Then Cam noticed the doctor’s black black eyes, similar to the fae’s, though different in shape. He felt a rush of heat, his own intuition telling him to protect Ellie.
Where was the real doctor?
Ellie lent her human hand to her shadow one to keep the fae/doctor in place, saying, “Don’t trust what you see.”
Yeah, Cam had gotten that memo loud and clear. He backed up to survey the cell unit again, the hair at his nape rising.
Illusion, the essence of Twilight, was at work here.
Someone’s with JT,
the shadow had said.
Danger. Death.
Cam could name that metallic smell now: blood.
He breathed deep to prime himself. Segue had trained him in hand-to-hand combat, but it didn’t come easy. Nevertheless, he’d give his life for Ellie’s. In a heartbeat. Her shadow was right: danger. He would follow her lead. Strike first, question later.
“Have you got hold of the fae?” he asked, slowly pivoting to take a closer look at the room.
“I’ve got somebody,” Ellie said.
And at the same time, she held her shadow, too. He was an idiot for doubting Ellie’s strength. The shadow had simply been fighting to warn them. He cursed himself for not paying better attention. Looked like they both needed more field experience.
There. A strange warp of light in his peripheral vision. A hair-thin line of disruption that was the height of a man, barely visible. An intruder.
At Segue, Cam had been drilled black and blue many times. Balance. Shoulders and head above hips. Keep your guard—one hand up, one down. Never stop moving. Create openings by striking high and then low. Get behind your opponent to gain the advantage and control.
Heh. But what if you couldn’t actually
see
your opponent?
Heart booming, he struck into the warp of air.
Connected with someone’s chin. Felt the impact in a burn, wrist to elbow.
The intruder fell out of his cover onto the floor. He rolled in a whirl of smoky Shadow, and right back into invisibility. A black-bladed knife was left behind. And the prone body of the real doctor appeared, glassy-eyed, mouth slack, a pool of blood around her. The metallic smell grew stronger, pungent.
Ellie. Cam wheeled to stand in front of her. As he did so, he brushed something not visible to the naked eye. He struck again at nothing, but a black starburst blanked his mind, and a warm flow of blood rushed from his nose. Keep moving. Get off the line. He headed into the pain with a reach, grabbed the intruder by the neck. Flipped him on his back.
For the first time, he got a good look at him. Black eyes, short brown hair, beard growing in. And then the intruder slid again into nothing before his eyes. The knife was gone.
A rush of air—Cam dodged a strike, and brought his elbow up. Connected. Heard a
woof
of pain. A gasp.
Cam eyed the room, huffing for air, nose still dripping blood. But yeah, he could take this guy.
And then his head was yanked back by the hair, an edge pressed against his throat. He wracked his mind for a way out of this one. He could feel the prickle of parting skin.
“Let her go,” the intruder growled to Ellie.
He wanted the fae. Whether the fae was willing, Cam couldn’t tell. But Ellie would know not to bargain. If the intruder were willing to kill one, or two, he’d be willing to kill more. And if the fae would support those efforts, then under no circumstances, including the knife at his own throat, should the fae-in-doctor-form be released.
“You want her?” Ellie asked, a corner of her mouth tugging up. Mean. Sly. Shadowy.
Cam stopped breathing. Oh dear God.
“You got her.”
All Ellie had to do was relax into the rage, and her shadow leapt out of her grasp and into the air, dusky-skinned, nude, solid with anger. Gravity could not hold her. Her feet landed on the wall above the intruder’s head with a crash that rattled the mobile unit.
He cried out in fear, slashing upward with his scary knife. But no blade could cut through shadow. No bullets could lodge within. The shadow was invincible. And insane, which was why Ellie (usually) kept her on a leash.
Cam wrenched himself out of the intruder’s hold and ducked across the room to stand in front of Ellie.
“You okay?” he asked over his shoulder, panting. “Got a good hold on the fae?”
“I’m good,” she answered. The fae had not resisted at all.
