Taint of Shadow

by Cassandra Moore

  “I can’t hurt any more than I already do.” With a grim smile, she walked to the attic stairs then stopped. “One more thing.”

  “Hmm?”

  “Is Todd still with the pack?”

  The older woman canted her head. “Of course. After you disappeared, he went with Regina to look for you. The ritual site did him a lot of harm, when they found it. Since then, he’s been a great friend to Noah.”

  “I’m sure.” She wanted to go after him. The betrayal still burned like acid in her heart. But his time would come. His death had a greater purpose to serve that went beyond her revenge. “I’ll let myself out the back door.”

  Moira watched her friend descend the stairs. A year ago, she’d seen a happy blonde woman out of her shop after a long talk about love, marriage, and what it meant for wolves to mate. That woman’s bright, elated smile had lit the attic like sunshine, as had the obvious love she wore for the man she’d bond with when the moon rose high that evening.

  Now, a grim shadow of her friend walked away, tormented, haunted, alone. It made her heart sore to even ponder. Oh, child, don’t walk into the night alone.

  The sound of the closing door sounded ominous, final. Not if I can help it. I can’t go with you, girl, but I know someone who can. Without a second thought, she pulled the cell phone from her pocket and punched in a number.

  Ring. Ring. Ring. “Hello? Moira?”

  “Noah.” She took a deep breath. “You have to do something for me. I need you to go where I tell you to, and I need you to do it right now.”

  “I’m about to go out right now, but if you can give me a couple hours-”

  “You don’t have a couple hours. I need you to go now.”

  “This is a little strange, Moira.”

  “It’s about Kayla.”

  Shocked silence held the line. “What about Kayla?”

  She gave directions. “Go. Go right now.”

  The phone went dead, but she knew he’d do as she asked.

  Noah flipped on the small lamp in the front room. It didn’t shed a lot of light, just enough to show that someone lived here. Someone waited for his love to come home.

  He never left the apartment dark. If she was hurt or lonely, she could see the glow from the lamp and know she was still welcome here. Even after a year with no contact, he hoped she might come up the street and see the light, and that it would bring her back to him.

  From the table, the paper stared at him. Lease Renewal Notice read the large letters across the top. If you would like to stay with us another year, please sign and return this paper by the end of the month. As a thank you, we’ll be glad to offer you a complimentary cleaning of the carpets in your home.

  Had a year really passed since they’d chosen this place together?

  “We can stay here a year, maybe two,” Kayla had said as she poked in the cupboards and checked the hot water heater. “Save up, and get a house with a view of the mountain. Have the pack over for barbecues.”

  “They’re wolves,” he’d said with a laugh. “We can just throw down slabs of beef and pour beer into dog bowls.”

  She’d laughed with him and looked so beautiful. Another two weeks, and they’d be bound. He knew if they signed the papers that day, it’d be just a few more days before he could chase her around the new place. They could break in those kitchen counters. They were the perfect height for her to sit on, her legs wrapped around him...

  Jaw clenched, he forced the memory aside. She’d hardly gotten to live here, but somehow, it remained their place. The sofa she’d picked out still sat where she’d had Todd and him move it. Then they’d moved it three more times, until she decided that she liked the original place best. Her pictures. Her sock, kicked under the coffee table.

  Todd had seen the notice when it arrived the week before. “Noah, you can’t stay here. You have to press forward. At least move to a new place so the past doesn’t rub you raw.”

  “What if she comes back? What if she comes here and I’m not here?” He’d been angry at his friend. Press forward? Leave Kayla behind?

  “She’s not coming back.” Todd had looked him square in the eyes. “If she was coming back, she would have by now. It’s just— It’s just a matter of finding her body so you can have some closure, man.”

  He had growled. “Then we go kill every last one of those undead sons of bitches until they cough it up.”

  Todd had held up his hands. “Look. Just give it some rational thought, okay? You still have the same cell number. If she’s not— If she’s looking, she can find you.”

