by Carmen Fox
This was absurd. “Why not—”
He yanked me against his chest and hooked his arm around my throat. “Enough talking, niece. And you, Shadow—”
I kicked his shin and scratched his arm. “Bastard.”
Max raced toward us, his face twisted into something feral. “Let her go.”
“Stop.” Gardiner squeezed my airways shut with more force than I’d expected. “Don’t move, or I’ll break her neck.”
Almost immediately, my vision darkened. With clenched fists, I stopped resisting. Why wasn’t I able to shake him? He looked so...weak.
“Okay.” Max held up his hands and backed off. “Don’t hurt her.”
Gardiner loosened his death grip. “Of course not. But now I need you to do something for me. Open the door to the Eternal Night.”
“I will not.” Max stood stone-still.
“Do it.” Gardiner put pressure on my throat again, and I gasped for air.
Max shot him a bruising stare. “You cannot kill her. She’s immortal.”
“Her Reaper heritage protects her from many things, but her father bound her real powers. This means that, unlike you and me, she still needs oxygen here, as she would on Earth.”
Was he right? Could I die today? If I blew out my chest then quickly went limp, maybe I could slip out of his grip. But my breaths, even the shallow ones, were too much work. Gardiner, my uncle, or whoever he was, wasn’t giving an inch.
Adisa’s wispy form sneaked toward me, but I slightly shook my head, and he retreated.
Brave boy, but Gardiner was holding all the good cards. I wasn’t going to put the kid at risk by letting him do something rash.
The red in Max’s eyes darted from me to my captor. He’d been right from the start. In the end, I’d proved useless. But there was still a chance for my dad as long as Max remained free. He and Adisa could succeed where I couldn’t.
“Don’t do it, Max.” I pried the words from my lips.
Gardiner tightened his grasp. No more air.
My arms were free, and so were my legs. If I flailed, could I distract him enough to give Max an opening?
“Open the door and go into the Eternal Night, Shadow, or she’s done.” Gardiner wrapped his other arm around my waist. “Go on.”
I pleaded with my eyes for Max not to do it.
Max gave me a weak smile and held out a hand parallel to the ground. The black air of the Darkness vibrated with a deep rumble. A ribbon of black fog spiraled around his fingers, growing quickly to the size of a doorway.
“Step in,” Gardiner ordered.
“Don’t,” I squeaked.
How did I do that? I had no more air, yet once again, I didn’t collapse. If I could die, then why hadn’t I?
“You will spare Dabria if I go?” One hand still raised to command the door, Max glared at Gardiner.
“She’ll be fine as long as you do what I say.” Gardiner laughed. “Go on. The Eternal Night isn’t what I would call a cheerful retirement home, but you’ll live and be reunited with your friends. Just don’t try to leave, or you’ll burn to a crispy death.”
Max’s jaw ground something fierce. Like me, he didn’t believe a word out of Gardiner’s mouth.
“Your moral code demands you save her, Shadow.” Gardiner’s voice practically drooled with triumph.
“My moral code demands I kill you.”
“Don’t be a fool. I’m giving you the chance to save her.” Gardiner nudged me forward with his body as if showcasing me.
His prod gave me space to maneuver. I punched my fists backward, against his thigh, then stepped on his foot.
“Shit.” He loosened his hold.
Reaper forces or not, my dad hadn’t left me defenseless. I twisted and jabbed the edge of my hand up between Gardiner’s legs.
He yelped and released me to nurse his groin.
Max leaped to my side and landed a hit.
Knees pressed together, Gardiner held his nose with one hand. With the other, he pushed Max toward the gate, which closed with a sucking sound before it could claim him.
Max’s follow-up swished through the air, but Gardiner had vanished.
He re-materialized behind me.
I swiped my hand up and struck his throat, yet he’d disappeared before I connected.
If he kept this up, he’d tire us out eventually.
“We can’t keep doing this.” I pointed to my left at Gardiner’s faint figure.
Max was already on the case, but his punch struck only darkness. “You have a plan?”
“Yes.” I kicked out at Gardiner’s form before he was solid, and once again, he faded. “Anticipate and hit. Can you do that?”
“That is your plan?”
“Trust me.”
Max flared his chest and stepped up his game. He jumped from one spot to the next, always ahead of Gardiner, not allowing him to fully materialize.
Despite my senses being on high alert, I closed my eyes and dissipated.
Once again, black fog rolled around me, keeping me from finding my balance. The Eternal Night hadn’t become any more hospitable during my absence. A large black man I didn’t recognize kept blinking in and out of existence not five feet from me. This had to be my uncle’s true form, anchored as it was to this realm.
His gaze registered surprise, and he opened his mouth, yet no words came.
I fished Max’s knife from my back pocket and held it at chest level. Causing death wasn’t what I was meant to do—that was the Shadows’ role—but wasn’t I also my mother’s daughter?
I jabbed my blade at the man.
Despite his size, he stepped back and disappeared into the fog.
Hopefully, Max would be ready to receive him.
As for me, a half-hearted attack would set us up for failure. Given the chance, Max would end my uncle, but his death wouldn’t take unless I was willing to do the same. My father had prepared me for this moment. I often sparred with him, so I was used to an opponent of his size.
