully before you try to deny it again," he said, power prickling along my skin.

  "Fine. Where do you want to talk?" I asked, letting out a long sigh. There was no point in fighting it. The prickle of his power was simply a warning, letting me know I was skating on thin ice.

  "We'll go for a drive," he said, releasing me.

  I nodded and gestured for him to lead on. His expression was one of surprise and scepticism and I couldn't blame him. But I was done running and fighting. There was no point when he already knew the truth. And anyway, it would only end in him hurting me, or worse. I'd heard enough stories of what the Saga Venatione had done to the witches who had run from them to know I didn't want to end up in the same boat.

  I followed him through the bullpen, my heart in my mouth. I wanted to scream, to beg for help, but I kept my thoughts to myself and followed him to the elevator. We rode it down in silence, each step closer to his car sending my stomach crashing lower into my boots.

  Panic flooded my system as soon as we stepped out into the dark carpark. He wouldn't kill me here, although if he did, all he would have to do was tell everyone what I was and that I had tried to evade arrest and he would be instantly exonerated.

  "Jason, if all you want to do is talk, why can't we do it inside?" I asked, proud of the fact that, despite my fear, my voice remained somewhat steady.

  He shook his head and paused next to his SUV. "Get in," he said, his voice gruff.

  I hesitated, my hand hovering above the handle. "You don't have to do this," I said.

  "Get in, Amber." Three little words, and yet they spoke volumes. My stomach knotted and tears welled in my eyes, but I swallowed them back. I would not cry. If I was to die then I would do it with dignity, and I wouldn't go down without a fight either. But if I was to fight Jason, then I would need to be as far away from any human casualties as I could be.

  Popping the handle, I climbed into the passenger seat and fastened my seat belt, my gaze trained on the dashboard. I didn't look at Jason when he climbed in next to me. My fingers dug into my thighs when he leaned over my body and manually flicked the lock, an action he could have done from his side of the car far easier.

  Confusion washed over me as he turned the ignition and the car started with a purr. The memory of him taking Lily into custody filled my head. He hadn't hesitated. Hadn't tried to talk to her, had simply subdued her power and taken her into his custody. He'd manhandled her, and her screams had haunted my dreams for days after. But he'd done none of that with me. Clearly, whatever was going on now was different, and the only way I would find out the truth was if I went through with whatever he had planned.

  Swallowing back my fear, I settled back against the seat as he drove out of the parking lot and away from the Elite office.

  I could wait.

  26

  Standing next to the water's edge, I stared out at the gentle lapping waves. Water usually brought me peace, but not this time. Despite being close enough to touch it, the gentle blue water did nothing to quell the panic fluttering in my gut.

  "Did you know they used to dunk witches here, during the witch trials?" Jason asked, breaking the silence between us.

  "It's not something I try to spend too much time thinking about," I said, fighting to keep my voice even.

  "Would you ever have told me?" he asked, turning toward me.

  Without answering, I took a small step back, but his hand caught my elbow, keeping me within grasp.

  "You're a hunter—a witch hunter," I said, carefully avoiding eye contact. "Our kind don't mix, so no ... probably not."

  Jason sighed, but he didn't release me. Instead, his thumb found the indentation of my elbow where the two bones met at the joint and he traced circles around it. The touch would have been comforting if the situation wasn't so precarious.

  "How did you know?" I asked.

  "Honestly?" he said, pulling me around to face him so my back was to the water's edge.

  I nodded, my tongue suddenly stuck to the roof of my mouth with fear.

  "I guessed. There's only so much a demon mark can explain away, but I couldn't do anything with a guess.... I wanted to wait, to see you slip up and make a mistake so I could take you down, but...." He trailed off and stared into the distance.

  I didn't want to prompt him, but standing on the water's edge wasn't particularly warm and anyway, my stomach was doing somersaults in preparation. Whatever he was going to do to me, I just wanted it to be over so I could get on with the situation at hand. I stifled the hysterical giggle that threatened to spill from my lips at such a ridiculous notion. There wouldn't be a situation at hand. At least not for me, once Jason was through with me. I would never go back to my life.

  "But?" I prompted, shuffling away from the edge, which put me closer to him.

  He glanced down at me, surprise flickering in his eyes. "But my opportunities came and went and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. And then Lily confirmed it...."

  The hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention. I'd always thought she would betray me, but the more time she spent in prison without saying anything, the more I'd allowed myself to relax and let my guard down.

  "When?" I said, my voice a hoarse whisper that threatened to get swept away on the breeze that was beginning to pick up.

  "A month ago."

  I stared at him, my brain refusing to register what he was telling me. How was it possible that he had sat on information like that for a whole month? He was a witch hunter; it was his sworn duty to capture and kill my kind, and yet he hadn't done it.

  "Why wait until now?"

  "Because Nic came back and...." He trailed off.

