Shadow's Messenger: An Aileen Travers Novel

by T. A. White

  There was an idea. I gave him a considering look.

  Naw, there was too much risk. I had no idea how this mark would react and no guarantee a bullet would actually kill him. With my luck, the tattoo would burn me alive, and he would survive to dance on my ashes.

  “Caroline, Peter is going to help us look through the books.”

  “Uh huh,” she said her gaze intent on her research. “Talking less would result in more work done.”

  Right. I turned to the sorcerer—I just couldn’t bring myself to call him Peter—and gathered up several books, sliding them in front of him. “You take this stack. Here are the names we’re particularly interested in.”

  He selected a book off the top and set it down with a thump, flicking it open with sharp gestures as he frowned at me.

  “Don’t take your anger out on the books,” Caroline ordered without lifting her head.

  His cheeks colored slightly, and he handled the pages with more care as he bent to work. I wanted to laugh, but knew I’d be the next one to receive a scolding if I did.

  We worked in silence, the stacks of read books growing. It was beginning to feel like this had been a waste of time as I went through page after page with nothing useful gleaned. Perhaps the names had been a red herring. The draugr hadn’t exactly proven to be a helpful source of information. More like the opposite.

  “I think I’ve found something,” Caroline announced, straightening and staring down at the book in excitement.

  “Really?” I said, lifting my head from where it’d been resting on the pages. Despite not needing sleep, all that reading had lulled me into a light doze. I scrubbed at the creases on my face.

  “Yes. It was one of the combined names. Here take a look.”

  I grabbed the book she slid towards me and lifted it to my face, the sorcerer rushing around to read over my shoulder.

  “It’s a photo of one Jackson Miller and his wife Eva Miller. He was a doctor on the Union side until he was discovered giving Confederate soldiers shelter after a battle. They sent him to Camp Chase,” Caroline said.

  The photo was of a man and woman in their Sunday best, staring out of the book with serious expressions. He looked austere with his top hat and cravat. She had a slight twinkle in her eye that softened the severity of her hairstyle and made it seem like she was having a laugh with him.

  “I can’t find any records of him after this. I don’t know if he died there or was released back to his wife.”

  “He died there,” I said softly.

  Even with the skin whole and unblemished and the beard and side burns, I could tell it was the draugr I’d caught eating a human earlier tonight. His story hadn’t had a happy ending. He’d probably died of malnutrition or one of the many diseases that swept through those camps in that period. How did he go from being a healer to a monster feasting on flesh?

  “The prison camps were pretty brutal. Chase wasn’t as bad as Andersonville, but it wouldn’t have been pleasant. As a doctor he may have known about the conditions of the camps and tried to protect the enemy soldiers and was instead discovered and seen as a traitor,” Caroline theorized.

  “More likely he was playing both sides of the war and got caught,” Peter said, dryly.

  I looked closely at the photograph, studying the locket around Eva’s throat. It seemed familiar. I’d seen it somewhere recently. It was silver and in the shape of a circle with fine geometric details rimming it. A branch with flowers had precious stones where the buds should be decorating the middle of it. The locket was pretty and was the type of thing I could picture a wife giving her husband to remember her by before he marched off to war.

  A silver chain was visible going from Jackson’s waist to a pocket in his vest. I’d bet anything that was the watch he’d been searching for.

  “Look here and here,” I said, pointing the two items out to the sorcerer. “Think those could be what he’s after?”

  The sorcerer’s forehead crinkled as he stared down at the items in question. “It’s possible.”

  “The camp guards would have taken anything of value from the prisoners. Anything he had would be long gone by now,” Caroline said.

  He’d managed to smuggle them past the guards. I was sure of it. There was no question in my mind that the locket and pocket watch shown here were what the draugr searched for.

  “Do you think you could devise a…” My eyes shot to Caroline and I changed what I was going to say. “Program that would be able to track these things down?”

  “I told you that’s impossible.” Caroline frowned. “They could be anywhere at this point.”

  “I could do it if this was off,” the sorcerer murmured to me, raising one hand.

  I debated the merits of releasing his powers. On the one hand, he could be a powerful ally capable of helping me subdue the draugr. On the other, he was just as likely to try and kill me seconds after it was removed.

  “What are you two talking about?” Caroline asked, her gaze shooting between us.

  I gave her a brilliant smile. “Nothing important. Thanks for all your help, Caroline. It really saved me.”

  She gave me a flat stare. “Stop lying. You’re not going anywhere until I get some answers.”

  “I can give you answers,” Peter said, shooting her a charming smile.

  “Quiet, you,” I snapped. “Caroline, I’ve got to go, and I can’t really explain everything.”

  “Fine,” she said, standing and piling the books back onto the cart. “If that’s how you want it, I’ll just sit here while you go off having adventures. Again. Maybe I’ll see you in another four years.”

  The sorcerer gave me a smile and propped his chin on his fist as he watched the two of us. It was so nice to have an audience for this.

  “Caroline.”

  “Its fine, Aileen,” she said. “I understand. You should get going. I’m tired and want to get to sleep before dawn.”

  “I’ll try to stay in better touch.”

