Shadow's Messenger: An Aileen Travers Novel

by T. A. White

  He was right, as much as I hated to admit that fact. I could refuse and take my chances with the sun, even I could admit death was almost certain if I took that route, or I could take what he was offering and hope I figured a way out later.

  Any promise obtained from me would be given under duress. My conscious would be clear breaking that promise at a later date.

  “Guess not.”

  “Knew you would see it my way,” he said. “Don’t worry, you’ll like being part of my clan.”

  I stepped back. Clan. Oh, hell no.

  No way was I letting him get his hooks in and reel me into the fold with this.

  He raised one eyebrow as if to ask if my situation had changed in the last few seconds. I growled. It hadn’t.

  He held out a hand. I eyed it distastefully. Just do it. I didn’t know how long I’d been wandering in my mind, the sun could march across my skin at any moment.

  “If this is how you force people to become part of your little ‘family,’ I wouldn’t be surprised if you end up dead before too much longer.”

  He gave me a smug grin. “Don’t be ridiculous. The others weren’t nearly so melodramatic when I asked them to join.”

  Guess I’m just special then. Yay me.

  “Let’s just get this over with,” I said.

  “This may be a bit painful,” he warned.

  I opened my mouth to tell him to get on with it, but the words froze on my tongue as a wave of pain crashed into me. I sucked my breath in to scream, but the sound never escaped. It felt like I burning from the inside out. My skin was peeling, my insides boiling. A thousand hot needles being stabbed deep inside.

  The most pitiful sounds assaulted my ears. A high pitched keening that just never stopped. It was me. I was making that horrible sound.

  Finally, the sensation ended, leaving me a shaking mess huddled on the ground. My eyes cracked open. What was left of the forest lay in embers. The great trees burned down to soot covered nubs and a thick ash enveloped everything.

  “What the hell?” I croaked.

  Aidan stared down at me, his arrogant face shaken.

  A bit painful? That was agony on an epic scale.

  “It didn’t work,” he said. He looked slightly scared and very unhappy.

  “What do you mean it didn’t work?” I asked from my position on the ground. I hadn’t gotten all the sensation back in my limbs, and I couldn’t stop shaking. “How could it not work?”

  “I mean it didn’t work. I couldn’t establish the connection.”

  Connection?

  “I thought this was just supposed to give me a boost. Enough to survive the sun.”

  “It would have,” he defended.

  That didn’t sound like what he promised.

  I fought my way to standing, still shaking like a leaf. I wasn’t intimidating anyone like this.

  “Explain.”

  “The connection would have brought you into my clan. It would basically give me the same type of connection as if I’d sired you. I would have had limited tracking ability. We would have been able to talk mind to mind and most importantly, share power back and forth.”

  That sounded close to what he’d promised. I wasn’t a fan of the possibility of him being able to track me, but I could deal with that later.

  “Okay, so what happened?”

  “The connection didn’t take. I was forced out. Your mind rebounded to an extent that I’ve never seen.”

  “What does that mean? Rebounded? You’re not making sense.”

  “It’s like your defenses slammed down by dropping a nuclear bomb on the surrounding area.”

  “So we need to try it again?”

  A sick feeling started in my stomach. I didn’t know if I could take that kind of pain again. Burning in the sun wouldn’t have been near as bad.

  “No, definitely not,” he said adamantly. “That would probably kill you and seriously injure me.”

  Thank God. If that never happened again, it would be too soon.

  It left me in the same situation as before, only weaker judging by the destruction to my mental forest.

  “Then what do I do?” I couldn’t help but ask.

  Please don’t say nothing. Please tell me you have a plan.

  “I don’t know.”

  I bent my head. Not what I’d wanted to hear at all.

  I was dead. All that fighting to get home from Afghanistan, then fighting to manage this thing that had happened to me. It was all for nothing. All that struggle so I could burn to death chained in a basement. Talk about crappy endings.

