Midnight Shadows

by Emerson Knight

  Either way, I found it best to leave her be. Josh did the same.

  O’Dowd was waiting for us next to his Gulfstream jet. Once we were in the air, I messaged Orchid to confirm our meeting the next day at noon.

  A few hours later, we checked into our hotel in New York. I’d arranged separate rooms for each of us, though I wondered if I should keep a closer eye on Sky. Given what had transpired between us, I suspected distance was more appropriate.

  After settling into my room, I took a long walk to one of my favorite restaurants. As I walked through the door I was greeted by a welcome, familiar scent of delicately spiced meat cooked to perfection. Once seated, I texted Josh to let him know where I was in case he wanted to join me. I was just about to dig into my steak cheeseburger when I noticed Sky dawdling outside the front windows.

  Is she stalking me? I wondered, surprised.

  She seemed to be eyeing the decor rather than the patrons, but the likelihood that she could wander twenty-five blocks and randomly pick this nondescript restaurant was staggering.

  Deciding to explore farther, she walked through the door. A smiling hostess immediately led her to a booth very close to mine.

  “I’ll bring you some bread,” she stated, then walked toward the kitchen.

  Just as Sky started to slide into the booth, she caught my eye. We stared at each other, both bewildered and somewhat skeptical to have randomly encountered each other so far from the hotel. For a moment, I considered she might prefer to be alone, but civility caught up to me. I gestured for her to join me, prepared to be rebuffed.

  After a surprisingly brief internal debate, she agreed, fixing her ravenous eyes on my cheeseburger as she sat across from me. Reluctantly, I slid my plate toward her. She ate greedily until her hunger was eventually sated enough to talk.

  “Did you track me here?” I asked.

  “No.” Her eyes widened in genuine surprise. “I didn’t track you. I tracked down a very good burger and some mediocre fries.” She took another large bite from the burger and chewed, watching me.

  I smirked. “You passed at least six other places that served burgers. Why this place?”

  She shrugged. “The same reason you did. I could smell it from the street.”

  Either we’d been brought together by a conspicuous coincidence or she’d improved her skill at lying. I leaned forward and gently wiped a dab of ketchup from the corner of her mouth. “It is one of my favorite places to eat when I am here.”

  She seemed to consider scolding me as she made a show of dabbing her lips with her napkin. Following my gaze, she smiled at the nearly devoured burger.

  “I guess I was hungrier than I thought,” she said.

  The waitress arrived with her bread. I ordered another burger, rare. To my surprise, Sky ordered a salad and chicken wings.

  “Salad?” I scoffed.

  “I like salad,” she said defensively.

  “No, you cling to the idea that you like salad because it makes you feel ‘typical.’ Like the average human having an average meal. You do not like salad any more than I do.” I gestured to her now-empty plate. “You didn’t answer my question. How did you end up here?”

  I knew by the way she considered her answer that she hadn’t lied. The coincidence seemed to intrigue her as much as it did me. By the time our food arrived, she hadn’t answered. Our conversation devolved into small talk while we ate. Following the urges of her wolf, she devoured her wings while taking only token stabs at her salad. Did she notice?

  “Why did you leave me in the middle of the night?” she asked, surprising me.

  “It wasn’t the middle of the night,” I deflected. “We didn’t go to bed until morning.”

  Her lips thinned as she gave me a sideways glance. “Okay, I’ll play your little game. Why did you leave in the middle of the morning like a tacky jerk?”

  I took a sip of wine to steady myself. “Does it matter?”

  “If it didn’t, I wouldn’t have asked.”

  I leaned toward her, curious. “What creative reason have you drafted?” Given the importance of the trip, this was hardly a time to explore our personal relationship.

  She considered for a moment, giving the impression that she only now formulated an answer, but I knew better. “I think you are complicated and I will never understand why you do half of the things you do.”