  “I’d know if you were dead, lover,” he said to the lamp. “I’d know.”

  Todd and a few others from the pack had talked him into drinks tonight. A good chance to get out, breathe, maybe relax. No talk about biters or fights, just sports, jobs, the human Bren refused to admit he’d fallen for. Even Noah had to agree that he didn’t get out enough.

  He needed to strengthen his bond with the wolves. They’d kept him alive and sane when he’d wanted to die or lose his mind. Hours, days, they’d searched with him, turned the city upside-down, endangered themselves to shake down the fangs for any information they had. Friends, the best any man could ask for, closer than humans could imagine. Compatriots. Brothers and sisters.

  Yes, he needed to bond with them. Then, when he took Peter down, they would follow him without hesitation. Straight into hell, if he had any say in the matter.

  Disquiet, he stalked into the bathroom to ruffle his hair into shape. She liked it just this side of sloppy, tousled, wild. Instead he found himself staring at his reflection, the blue eyes that had turned hard and the lips that pressed into a firm line. He hadn’t realized how he’d changed, but tonight, he could see what the others had told him.

  Peter had never failed them until last summer, when he’d let the biters off without retaliation. They’d attacked his lover, left her wounds that oozed blood for at least a week after. Kayla had never come back. And what had Peter done? Talked it over with the king of liars, the lord who watched over the leeches. Of course, he’d said they hadn’t done it. He was afraid, and with reason.

  Peter had even let his own girlfriend down. A weak alpha had to go.

  “I’m doing all that I can do,” Peter had said when Noah had lay bruised on the ground at his feet. “Don’t suggest that I don’t care again, or you’ll bleed for it. I care about every member of my pack, but you will not drag us into a war while I lead. If you kill another vampire, you’ll face pack justice, by my word as alpha.”

  If that was how he wanted to play, so be it.

  With a sigh, Noah splashed his face with cold water. He didn’t want leadership of the pack. But if Peter would do nothing, then someone had to take the power from him. The loss, the insult, was more than the pack could bear. Noah had trained since the night the alpha had beaten him. When the full moon rose in two days, Peter would fall.

  The phone rang as Noah finished drying his face. Probably Todd checking on me, making sure I’m still coming. He trotted to the table to pick it up. He’s worse than a grandmother.

  But the caller identification said Moira O’Rourke.

  “Hello? Moira?” What could she want? He hadn’t talked to her in an age. Moon Blessings had become painful for him. Kayla had loved it.

  “Noah.” She took a deep breath, as if to steady herself. “You have to do something for me. I need you to go where I tell you to, and I need you to do it right now.”

  Tension drew her voice thin. Something was up.

  “I’m about to go out right now, but if you can give me a couple hours—”

  “You don’t have a couple hours. I need you to go now.”

  “This is a little strange, Moira.” More than a little strange. Of course, Moira had lent her place to that unfortunate meeting between Peter and Vincenzo Pirelli. Was she setting him up?

  Moira wouldn’t do that. She was just trying to keep the peace. I need to ease up... Maybe they’re right.
I need to get past this.

  “It’s about Kayla.”

  Shock flooded him like a bolt from heaven. The name echoed in his ears. “What about Kayla?”

  She gave directions to a seedy street in a dangerous district. “Go. Go right now.”

  Her tone told him more than her words could. Without a second thought, he killed the connection then grabbed his keys as he dashed out the door.

  It’s about Kayla. At last, someone’s speaking my language.

  Four

  Every city in the world has an area where no one who values their safety goes, especially after dark. Unattended cars become carrion, food for the vultures who want the cargo, the stereo, even the wheels. People not tough enough to fight back against three, four, or more become victims and statistics.

  Noah drove into one as fast as his truck could navigate the streets.

  It’s about Kayla. He took a turn so fast the tires squealed. What about her? About her, in this part of town, couldn’t mean anything good. Nothing good, except that it’s something about her, finally. Why hadn’t Moira said more? Why hadn’t she explained? He had a cell phone; he could talk and drive.

