The Shadows and Sorcery Collection

by Heather Marie Adkins

  Warren tugged my hair back, gaping. “What the hell?”

  “Everett. His cronies shot me three times. I died.”

  “I hate to break it to you, but you’re definitely not dead.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Clearly.”

  “So... what? The leader of the Hollow is a bad guy? And we’re gonna have to take him down, just you and me? The odds don’t seem good.”

  I grinned. “We’re not taking him down alone.”

  30

  When the world ends, honesty and trust end with it. Life in Senka Hollow could be dangerous, not only because of the darkness, but because a girl never knew who to trust.

  Sometimes, though, you just know who’s going to be on your side.

  As I careened through the city streets in a department-issued vehicle, I keyed up my Com and dialed Shana.

  She answered on the first ring. “Talk to me.”

  “Do you trust me?” I asked her.

  Her response came so quickly, I knew she hadn’t even had to give it thought. “Implicitly.”

  “Meet me at our spot.”

  A brief pause as she sifted through my cryptic message. “Copy.”

  I cut the call and swerved around another corner. The streets were empty and still peppered with debris from the earthquake. Like the whole city had shut down when Senka rose.

  I fought back a pang thinking of her, alone in the dark.

  Shana stood outside Wang Chee in her uniform. She slid into the backseat without question, and I got back on the road as if I’d never stopped at all.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “Everett Lear tried to have me killed.”

  In the rearview mirror, Shana’s dark eyebrows shot toward her hairline. “Excuse me?”

  I gave her the quick and dirty version, with occasional assistance from Warren in the passenger seat. When my sordid tale ended, so did our journey. I cut the engine in front of the Insurgentia’s office and shifted in my seat to look back at my friend.

  “I always knew that son of a bitch was shifty as fuck,” she said. “What’s his end game?”

  I shrugged. “He didn’t want Senka back in the tomb. That much I know.”

  “He didn’t want our only protection against Acura’s darkness back where it could keep us safe?”

  “Appears that way.”

  Shana ran a hand over her short kinky curls. “Shit. Weston was shadow touched. The darkness has infiltrated the council.”

  “Probably.”

  Shana glanced out the window. The Collier & Sons sign glinted in the fading sunlight. “Good call.”

  “The Insurgentia started it when they sent my brother in to catch Weston at the encampment. Might as well have them there to help us finish it.”

  Josiah Bishop leapt to his feet as the three of us barged into the office. He knocked a stack of folders off his desk in his hurry to get away.

  “I don’t even have my gun drawn,” I pointed out, feigning hurt.

  “You are a crazy bitch!” he yelped, disappearing behind his desk.

  Warren raised an eyebrow. “What did you do to the kid?”

  “Nothing.”

  “I don’t believe that for a second,” Shana said. She pulled out her badge and flipped it open. “Mr. Bishop. Detective Clayton with the Sapiens Enforcement Agency. You are not in trouble. Please come out and talk to us.”

  Josiah peeked over the desk, his short auburn hair glinting in the fluorescent lights. “She has a gun.”

  “Give me your gun.” Shana held out a hand.

  “What? No!” I took a step away.

  She gave me the side-eye. “Nez. If you want him to cooperate, you need to cooperate.”

  Grumbling a few of my favorite words, I unholstered the weapon and passed it to Shana. She passed it to Warren, who stared dumbly at it, like he’d never held a gun in his life.

  “It doesn’t bite,” I assured him.

  He grinned. “Too bad.”

  Josiah stood and cleared his throat. He straightened a stack of papers on his desk, pretending he hadn’t just lost his shit when I walked in the door.

  After my behavior the last time we met, I couldn’t really blame him. Not my finest moment. Even the Reaper can’t handle her grief well.

  “How can I help you, Detective?” Josiah asked.

  I cut Shana off before she could answer. “Everett Lear tried to have me killed to keep Senka from being put back in the ground. We think he’s attempting to wrest power of the Hollow by allowing the darkness to take over. We need your help. Well, the Insurgentia’s help. We have three people and a vendetta.” I motioned to indicate Shana, Warren, and myself. “The Insurgentia has numbers.”

