With the main memory planted, Kellan began filling in the corners where the fiction might unravel. Those who disagreed with his recollection of events were trying to undermine his authority. Their loyalty was in question. They might be trying to steal from him, too.
Satisfied that the fiction he’d created was as seamless as he could make it, Kellan withdrew from The Lion’s mind. A wave of fatigue washed over him. He’d taken only enough blood and life force to strengthen his psychic connection, not enough to support the work he’d done, but there was no time to indulge his weakness.
But as soon as he stood and turned Tasha threw her arms around him.
**I thought he was going to wake up for a minute! I was ready to grab you and pull you into Shadow if he did.** She must have felt him tremble. **Are you okay?**
Just having her near made him feel better. **I’m fine.**
She pulled back to look at him, her skepticism plain on her face.
He felt compelled to elaborate, even though he’d told the truth. He was fine, as long as she was in his arms.**He’s a tough-minded sociopath. Shaping his thoughts was more tiring than I expected. But it’s done. Julie and Alex should be safe from him.**
**Then let’s get out of here.** She released her hug, but kept hold of his left hand.
He could see better in the dim light than a normal human and as she stepped back he got a good look at her face. Dark circles that hadn’t been there before shadowed her eyes. He didn’t want to put her through that long journey through Shadow again, but they had no other way out. But there was one thing he could do.
He pulled her back into an embrace and kissed her.
For a moment she was stiff with surprise, but then she softened and molded her body to his. Her lips parted and she lifted her free hand to caress the back of his neck. She opened to him, and as she did he pushed some of his remaining strength into her.
Tasha jolted at the sensation and tried to pull away. **What are you doing? You’re worn out. You shouldn’t be doing this!**
Kellan held her close. **You’re exhausted, and you’re the one who has to get us back through the Shadow. I’m just baggage. You need it more than I do.**
Tasha glared at him. Beside them, The Lion snored raggedly.
**We should go,** Kellan prodded her. This time when she pulled away he let her go, though their fingers remained entwined.
She pulled him into Shadow. Objects again were muted grays. A darker figure separated from the inky shadows and approached. Kellan lifted his chin, directing Tasha to look over her shoulder. **Your friend is back.**
He felt a tremor shake her, then she straightened her shoulders. **What do you want?**
This time Kellan heard him when he spoke. **You came into my realm.**
**And I’ll leave as soon as I can.**
**I’ve waited a long time for you to find your way here, Tasha. You need not leave so soon.**
Tasha stiffened and Kellan felt her surprise.
**You know me?**
**Of course. I was the Drau who kept watch over you when you were young. I couldn’t keep the nightmares away, but I stopped the Darklings from meddling with you.**
**The Darklings?**
A door on the right hand wall opened and a lovely young blonde in a barely-there nightgown stepped into the room. Unlike the guard who’d stared right through them, her eyes grew round. Then she started screaming.
**She has Fey blood,** the Shadow Being said. **Dilute, but enough that she perceives us.**
Running feet pounded closer in the tile hallway.
“What the hell?” The Lion sat bolt upright in bed, a pistol in his hand, eyes scanning the dark. “Why are you screeching like that?”
“Ghosts!” the woman said, pointing at them.
A forceful knock reverberated through the room. “Mr. Szegedy! Is everything all right?”
“Come.”
The doorknob rattled. “It’s locked, sir.”
“Idiótákkal vagyok körülvéve,” The Lion growled as he climbed out of bed, naked, and strode to the door.
Tasha winced and looked away. **Eww.**
**Time to go,** Kellan said.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The lead coyote yipped in pain, somersaulted, and then lay still on the verge. All but one of the pack turned to look. The one still attacking was in mid-leap when Dave saw her realize the rest of the pack wasn’t with her. Dave lifted his arm to guard his face and her jaws clamped onto his wrist. Every dog in the neighborhood was raising hell now. A man’s voice from the next house down the hill yelled, “Shut up!” Dave swung his gun and hit the attacking coyote on the side of the head. She flinched and released him, skittering back sideways with her back hunched and her hackles raised.
