Of Shadow Born (15 page)

"Got you." She paused for a moment and her eyebrows tugged together, then she shook her head and looked at Kade and Officer Garamendi again. "You'd tell me the truth about anything, wouldn't you?"

The question caught Melanie off guard. "Of course I would. Well, most anything," she amended. Even if she were free to confess about Kade and his people, Noura wouldn't believe it. Melanie still didn't quite believe it herself.

Noura's shoulders lifted slightly but she didn't look back. "So tell me where the tablet is."

Melanie startled, her attention jerked back to her friend. Her mind raced as she reached for an answer she could live with. She didn't want to lie. She couldn't confess. She hoped she sounded surprised and not guilty when she asked, "Why should I know?"

Noura laughed. "Because you're obsessed, Melanie. You should have seen your face when you opened that box. You lit up like a kid at Christmas."

Discomfort stirred in the pit of her stomach. Melanie pressed a hand against it, hoping it would calm. "I'm not obsessed."

"Says the woman who was here working on it at two a.m. instead of home with her hot boyfriend, working on him." Noura snorted quietly. "All right, try this. Because that Sandoval guy told you it was important, and you're the sort who would take that to heart and not want to let him down." Now she turned to face Melanie fully. "Look, I'm not going to yell about it. I know you're not the sort to sell it. If you took it home, you probably saved it from the thief."

"And got Dr. Andruss killed." That fact hadn't quite sunk in yet, she thought. She hugged herself now, fighting off the first fingers of a chill.

"That's not your fault," Noura told her seriously. She laid her hand against Melanie's arm and held her gaze. "You're not responsible for him, you understand me?"

Melanie summoned up a faint smile and nodded. "I know. It still bothers me."

"Then bring the tablet back," Noura pressed. "No one will be upset."

Plenty of people would be upset, Melanie knew, but that wasn't what bothered her. "I didn't say I had it."

"You didn't say you d
idn't."

Beyond her, Melanie saw both Kade and Garamendi turn their heads. As one they started moving toward where she stood, matching scowls darkening their expressions. The shiver she'd held off raced up her spine now.

"If I happen to find out where it is," she allowed carefully, "I'll try to get it back."

"Good." Noura's smile brightened again. It touched her eyes but something about it looked insincere. "We wouldn't want anyone else to get hurt.”

Chapter Thirteen

Melanie stepped into Kade's embrace the moment he reached her side. She tucked her face against his chest and held on to his shirt. Now wasn't the time to keep her at arm's length. He could feel her tremble in his arms and forced his expression lighter as he waited for her to look up. He wanted her to talk, not fear whatever she thought he might say.

"Well, I'm off then," Noura said, favoring the rest of them with a smile. Her attention lingered on Garamendi and warmed a few degrees. "Unless, of course, you have anything else to ask me?" She sounded almost hopeful.

Garamendi shut her down. "We've got all the information we need for now. If anything else comes up, we'll be in touch."

"Suit yourself." She lifted a hand, wiggled her fingers in farewell, and walked away.

"Is it me?" Melanie called Kade's attention back. She tried for a smile, but the corners of her mouth wavered. "Am I just paranoid?"

"It's not paranoia when they're really out to get you." Garamendi summoned a crooked smile of his own, then held out a hand. "Dominic Garamendi. Nice to finally meet you."

Melanie took his hand and smiled politely. She relaxed enough to look comfortable, but she stuck close to Kade's side all the same. He put his arm around her waist again, less to sell a story now than for reassurance.

"So you
are
his Garamendi. It's nice to meet you, too, after all I've heard."

Garamendi arched an eyebrow and Kade shrugged. "I only tell her the bad stuff. If I was her, I'd run screaming the other way.

"So the lady has a bigger set. Doesn't surprise me." He winked at Melanie. She laughed in response.

Kade clenched his teeth against an unreasonable surge of jealousy. Garamendi had charm and personality to spare. He needed it in his position. No matter whether the mundane world knew who and what he was
. He took care of first contact. Troubles landed at his feet and he decided who could handle the situation best. He'd chosen Kade specifically for Melanie. They weren't in competition. Kade curled her closer to his side all the same.

"So how're you doing
?" Garamendi asked. "Kade tells me you had a little excitement last night. Read the tablet?"

Melanie nodded. "I don't know how. I didn't mean to," she added, glancing up at Kade. "I could see the words and they made sense, just like reading English. If I did something wrong
..."