  “I didn’t want to be there when Steven arrived,” I lied, my tone softer than before. I didn’t want a scene or an argument. I didn’t want to make her any angrier than she was. “You were really nervous with me. Why?”

  Did you really want me, or just temporary comfort?

  It was her turn to lie as she reacted with indignant surprise. “I wasn’t nervous.”

  “Women are a lot of things with me in the bedroom,” I said, “but never nervous.”

  “It’s probably because your modesty and humility put them at ease,” she snarked.

  I was going to suggest we drop the subject when I noticed Josh walk into the restaurant. Relieved, I didn’t hesitate to wave him over.

  “I guess he tracked you, too,” Sky muttered into her drink.

  “Right after I texted him the location,” I said.

  Greeting us with a smile, Josh slid into the booth next to her. It took him all of five seconds to steal fries from my plate, to my chagrin. Not that I cared about the fries, it was the principle that mattered.

  Frowning, he gestured to my burger. “Rare?”

  “Of course.”

  His interest lost, Josh turned his attention to scanning the restaurant for someone to take his order. “There’s a club down the street,” he said to Sky. “We have to check it out.”

  “Our meeting is at noon,” I reminded him.

  “Yeah.” He made a show of checking the time on his phone. “Fifteen hours from now.”

  “I don’t need you hungover,” I said, realizing my mistake too late. Judging by the childish grin on my brother’s face, he was going to go out of his way to prove he could function just fine while hungover.

  He draped his arm behind Sky. “Can I coax you into a naughty night of fun that is only going to piss off my brother?”

  She nodded, then took a sudden intense interest in the restaurant’s bland decor, anything to avoid my scowl.

  “There we go.” Josh beamed triumphantly at me as he patted Sky’s shoulder.

  Josh hit the bar like a tidal wave, drawing Sky behind him as he announced his presence to everyone around him. As the manager of the pack’s club, he’d developed a hypersocial club mode that served him well. I’d gotten so used to it that I’d forgotten the persona was more than just his professional skin. Among the booze and the bass beat and the women, he was in his element. Sky was just along for the ride, but she was enjoying herself as he made a point to introduce her to his new friends, whom he met at a dizzying pace.

  I found myself a seat at the end of the bar that afforded me a view of the main entrance and the dance floor. The bartender appeared a moment later.

  “Scotch, neat.”

  The club was popular among supernaturals. Like all such clubs, it was informally recognized as neutral ground. Vampires, were-animals, faes, and witches all mingled, their historical enmities set aside for the night.

  As Josh escorted two attractive young women—both witches, I was certain—to the dance floor, I understood why he wanted to be there. Even with the club, his interactions with other witches in Chicago were limited. Marcia’s displeasure with him was well known. Witches feared her ire. Those who didn’t feared his relationship to the pack.

  Sky remained on the edge of the dance floor, swaying gently to the music. Her attention seemed fixed on the band; particularly the guitar player. The club was a morass of magic, radiating from dozens of figures, but I’d passed the stage when we’d first entered. He was a mage, a type of witch with minimal abilities largely limited to mediocre defensive magic.

  He’d noticed Sky as well, was smiling, charm
ing her from behind his guitar.

  I nearly downed my Scotch, reminding myself at the last moment to sip. This night was a one-drink maximum. Josh was going to be a handful in the morning, as if I didn’t have enough reason to stay sober.

  Sky accepted an invitation to dance from a human, thin and tall as a wafer, but he had a disarming charm. A low growl rumbled in my chest as she followed him to the center of the dance floor, but the mage guitarist remained her priority.

  An auburn-haired vampire wearing a glittering skintight top slipped into the seat next to me with a sly smile on her lips and pupils that blotted out the color in her eyes.

  “Buy me a drink?” she suggested.

  “If you’re looking for an interspecies cuddle, try the kennel,” I said casually. “I’m not interested.”

  She gestured with one finger, then slid off the stool and walked away while I returned my attention to the dance floor. I quickly picked out Sky, then Josh.