Heart hammering, Dave walked backward slowly, putting distance between him and the other animals as they milled about sniffing and pawing their alpha’s body.
Dave swallowed a litany of curses. He hadn’t wanted to kill the creature. Like White Fang, it had only done what nature directed it to do.
He needed to move. All this racket was probably drawing attention. If he were running The Lion’s security he’d send a couple of guys out with night-vision to walk the perimeter. Cameras were only so good. He concealed the carcass under a nearby bush and faded back to their secondary rally point.
Kellan pushed himself to keep up as Tasha ignored the hallway in favor of a more direct route. She knew where she was going this time, so she dragged him straight through the wall and into the night. Her grip on his hand tightened as they passed the barrier as if she had to tug to get him through. Would a Celestial, with a body made from his Essence, have held her back? As grateful as he was for Antoine’s bequest, Kellan’s body was purely human, neither Fey nor Progeny. He was glad he’d forced his strength on her if he was slowing her down this way.
Sound in the physical world was muffled, but he could hear dogs’ frenzied barking, coming from the direction they were headed. **Do you hear that? Dave won’t be there anymore,** he thought to Tasha. **We should head to the secondary meeting place.**
The backup spot was further away and she was already tired. Her response was tinged with reluctance, but she agreed and changed direction. Tasha’s Shadow friend glided along with them.
Even though sounds seemed muted in Shadow, Kellan still heard the guards’ voices with his superior senses.
“Something’s up in the house. Control says to keep our eyes peeled.”
“I heard him.” The second guard sounded annoyed with the first, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do his job.
Kellan passed on the info. **Apparently the girlfriend has stirred things up.**
**Let’s hope none of the guards are Fey, too,** Tasha said. **I have a feeling they won’t assume we’re ghosts if they see us.**
Several somethings milled about keeping their distance from the Shadow creature, snarling when they got too close to each other. They walked on four legs with an odd loping gait, making him think of hyenas.
**Are those the Darklings you mentioned?** Tasha asked. **Why are they after me?**
**They aren’t after you in particular,** their Shadow escort said.** They’re just hungry, and your power promises a feast.**
Tasha grimaced. **Jeeze, what am I? A chocolate fountain at a fondue bar? Everyone wants a taste of me!**
**It’s hard to blame them,** Kellan teased. **You’re very tasty.**
A guard’s voice erased Kellan’s amusement. “I see something! Over there.”
**One of the guards has seen us,** he passed the information on to Tasha.
“Where?” another guard asked.
“Right there!”
**Let’s get a move on,** Kellan prompted.
**They can’t harm you. Not while you’re in Shadow.** The Shadow Being’s reassurance didn’t make Kellan feel any better.
**We can’t stay here,** Kellan argued. ** And if the other guards follow the guy who can see us they’ll be t
here when we emerge in the physical world. Bullets work just fine there.**
Tasha jogged for about twenty-five yards and then slowed to a brisk walk. Her head was bowed as if she were a laborer, putting her shoulder to a mill wheel. By the time she’d reached a point halfway between the house and the perimeter wall, her pace had slowed to little better than a stroll. Behind them, two of the guards were dogging their steps. One of them had discarded the use of flashlights and their night-vision goggles as useless in tracking “ghosts,” but he’d managed to stay with them. The other one still wore his NVG and grumbled ceaselessly that his fellow guard was imagining things, but he didn’t turn back.
Kellan pulled Tasha to a stop and swung her up in his arms. She fussed feebly, but he held her tightly against his chest. **Can you distract the guards?** He asked the Shadow Being.
**One of them.**
**Do it. I don’t think she’ll last in here much longer.**
The creature glided away. A moment later he heard the Darklings yipping and snarling as they moved beyond them, back the way they’d come.