"It's not wrong," the supervisor promised. "Unexpected," he added with a glance at Kade. They'd traded words about the subject. Garamendi
had insisted he didn't know she shared their blood, but he certainly wasn’t complaining. It would make this whole exercise easier. "But it happens. We can't keep track of everyone all the time."

"No, I don't guess you could
. Not across generations." She inhaled sharply and pressed her hand against Kade's chest, as if she needed the touch to command his attention. "That reminds me, though. Something's up with Noura."

Kade frowned. "Up? What does that mean?"
He didn't want his concerns about her friend to have any merit, but if they did, he needed to know.

"I
'm not sure." She made a frustrated sound. "It's a hunch. A feeling, I guess, but before she left, she said a couple things that made the hair on my arms stand up."

He knew better than to discount a feeling, no matter how seemingly random. "What'd she say?"

Melanie's gaze slid toward Garamendi and back. She wet her lips and took a deep breath. He watched her shoulders straighten and felt her brace herself. She expected some sort of reaction, possibly from both of them, and that twined anxiety even tighter around Kade's spine.

"She asked if I had the tablet,
which isn't really a stretch, I guess. She knew I'd been excited to work on it. But then she said I should bring it back before someone else got hurt." She shook her head faintly. "Threats aren't Noura's style."

From the little he knew about and had seen from Noura, Kade had to agree. She seemed far more likely to joke about the missing tablet than try intimidati
on. "Did she say where she wanted you to bring it?"

Melanie frowned. "She just said back. Here, I assumed." She glanced toward Garamendi again. "I didn't admit I had it. I didn't tell her about what happened." She drew back to hug herself. "Maybe it's just my nerves. I
liked
Dr. Andruss," she added plaintively. "Someone killing him is a little too close for me."

"It's not nerves." Kade didn't hesitate. "We'll keep an eye on her," he promised, meeting Garamendi's gaze over Melanie's head. "Maybe something got triggered when she fixed the tablet. Some kind of warning or signal that got picked up."

"Wouldn't put it past them to use someone close to get to her," Garamendi agreed.

"I think you were right," Melanie said, reaching out to tug Kade's shirt again. "About the guy in the bar with her last night. She doesn't remember most of their date. Can they do that? Erase your memory?"

"Wouldn't put that past them either," Kade echoed. "Could come in handy, especially if they're planting subliminal impulses. Key words that set off some programmed response—"

"But you wouldn't do that, right?" Her gaze shifted between the two men again. "You wouldn't get inside my head without telling me. Would you?"

Uncertainty bled off her in nearly palpable waves. Her eyes were wide and dark, filled with something between panic and worry. He wanted to soothe it all away. He wanted to pull her into shadow and tuck her out of sight, stand guard over her and protect her with everything he had. He'd discovered as he watched her go about her morning routine that letting go of his reservations about her could easily overwhelm him.

He settled for brushing her cheek with
a thumb as he slid his hand into her hair. "Not even if I could. You have to trust me, and that's not trustworthy. Not ever, I swear."

She managed another wan smile and leaned into him.
She'd accepted his decision to keep her closer than usual without a moment's obvious doubt. She slid her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his chest. Kade bowed his head over hers for a moment and let his eyes drift shut.

Garamendi cleared his throat. "Think I'm going to take off. No point in hanging around any longer than I have to. Someone's going to realize they don't know me." He met Kade's gaze when he lifted his head. "You have everything under control?"

"Not yet," he answered honestly, "but we'll get there. I'll check in."

Garamendi nodded. "See that you do." His glance slid toward Melanie, but he didn't say a word. Nothing needed to be said. Kade knew what he had to do.

He nodded in return and watched Garamendi walk away. Straight toward the trees on the edge of the museum grounds and the shadowed places between them. He didn't glance back and he didn't slow down. He merely parted the veil and let it fold around him, then disappeared.

"I'm never going to get used to that, am I?" Melanie murmured. She hadn't moved or loos
ened her grip. She shook her head, then let go to stand up straight, composing herself. "Or you'll do something else, just when I think I've seen it all, and I'll have to readjust."

Kade let himself smile a little. "Have to keep you on your toes."

"My toes are going to be worn out if I don't get off them soon."

"I'll carry you."
He didn't miss the startled look she gave him. He just chose not to acknowledge it, tilting his head back the way they'd come instead. "Walk you home? You're not going to do any more good here today and we've got things to do."

Melanie made a face but turned so she stood at his side. "No rest for the wicked."

She was silent until the trees closed around them enough that the Sentinel had nearly disappeared behind them. "I don't know how you do this all the time. I feel like I'm barely hanging on to the back of the bus that tried to hit me."