  Eventually I caught her eye and waved for her to join me. She frowned, gave a slight shake of her head, and continued dancing.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a woman approaching me with a feline grace. As I turned, the blond were-animal slid into the seat next to me, wearing a low-cut sleeveless ruched shirt, skintight jeans, and an impish smile. It occurred to me that I’d be facing a revolving door of flirtations if I chased her away.

  I smiled, exchanged pleasantries. Her name was Sara. Over her bare shoulder I noticed Sky throwing glances and seemingly going out of her way to appear to be having fun.

  For a few minutes, I became lost in conversation. When I glanced to Sky again, I noticed Josh next to her, wearing a concerned look as she covered her stomach, her expression pained.

  Forgetting Sara, I rose and rounded the bar, aggressively pushing my way to Sky’s side.

  “Are you okay?” Josh asked, shouting over the music as I joined them.

  Dazed, she glanced around the club as if searching for something.

  I bent to her ear and called her name.

  “I think I had too much to drink,” she answered, shaking her head.

  She’d had two drinks that I’d noticed. Given the pace she drank at, she’d had three at most, not enough to get her drunk considering the amount of food she’d eaten at dinner.

  I took her hand, explained to Josh, “We are going back to the hotel. You can stay, but remember—”

  “We have a meeting at twelve,” Josh finished, rolling his eyes. “No, I’m going with you.”

  I glanced at Josh’s new acquaintances, who were calling to him to stay. He needs this. “No, you stay. I’m fine,” I promised.

  He frowned at my hand clasped around hers, as if stung, then nodded.

  His reaction surprised me. That’s the alcohol talking.

  I led Sky outside, hoping the fresh cool air might help her rally. Turning to her, I cradled her face in my palms so I could examine her eyes. Her pupils were only mildly dilated.

  “You’re not drunk,” I said. Or drugged.

  “No,” she agreed. Something was still affecting her, making it hard for her to concentrate.

  “Then what happened in there?”

  She debated whether to answer, then sheepishly admitted, “I heard voices.”

  I frowned, doubtful. “Voices?”

  “I heard someone say we are all monsters that don’t deserve to exist,” she explained in a tone that suggested she understood the absurdity of her story. She wasn’t lying.

  My mind shifted to the mage who had taken such an interest in her. “Stay here.”

  Stepping back into the club, I nearly bumped into Josh on his way out. I quickly filled him in. We approached the stage first, observing the mage. He appeared oblivious to our attention, fully absorbed in the song he was playing. Josh shook his head at me and we split up, combing the club for anyone suspicious. In a room full of drunk supernaturals, who wasn’t? Someone in the club had used magic to communicate with Sky. Was it mind magic? Was someone trying to warn her, or chase her away?

  After a few minutes, I slipped out the main door while Josh continued his search. Sky appeared relieved to see me.

  “I didn’t hear anything or see anything suspicious,” I explained. “Josh and I checked out the mage, it couldn’t be him. In fact, there isn’t anyone in there strong enough to do anything remotely like that. Maybe there was a witch in there screwing with you.”

  “Maybe the fatigue and the alcohol are getting to me,” she admitted with a nervous chuckle.

  I was looking for a cab when she started to walk in the direction of the hotel. Deciding the walk might help clear her mind, I caught up to her, quietly observing her as she seemed to fall deeper and deeper into her thoughts.

  “How far is the hotel?” she eventually asked.

  “About sixteen more blocks.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, you walked quite far to find me.” I stopped her, then reached out to hail a cab.

  “I walked that far to find a steakburger?” she asked as I opened the door for her.

  I smiled, guiding her into the backseat.

  She remained quiet, pensive, as we stepped out of the elevator onto our floor of the hotel. At the door to my room, she intended to continue on to her own room when I took her hand and pulled her close to me. Staring into her green eyes, I searched for some sign that she was okay. Misjudging my intention, she pushed against me, her lips pressing into mine in a sudden burst of passion. For a moment, I lost myself in the taste of her lips.

