Authors: Jayde Scott
"Clare!" Cass yel ed, outraged. "I wouldn't date this guy if my life depended on it."
Kieran started to speak when Aidan tugged on his sleeve. "Not another word."
We walked in silence for a while, passing yet more trees. I didn't dare look up the path in case it seemed to stretch on forever, crushing my spirits. The fireflies hovered over our heads, il uminating our way. I reached up to touch them, then decided against it because I didn't trust demonic animals.
"The question is when wil the demon attack the vampire with a fire bolt and when wil the vampire bite the demon?" Devon said, resuming the conversation. "It's only a matter of time until someone's seriously hurt. Hanging around with them is a lethal combination, Amber. For the life of me, I can't figure out why you're stil alive."
"As you can see, she's perfectly fine and happy," Aidan said. It was nice to see him stick up for me. Wrapping my coat tighter around me, I peered at the dense woods surrounding us. The path didn't seem to be the one we'd taken only a few nights ago; for one, it was narrower and obstructed by bushes and low-hanging branches. Then again, I'd been focusing on my feet, minding the loose stones and fal en twigs, and definitely not paying much attention to the scenery.
"Want me to carry you?" Kieran whispered in my ear, his hot breath brushing my skin.
He sounded so much like Aidan that, for a moment, I stopped breathing, my brain completely fooled, until Aidan cal ed out, "She'l walk."
Who the heck did he think he was, tel ing me what to do? I considered taking Kieran up on the offer, just to piss Aidan off, but then I let it pass.
He was right, better get the book without any more delays and drama.
"Another time," Kieran whispered.
"Bro, I swear next time Cass tries her abilities on you, I'l be the first one to help her," Aidan hissed, annoyed.
Was he jealous? I beamed at the realisation that he didn't want to see me with someone else. In spite of his cold demeanour, he cared about me. I quickened my pace and, in a bold and brainless moment, placed an affectionate hand on his lower back, remembering an article on how guys were like children who wanted to be loved and cuddled. I felt stupid, but if it helped him open up more, I could cough up a few subtle displays of affection. A moment later my boot connected with a stone and I bumped into him, cussing under my breath.
The air smel ed of damp wood and earth. Twigs snapped under our feet as we moved forward at a fast speed. My legs were starting to ache; my breath came in laboured heaps. I was on the verge of asking whether we were there yet, when Kieran turned to Angel, signal ing trouble ahead.
"The leader of the pack—" Kieran pointed at Aidan "—won't let me anywhere near Amber because he's the alpha, territorial and al . So I extend the offer to you."
"Over my dead body," Devon said.
Kieran laughed. "Two alpha males. Is there room for a third?"
"My feet are kil ing me," Angel whined. "If I weren't so darn scared of vampires I'd take you up on your offer."
"Better not," Clare said. "He's bad news."
In spite of the cold, my jeans stuck to my damp skin and my thighs were on fire. The path continued to incline. Although Aidan freed the way for me, the biting wind made it hard to avoid the whipping branches. With no one speaking, my panting echoed in my ears. The more I focused to silence my breathing, the more it turned into a whistling sound trapped somewhere in my chest. Annoyed, I wondered whether Aidan could hear me with his supernatural powers. Probably. If he asked, I'd just pretend to be suffering from asthma.
Somehow, I managed to reach what looked like our destination with no more embarrassing tripping over my feet. A bird cried as it circled on the horizon, lowering over our heads, then rising into the depth of the night. For some undefined reason, it sent chil s down my spine.
"That's not a normal bird, is it?" I whispered to Aidan. He shook his head and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. I spun slowly as I gazed into the pitch black at yet more trees to each side. Why had we stopped in the middle of nowhere? Maybe the immortals needed a break, too? The ground—damp and cold, but stil inviting—beckoned to me. Surely no one would mind me sitting down for a while until the others figured out what they were doing here.
A light flashed to my right, flooding the clearing in glaring brightness. I shielded my eyes, ready to complain, when I noticed the tal barbwire fence inches away. A few steps and I'd have run right into it. Devon fidgeted with what looked like a control panel until I heard a crack and a gate opened.
"Hurry up! We only have five seconds," Devon said. "Then the mechanism's blocked for a few hours."