Ellie’s shadow leaned over the intruder, looming upside down, breasts bobbing.
“My Cam!” she shrieked into his face.
The intruder’s blanch of horror was warranted. Ellie would’ve told him to run, but really, there was no escape. Ellie had tried to flee her shadow all her life. Couldn’t be done.
An aerial cartwheel brought the dark body down.
The intruder whisked out of sight.
But the shadow kicked backward, as if she knew exactly where he was, and slammed him in the stomach back up against the wall. The ceiling joints parted, opening the room to a sliver of nightfall.
The man coughed blood.
That was nothing; Ellie had seen her shadow stop a moving car. When motivated, there was very little she couldn’t do. Except abide by laws or higher reason.
Perfect instinct against petty illusion. No contest.
Ellie felt a hysterical giggle of nerves burble to the surface. She winced at Cam. “I might feel a little possessive about you.”
Cam shot her a warm grin. “I’m all yours, sweetheart.”
Still . . . “Not a nightmare girlfriend?”
“Fantasy all the way. Do your thing.”
The intruder split into multiple versions himself, creating a perimeter of men, all the same. Ellie could feel two of them heaving air just behind and to her side. But she wasn’t letting go of the fae.
Cam put his arms out to shield her. No one had ever done that before.
Her shadow lunged as more intruder men appeared, grabbed one by the shirt and pants waist, and threw him at the wall again. This time, the wall collapsed entirely, exposing the inside of the cell unit to the night air.
Outside, soldiers were positioned in a semicircle, weapons ready and aimed. The noise had gathered a crowd beyond them—Dr. Grant, Col. Langer, Ms. Parson, her son, various staff. The two brawling in the dirt didn’t seem concerned, but Ellie was suddenly burning with embarrassment. The Twilight water-sweet air only amplified her humiliation.
A grappling turn, and her naked self knelt on the intruder’s neck, a rock in her hand to bash his skull.
“No!” Ellie shouted, yanking herself back even as her shadow brought the rock down. Not murder.
Her shadow’s arm faltered, wavering back, then heaved forward. That rubber band tug-of-war again.
“I will not kill,” Ellie said through gritted teeth, and dragged her shadow off the prostrate form of the unknown man.
He groaned, blood splattered, and then he tried to roll onto his side.
The shadow strained forward, swiping, but Ellie pulled her, made her skid unwillingly backward.
Everyone could see now. Everyone would know her for the monster she was. The knowledge was there on the faces of those gathered, a kind of unblinking, open-mouthed recoil that she’d always feared. That she deserved.
“Steady.” Cam’s arm went around her waist and gave her the resolve to draw her shadow, hissing and snapping, back into full union. Her mind blacked with her shadow’s rage that the intruder should
dare
try to take Cam, the one good thing in her life, away from her.
She almost lost control again just thinking about it, but the man on the ground rolled fully, and in so doing, wavered back out of sight. She didn’t think he’d try again, at least not immediately. All considered, he should probably be in a hospital.
“We need someone to take custody of the fae,” Cam called, reaching to haul the fae-in-doctor-form forward. “And a new security detail to be prepared for anything.”
Col. Langer jutted his chin Ellie’s way, expression hard, like the meanness displayed before a witch hunt. “What about her?”
But Ms. Parson answered, a huge smile of victory splitting her face. Certainty and hope burned in her eyes. “She’s going to bring back my son.”
Chapter 3
“M
y guess is a mage,” Cam said to Col. Langer. “Someone with Shadow magic in his blood. Segue has lately come to learn of their existence, though very little is yet known. And I don’t know why the fae changed its appearance. Could be defensive. Could be playing games. Could be in collusion with the mage.”
Ellie was in the adjacent room, door closed, where no one could see her. Her shadow might relish attention, but quiet Ellie was most comfortable alone, as she’d been most of her life. Cam hoped to eventually increase that comfort level to include him.