  His hand landed on my shoulder. “There may be a way for me to get you awake. It might be enough for you to move out of the sun’s path or at least try to seek shelter.”

  It could also ensure that I stayed awake for my death. Something I would definitely have preferred to sleep through.

  Still, survival was survival. I’d take my chances. I wasn’t one of those who planned a graceful exit from this plane of existence. There would be no going silently into that good night. Death would have to drag me kicking and screaming all the way.

  “Let’s do this,” I said, before I could lose my courage.

  “This time instead of trying to push power into you while pulling some of yours out, I’ll just try to redirect yours. I don’t know how much time I can give you so move as quickly as you can.”

  I nodded. I was ready.

  He raised his hand and pressed against my chest. At first I felt nothing, and I was sure whatever he was trying wasn’t working.

  Then something shifted, unfurling and growing while pushing other things out of its way. The pressure grew and swirled, finding no outlet as it rose, like a tsunami coming ashore or a hurricane gathering force. My head pounded and something inside me buckled, my forest starting to weave and swim.

  I tried to form words. To tell him to stop. That this was killing me, but my brain had suddenly lost control of everything else.

  I drooped, darkness spiraling out of the sky to consume everything around me. Perhaps the sun wasn’t necessary after all.

  With a pop, something inside broke, spilling me out of my forest.

  I opened my eyes, blinking at the basement wall.

  I was awake.

  Hot. My right side was so hot smoke was beginning to curl up into the air.

  The sun. Needed to get out of the sun.

  I rolled over and crawled as far as the chain would allow away from the deadly beams,.

  Damn. That was close.

  I pressed myself against the cool cement blocks that made up the basement walls. There were just enough shadows left to provide a temporary shelter. For now I was safe, though I could feel day trying to suck me under again.

  I had no idea how much longer until sunset, but there couldn’t be more than four or five hours left. I could do that.

  I was no stranger to sleep deprivation. The military had seen to that, incorporating it into training and then giving its soldiers a brush up any time there was a field exercise.

  Trick was to keep your mind engaged and barring that, practicing physical activity.

  Running or jumping jacks was out of the question, given my short chain. I could do pushups though. Or sit ups.

  I curled up and collapsed back on the ground, seeing stars. Pain marched through my side and forced tears from my eyes. Nope. Not doing that again.

  Sit ups were out. Pushups too.

  That left keeping my mind occupied.

  What to think about.

  Routes. Easiest way to get from my house to work, from work to my mom’s house. Best roads to take if I wanted to avoid the highway.

  On and on I went, imagining scenarios, finding paths I would have to try when I got out of here to see if they would actually save time. When that got boring I pictured all the food I wanted to eat again. Perhaps I’d take up cooking. I used to like it even if I wasn’t very good at it. I once burned a potato. In the microwave. The firemen had to come
and everything. Mom didn’t let me in the kitchen after that.

  When the sun encroached on my space, I edged out of its way. We performed our little dance for hours. The sun advancing, me retreating the bare inches the chain allowed. It was almost like being at a ball. Only without the music or fancy dress.

  Any time I began to nod off, all I had to do was remind myself of what I’d gone through to get this chance. That helped perk me back up for a few more minutes.

  That’s how I found myself promising to stay awake one more minute. Then when that minute was done, telling myself I could make the next one. And then the next. And the one after that.

  Somehow I managed, watching as the sunlight turned from bright yellow to orange and then finally began to fade, inch by inch, from my basement cell.

  Shuffling footsteps slowly descended the steps. I was too tired to even raise my head. My skin felt as insubstantial as two thousand year old parchment exposed to the air for the first time in millennia. I felt like it would crumple, and I’d float away at any minute. My tongue lay thick and dry in my mouth. The Grand Canyon had nothing on the cracks running across my tongue and lips.

  “You’re still alive,” the draugr rasped.

  Way to go, Sherlock. Want a cookie?