  “You want us to help you take down the Rein of Senka Hollow?” Josiah asked, voice level. All trace of animosity had disappeared from his voice as he addressed me.

  Shana and I exchanged glances. “Yeah,” I answered.

  His face lit up, and he pumped a fist in the air. “This is what we’ve been training for!”

  “Training?” Shana asked. She looked at me. “These idiots have been training?”

  “Don’t insult the help,” I warned her.

  Josiah shuffled through the mess on his desk until he found a small radio. He keyed up, feedback squelching as he said, “Code Red. Code Red. All soldiers to Headquarters. All soldiers to Headquarters.” He dropped the professionalism with his next statement: “Holy fuck, you guys, this is it! Get down here!”

  Having a vendetta wasn’t exactly the same as having a plan.

  Staring down fifty-plus Insurgentia, avidly waiting for me to give them instructions, reminded me exactly how important a plan could be to the success of a mission.

  I convened with Warren and Shana, our backs to the kids. “The only thing we have going for us is that they don’t know we’re coming.”

  “Do you really think the SEB and SEA are going to fight us?” Shana asked. “You’re the top agent. I’m not high-ranking, but my longevity has to count for something.”

  “If Lila told us to fight someone we knew because they were a threat to the Hollow, wouldn’t we?”

  Shana worried at her bottom lip. “Maybe. Depends on the person.”

  “Could we broadcast something? On that little watch thing you wear?” Warren tapped my Com.

  I looked at the magickal piece of equipment on my wrist. Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum hadn’t removed it when they threw me half-dead in Senka’s tomb, which is what happens when you send morons to do an important job.

  I grabbed Warren by either side of his face and kissed him. “You’re a genius.”

  He blushed. “Aw, shucks.”

  “I knew it. You seemed way too relaxed. He’s sexy, too.” Shana winked at Warren.

  I ignored her pry into my sex life, well-aware the Insurgentia seated close behind us were hanging on our every word. “We surround Headquarters in secret. I make the broadcast. We infiltrate. We take down the Rein, and we take the council in custody for questioning.”

  “How the hell you suggest we take twelve council members in custody with only two cops?”

  “Eleven,” I corrected, shoving aside the memory of the councilwoman’s face as we exchanged fire. I’d survived the encounter thanks to a bit of preternatural assistance. I doubted the same could be said for Meade. “And we don’t have to do this the legal way. The Insurgentia could wrap them up in rope for all I care.”

  “Who’s taking Everett in custody? He’s going to be well-protected.”

  I patted my Taurus. “I’m not taking Everett into custody. He sent me to my death. Now, I’m bringing death to him. My entire life has been dedicated to keeping this Hollow safe from the darkness. The darkness happens to be the man in charge.” I shrugged, but couldn’t stop the smile. “Just doing my job.”

  We parked one block down and across the street with a clear view of Headquarters. It was just past seven o’clock shift change, and a steady stream of uniformed SEB officers
exited the building for home.

  My insides had gone straight past heart-pounding and sailed into defcon-one. I clutched the steering wheel, for lack of anything else to hold, and tried to draw strength from Warren and Shana’s presence in the car.

  The toy radio in the cup holder crackled to life and Josiah said, “Unit one in place.”

  We remained silent, listening as each “unit” of the Insurgentia stationed at their predetermined location to await battle. Or what I hoped wouldn’t be a battle so much as a gentle takeover.

  The final unit called its location.

  Shana’s thin, strong fingers curled around my shoulder. “You can do this.”

  I glanced at Warren. He lifted my hand to his mouth. “No more moments left, babe. Let’s do this.”

  I keyed my Com, connecting to the public channel.

  “This is Agent Maurelle Nez,” I said into the mic, voice stronger than I expected. “Late last night, Rein Everett Lear sent me on a run, where I was ambushed and shot three times. Two men then sealed me inside Senka’s tomb to die.