  "And what? You thought waiting for him to return would be a good time to kill me? If you've known for so long then why did you help me the other day in the cemetery? If you knew what I was then why kiss me?"

  He groaned and shook my gently. "Kill you?" He sounded surprised. "I'm not going to kill you! I can't do what I'm supposed to do ... because you got under my skin and I can't do the one thing I came here to do. Do you know how that feels?"

  "No," I said honestly.

  "I know what I'm supposed to do," he said, the desperation in his voice causing the hairs to stand on the back of my neck. "I should take you to the prison and toss you in there with your sister ... call in the others and let them deal with you, but—" He cut off.

  "But?"

  "I know what they'll do, and the thought of anyone laying their hands on you fills me with a rage I hadn't known possible."

  I pulled at the grip he had on me, but Jason hung on, his fingers digging into my arms the more I struggled.

  "I don't understand. What's the point of all of this?"

  "The point is you did this to me. I've read about your kind, the things you do, t
he tricks you play. Lily told me about you because she's jealous."

  It sounded insane. I wasn't playing games, and I definitely wasn't playing any tricks, and the idea of Lily being jealous was beyond ridiculous. Clearly, there was something I was missing.

  "I didn't do anything to you, Jason."

  "Liar ... I know about the others. The way your kind and mine are drawn to one another. The books call it a Doomed Passion."

  It hit me then. Nic had told me about it: shadow sorcerers causing hunters to fall in love with them … the longer they were pursued, the more entangled the hunter became in the web. I'd even worried that Nic's love for me wasn’t true, that it was caused by something I had no control over, something set in motion hundreds of years before either of us were ever born. But all of that had been before Fionn had taken me, before Nic had joined the Saga Venatione and broken my heart when he’d left.

  "Listen, Jason, this isn't me. I didn't cause this and I certainly wouldn't do something so cruel deliberately."

  "I want to believe you ... but there are so many things I want that I can't have...."

  I shook my head. "You've lost me again.”

  "I've fallen in love with you … and when Nic left, I thought maybe ... maybe you would love me back. I kissed you and you kissed me back..." he said. "And then Nic returned and I've seen the way you look at him. You'll never look at me like that."

  Fear thrilled through me as he spoke.

  "Jason, let me go," I said.

  "Tell me it's not all lost," he said, leaning in toward me.

  "Let go!" I said again, louder this time.

  "Amber, help me," he said.

  I knew he was going to kiss me before he moved—I could see the intention in his eyes as he dragged me against his chest.

  Without hesitating, I balled my hand into a fist and thrust it up under his jaw. Pain flared through my arm the second my hand connected with his face, but the blow was enough to shock Jason in releasing me. Side-stepping him, I moved out of his reach, putting as much distance between us as I could muster.

  Jason turned to face me. The shock had done more than just cause him to release me. When he looked at me, his eyes were clearer, the desperation I'd seen in his gaze gone, replaced with shame.

  "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me," he said, scrubbing at his jaw.

  "Nic told me about the spell the shadow sorcerers cast on the hunters hundreds of years ago. You called it a Doomed Passion—what else do you know?" I asked. My heart beat frantically in my chest and it took all of my strength not to let the strain of my fear show in my voice.

  "They lost their free will. Some were lucky and the ones they hunted loved them back, but the others...." He trailed off and his gaze met mine. "Amber, I don't ever want to hurt you, but just now.... If you hadn't hit me, I don't know what I would have done."

  "Stay away from me, Jason. If you're not going to haul my ass to jail, then I think you should leave town. I love your brother and that's not going to change, and because I love your brother, I don't want to hurt you, so don't force my hand."

  "Amber," Jason said, but I waved his words away and he fell silent.

  "I don't want to hear it. Leave and don't look back."

  He nodded and made his way back to the car. "I'll give you a ride back."

  "No," I said, folding my arms across my chest. The last thing I wanted to do was get back into the car with him.

  "Don't be ridiculous," he said.

  Glaring at him, I bit back the anger that threatened to spill over into my words. "Good bye, Jason." Without another word, I stalked away, leaving him to stand at the water's edge alone.

  If he left town, then there wouldn't be a problem. But the feeling in the pit of my stomach told me I wouldn't be that lucky. The spell the shadow sorcerers had used centuries before was a dangerous one, and it was typically my luck that, despite hundreds of years passing, I was left to deal with the fallout.

  Would life ever be simple?

  27

  Tugging the leather jacket tighter around my body, I watched as Victoria's car drew to a halt across the road from the cemetery. Clearly, I wasn't the only one who had decided to turn up early. Remaining hidden behind the dense bushes that lined the wall of the cemetery, I watched as she stepped out of the car, her movements more fluid than any human would be capable of pulling off.

  She paused, her head tilting to the side as her gaze tracked silently over the wall and gates. Her eyes came to rest on me and a small, almost imperceptible curl of her lips hinted at her amusement. She slipped a pair of dark gloves on her hands and jogged silently across the road in my direction.

