by S. L. Gray
She stopped and shook her head. Noura had never before shown any sign of being anything but human. She hadn't known anything about the tablet when the pieces showed up. Ordinarily, she was charming, but not great at humility, something Melanie believed played a big part in successful lies. She couldn't have bluffed her way through ignorance this long and not given up the plan to steal it in the first place.
Kade had to be right.
"She's a puppet," he said over his shoulder as if she'd spoken out loud. "Like the guys in the bar. Just more complicated." He shoved his arm beneath her chin, forcing Noura to bare her throat.
Noura just laughed. "So you'll what? Kill me to remove the threat? Scatter me to the four corners? Go ahead," she dared. "Get rid of the girl. Of course, you'll have to deal with the consequences. And your conscience."
Melanie heard her take in a ragged breath, then she coughed and her hands curled around Kade's arm. "Can't breathe," she rasped and dragged air in again. "It's me, I swear it's me. Mel, make him stop, please."
Melanie moved again, not stopping this time. She laid her hand on Kade's arm and felt muscle bunch and shift beneath her palm. "Kade, if she's a puppet then Noura's still in there. Right?"
"Here. I'm right here. He's crushing my throat."
Kade shook her and Noura made a high sound of alarm. "It could still be an act," he rumbled. "We can't trust what she says. Don't believe anything."
"Don't let him kill me, Mel. I'll prove it. Ask me something only I would know."
Melanie racked her brain, thoughts chasing around inside her skull with little sense or reason. What did Noura know that these shadows wouldn't duplicate? New projects at the museum were publicly announced. Her personal information like middle name and mother's maiden could be found easily enough.
But her tastes were uncommon. "Hot dog," Melanie blurted. "What does Noura like on hers?"
As much as she could, the woman in Kade's grip relaxed. "Relish and mustard on the bun before the dog," she reported, relief clear in her voice. "Chili and mayonnaise on top."
Melanie's stomach threatened to rebel as surely as it did when they walked to the hot dog cart together. She heard herself laugh, but couldn't quite manage true joy. "It's her, Kade. It's Noura."
"Because of a hot dog."
"No one else could hold that down. Please." She tightened her grip on his arm. "You'll be right here. You'll protect me, but let her down. Trust me."
Another tense moment passed. Kade murmured something hard to hear, a low stream of half-voiced words that nonetheless had a rhythm. It sounded something like a chant. Then he let her go and took one abrupt step backward. Noura's clothing rasped against the wall as she dropped to her feet. "Talk," he commanded.
"Easier to do when I can breathe," Noura countered, biting off the words. "Is he like that all the time?" Her gaze swung to Melanie. "Hands-on and rough?"
Melanie felt Kade tense more than she could see it. Her own shoulders tightened. She lifted her chin, a prompt of sorts. "Talk," she echoed. "If you're really Noura, why are you doing this? I thought we were friends."
Noura laughed and let her head hang. "Friends," she repeated. "Did he not explain? Do you not understand? This is a war that's been going on for three thousand years. What does friendship mean in the face of so much time?" She looked up again, her gaze unflinching. "What does family mean? Brothers, sisters, wives. In a war, all men are tools. Weaknesses are exploited. Trusts are broken."
Melanie rubbed a hand up and down one arm, hoping to kindle heat beneath her skin instead of the bone-deep chill she felt. "Then you're helping them willingly?"
Noura paused, tilted her head and smiled a terrifyingly satisfied grin. "Willing has so many different meanings."
"Puppet." It could have been a curse. Kade spat the word as if it tasted foul.
Noura flinched and sucked a sharp breath through her teeth. "Vessel," she shot back, glaring at him. "Instrument. A good one, too." She lifted a hand and Melanie braced for the attack, but it didn't come. She curled and flexed her fingers, studying them instead. "Small, fast, harmless-looking. You'd be surprised the number of places we could take this body."
Melanie felt sick. Worse, she felt betrayed. "Then you lied. About knowing the answer to my question. You guessed."