"You get used to it after a while."

She laughed. "God, I hope not." She looked up when he didn't join in, expression clouding with worry again. "You're not joking. This is really your life."

"It's a war," Kade said, putting his hands in his pockets so he wouldn't shrug. He might be used to this, but she probably wouldn't take his nonchalance well. "It's not explosions and armies, but we've been fighting a long time. Sometimes it gets quiet. Things are picking up again."

"But I don't want to be a soldier. I didn't agree to this. You people just showed up and I'm suddenly in the middle. Is this how everyone gets initiated to the cause? Because if so, I've got to tell you, you need a better recruitment plan."

He couldn't help smiling. It might not be polite to laugh at her complaints, but they were as funny as they were valid. "Yeah," he agreed. "We do. You can take that up with the boss next week."

She grumbled, but he saw a smile lighten her face as well. "Don't think I won't file a complaint if someone shows me how," she threatened. "Your name will be all over it."

"Can't wait," he said, then caught her sleeve and redirected her.
"Come on. We'll cut through the park."

Kade let her set the pace
though he'd chosen the path. The park they paced through took up four full blocks. Nothing like the impressive sprawl of Golden Gate Park, but it was big enough to get lost in and provide a get-away. The farther they walked, the more Melanie seemed to relax. Kade let his guard slip a little too. He could almost pretend they'd just gone for a stroll and let his thoughts drift to the next important thing.

Like
mapping out Melanie's apartment with his mind's eye. She needed lamps to banish shadows and wards to block spells. It would effectively trap him in, but more importantly, it would keep those who wanted to harm her out. He would find a way to give her as much space as he could within the confines of her walls. He preferred to stay close.

He nearly ran her over when she stepped sideways into his path and stopped. She hardly moved when he jostled her. Her shoulders hitched once, then she went motionless again.
She reached for his wrist and held on but she didn't say anything.

Every sense sprang to the alert. "What's wrong?" He kept his voice pitched low as he ducked his head enough to make sure she could hear him. He scanned the park around them, looking for whatever had set her on edge.

"I thought I heard something," she murmured. An animal, growling, but I don't see it."

"I didn't hear it
." He held out a hand, motioning for her to stay where she was, then he moved a few steps away. He strained to catch the faintest whisper of whatever she'd heard, but there was only birdsong and the hum of traffic. "Maybe a car went by. Their engines can be pretty loud."

But a car
didn't explain the growl that suddenly thrummed through the air around them. Melanie flinched backward, two seconds shy of blind panic and a bolt through the woods. "You heard it that time, didn't you?" The words were barely a whisper. "Please tell me I'm not going insane."

"You're not," he promised,
coming back to her. He slid an ivory-bladed dagger from the sheath at the small of his back. "Just stay calm. It could have been a dog."

"Dogs don't give me cramps
."

As if those words were the
command the creature waited on, the deepest shadows between a pair of leaning cedars shifted and unfolded, revealing the monster that had been hiding in its depths.

At first glance, someone might have mistaken
it for a lost mountain lion. Now and then, one of the animals wandered into a city so it wasn't entirely out of the question. It had a long, lean body, muscle shifting easily beneath tawny fur. Thick pads on the bottom of broad paws let it move almost silently as it prowled forward, long tail hanging heavy behind it. Only the twitching tip gave away any hint of its agitation.

But there the comparison to a beast of nature ended. Though it had deep golden eyes that tracked even the slightest twitch, a mountain lion would have had a feline head. A muzzle and a broad nose, whiskers and swiveling ears. It would have revealed a mouth full of cruel
-looking teeth, had it curled its lips in threat.

The creature that stalked toward them wore a hawk's head, the cruel-looking beak tipped with black. It tilted its head to keep one eye fixed on Kade and Melanie as it circled. Now and then it clicked its beak, cutting off the rolling sound of the growl that issued from it
s throat.

Melanie hardly moved at all. "What is that? What
is
that, Kade? What am I seeing?"

"We call them
rancors." The word sounded heavy to his own ears. "Like a sphinx with an attitude and a taste for roadkill."

Kade watched the creature as closely as he was
being watched.

"So it doesn't want to talk?" Melanie laughed, but the sound came out high and thin. She had good reason to be scared.

Kade reached for her hand. A reminder that he was still with her. A promise he'd keep her safe. "Probably not. Look. They move fast, no matter how much they look like their parts don't fit. When I tell you to go, you run as fast as you can."