  “Victor was sure you would be dead by now.”

  So sorry to disappoint.

  My head rested weakly against the cement wall. If only I could get up the energy to attack. To do something.

  “You don’t have my treasure, do you?”

  Finally. He was finally getting it.

  Too bad that epiphany had come too late.

  The draugr had sounded mournful when he made his pronouncement. If I hadn’t been so exhausted and in pain, I might have scraped up a smidgeon of sorrow. As it was, I could only exist and wait.

  The door at the top of the stairs opened. Victor’s boots appeared.

  This was my last chance.

  “Y-” I licked my lips, trying to dredge up even a little moisture for my mouth. “You should get a look at his girlfriend’s necklace. You might find something you’ve been looking for.”

  The draugr’s dead fish eyes searched mine before he turned away.

  “Oh my, you’re still alive,” Victor drawled. “We had a bet going on whether you’d make it through the day. Didn’t we?” He gave the draugr a derisive look. “Looks like you were right, and she managed. Doesn’t really matter though. Just postpones the inevitable.”

  “Honey, where are you?” a female voice said from the top of the stairs.

  Angela. I’d recognize that slightly whiny, smug little twat anywhere.

  Victor’s face turned mean. Angela thudded down the stairs. I stayed where I was, not wanting to waste any precious energy.

  “What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay away until I called for you.”

  Angela came to a stop a few feet away, her overly makeup-caked face turning stricken and unsure. Victor radiated a cold anger.

  “I missed you. I just thought that we, that I, could do something to help things along.”

  “I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t do any more thinking after the debacle with the vampire. There’s a reason I told you to stay where you were. You’ve put everything in jeopardy by coming here.”

  I almost felt sympathy for her at Victor’s shift to heartless prick. Almost. If not for her involvement in the spell, causing it to backfire and sending me across time and space to the draugr’s grave.

  Angela rubbed her hands on her jeans before taking a step toward Victor and laying one hand lightly on his chest.

  “But, babe, I missed you.”

  I snorted. Really? That was her response? She sounded like a brainless nit wit, not a powerful witch capable of terrorizing the entire supernatural community of Columbus. Where was the deception? The cunning that had tricked me into this trap?

  How had I missed the facts right in front of me? A detective I was not.

  “What’s that, bitch?” Angela’s voice changed from cute flirting to hardened steel.

  “Nothing, nothing. Just wondering how Victor could bring himself to fuck such a brainless lightweight. He must have a lot invested in his plan to put up with your lame seduction attempts.”

  I detected blood rushing to the surface of her skin. It was hard to tell if she flushed or turned red with all the powder covering her. My fangs pushed against my gums as my thoughts turned hazy with hunger.

  My eyes fixed on her throbbing pulse. Her voice faded into a high pitched drone. I bet she’d taste yummy. I licked my lips. Yes. So yummy.

  “-like that? What is she even doing still alive?” Angela was saying as I tuned back into the conversation.

  I blinked. Shit, the blood lust was making me lose time. That wasn’t a good sign. The sun and the silver must have further depleted my reserves, even more than the blood loss and healing had earlier.

  At this rate we wouldn’t have to wait for the draugr to drive the wolves into a frenzy. I’d be there all by myself in a few hours if I didn’t get any blood into me.

  “Enough,” Victor roared. “Quit with the harping, woman. I will decide what needs to be done.”

  I watched with interest as Angela’s face crumpled. Things weren’t turning out as either of them had planned. I wondered what had changed from last night. Victor had been pretty sure he had everything handled.

  Now, he seemed oddly off center. I was surprised that Angela was still alive, given how irritating he found her. The fact he hadn’t killed her told me something had gone amiss. He must still need her.

  Angela whirled and stomped up the stairs, slamming the door behind her.

  The draugr’s eyes glinted, briefly reflecting the light, as he watched her go with hungry eyes.