  “You should stay here tonight,” I whispered, surprising myself. A faint voice screamed a warning in the back of my skull, obscured by our mutual desire that seemed only to have intensified from the previous night. The heat of her breath caressed my lips as I stroked the curve of her neck. The longer she hesitated, the louder the voice in my skull became, warning me to not make the mistake I’d already run from.

  Gathering myself, I kissed her lightly on the cheek, then whispered, “If you have to think this long about it, you should say no.”

  I turned, opened the door to my room, and left her in the hall. Just inside the door, I hesitated, listening. A foolish part of me waited for her soft knock. If it came, I knew I couldn’t stop myself from answering it. When I finally heard her footsteps continue down the hall, I leaned back against the neighboring wall and let out a long sigh of relief.

  As I emptied my pockets on the counter, I found Sara’s phone number on a torn piece of paper. She’d tucked the note in my pocket when I wasn’t looking. The debate went on for some time. The smart choice was to go to bed, but I wasn’t in the mood for the smart choice. If I wasn’t careful, I’d end up knocking on Sky’s door. At least, that’s what I told myself as I called the number.

  The next morning, I invited Sara to join me for breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Since she had only her evening wear, I loaned her one of my button-down shirts. Over steak, eggs, and pancakes, she probed me about the liaison in Indianapolis. The Midwest Pack was too large to control centrally. Sebastian assigned liaisons to manage pack affairs in some of the cities outside of Chicago. Anytime a were-animal wanted to move from one pack territory to another, even a new territory within the same pack, there was a hierarchy to follow.

  While I answered her questions, I noticed Sky walk into the restaurant. She smiled and started toward the table, then froze when she saw Sara. Her lips bent into an accusatory frown before she stiffened, turned, and walked out of the restaurant.

  “Something wrong?” Sara asked, turning in time to see Sky disappear into the hall.

  “It’s complicated.” I slipped enough cash onto the table to cover the bill, followed by the keycard to my room so that she could retrieve her belongings, then left the table to follow Sky.

  Tracking her scent, I followed her out of the hotel to a small café a block away. I found her at a table, brooding over a large pancake breakfast, with French toast, eggs, and bacon. She pushed a forkful of pancake into her
mouth, reluctantly chewing as I dropped into the chair across from her. Scowling, she bent her head to her meal and tried to ignore me.

  I waited, watching.

  “What?” she demanded, glaring from beneath her eyebrows, then returned her attention to her fork as she cut another section of pancake.

  “Her name is Sara,” I explained. “She lives here—”

  “Good. Now you can refer to her by name instead of ‘what’s her name that I screwed in New York.’”

  I sighed. “She is considering moving to Indianapolis to be closer to family and wanted some information about the liaison, but I don’t think she really liked my opinion. I only know her by reputation and she seems like a wild card. She will not fare well under his direction.”

  Only slightly mollified, Sky continued glaring between bites. Her appetite lacked fervor. Watching her, I began to wonder if she continued to eat just to avoid conversation. Thankfully, neither of us wanted to talk about last night. Hoping to shift her mood, I changed the topic.

  “Do you think about it?” I asked, using an open question to draw her interest.

  She scowled. “About what?”

  “Do you think about what Logan told us about spirit shades?”

  She considered for a moment, debating whether she’d allow me to redirect the conversation. “All the time,” she decided. “Maya could be a Faerie. Wouldn’t it make sense? Elves and witches can bring a vampire back from reversion, but to the best of my knowledge, they can’t manipulate magic. I am assuming Faeries can.” An idea occurred to her. “Can demons feed vampires?”

  I wasn’t sure there was a difference, whatever Maya’s origin. “Not to my knowledge.”

  “And elves?”

  I nodded.

  She pushed her plate aside. “I can read the Clostra. Josh can’t nor can you. You are—were holding the magic of an elf and can’t read it. Josh is a witch and can’t read it….”

  “So can Senna,” I added.