But really, she’d done more than enough. She didn’t have to endure the questions of Col. Langer or the eager scrutiny of Grant on top of everything else. Cam would fill her in later.
Col. Langer cocked his jaw to the side. “We have a full disclosure agreement with Segue. Why weren’t we informed of these so-called mages before?” His eyes slid toward the closed door. “And why wasn’t I given details on the nature of Ms. Russo’s . . .
situation
upon your arrival? Obviously, she impacts the safety of this search and rescue.”
Cam smiled, friendly, though he wasn’t feeling it. “By ‘impact,’ I hope you mean ‘makes a whole lot better,’ because you’re down a doctor and almost lost the fae. And you didn’t even know it.”
“Which brings me back to my question about disclosure.” The colonel’s voice lowered, which had the very interesting effect of making him louder. “Had I known what to look for . . .”
“There’s nothing specific to look for. In fact, this guy was invisible. The only reason I’m guessing he’s a mage is because he bled. Fae, on the other hand, are made of Shadow—they simply re-form when injured.”
“And that creature that belongs to Ms. Russo?” The colonel grimaced. “Can she be injured?”
Cam laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “There is absolutely nothing that can harm the shadow. Nothing. I advise you strongly not to try.”
His mobile phone rang. A Segue number.
Cam wasn’t done with Col. Langer. “Plus, and please remember this, the shadow is one of the good guys.”
He answered the phone. “This is Kalamos.”
“It’s eleven o’clock here,” Adam Thorne said, “and I’ve had three requests to join your team in the last hour from respected staff members—and one of them was from a scientist with a higher security clearance than yours. What’s going on?”
Cam had wanted to provide Thorne with a full, complete report, which was why he’d contacted personnel in linguistics and the newly formed magekind team to consult on the recent events first. It appeared they didn’t want to consult. They wanted to be on site. Cam didn’t blame them. Opportunities like this were critical to research. Just look at Grant.
“We have a possible mage problem in addition to our rescue efforts. A man in his thirties with a knack for either illusion or invisibility infiltrated the camp and the fae’s cell unit. He murdered a doctor posted to observe the fae. And beat the shit out of me.” Broken nose. Rib that barked with each breath. And a slice across his shoulder that he didn’t remember getting. “The shadow stopped him . . . spectacularly.”
“Is he in custody or dead?”
“Disappeared.”
A pause. “And Ms. Russo?”
“A credit to Segue.”
“And why is a linguist asking for a transfer?”
“The shadow speaks fae.”
The admission brought Col. Langer’s head around.
Cam turned so he could concentrate on the call. “I wanted a linguist’s input on how to proceed with my next interview before I send the fae and the shadow into Twilight tomorrow to search for the missing boy.”
A longer pause on the line from Thorne. Then, “I’m very sorry, Dr. Kalamos. You can’t head a team staffed with people who have a higher clearance than you do. I know you prefer the lab and study, which suits Ms. Russo as well, but I’m going to have to promote you out of your lab-based position. There is just too much need, and not enough qualified people. I hope I won’t see your resignation on my desk again.”
There’d been damn good reason for Cam to resign before. His plan had been to take Ellie away from the escalating dangers of Segue but. . . well . . . that was the hard part. Where did one go with a woman whose soul was split in two? Who would possibly understand?
“I’m going to take your silence as acceptance,” Thorne said. “Especially since your new staff will be flying in tonight. You got beat up, and now you’ll have no sleep. I wish I could say it gets better, but I won’t lie to you.”
“My priority is and will always be Ellie,” Cam said. That much had to be understood.
“Good to hear it,” Adam said. “Do you need anything else?”
Cam thought about it. “A metallurgist would be nice, though not as pressing.”
“Come again?”
“The mage left behind an interesting dagger.” That’s all Cam was going to say with Col. Langer present. Cam wasn’t going to worry about the full disclosure thing until he had to. One touch of the strange black blade, a hum on the surface, and he’d known that the metal was somehow infused with Shadow.