"I got it right, didn't I?" She tilted her head again and her posture relaxed, shifting into something more like Noura. One hip cocked out to catch her weight. A casual cant to her shoulders that made her seem perpetually poised for a shrug. "Come on, Mel," she said, voice warm with Noura's intonations. "Do you really think anyone could duplicate me? One of a kind, remember? Isn't that what you said?"
"Noura wouldn't do this." Melanie was certain of that.
The thing in Noura's body grinned. "Noura is opportunistic. Don't pretend surprise at that revelation," she scolded when Melanie drew her shoulders back. "It doesn't become you and we know it's not sincere. You know as well as we do that she has an interest in her own advancement and that she's been willing to do questionable things to get it in the past. The museum interview, for starters."
There was another thing no one else could know. Noura had an uncanny knack for ferreting secrets out of near-strangers. She could find the most obscure information about almost anything, if she took an interest. Sending her to research a technique or piece of art inevitably led to a long discussion on the gossip surrounding the piece.
She'd used that talent to investigate Dr. Andruss before she interviewed with him. She'd confessed as much to Melanie on a night when they'd both had too many drinks. She’d met with people who'd gone for the position before her under the pretext of curiosity. She found out the sort of jokes that made him laugh. She learned which answers bored and which irritated him. When her turn came, it was less an interview and more an audition.
The act got her hired, ethical or not.
"So we made her an offer she couldn't refuse," Noura went on.
"You threatened her." Kade all but growled the accusation. "You tricked her into agreeing. Forced her, maybe hurt her to be sure."
Noura's shoulder rose and fell. "You have your methods, we have ours. They're not so different in the end." She looked between them and grinned again. "Don't tell me you convinced her that any of this was real." She cocked an eyebrow. "Mel? Did you think he fell for you?"
Melanie knew the tactic. She understood the concept behind it, at least. Divide and conquer. If Noura or whoever controlled her could drive a wedge between her and Kade, they might be able to lure her to the other side. They could tempt her with promises of understanding and a salve for her broken heart. She understood how the game was played.
Knowledge didn't make her any less uncomfortable.
"What do you want," she asked instead of answering the question. "Why did you come here? You knew we wouldn't just hand the tablet over."
"I was hoping you'd fight harder," Noura confessed cheerfully. "No fight, no fun. Makes us feel like a bully, taking toys from the defenseless. Fighting earns us blood, and blood is good."
Kade moved again, shifting closer to Melanie. He stopped only when he stood a little in front of her. "No more bloodshed. You've had your share."
Light flared in Noura's eyes, an impossible reflection. No lamp shone on this side of the room, certainly not with enough strength to flash that way. She sized Kade up, tilted her head as if listening, and grinned a broad, heart-stopping grin.
"You really do care about her. You poor, stupid idiot."
This time when she lashed out, Melanie saw the blow coming. How, she couldn't say for certain. She'd seen a flash, a second's foresight, and seen it connect. In the next, she reached for Kade's arm, curling her fingers in his sleeve. She would have pulled him out of harm's way, if she could. If he hadn't been too heavy for her to move.
It didn't matter that he stood his ground. Noura's fist rebounded away from him with the sound of snapping bone.
Noura staggered back into the wall, a cry of pain locked beh
ind a grimace that showed teeth. Kade and Melanie traded a look that proved it surprised him as much as Melanie. Then Noura hissed a word Melanie couldn't understand and surged forward. Toward them, into them, but not between. She climbed the air as though she raced up an invisible staircase and launched herself from the top, twisting as she flew to land crouched behind them.
Melanie turned in time to see her reach for nothing. Though she kept the injured hand tucked against her chest, she curled the fingers of the other around empty air. Or so it seemed until she'd made a fist. A blade appeared in her hand, then, dark and wickedly curved.
Whatever controlled her body took full hold now. Noura bared her teeth again and lifted her arm as she lunged forward. The blade arced down toward Melanie's chest.