  “Uh oh. Looks like trouble in paradise,” I said with a half-hearted laugh that ended when my ribs protested. I hadn’t fully healed during the day. Possibly because my body had been so busy trying to stay awake while at the same time mitigating the sun’s effects.

  “You have a smart mouth,” Victor observed.

  Not usually. It was just that facing hopeless situations brought out the sarcastic in me. I blamed TV. Too many plucky heroines when facing the big bads. It had affected my behavior. I swear.

  “I wonder how long that will last.”

  He turned and headed after Angela with those parting words. I watched him go through narrowed eyes. Truthfully, I wondered that as well.

  “He’s going to kill you.”

  Yeah. I’d figured that out all by myself.

  The draugr remained in the shadows, but I could feel his mad gaze resting on me. It was a sensation that was hard to put into words. It felt like when you come out of a deep sleep and lie in bed motionless, convinced there was something in the dark watching you. Waiting.

  I rolled my head back to gaze in the direction of the draugr.

  “Don’t suppose you’d like to take care of them. Maybe save both of us a little bit of trouble.”

  He shook his head. “It’s not me they’re hoping to kill.”

  “You never know. You could be next on their list. You already heard Victor say he plans to get rid of Angela the moment he no longer needs her. What makes you think you’ll fare any better?”

  His lips stretched to reveal dark, rotted teeth. “He doesn’t hold the power to destroy me.”

  “You never know.”

  Stranger things had happened. Like a doctor who served in the civil war coming back to life and massacring and eating a bunch of people.

  “They have your treasures,” I tried. “You as good as heard Victor admit it. Why continue to help them?”

  He cocked his head, his face as pensive as its grotesque form would allow. “Lier. They have done nothing but help me. Pointing me towards those who’ve been tempted.”

  Great.

  Really I hadn’t expected anything else, but it had been worth a try.

  “Though if you were to prove it, I would have
no reason to hold back. I bet thieves taste mighty good.”

  I gave him a look, holding his mad gaze with my own. Could I trust him? The madness lurking behind those brown eyes said no, most definitely not. My shitty circumstances asked if I really had a choice.

  Not if I wanted any chance of making it out of this alive or undead.

  “I can’t prove it here. Any attempt would fail with me chained up like this.”

  I raised one hand, jingling the chain. My arms and lower legs were numb, the silver’s poison deadening everything around it. Sometime during the day my clothes had shifted and the metal now rested against my skin. I really hoped its effects were reversible.

  He hopped forward, his head rotating and cocking as if it had no bones to make it obey human limitations. I grimaced and looked down at the chain, not wanting him to see the disgust in my eyes.

  “Where? Where should we do it?” his voice hissed with greed.

  “Think you can get them to your grave?”

  His pupils shifted back and forth. He lowered his head, turning partially away from me. “Not there. I don’t want to go back there.”

  “Only place I can think of,” I said. “The wolves will be searching the cemetery. They work as both an incentive and a distraction. You want to get your treasures back, don’t you?”

  He hissed, full of rage. His eyes deepened to a midnight black, madness ready to spill out and consume everything at any moment.

  I jerked back. A fine tremor shook my body.

  It took several tries to get enough moisture in my mouth to continue.

  “Good, then you’ll help me convince him to move this little party to a better location.”

  His cracked lips parted as his eyes rolled. My stomach twisted. That was not a sight meant for human sensibilities.

  “I will think on this.”

  No, I needed him on board.

  “Don’t you want your treasures?”

  “Enough!” his voice turned inhuman as he lunged at me, his teeth inches from my throat. “Perhaps it’s you who’s planning to betray me. Perhaps I should save him time and just eat you now. I wonder if you’ll taste like the last vampire. He was tough, like jerky, but had a certain spiciness.”

  I held still as his black tongue forked out, tasting my cheek and sliding up to my forehead. I bit my tongue to keep from whimpering when I felt the edge of teeth.