Thorne sighed. “Fine, I’ll find you a metallurgist.” A little humor in his voice there. “That it?”
Cam grunted yes.
“Okay, I’ll put the promotion through immediately, with a commensurate pay raise, though you won’t have the time to spend it for the foreseeable future. Congratulations and welcome to Hell.”
When all was quiet in the main room of the mobile command post, Ellie cracked the door. Cam had been speaking to people and making arrangements for the last three hours. At one point he’d stopped in quickly to let her know that they would not be interviewing the fae that night. They were going to wait until the morning, when a linguist from Segue would arrive.
The night was for pacing and watching the woods for invisible intruders. She was light-headed from keeping her shadow with her in the small box of the mobile unit’s side room.
Cam, glaring into a laptop screen, looked as bad as she felt. He glanced over at her, and the lines on his forehead eased somewhat, then completely. “You should know I’m a little possessive myself.”
He was echoing what she’d said before. Why?
He smiled and held out an arm. “I won’t be letting anyone get close to you who you don’t feel comfortable about. Not the ones scared of your shadow—”
Cam’s remarks confirmed Ellie’s fears. She held back from his outstretched arm and wanted to lock herself in the room again.
“—or the ones who think you’re a total rock star,” he continued.
She tilted her head in rebuke at his joke. He was trying to make her feel better.
“I’m serious,” he said. “Ms. Parson says you’re an angel. Sent from God. She used the words beautiful, powerful, and ass-kicking. I like her.”
That just made the pressure to save JT worse.
“And there are some soldiers I have to beat up later, who also described you favorably.”
“You mean my naked shadow,” Ellie said. Everything on display.
“I’m pretty sure they referred to the whole package,” he said. “But don’t be getting any ideas. I might not be able to split out my shadow, but I feel just as possessive as you do and will demonstrate if necessary.”
Ellie’s shadow advanced into the room, stalking toward Cam. “Possess me then.”
Ellie yanked her back.
Not now.
“You’re too beat up to go after anyone,” she told Cam. She was smiling a little herself now.
But sooner or later, she’d have to act on the overwhelming attraction between them. Let it happen, even if her dark side dominated. It was time to brave it. And Cam made her feel so good.
“I dunno,” Cam said, flexing his bicep and making Ellie laugh out loud. “I was just on the winning side of a mortal combat, me against a mage of Shadow.”
The irony was that Segue had made him as well cut as any of its soldiers. And he had fought like one, too. “Hmmm . . .” Ellie put a hand to her temple, as if to remember. “Didn’t that end with the mage’s knife at your throat?”
Yes, very soon. She wanted him so much. Who else could make her happy on a day like this?
Her shadow reached out to him, breasts jutting, but Ellie kept her back. This wasn’t about her shadow.
Cam stood since she hadn’t come to him, and swaggered three steps to meet her. His shirt was still bloody from his fight. Face all banged up. “I don’t remember the fight that way. I was dashing and fearsome.”
A nudge to her chin and he kissed her. Long . . . and real. When he drew back, he looked deep into her eyes. “Thank you for saving my life.”
She went warm all over, not just a blush at his closeness, which made her shadow rudely touch herself, but pleasure at everything else that was in his words. Acceptance and something more, deeper . . . true. And if she could be this happy, how would it feel in four more months? Four years?
When her shadow began massaging her own breasts, Ellie squeezed her eyes shut. “I think it’s time for me to go to sleep.” She needed to put her shadow out of business for several hours and wake up in better control of herself. She had a boy to save. A venture into Twilight to brave.
“Are you going to try to fall asleep on your own?” Cam asked.
“I’m not taking a pill with that mage on the loose,” she answered. What if he came back? She couldn’t fight him if she were drugged.
Cam took a deep breath and looked at her squarely. “You and your shadow were amazing against him tonight. But the mage isn’t your job. JT is.”
“But—” The mage had been able to become invisible. Only her shadow could see him. Cam couldn’t possibly be suggesting that she leave them all vulnerable.