  “I’m sure you will, though I won’t hold my breath,” she said.

  I didn’t know what to say to that so I said nothing, stepping away from the desk and gesturing for the sorcerer to follow me.

  “I hope to see you again,” he told Caroline, giving her another winsome smile before trailing after me.

  “Do you have to act like such a creepy old man?” I muttered.

  “I am an old man,” he whispered back. “Besides, your friend is hot.”

  “And you will never see her again.”

  He cast one last look behind us. “I wouldn’t be too sure of that.”

  For my peace of mind and to avoid being totally creeped out, I decided to ignore that statement. I had a feeling forbidding him to have anything else to do with her would be like waving a red flag in front of a bull.

  Chapter Twelve

  “When are you going to remove this?” Peter asked, sliding into the car next to me.

  I shot him a glance as he fiddled with the knob that controlled the windows. He was like a kid in a spaceship, curious about everything and pushing any button he could find. He flipped through every channel on the radio then started through them again, changing the volume up and down at the same time. I cringed as it screeched and buzzed.

  “Would you stop that?” I asked, slapping his hand away from the radio. “What is wrong with you? You’d think you’d never been in a car before.”

  “It’s been a while. My method of travel is a little more immediate than this. This looks different than I remember. It’s amazing how fast humans have evolved this technology given their limitations.”

  Yeah, we were just so challenged. I wanted to point out that most supernatural species started out as human. I gave the sorcerer a sidelong glance, wondering if he had. He certainly looked human enough.

  My phone rang before I could respond.

  “You know you shouldn’t mess with your phone and drive,” the sorcerer observed as I juggled the wheel and the phone.

>   “Thanks, I’ve never heard that one before.”

  Brax.

  Shit, I’d meant to return his call hours ago.

  I clicked answer. “Brax, I was getting ready to give you a call.”

  “Is that the werewolf alpha?” the sorcerer asked, alarmed.

  I gestured for him to be quiet.

  “Somehow I don’t believe that.”

  I would have. Eventually. Maybe.

  “You stole my car,” he said evenly.

  “I did tell you not to leave your keys in the ignition, and I left it in a safe spot.”

  “Yes, Easton. The parking garage you left it in charged us a hundred dollars to get it out because it was left overnight.”

  I grinned. I’d chosen that garage specifically for that reason in the hopes he wouldn’t recover it until it’d accumulated some fines. He was lucky they hadn’t towed it.

  “I heard you lost another wolf,” I said.

  “Liam told you. I’m surprised he hasn’t pulled you from the streets yet.”

  “You two seem to have a history,” I observed. They had gone at it like too guys feuding over a girl’s affections or as a part of some long standing male rivalry.

  He ignored my comment. “We need to meet.”

  I shook my head, forgetting he couldn’t see me. “The last time we met you kidnapped me.”

  “I can still find out where your family is,” he began.

  “Ha, nice try. The vampires already know about them, which means your threat has no teeth.”

  The silence over the line spoke volumes. I smirked. It was nice for the shoe to be on the other foot. He needed me more than I needed him now. The only question was how much I made him beg before I told him what I knew.

  “Nothing to say?” I asked. “That’s strange. I thought you wanted to know who was killing your people.”

  “You’re so mean,” the sorcerer whispered. “I love it.”

  I shot him a wry glance. He liked it when he wasn’t on the receiving end. I bet if I started threatening to not share my information he’d lose his shit.

  “I’d be very careful if I was you,” Brax rumbled.

  “Nope, not what I want to hear.”

  I clicked the end button and set it in my lap.

  “I can’t believe you just hung up on the wolves’ alpha,” Peter said, looking at me with a hint of respect for the first time. “He’s going to rip you to pieces when he finally catches up with you.”

  The phone rang. I let it ring once, twice and then a third before finally picking it up and saying, “Yes?”

  “You little.”

  Click.

  Still not what I wanted to hear.

  “Oh man, I’m tempted to let all your transgressions against me go just for the sheer entertainment value of the last few minutes.”

  “And that’s why I haven’t taken that cuff off yet.”

  He narrowed his eyes on me then shrugged. “Fair enough.”

  The phone rang again.

  “Don’t you dare hang up on me or-”

  “Yup, don’t want to hear your threats either.” I spoke over him. “How about you call me back when you’ve calmed down.”

  I hung up again amidst several loud threats and curses.

  I grinned. That felt good. Maybe next time he’d think twice about making threats against someone’s family or sharing information that wasn’t his to share with the vampires. Petty, I know but sometimes you just had allow your feelings to rule or end up regretting it years down the road. It was good for them to realize I wasn’t a doormat. That I had teeth, even if they were small, baby ones.

  I was able to listen to two songs on the radio before the phone rang again.

  “You ready to be civil?” I asked chirpily.

  “Only if you’re willing to start following directions,” Liam’s cool voice said on the line.

  Shit. I answered without checking.

  “Liam, what a surprise.”

  The sorcerer’s head whipped towards me as he bolted upright. He mouthed the word “crap,” echoing my feelings exactly.

  “Is it? I don’t know why as you were supposed to check in ten minutes ago.”