The man returned with his hand clutched to his nose.
I feinted to one side then plunged the knife into his stomach, maybe a quarter of an inch deep, and yanked it back out. The wound stained his shirt, which meant I’d done enough to cause him to bleed—but not to seriously debilitate him.
He pressed his hand to the injury, his face twisted. Once more, he drained out of existence.
The longer he spent in the Darkness, the more Max would be able to pummel him. And the more time I’d have to prepare myself for what had to be done.
I wasn’t taking breaths, didn’t even want to pretend for fear my panic might return. The billowing clouds swirled up and down. If Dad was in here, how would I find him? I couldn’t even call out to him, and visibility was simply too poor to go looking.
My uncle rushed back into this realm, looking dazed. His eyes reminded me of my father’s, his size certainly, but that was where the similarity ended. My dad was a good man. This guy wasn’t. He was everything my father tried so hard to protect me from.
I kicked his shin, and followed with a strike to his neck. Years of training were paying off, but it helped that Max had already weakened him on the other side.
The man lost his footing and keeled forward onto his knees, leaving his back exposed.
With all my might, I rammed the tip of my blade between his upper ribs and twisted it for maximum damage. The fine fabric of his suit offered no resistance. He turned his head up, his mouth wide in a scream I didn’t hear.
He rallied up onto one knee, swayed and fell over. His features distorted and became fluid as his body melted into the fog.
The blood on the blade ran onto my hand, its deep red color a striking symbol of my actions. My existence was steeped in death, yet I’d never caused it. Dad had said the Shadow Walkers were born without guilt about righteous killings.
Was this what my uncle’s death had been? Righteous?
I waited a minute or two, but he didn’t return. Max would
have taken care of the rest at his end.
Were violent deaths ever justified? What a hard thing to fathom, and a question far greater than any answer I could formulate. Either way, it had been self-defense. Maybe that thought would comfort me in the days to come.
I shook my head. This was insane. I hadn’t killed just any man, but my uncle. My uncle!
How very Greek tragedy of me.
CHAPTER TEN
I focalized back into the Darkness before Max hurt himself again trying to retrieve me. Who could’ve known I’d be glad to return to this place again, with its vast emptiness and ominous sounds?
Max stood over Gardiner’s lifeless form. “Dabria? Come back.”
“I’m here.” I beamed at him, waving his bloodied knife.
Rushing toward me, he swept me into a tight hug. “My little Reaper. I said not to disappear again.”
I tucked the blade back into my pocket. These jeans were ready for the trash already, so a little blood made no difference. “Max?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t think for a second you can tell me what to do. I’m not wired to obey.”
He seized my face with both hands. “Okay. But my poor heart...”
“Don’t worry about your heart.” I stroked his cheek. “If you let me, I’ll protect it for you.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You will...?”
“What? Not used to women being so bold?”
“I don’t...” He narrowed his eyes. “You have pretty hair.”
I chuckled. “Bold, not bald. Forward, I mean. Straight-talking.”
“Yes, you are forward. It’s unusual for me.”
“You’ll get used to it, assuming you want to.”
“Let me put it in a way you understand.” And then he kissed me.
Kiss. What a harsh word for the softness he brought to my lips, for the gentle caress of his hand, the flutter of my heart as he deepened our contact.
Pressed tight against him, I had no escape, nor did I seek one. His mouth became my focus, the motion of his lips my obsession. My stomach swayed. And further down, my insides contracted in a sensation so sweet, it ripped a moan from me.
Too soon, he shifted back and released me.
My lips refused to close. I stared at his proud grin, the superior flick of his chin, and couldn’t even bring myself to tell him off.
“We should go.” He slung his arms around my head as if to safeguard me against curious eyes.
Reluctantly, I cast off his spell. “Not without my dad.”
“Dabria.” His rolled ‘r’ nearly brought me to my knees.
“Look, we worked together to take care of Gardiner.” Safer not to refer to him as my uncle until I had time to process. “If my dad and your friends are still alive, we can find them.”
“I can.” Adisa’s small voice sounded from behind me.
I turned. “They’re in the scary place. You don’t want to go there.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to be here, either.”
The wailing didn’t even bother me anymore, but for the boy, it had to be the stuff of nightmares.
“I don’t even know how you would get to the other place,” I lied with a smile. “But thank you.”
No doubt I could dissipate with him, but I wouldn’t expose him to the Eternal Night again.
“I can open the gate.” Max raised his arm. “Brave boy.”
“Max, this is crazy. We need to find another way.”
“We have no time. In a few hours, every vampire, witch, and werewolf is going to get the order to hunt. Once war starts, it cannot be stopped until your father and my comrades are dead.”
I tapped my foot on the ground, unable to admit he was right. “Even if Adisa finds them, how are we going to get them out without them burning?” I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes. “Oh, hang on.”
I ran to Gardiner’s body.
His face was badly mangled, his head at an odd angle. In this realm, he hadn’t been stabbed by me, but killed Shadow-style by Max.
After slipping the ring from his finger, I darted back. “He made too big a deal of this. The way he transitioned between the realms... I think the ring helped him somehow.”