The world slowed again. Melanie became acutely aware of each heartbeat as it thudded in her ears. She felt each muscle tense in preparation for a step back that would come too late and fail to save her from the blow. Each breath filled her lungs; each exhalation left her empty.
"Hold her!"
Kade's voice broke the thrall and Melanie jerked in response. She looked up at the falling blade and found it paused mid-down-stroke. Noura's arm trembled with the effort of seeing it through. Her expression twisted.
Kade shook with the same sort of effort, one of his hands fisted and held up before him. "Hold her," he repeated.
Melanie shook her head. "What do you mean?"
"Imagine that you can hold her in place. Slow her down. Keep her from moving." His voice sounded strained. "Make a fist and imagine holding her in your hand. Keep her still."
"I can't—"
"Melanie." She could see the lines of stress in his face. "Now's not the time. You shielded me. You can do this. Try, at least."
As requests went, it sounded simple. In actuality, it was hard to agree. What he asked seemed impossible. Control another person by force of will? Wasn't that exactly what the other side, their enemies, wanted to do? And yet, the blade suspended above her still threatened. She had to try.
So she lifted her hand and made a fist, squeezing with all her might. She held her breath, she held on tight, and her eyes drifted shut.
She didn't need to see to know when she picked up her share of the burden. She became aware, between one heartbeat and the next, that another fluttered between her fingers, quicker, more desperately than her own. She felt a shift against her palm as though she held a creature there in earnest. She nearly let go in surprise. She tightened her grip instead. She heard Kade begin to murmur again, low rhythmic words that could have been a chant.
She heard Noura's voice, sharp with fear: "Mel, don't let them do this to me!"
Her eyes snapped open. She met Noura's gaze and saw the panic there and knew without question that this time she faced her friend.
"Don't let him send me back to them." Her hand stayed frozen in mid-air. Her heart hammered against Melanie's fingers. "They won't like it when I've failed."
Kade kept chanting. Melanie swallowed on a dry throat.
"It won't end with me, Mel. They'll send someone else. It's not over tonight."
With a last whispered word, she was gone.
Chapter Sixteen
He didn't give her time to protest. He hardly gave himself time to think. Between one heartbeat and the next, Kade moved. "Pack," he said over his shoulder as he systematically turned every torchiere lamp to full blaze and flooded the room with light. If they meant to use shadows against him, he'd chase the shadows away.
"Again? Where are we going this time?"
"Somewhere safe," he answered as he pressed his hands against the walls that made the corner Noura had passed through.
"I thought you said we were safe here."
"I thought we were. Obviously I underestimated how badly they want you."
"And you think moving me will work this time? That they won't try again?"
She had her arms folded across her chest when he turned back to face her. Her shoulders rose and her chin lifted when their gazes met. A bruise had already begun to purple under her skin.
Kade exhaled. He didn't need to finish his inspection of the failed wards. He'd felt them fray when Noura forced her way through. They'd take hours to repair and, distracted as he was, they'd only be half as strong. Not good enough. No point in spending the energy to fix things that offered no defense.
Not when it was better spent defending the woman. He started toward her, forcing his shoulders into a more relaxed posture, but it didn't fool her. With each step he took, she held herself more tightly until he wondered whether Melanie was breathing at all. Her knuckles were bloodless and her lips pressed into a thin, pale line.
He stopped two paces away. He wanted to pull her into his arms, crush her against his chest and reassure her. He wanted to be able to wipe the wariness out of her eyes and the stiffness from her spine. In truth, though, he'd failed her twice. He'd promised her a safe haven and the promise had become a lie. She had good reason not to believe him at his word.
Understanding didn't make the heaviness in his chest more bearable. He set his jaw in echo of hers and turned away. "Headquarters," he said over his shoulder. "I'm taking you to headquarters. Even if they could, they wouldn't dare come for you there. We only wish they were that stupid."
He ducked behind the curtain that separated his bedroom from the rest of the loft and stopped short, startled by things he knew he'd find but still hadn't learned to expect.