Kellan jogged toward the perimeter. Here the wall was no longer iron pickets, but solid block. It was only 30 yards away, but Shadow fog made it seem farther as Kellan pushed onward.
Behind them, one of the guards screamed and fired his gun with the soft popping that characterized a suppressed weapon. He hoped he and Tasha weren’t shot by mistake.
He couldn’t see in this realm as well as Tasha. **Am I on track?** he asked.
She lifted her head, then let it fall heavily against his shoulder. **Yes. First star on the left and straight on till morning.**
Kellan frowned. She was becoming delirious.
The wall seemed to jump out of the writhing mist like a jack-in-the-box. The surprise almost made Kellan stop, but he needed all his momentum to carry them forward. And he needed Tasha to stay conscious. Who knew what would happen to them if she passed out? Would they suddenly pop back into the physical world on the wrong side of the wall—or inside it? Or would they be stuck in the Shadow world?
**Come on honey, stay with me. We’re almost there.**
Passing through the wall felt like wading through quicksand, and this time he didn’t have Tasha pulling him through. The wall was only about a foot thick, but it felt wider. He couldn’t see the other side. All he could do was put one foot in front of the other. It seemed to take forever. Had he gotten turned somehow? Was he walking along the length of the block wall, instead of through it?
Suddenly they were out of the wall. A second later they were out of Shadow and back in the physical world.
“Shit!” Dave pulled the muzzle of his weapon up to point away from them. He stood barely ten feet away.
Kellan leaned back against the now solid wall, panting hard, glad the other man was well trained and hadn’t shot before being sure of his target.
“Does she need a medic? Do you?”
Kellan didn’t know what the effects of overusing this ability would be on her. The last time, when she’d saved him and Landry using her affinity for Earth, Gideon had been on hand afterward. “She pushed herself hard. I think she just needs rest.” He hoped he was right.
Dave holstered his gun. “You don’t look much better than she does, and we need to get moving. I’ll take her.”
Kellan’s arms tightened around her without his even thinking about it. “No. I’ll carry her.”
Dave regarded him silently for a few seconds, then nodded. “Right. Let’s get out of here.”
Tasha’s heart pounded as she ran through Shadow. She couldn’t see where she was going, but she could hear the creatures panting all around her, keeping pace with her. She was so tired, but she couldn’t stop. Couldn’t rest. If she did they would pounce on her. She stumbled, and the creatures started yipping eagerly. After three awkward steps, she managed not to fall like the clumsy heroines in horror movies.
Running. Running. She had to get—somewhere. To Kellan. He needed her, but where was he? There was a sign up ahead. Was she almost there? But the placard was gray and blurry. The letters didn’t make sense. She couldn’t read it. How was she supposed to find where she was going? Where was Kellan? Had she left him behind? She had to go back and look for him, but the mob of creatures were hard on her heels. She couldn’t stop. Couldn’t turn around. If she did, they’d eat her—rip the flesh from her bones and drink her soul until nothing was left.
Kellan stepped out of the hotel room and tried to call Jasper again. He’d slept for a solid twelve hours after returning from their mission even though Dave had given him a second sip of his energy and blood. Tasha had been tossing restlessly in her sleep since he awoke. Was she having nightmares? He’d roused her just enough to make her drink, but she hadn’t spoken and her unfocused gaze suggested she wasn’t really conscious.
His call went directly to voicemail. It was possible Jasper wasn’t in a position to answer his phone, but dread was crawling up the back of Kellan’s neck.
He dialed Ezra’s contact number and left a message. “I can’t reach Jasper. Is he with you? Have you taken action yet? Call me.” There. That was vague enough that only Ezra would understand.
Thirty seconds later, Ezra returned his call. “Why would you think Jasper was with me?” he asked without preamble.
Oh shit. “He didn’t contact you?”
“He most certainly did not. If he had, I might have been able to talk some sense into him and stop him from getting killed.”
Killed?
Dread solidified like a stone in Kellan’s gut. Jasper was dead?