Max held it between his fingers and whistled. “The Ring of Hades. How did he find it?”
“What does it do?”
“People say it allows Hades to leave the underworld to travel the Earth.” He looked at me. “If it safeguards Hades, it could safeguard my friends.”
“Okay.” I paced in circles, ordering my thoughts. “Max, you open the gate. Adisa, you go through when Max tells you. I’ll be on the other side waiting.”
“You’re coming with me?” The boy’s voice bounced.
“Of course. Someone has to make sure you don’t cause too much trouble.” I winked at him then took the ring from Max’s hand.
Max grunted, but didn’t object. He raised his hand once again and the now familiar rumble rattled my bones. A few seconds later, the swirling fog shaped itself into a hole.
“Okay. I’ll dissipate to the other side of this and wait for you,” I said to the kid.
He nodded.
I pressed a kiss to Max’s cheek. “Just keep the gate open for us, okay?”
Then I closed my eyes and dissipated into the Eternal Night.
“Can you still feel the Reaper, Adisa?” My mouth moved yet made no sound.
The silence was absolute. The only guide I had was a little boy who, by all rights, shouldn’t have been here. His tiny hand sat tight and safe within mine, holding on for dear...life...death...something.
Was I a monster for taking him into the Eternal Night? What I hadn’t told him was that this might be a one-way street for him. If we didn’t find my father, and if I couldn’t dissipate with him, would the ring help a ghost get back out? Assuming the ring was what Max said it was in the first place. If it was Gardiner’s original wedding band, the whole plan would go down the plughole.
Something swooped in from my right to hook long arms around my body. My heart jolted, but for once, I was in no danger.
My dad’s smile radiated—the sweetest, most precious thing in the world.
Four men in long cloaks like Max’s stepped through a fog cloud. Their serious faces didn’t show an ounce of surprise.
How disappointing. They could have at least pretended.
Once I’d taken my fill of Dad’s hug, I beckoned everyone to follow me. Adisa took me by the hand, and we did our best to retrace our steps.
Getting lost hadn’t even crossed my mind, but now, it became a real possibility. Adisa, though, steered us toward the gate. Its wild swirl looked imposing, even more so because no sound accompanied it.
I gestured at the door, and my dad’s smile fell. He pointed at the hole then made a throat-slicing motion to indicate death.
I slipped the ring over his finger.
He arched his eyebrows as he studied it then he nodded and picked up the boy.
I lifted a hand to prevent them from moving through the gate and walked up to Adisa, who immediately leaped into my open arms. I held him tight, just this once, while he was solid. Maybe it was good the Eternal Night didn’t allow me to say what I wanted to say. Then, I wiped the tears from his face and handed him back to my father, who stopped my own tear from reaching my chin.
With a last glance at me, they stepped through the door.
I was about to focalize into the Darkness to pick up the ring again when it dropped into the fog. Dad had tossed it back. One of the Shadows dove after it and emerged from the dense cloud a second later, holding it.
If his reaction had been any slower, he and his friends would be trapped.
I gestured for the four to remain for a second and returned at once to the Darkness to check on my father.
“Dabria.” Dad immediately pulled me into a hug. “You brave, silly girl. Do you know how dangerous this place is?”
I threw a glance at Adisa and Max. “I
had help.”
“My friends.” Max frowned, still holding the gate open. Sweat collected on his brows; his lips twisted with the effort.
“Just had to make sure it was safe before sending them. I’ll be right back.”
I dissipated into the Eternal Night for what I hoped would be the last time, and gave the four men a thumbs-up.
The first nodded, slipped on the ring, and stepped through the gate.
The next man had positioned himself near the door to catch the ring, and then followed his friend.
I took a last glance at the rolling mountains of fog. Without the eerie sounds haunting the Darkness, it didn’t seem that bad, but just because I couldn’t hear the nasties didn’t mean they weren’t sharpening their knives for me already. With a shudder, I dissipated and focalized next to Max.
“Glad I didn’t run into anything while I was there.” I patted his back.
Any display of affection in front of his buddies and my dad would probably freak him out.
“I knew you’d look for me, so we kept the undesirables away from any possible gate locations,” Dad said. “Communication was tough without words, but we managed.”
The other Shadows nodded and hugged each other, mumbling quietly as if not yet trusting their voices. I let them shake my hand, pat my back, and two even embraced me.
The one who’d been last through the gate handed me Hades’s ring, which I pocketed. We’d have to find a safe place for it.
Max dropped his arm, and the swirl got sucked back into itself. He fought his way through his friends, and next thing, his lips were on mine. His kiss was hard, possessive, and leg-buckling.
Before I had time to wrap my arms around him, it was over.
Wow.
A sudden silence had fallen over the celebrations, until Adisa ran into my field of vision.
“Can I go home now?” He rose onto his tiptoes, the way kids were supposed to when they got excited.
That his mouth didn’t move still freaked me out, though.
“I’m not the person you should speak to.” I pointed at my father.
“No. You should take him.” My dad’s voice showed not a hint of anger. Maybe his time with the Shadows had softened his attitude toward them.