She'd made the bed, again, the corners tucked neatly and the covers smoothed flat. The pillows, no longer dented in the places where she'd slept, rested on the folded-back edge of the blanket, tidy and inviting. The clothes he'd discarded carelessly last night — jeans and faded t-shirt — were folded on a chair. His shoes were tucked beneath it, toes out and ready to be pulled on again.
It went against every sloppy habit he had and yet it made him smile. She'd only made little changes, but in the moment, it felt profound. Someone else had touched his life. Someone else had shared his space for the first time in far too long.
"What's so great about headquarters?" She spoke up behind him, closer than he expected. He hadn't heard her move. He turned and looked down at her. She shrugged a shoulder and put on a faint smile. "Convince me."
Kade took her hands and tugged her to the bed. When she sat, he settled beside her and leaned, his shoulder braced against her own. It was the first time he'd offered that space she liked so much without prompting. She took advantage immediately, twisting against him as he lifted his arm. She tucked herself against his side, her cheek pressed to his chest. Much as he hated to admit it, that simple touch lightened his spirit and the burdens he carried.
"There's nothing I can say to convince you," he confessed. "I don't know what it would take. I can explain everything that's happened. I can tell you it's part of being what we are, but I grew up with this stuff. I don't know how to make it all right for you."
"Because it's not all right." Melanie lifted her head. "None of this is right. Walking through shadows, monsters in San Francisco. Nothing you could say would make any of that normal, and yet, here I am." She sighed as she settled. "So tell me why moving will make everything better. And make it sound good. I'm counting on you."
"No pressure." Kade forced levity into his voice to match the false note in hers, then concentrated on a suitable answer. "At headquarters, there are people watching 24/7, just in case something throws itself against the wards. It takes a map to get through the place even after you've been there and there's always someone in the halls."
There was a long silence. Melanie tapped a rhythm against his chest, counterpoint to his heartbeat. Absent-minded movement as she listened, he thought. "Does that work as a selling point on other people?"
"I've seen mules less stubborn that you are," he joked. "Yeah, it usually works on other people. They can protect you, Melanie."
"You protected me. Don't think I didn't notice. Noura, or whatever she was, tried to stab me.
She would have, if it hadn't been for you."
Kade shook his head, though he tightened the arm around her. "That wasn't me. Shielding isn't one of my talents. It had to come from you."
Melanie lifted her head again, eyebrows tugging together as he watched. "From me."
Explanations weren't a talent of his either. He searched for the right words and plunged on. "You know those stories about people lifting cars when they flip over on their kids? Getting shot when they're trying to save their families and never feeling the pain?"
"Sure." She nodded slowly. "It's the adrenaline. Fight or flight."
"Right. So you saw a threat incoming and you acted to defend yourself. You picked fight. The difference between you and someone lifting a car is you had a different set of options handy. It's not the first time you've done it," he pointed out. "Pulling shadows in your apartment?"
"I wasn't scared then."
"Weren't you? That was right after their first attempt. You'd been shot."
Except I wasn't, because of you... And I wasn't afraid, honestly, not the first time. Curious is a better word."
"Your curiosity is pretty impressive, then."
Silence reigned. Melanie took a breath. "I want to believe you. I want to think I've suddenly turned into some kind of crazy action hero. A superhero," she amended. "I'd like to be able to save the world, but things like that don't happen to normal people. They don't just wake up and suddenly find themselves possessed of super powers. Or boyfriends who walk through walls."
That was apparently too much to say. She patted his chest this time, like an apology, then stood to pace. Though the stiffness had disappeared, she carried herself with a sort of awkwardness that made Kade ache in response.
"They'll have more answers," he said to her back. "There are people there a lot smarter and a lot older than me. They can explain why you and why now. I'm just guessing." And he hated it. Before Melanie, he'd been able to brush aside his own curiosity and the occasional frustration of having to wait for answers. He was a warrior, a guardian not destined to ever be a wise man. Everyone had a role to play.