  My eyes went to the dash board clock. 3:10. Not that I’d planned on checking in at all, but if I’d known we were so close to a check in time I would have been a little more careful answering my phone. After all, he had called during every other supposed check in.

  “Oh gee, look at the time. You’re right. I can’t believe I missed it. The time has really gotten away from me tonight.”

  He ground his teeth. There seemed to be a lot of that happening tonight.

  I’d be lying if I didn’t get a small charge out of his and Brax’s aggravation. When you’re as low on the totem pole as I was, you take your wins where you can. Pissing them off was about the only thing I could get away with. Trying physical violence would only result in a severe beating or death. I was banking on time and distance blunting the worst of their anger.

  “We had an agreement,” he said, his voice dropping into a smooth cadence. “You have violated the conditions of your release not just once or twice but many times.”

  He made me sound like a prisoner on parole.

  “I was a little busy running from the draugr and all. I didn’t have time to stop and make a call to assure you I was still alive.”

  “And were you running for the entire four hours?” he asked silkily.

  I paused, debating how much I wanted to tell him about my whereabouts. I didn’t like the idea of letting him know about Caroline or the research she’d done for me.

  “It was more difficult to dodge him than I thought.”

  “Oh, and so you weren’t sitting at the campus library a few minutes ago?”

  I gave the sorcerer an uneasy glance. He watched me with wide eyes and gestured as if to say he was as confused as me. How did Liam know where I’d been, and did he know where I was right now?

  I looked in my rear view and side mirrors. Was he following me even now?

  “It was a handy place to hide,” I bluffed.

  A white truck turned behind me, following me down another block. I sped up slightly. It sped up.

  “For four hours. Hm. You must have been very worried.”

  “Have you been following me?” I teased uneasily. “I didn’t know you cared.”

  The truck followed me through another turn. The sorcerer shook his arm at me giving me a furious look. I shook my head. I wouldn’t release him unless there was no other choice.

  “I can’t have you getting yourself killed while you’re my responsibility.”

  “You’re all heart.”

  I slowed down as I approached a green light. I needed to time this carefully. The truck came closer and closer. Almost.

  The light turned yellow. I floored it, the wheels spinning and smoking as we shot forward. We cleared the intersection just as the light turned red. The truck stopped. Guess it hadn’t been following us after all.

  Peter released the breath he had been holding and relaxed into his seat, shooting me an unfriendly look.

  “Take yourself to Asylum. It’s a club downtown.”

  “I know what it is.” Everybody knew what it was. It was popular, but I hadn’t realized it was owned by the vampires. I’d been in there in the past year too. From now on I would have to steer clear of it.

  Liam continued, “I’ll have some vampires I trust take you into custody.”

  That wasn’t going to happen. Despite the panic the draugr had managed to instill in me, my goals remained the same. Find the people controlling him. Get the items for the sorcerer and free myself from his mark. The inkling of a plan was beginning to develop as to how I could extricate myself from the vampires’ grasp. It wouldn’t happen if I was locked down tight for my own protection.

  “I’m thinking that doesn’t really work for me,” I said.

  Liam’s voice rumbled in a low bass that I felt in my chest. “This isn’t a
request.”

  “Whew, that was scary. I bet most people fall right in line when you use that voice.” I don’t know what it was about Brax and Liam that brought out my inner bitch, but I decided to embrace her for now. She made me feel powerful and not like I was shaking in my boots at all the things that could go wrong.

  “Aileen.”

  “I’m sorry, but no. I have information you don’t, and the fact that it’s my life on the line hasn’t changed. I’ll let you know when I need your help. Until then, pack sand.”

  For the fourth time that night, I hung up over the other party’s protests. The sorcerer watched me with a bemused expression as I threw my phone into the cup holder next to my seat.

  “What?” I barked.

  He shrugged with a feigned nonchalance. “Nothing. Just calculating your life expectancy.”

  “Very short if we don’t figure out how to find the draugr’s stuff.”

  “I’m thinking with the number of people we pissed off tonight, it’s not going to matter whether you find his keepsakes.”

  I ignored that comment as the phone rang again. This time I made sure it said, “Brax calling,” before picking up.

  “What?” I snapped.

  His words were stiff and formal as he said, “Would you please tell me about what you’ve uncovered?”

  It wasn’t the apology I wanted, but it would have to do. Grudgingly, I told him about the draugr who used to be Jackson Miller and my theory that there was a mastermind behind all of the attacks.

  “Do you have any proof of this mastermind?”

  “Not yet. But I’m hoping to track down those items.”

  He was distracted as he said, “Until you have more proof, I can’t assume there is a mastermind. I’ll focus on bringing down the draugr itself to stop these attacks.”

  “Didn’t you listen to anything I said? The wolves have been the focus of all these attacks. You’ve lost the most people to this thing. Based on the fact that it can take over animals and cause insanity, it would be pure stupidity to go after it directly.”

  “My people are more than just animals. I think we can handle this ‘Again-Walker’ as you call it.”

  Oh, you foolish, arrogant man. You are going to get yourselves killed or worse.