  “The Rein of Senka Hollow attempted to have me killed because I had found a way to put Senka back to rights. He also attempted to murder Reina Lila, and covered up the act by throwing her down the stairs.

  “The council has been infiltrated by darkness. The Rein is dangerous.” I swallowed, nerves jangling. “If you fight us, we will have no choice but to defend ourselves.”

  31

  Apparently, a quiet, gentle takeover wasn’t in the cards.

  Which, let’s be honest, seemed to be the constant modus operandi of my life.

  When our teams converged as one upon Headquarters, we found ourselves locked out and at the end of a dozen SEA barrels. I noted the lack of SEB agents with a smile.

  “Your people need to figure out their loyalties,” I told Shana.

  She rolled her eyes. “Look at it logically. Everett is human. Sapiens Enforcement Agency. Of course they’re going to be dumb as shit and side with the enemy. Because he’s human.”

  Josiah came to stand next to me, vibrating with anticipation. “People are going to die.”

  “Sociopath,” Shana muttered. “Why’d we hitch our wagon to them again?”

  “Because suddenly, our goals have aligned like the Senka-damned constellations.”

  “How do we get in? And, uh, past that?” Warren motioned to the stone-faced officers waiting behind the glass.

  “Magick.” I grinned. I placed my hands on the glass and called my power. Funny that I’d used the same spell only a couple days before to keep from being ripped to pieces on the asphalt. The bullet-proof glass shimmered.

  And turned to ice.

  I had to guess the confused officers inside didn’t shoot at the sight of my magick because we were surrounded by humans. That changed when I drew my Taurus and shot over their heads, shattering the ice in an epic display of power.

  To the sound of gunfire and screams, I rushed over the threshold.

  I bounced off an officer, kicking his gun from his hands as he aimed at Josiah. I came out of the round-kick and shot another officer’s kneecaps, sending him to the ground on a wail of agony.

  My only goal was to get past the fray and find Everett. I knew Shana and the Insurgentia could handle themselves, and Warren seemed to be holding his own pretty well with a mix of his borrowed gun and time-travel tricks. So I surged forward, shoving past the wall of astonished SEA officers, disarming them as I could. I felt an affinity with Josiah, riding the excitement of a fight.

  My boot connected with a jaw, and I whirled into the kick, throwing a punch at the man behind him.

  “Relle, duck!” Shana yelled.

  I ducked, and gunfire was exchanged over my head, so close I felt the breeze. An unfamiliar SEA agent fell, his gun skittering across the marble floor and a pool of his blood following it.

  I stood and turned to grin my thanks at Shana.

  She was on her knees, her white button down stained with blood.

  Alarm bells clanged in my head. I punched past an officer and ran to her, falling to my knees and sliding the last two feet.

  She crumpled to her back, her legs tangled beneath her. She struggled to breathe, blood trailing from her nose. I whipped off my tank top and pressed it to the wound in her chest.

  “Giving the boys a show,” Shana joked, and then coughed, her abdomen rocking beneath my hands.

  “If they can’t handle a sports bra, they deserve to be shot.”

  She laughed again, and cringed. A low moan escaped her lips, which were quickly growing pale.

  I raised my voice over the melee, scared to hear my own panic. “Warren!”

  He appeared at my side, blood on his arms that, thankfully, didn’t appear to be his. The barrel of his gun smoked. He sucked in a breath at the sight of Shana bleeding on the floor, and knelt beside us.

  “Take her somewhere safe,” I begged. “Get her help.”

  “I can’t leave yo—”

  “Get her out of here!” I screamed.

  I couldn’t think about Shana right now, blood pouring from her gut. If I thought about losing her, or losing Lila, still comatose upstairs, I’d shut down. There’s only so much one girl can handle. I needed her far away from here so I could finish what I came for.

  Warren’s haunted gaze remained on me as I turned my back. But I felt the surge in energy that meant he’d slipped through time, carrying Shana with him.