“Are you there?” Ezra asked sharply.
“Yes.” He barely choked out the single word.
“Did you suspect Jasper was going to attack Three? I need to interview you.”
It was standard procedure to interview the partner of an U’dahmi that went rogue. More often than not, the partner was in denial about the psychological state of the rogue, and thus didn’t report the aberrant tendencies. Sometimes, though, the partner was rogue as well and needed to be executed.
“Where are you?” Ezra asked.
Jasper hadn’t told Ezra what was going on. Kellan shook his head, trying to focus. He was at risk here, and by extension, so was Tasha. He couldn’t let Ezra examine him. He’d stepped over the line in too many ways to be forgiven again. But he couldn’t let Jasper’s information die with him. “Jasper found out that Three is in league with the Golden Path. They’re working on a plan to rend the Veil.”
Ezra barked a surprised laugh, but then paused. “You’re serious. You can’t believe that.”
“He couldn’t lie to me mind-to-mind.”
“So he believed it. That doesn’t make it true.”
“It doesn’t make it false, either.”
“The two of you have been out of direct contact for months, you said. That kind of mental isolation could make him delusional. That’s why we all have partners, after all. To prevent that.”
It was a reasonable conclusion, but Kellan knew better. He’d touched Jasper’s mind. “Do your job, Ezra. Investigate. You’re the only one I trust to get this done. But don’t tell anyone. I don’t know how wide this conspiracy goes.”
“You want me to investigate Three on my own—without authorization from a Council member—on the basis of a rumor started by a rogue? That’s insane.”
Kellan disconnected. Ezra wasn’t going to help. It was up to him.
Tasha blinked and slowly opened her eyes. She was back at the hotel, comfortably tucked in bed, curled up on her right side. The room was dark except for a glow coming from the bathroom. A weight across her waist held her firmly against the solid wall of hot flesh at her back. The familiar scent of nutmeg and vanilla confirmed she was awake, snuggled safely in a cocoon of warmth with Kellan. They were both naked and she was fine with that. She felt suspended in time and perfectly content, with her body relaxed and no worries demanding her attention. His breath flowed gently and regularly agains
t her neck. She opened her mind and knew he slept.
She didn’t want to move out of this perfect nest of warmth and safety, but her body had other ideas. She had to pee and brush her teeth. Tasha moved cautiously so she wouldn’t wake Kellan, but she’d barely started to slide out from under his arm when it tightened around her, drawing her back against him. She felt his delicate examination, affirming that she was whole and well.
**I’m fine. Let go,** she whispered into his mind.
He kissed the back of her neck. **Never,** but he relaxed his embrace after giving her a quick squeeze that pressed his morning wood against her rump. She almost laughed as she got out of bed. He might be thousands of years old, but he was still a guy.
“I didn’t want to wake you,” Tasha said as she returned from the bathroom wrapped in the complimentary bathrobe.
“I’ve slept enough. What about you?”
“I feel good.” She glanced at the clock. Seven a.m. The last thing she remembered was that woman screaming. Somehow she’d gotten them out, but she didn’t recall how. “How long was I out?”
“Over a day. I roused you a couple of times to pour some sports drink down your throat. Do you remember that?”
Tasha shook her head. “That explains the foul taste in my mouth. No wonder I had to pee so bad.”
Kellan chuckled and held out a hand to her. “Come back to bed.”
A happy zing of desire vanquished the last bit of sleep from her body. She untied the sash of her robe and slowly let it fall off her shoulders to the floor. Her skin tingled with anticipation at the way Kellan’s eyes darkened with desire. Or was that a different kind of hunger?
“Do you need blood? I’m feeling really good now―”
“No. I’m fine.” He reached for her hand, pulled her closer. “You’re amazing. Brave. Determined. And so beautiful.”
She smiled at the hyperbole. She was decently attractive, not what anyone but him would call beautiful. But she wasn’t going to argue with him, not when he was looking at her like he wanted to eat her up.
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