“I’ve got the knife that mage held to my throat,” he said. “But there may be a hundred outside like him. And I, Col. Langer, and the excellent soldiers stationed here will deal with them. Your job is JT, so you need to rest well. If you can sleep without a pill, okay. Otherwise. . .”
Her shadow had been wild and unruly all day long. Ellie was beyond exhausted, and yet jumpy with apprehension too. There was so much pressure with Ms. Parson’s hopes pinned on her. How could she possibly rest?
“No,” her shadow said. “Only I can protect you.”
Cam kept a steady gaze on Ellie, waiting for her answer.
Deep down, she obviously believed she was vulnerable. Maybe it was time to learn otherwise.
“Hook me up with a pill,” she said. “I’ve got a big day tomorrow.”
All quiet. Cam’s neck was strung with tension. His head felt like a cracked walnut. And he wasn’t so sure breathing was worth it, if his side was going to bitch like that. But the first of his new staff would arrive in two hours, and Cam bet if he went to sleep now, he’d feel even worse upon waking.
An e-mail came in. He squinted stupidly at his new salary, a number that would’ve had anyone else whooping but made his stomach hurt on top of everything else. From the little he knew about some of Segue’s most classified endeavors, every cent would be earned. He could only say, “Fuck,
that
bad?” and click back to his briefing on magekind and their “Houses.” How had these people managed to hide for thousands of years? And what kinds of scary shit could they pull?
A wavering reflection on his laptop screen alerted him that someone was behind him. His heart stopped, but he didn’t turn. Had to be the mage, come back to finish his job. Cam dropped his hand to the gun on his lap. The figure moved forward—wait, he knew that body. . . .
Cam put the gun aside on the table and turned.
Ellie’s shadow was smiling at him, eyes big and happy. “Cam.”
She should be out of it by now. Maybe she hadn’t taken anything to help her sleep.
“Ellie?” he called.
No answer.
He stood and made to enter the side room, but her shadow blocked him.
“I’m just going to check on you,” he said. Every darkened plane, every eyelash was the same as Ellie’s corporeal self. Beautiful. Sexy. Powerful.
“I’m right here,” the shadow said.
He reached for the knob, opened the door. Ellie was lying on her side on the cot, expression peaceful, an extra pillow in her arms. She breathed deeply and soundly. Asleep.
Cam turned, wary. When Ellie slept, her shadow disappeared. When Ellie was sedated, her shadow was a weak haze.
So was this the fae, impersonating the shadow?
“Cam,” she said again. She seemed to be bursting with happiness.
He smiled back, a little sadly. He’d love for her to be this happy, to be truly joyful after the lonely and frightening life she’d led. He’d try to give her that, if she’d let him get close enough.
Cam unhooked a walkie from his belt, raised it, pressed the comm button. “Kalamos checking in on the fae.”
A slight crackle. “Fae in custody, no disruptions.”
“My Cam,” the shadow said.
He brought the walkie up again. “Anything unusual?”
“No, sir.”
Cam needed a way to discern whether this was the shadow, or something else. Cam met her happy gaze and asked point blank, “Did I shoot you?”
The fae wouldn’t know about that. It had happened four months ago and was still a sliver of distrust between him and the shadow. The rational Ellie had understood the situation and had even said she was grateful that he’d intervened, rather than let her (shadow) kill someone.
The shadow’s happiness wavered, a hand lifting to the spot on her shoulder where the other Ellie was scarred. “Why did you shoot me?”
Cam concluded that this was indeed Ellie’s shadow.
Deep down, Ellie obviously hadn’t fully accepted his good intentions. Not that he blamed her.
“I was trying to help you,” Cam said, approaching the bed. “I’d never want to hurt you.”
This was a problem: Ellie’s shadow could not walk around unmanaged by her flesh and blood self. The shadow was too dangerous, too unpredictable. He had no idea what circumstances—the proximity to the waterfall?—had permitted the shadow to roam while Ellie slept, but he was not going to allow it.