  “Nez! Watch out!” John Nesbitt barreled through a group of SEA officers like a person-shaped wrecking ball. He raised his gun and fired, the bullet whizzing past my head to take out an agent behind me. “Go!”

  As Nes pressed against the crowd, I ran for the stairs.

  The upper floors were silent as a tomb. I moved quickly, searching the council chambers, Everett’s office, their living quarters, even Lila’s office. The absence of anyone made me think he’d sent everyone home; cleared out the building as if he expected to lose.

  Maybe I was being optimistic, but the thought spurred me on, anyway.

  I finally found the rein of Senka Hollow, sitting beside his comatose wife in her hospital room.

  “Hello, Nez. Figured you’d find me eventually.” He slouched in his chair petulantly. “You’re like a goddamned flea. Impossible to eradicate.”

  “Sorry about that. I tried. Really.” I leveled my gun on his face and ventured further into the room.

  Dr. Webster lay splayed on the floor, a trickle of blood trailing from a head wound. But his chest rose and fell, so for the moment, I knew he was safe.

  Everett sighed. “It was going to be grand. The darkness is a great place. Everything is so free. So clear. It’s gone, you know.” He held out his palms and turned his blue-eyed gaze to me. “Senka is doing her job again. Quite well, I might add. Sucked the darkness out of everyone I know.”

  I reached out with one hand and lifted one eyelid on Lila’s sleeping face. Her eye was as pure and gorgeous blue as it had ever been.

  No longer shadow touched.

  The realization rocked me to my core. Senka hadn’t just stopped the progression of the darkness — she’d erased it entirely. I touched the white stones at my neck and sent her a silent Thank you.

  Everett leaned forward.

  I put my second hand back on my gun and stiffened. “Don’t move.”

  He chuckled. “Always the hero, hey, Nez? My wife always liked you best. Fae of a feather flock together, or some shit.” The bitterness in his tone on the word “fae” startled me.

  “This had nothing to do with making the Hollow stronger,” I said. “This was about you. You couldn’t stand that your fae wife was stronger than you. Her magick could power the entire Hollow, but you... you’re only human. All you could do was power her.”

  Everettt launched to his feet and pulled a gun from behind his body.

  Too many people underestimate those moments. The split second between drawing and shooting your gun can last a lifetime.
/>
  When your opponent is already sighted on you, it is your lifetime in the balance.

  In the small hospital room, the gunshot echoed.

  32

  Everett Lear tottered backwards like a felled tree. He tripped over the chair, dead before his body hit the linoleum.

  My ears rang in the aftermath of my shot. Everett’s gun had flown from his hand and landed in a fern on the windowsill.

  Lila gasped, eyes opening. She looked around groggily, taking in my haggard, bloody appearance and the smoking gun in my hand. “Relle? What’s going on?”

  I holstered the Taurus and pointed at Everett’s body on the floor.

  Lila stared at her husband’s body for a long moment. “Son of a bitch tried to kill me.”

  “Dr. Webster figured someone had.”

  “You look like shit.”

  “Battling through officers to assassinate a leader will do that to a girl.”

  She gave a shaky sigh. “You telling me I can’t sleep without you bringing war to my people?”

  “Hey, it was your husband’s fault. Not mine.”

  She groaned. “Give me your wrist.”

  I went one better and removed my Com, passing it to her. As she keyed up, I found Dr. Webster’s strong, steady pulse to ensure he would be okay.

  “Reina Lear to all units. All units, cease fire immediately. The Rein is dead. I repeat, the Rein is dead. All units report to command staff and await further instructions. Anyone who entered this building with Agent Maurelle Nez is under the protection of the Reina. All councilmembers are to report immediately to the chambers. If they do not, agents are to subdue them and deliver them.” She collapsed back against her pillows and patted the bed beside her.

  I pulled off my thigh holster and placed both it and my gun on the table beside the bed. I stepped out of my boots and climbed onto the bed next to my reina.