  "How long have you been here?" she asked when she was close enough that I could hear her whisper.

  "Long enough to regret not bringing my own gloves," I said, eyeing her outfit. "Are you going to be able to move in that?" Leather was definitely nice, and I loved the real leather jacket I wore, but head-to-toe in leather when going into what would undoubtedly end up in some sort of battle just didn't seem practical.

  "Better than you in your jeans," she said.

  I shrugged. I'd seen her fight, so her abilities definitely weren't in question … I just couldn't imagine it would be particularly comfortable.

  "Did you have fun at sparring?" I asked as Victoria rolled her shoulders almost impatiently.

  "No. Everyone there lacked talent and there was no challenge in defeating them."

  "Anyone cry this time?" I asked, only half joking.

  "I don't understand why you humans believe crying will make things easier. If I am the better fighter, then I deserve to win. Giving everyone the chance won't save lives," she said, her tone deadly serious. I couldn't argue with her; at the end of the day, the kind of job we did meant if we weren't top of our game, people would die. And, seeing as we would be the ones on the front lines, the monsters would rip us asunder first to get at whatever or whomever their primary target happened to be.

  The sound of footsteps moving stealthily along the footpath cut Victoria off and dragged me from my train of thought. Pulling the daggers from the wrist sheaths I was wearing, I pressed my back into the railings and peered down along the darkened street. The lights were out for a block and a half, and it wasn't until Marcel got close enough to fall into the pool of light from the cemetery gates that I realised it was him. He wasn't alone.

  Heddou stood tall, his face cast mostly in shadow from the short, black top hat he wore. His black suit was clearly tailored, moulding to his form in a way that only something handmade could. The glitter of the red waistcoat beneath the jacket caught the light, drawing the ensemble together. His clothes, while completely out of place, marked his extroverted personality perfectly.

  "How are you here?" I asked, my eyes going from Heddou's guarded expression to Marcel's drawn face. "Are you all right?" I noted the grey undertones in his skin tone and his faintly bloodshot eyes.

  "I am here at the request of Marcel," Heddou said, answering my question without actually addressing me.

  "Marcel, are you all right?" I asked again.

  "Begging the intercession of the loa is not an easy task," he said finally, but his voice seemed hoarse, as though he'd spent the day screaming.

  "So why are we here?" I asked, eyeing Heddou suspiciously. He'd given Fionn the doll with my hair on it. He was the reason the fae creep had been able to mind-rape me; the urge to punch him until his face was a bloody mess was overwhelming.

  "I know what Kalfu has planned, and we need help to stop him," Heddou said.

  I waited for him to continue, but when he didn't, I blew out a long breath in impatience. "Are you going to say or do we have to guess?"

  Marcel smiled at me. Clearly, the enemy of my enemy was my friend, or something like that.

  "Always impatient, child. I had thought the Green Man might have cured you of your insolent tongue." Heddou grinned, a cruel twist of his lips that sent my blood pressure through the roof. It was a deliberate tau
nt, made to make me lose my temper, but Victoria's hand on my arm reminded me of just what was at stake.

  "Didn't you hear? I killed him, crushed him to death with thorny vines..." I said, allowing my voice to fill with the same icy calm I'd felt when Fionn had died at my hands. Killing was supposed to be hard, but with him, it had been easy. The only problem was that his death hadn't brought me the peace I'd been hoping it would … and it certainly hadn't stopped the nightmares.

  Heddou's smile disappeared, his expression growing grim as he nodded. "I had heard. But don't think others will be so easy.”

  "I like a challenge." Returning his cruel smile with one of my own, I added, "Just give me an excuse."

  "If we survive tonight, there will be plenty of opportunities to pledge certain death to one another," Marcel said, cutting through the tension that was rapidly climbing between Heddou and me.

  With a nod, I tore my attention away from the other man and gave it to Marcel.

  Heddou's eyes bore into me, but I kept my gaze elsewhere. Marcel was right. If we survived whatever Kalfu had planned, then I would think of settling the score with Heddou, but until then, we would have to find a way to work together.

  The ground rumbled beneath our feet and I grabbed the railing to steady myself.

  "What the hell is that?" I asked, shouting over the roar of the earth groaning and grinding.

  "It has already begun," Heddou said grimly. "We do not have time to waste."

  "Marcel, what's going on?"

  He hesitated as Heddou moved toward the gates. "Kalfu is attempting to cross over to this plane of existence, but he needs a body to do it."

  "I thought he already had a body—isn't he using Jasper?"

  "But his power is limited to what the human form can contain, and the more power he feeds to Jasper, the more his body will break down. Kalfu intends to use Widelene to retrieve his true body."

  "Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like the part that comes next?" I asked.

  "Because you are honest and understand that when the world goes to shit, it doesn't hold back," Marcel said with a wry smile. "His body resides in Hell; to retrieve it, he has to open the gates."