  She’d only given him the district to go to, not a specific place within it. Not a bar, or a corner, just a wide area. What am I supposed to do, walk around one of the worst areas here looking for the unknown? He had good odds of finding the unknown, too. Unknown muggers, gang members, and thieves. All sorts of people that he’d rather not know.

  Once, years before, the city had pioneered a “revitalization” in the area to banish the specters of criminal activity and create a vivacious entertainment district. Only the undesirable element had seen the value in the attempt. Noah would have ventured they’d appreciated the efforts, by the way they’d settled in like they owned the place. But that was the public facade.

  Beneath the visible face of the neighborhood, an unseen community flourished. Perversely clean dive bars and windowless clubs brought in plenty of business, and a bundle of very old money, by catering to an element no one on the city council believed in. Vampires.

  Blood-sucking leeches, and the people who wanted to offer up a vein. Just under the skin, a different world played out in the darkness. They kept their patronage on the quiet, didn’t make waves with dangerous behavior, and the werewolves didn’t come here for drinks and dancing.

  Noah parked his truck next to an open length of curb and killed the engine, deep in the heart of the district. Garish neon signs shone from small tavern windows, advertising beer brands or highlighting menu specials. Noah noticed a few had stickers from the local blood bank placed in discreet places on the doors. No question what that stands for. Not really in the mood for a bar crawl, but I guess I have to start somewhere. Walk into a few bars. Ask if any of the vampires have seen my mate. Punch them in their stupid teeth when they say they have. Great plan.

  Locating Kayla down here would be like finding a needle in a filthy, reeking haystack. The bar crowds made it difficult to scan for individual people, let alone smell for them with his wolf’s senses. Cheap beer, alcohol-soaked frozen fruit, and a sea of the unwashed masses. No pack member with a functional nose would stay here, but why would she come to this area at all?

  Three bartenders hadn’t seen her, and they assured him that they would’ve remembered her. One of the drunken patrons said that he’d help to look for her, although he’d keep her if he found her. He got up, too, and fell over, unable to stand. The bartender rolled his eyes as if this happened all the damn time.

  Noah walked over a block. He picked a bar with a view of the street, one that had two blood bank stickers and an evening special of all-beef sliders with real cheddar. By the smells that assaulted him when he opened the door, he doubted both the meat content and the veracity of the cheese claim. Even “cheese food” in the description might have promised too much, since “food” would have implied an edibility Noah wouldn’t have believed.

  All eyes in the room riveted on him as he strode to the bar. The few humans in the crowd looked away, but the vampires kept their gazes pinned. At least a dozen biters watched him perch on a barstool with forced calm. Just the knowledge they sat behind him, out of sight but not out of mind, made Noah’s inner wolf snarl.

  The bartender paid him a studious lack of attention, though Noah had no illusions she’d failed to size him up. With a too-casual movement, she set a small, cheap napkin in front of him. “You’re a little out of place.”

  “More than a little.” He watched her hand as she slid the napkin over. No pulse twitched in her veins.

  “What can I get for you?” She glanced up to meet his eyes with a wary look.

  “Information. I’m looking for—” He reached for his pocket.

  Tension ratcheted up fast. Her eyes narrowed. Fang tips peeked out form between her lips. The room took on an unnatural quiet. Behind him, he could feel the bar patrons go still in preparation for action. Shit.

  Noah took a deep breath. “What I’m not here for is trouble. I’m just getting my phone. Okay?”

  The fangs disappeared from between the bartender’s lips. She set her hands on the bar. “Sure. Go ahead.”

  Normal sounds resumed. He forced himself to relax as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. Try not to accidentally start any fights, will you? Pick them on purpose. When you’re not outnumbered ten to one. “I’m looking for this woman. Has she come through here tonight? Or recently?”

  Kayla’s picture shone out from the phone screen. His favorite, the one where she’d hammed up a big smile for the camera on a hiking trip up the mountain. The bartender’s lips flattened into a thin line when she saw it. Her eyes lingered too long for a casual inspection. “I haven’t seen her.”