"You're kidding." Yet more walking. With a sigh, I lifted my sluggish legs and trudged forward before the gate shut.
"Fol ow me," Devon said.
Cass looked down at her oversized jeans covered in mud and snorted. "I'm going to send you the cleaning bil , mate."
"If you burn that—" Kieran pointed at her clothes, grinning "—I'l buy you something that isn't made out of sackcloth."
Fashion was Cass's pride and joy. He'd definitely crossed the line with that one. I watched in awe as Cass's face turned bright red. But instead of the unnatural glint in her eyes, she just smiled and said, "At least I don't need to wear tight pants to distract from a lack of brains."
"Come on," Aidan muttered as he grabbed my hand and pul ed me after him. "If they don't kil each other soon, I wil ."
The bickering continued behind me, but I tuned out. Aidan was stil holding my hand, his thumb drawing circles on my skin as we crossed an open field, passing several floodlights, and reached an incline. Aidan stopped and muttered under his breath, "Holy cow."
"What?" I fol owed his line of vision up the hil where the light didn't reach, but al I saw were strange shapes towering against the canvass of the night.
He intertwined his fingers with mine and hurried forward, dragging me after him, forgetting my short legs couldn't take the same long strides. I quickened my pace so he wouldn't think me completely out of shape. And then I reached the top, seeing what he'd known was there al along, and my stomach twisted into nervous knots.
The cemetery of the dead—I couldn't believe I was final y standing in front of it. Rebecca had tried to locate it to perform the ritual, but even after stepping on Shadow territory and searching around for hours, kil ing several Shadows along the way, she hadn't been able to find it. She'd claimed the woods were some sort of labyrinth in which passages changed with the moon. I never doubted her words because Rebecca would never admit failure wil ingly. Our journey so far had seemed straightforward, but I had no doubt Devon had some trick up his sleeve that would ensure we'd never find the way back should we decide to return later.
Row after row of tal statues and gravestones stretched in the distance as far as my heightened vampire sight let me see. Soft moonlight shone down on us. A large cloud of mist gathered around our feet, hovering inches above the ground. The wind howled, scattering the leaves.
"Now, that's a nice touch," Cass said. "Gives spooky a whole new meaning. Who brought the fog machine?"
"Huh?" Kieran said.
"Not talking to you, mate. You're always in a fog."
"I don't think there's anything creepier than this place," Angel whispered.
Devon nudged her and pointed at Kieran and me. "Just look behind you."
The Shadow irritated the hel out of me, but without him, we'd never get in. So I swal owed down my anger, for the time being. The war between our races was far from over, but a fight would have to wait.
"Show some respect," Amber said. "If you're going to crack on my guy, I'l turn around and leave. Got it?"
Devon set his jaw, but kept quiet. Defying my better judgement, I wrapped my arm around Amber's waist and drew her close. The rhythm of her heart echoed in my ears, racing like she'd just run with the bul s through the streets in Pamplona. I shot her a sideway glance and smiled reassuringly, as if that'd make a cemetery a less grotesque place to visit in the middle of the night. If the legends were true, we would never even catch a glimpse of the actual horrors the Shadows kept from the Lore court.
"Stay with Kieran while I check things out," I whispered.
Kieran wrapped his arms around Amber and Clare. "You go, bro. I'l keep the womenfolk safe from the clutches of Shadow Man."
"What about me?" Cass said, piqued.
Kieran laughed. "I'd invite you over but you know the saying, four's a crowd."
"Hey, idiot, the saying is three's a crowd." Cass pul ed Amber and Clare away. "You stay with me. Not only is he mental y chal enged, al he has is a couple of scary fangs and absolutely no idea what kind of fire is in this furnace."
"I'l defuse you real quick," Kieran said.
She took a menacing step forward. "You could never put out this flame."
"Did anybody ever tel you that you suck at public relations? Since you're an ambassador, you're supposed to like me. A lot. You know that, right? But maybe you're an ambassa-snore because you're sleeping on the job. I'm going to personal y talk to Layla about your inability to do your job."
Cass snorted. "Yeah, if you live to tel the tale."
"She likes me," Kieran chanted.
"She loves Aidan and look what happened when he visited to complain," Cass said. "I've had enough of you. I'm never coming back to your house. Clare wil have to meet me somewhere else from now on."
I opened my mouth to speak when Kieran cut me off. "Funny, every time I turn around you're parked on my sofa. You're definitely crossing the line to Stalker Vil e."
Cass gasped. "You think I'm stalking you?" The fireflies flickered over our heads, a shril , indefinable sound, like that of thousands of wasps, fil ed the air. I peered up, waiting for the fireflies to turn into a dragon or something. If Kieran kept winding her up, it was only a matter of time until Cass snapped.
"Think? I know it. You like me. You want me," Kieran said. I threw him a warning look, but he just shrugged, grinning.
"Like a bul et in my head," Cass said. Clare chuckled somewhere in the shadows.
"Enough, you two." I turned my attention to Devon. "I'm going in."
Devon shook his head. "Not without me."
My lips twitched. "Don't trust me to take a quick look?" I was his enemy. Of course he wouldn't trust me.
Devon snorted. "About as far as I can throw you."
"You know I wouldn't get far without your help. I just want to make sure you have no tricks up your sleeve."
"Fine then. We'l al go together because I don't trust your insane brother around my Angel," Devon said.
Kieran turned and looked at her. "So that's your name. I knew there was a reason you had that beautiful hair and gorgeous eyes." He kissed her hand. "Somebody cal heaven because an angel just fel from the sky."
"That's beyond lame." Cass groaned. "Every guy uses that line. Find something original, wil you?"
"When you get a shrink," Kieran said.
I leaned into Amber to whisper in her ear. "So, you're waiting here?"
"What?" She peeled her eyes off the bronze statue—the hideous shape of a woman and bear caught in an embrace—and turned to face me.
"Oh, no. No way. I'm not staying here." She lowered her voice. "What's this supposed to be?"
"Part shamanism, part—" I shrugged "—Voodoo? Who knows?"
"Magic," Devon said, matter-of-factly. "We don't practice Voodoo. A long time ago, the souls of sacred animals entered the bodies of our ancestors to grant them eternal life. As payment, our people sent their shadows to the otherworld to watch over the animals' cubs."
It was the longest explanation I'd ever received about this holy ground I'd been investigating for years. According to the rumours circulating the Lore court, a Shadow could die by finding his statue in the cemetery of the dead and piercing a dagger through the animal's heart. I waited for Devon to reveal more, but he turned away, heading down the narrow path to a low entrance in the hil .
"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked Amber. "This is your last chance to back out."
She puffed. "No way. We're in this together, Aidan. I want you to have a life without the need for blood. Besides, even if I changed my mind I wouldn't let you go in there by yourself to tel them I'm chickening out. They'd kil you on the spot."
Shadows had tried to kil me for centuries, and didn't succeed. I took a deep breath to suppress my sudden joy. Amber's fear lingered on her like she wore it as a perfume. For the first time she seemed to worry about me. In the heat of last night's words, I figured the bond wasn't working after al and al she wanted was her old life back. Rage had driven me insane, made me curse Fate for giving me a mortal. But I could sense something about Amber's attitude had changed. Her gaze was softer and in the past few hours she'd raised her hand several times as if to touch me. And now her need to protect me had flared up. I was final y starting to see progress. Hopeful y, it wasn't too late for us.
Somewhere behind me, Kieran's said, "How much does Daddy pay you to screw over other souls?"
I shook my head and pul ed Amber along. I had no idea why Kieran kept winding Cass up. The girl was beyond normal, but it couldn't just be mutual dislike that drove my brother to be mean. As far as I knew, Cass had done nothing to earn our ridicule. I made a mental note to talk to Kieran about it once my problems with Amber were solved.
The heavy mahogany door stood wide open. As I walked through, I felt the invisible barrier across the threshold vibrate, holding me back for a second, and then give in. Magic. Without Devon opening the path, I doubted I'd have been able to pass through. It was a similar magic to the one protecting my house against immortal intruders. That Cass got in without my explicit invitation showed me she was something else, or stronger than anything the paranormal world could conjure up.
The space reeked of Shadows, dressed in black robes, watching from the countless dark corners. A huge altar, surrounded by countless white candles, was set up in the middle of the dimly lit, cave-like room.