  “You sure?”

  “I’m damn sure.” She reached out and took the napkin back. It disappeared behind the bar. “I’ve never seen her before in my life.”

  Noah narrowed his eyes. Even without the usual, human markers for untruth, he knew a lie when he saw one. What did you expect? Fucking biters stick up for each other. But he couldn’t let it go. “I don’t know if I buy that. I’m going to ask you again—”

  “And I’m going to tell you again. I. Have. Not. Seen. Her.” The bartender didn’t look at him. Instead, she fussed with a glass out of his view, beneath the level of the bar. “That’s not going to change. You said you didn’t want trouble, right?”

  “That’s what I said. But—”

  Now, she did look up to meet his eyes. “Me, either.”

  Their gazes locked for a long moment. It broke when she swept her glance around the room behind him. When she fixed it on him again, he understood. “Sorry. I got a little intense.”

  “No problem.” She set the napkin back in front of him and covered it with a full glass. “Have a drink. It’s that kind of night.”

  “I didn’t—”

  She interrupted him. “It’s on the house.”

  A scribble of inked words stuck out from beneath the edge of the glass. You’re really slow sometimes, you know that? “Thanks. You’re right. It’s been a long week.”

  “Happens to all of us.” She winced a little smile, then made her way down the bar away from him.

  Mindful to act smoother and less like a rhinoceros with a bee up his ass, Noah picked up the drink to take a small sip. Just cola over ice. The message was far more interesting.

  DJ Specter @ Beat Down

  Saw her take a flier off a light pole

  Hope you find her

  Noah pocketed the napkin with his phone. Everyone knew where DJ Specter kept his loyalties. A few key beatings a year ago had bought the information that the musician had missed a show the night Kiplinger had taken Kayla. In that year, Noah had heard of a handful of performances, but never managed to make one. Organizers and attendees kept the locations so far under wraps that even the lord of the city didn’t hear about them until afterwards.

  Which was one of the three dozen problems Noah had
with the man. If the ostensible leader couldn’t keep control, then he had to go. Vampire or werewolf.

  The last line surprised Noah, though. Hope you find her. He had come in, disrupted the night’s business, and halfway gotten in the woman’s face. Yet she’d given him information he got the idea the other customers wouldn’t appreciate her passing around, and expressed a compassion he wouldn’t have expected from a human he’d given trouble, let alone a vampire.

  You wouldn’t have given her the time of day. She risked herself to tell you what she knew. That vampire’s heart was warmer than yours.

  Food for thought. He finished his drink and left her a big tip. It was literally the very least he could do, but he didn’t have time for more. Not tonight.

  Beat Down hid several blocks away, on a street where revitalization efforts had outright failed. All the shops had closed their doors but for one smoke shop that clung to tenuous life at the corner of two unlit streets. Scraggly trees with more dead branches than live ones poked out of the concrete sidewalks, their leaves undersized and yellowed at the edges. To Noah, it looked like a neighborhood caught in the grips of a slow cancer, the blight encroaching at an inexorable pace toward the seedy if active part of town.

  Music throbbed from the dark brick building. He could mostly feel it in his feet, a rhythmic rumble that vibrated up through his shoes and into his bones. If he could feel it from here, he wondered how anyone in the building still had functional eardrums. Or how he would, after he’d gone inside to see if Kayla had done the same.

  Another bad idea in a string of bad ideas tonight. If you were outnumbered in the bar, it will be four times worse in there. Instead of charging straight into the den of leeches alone, he opted to look around. Scope out exits. Find a place to watch who went in and out. She’d have to use a door, and he could pick her out of a handful of folks faster than he could find her in a throng. If she weren’t in trouble in there. Or if she were here at all.

  He didn’t want to think that he’d missed her, or worse, that the bartender had made a mistake. The first tip he’d had couldn’t turn out to be little more than smoke. It would hurt too much.