Of Shadow Born (19 page)

Noura's shoulder rose and fell. "You have your methods, we have ours. They're not so different in the end." She looked between them and grinned again. "Don't tell me you convinced her that any of this was real." She cocked an eyebrow. "Mel? Did you think he fell for you?"

Melanie knew the tactic. She understood the concept behind it, at least. Divide and conquer. If Noura or whoever controlled her could drive a wedge between her and Kade, they might be able to lure her to the other side. They could tempt her with promises of understanding and a salve for her broken heart. She understood how the game was played.

Knowledge didn't make her any less uncomfortable.

"What do you want," she asked instead of answering the question. "Why did you come here? You knew we wouldn't just hand the tablet over."

"I was hoping you'd fight harder," Noura confessed cheerfully. "No fight, no fun. Makes us feel like a bully, taking toys from the defenseless. Fighting earns us blood, and blood is good."

Kade moved again, shifting closer to Melanie. He stopped only when he stood a little in front of her. "No more bloodshed. You've had your share."

Light flared in Noura's eyes, an impossible reflection. No lamp shone on this side of the room, certainly not with enough strength to flash that way. She sized Kade up, tilted her head as if listening, and grinned a broad, heart-stopping grin.

"You really do care about her. You poor, stupid idiot."

This time when she lashed out, Melanie saw the blow coming. How, she couldn't say for certain. She'd seen a flash, a second's foresight, and seen it connect. In the next, she reached for Kade's arm, curling her fingers in his sleeve. She would have pulled him out of harm's way, if she could. If he hadn't been too heavy for her to move.

It didn't matter that he stood his ground. Noura's fist rebounded away from him with the sound of snapping bone.

Noura staggered back into the wall, a cry of pain locked behind a grimace that showed teeth. Kade and Melanie traded a look that proved it surprised him as much as Melanie. Then Noura hissed a word Melanie couldn't understand and surged forward. Toward them, into them, but not between. She climbed the air as though she raced up an invisible staircase and launched herself from the top, twisting as she flew to land crouched behind them.

Melanie turned in time to see her reach for nothing. Though she kept the injured hand tucked against her chest, she curled the fingers of the other around empty air. Or so it seemed until she'd made a fist. A blade appeared in her hand, then, dark and wickedly curved.

Whatever controlled her body took full hold now. Noura bared her teeth again and lifted her arm as she lunged forward. The blade arced down toward Melanie's chest.

The world slowed again. Melanie became acutely aware of each heartbeat as it thudded in her ears. She felt each muscle tense in preparation for a step back that would come too late and fail to save her from the blow. Each breath filled her lungs; each exhalation left her empty.

"Hold her!"

Kade's voice broke the thrall and Melanie jerked in response. She looked up at the falling blade and found it paused mid-down-stroke. Noura's arm trembled with the effort of seeing it through. Her expression twisted.

Kade shook with the same sort of effort, one of his hands fisted and held up before him. "Hold her," he repeated.

Melanie shook her head. "What do you mean?"

"Imagine that you can hold her in place. Slow her down. Keep her from moving." His voice sounded strained. "Make a fist and imagine holding her in your hand. Keep her still."

"I can't—"

"
Melanie
." She could see the lines of stress in his face. "Now's not the time. You shielded me. You can do this. Try, at least."

As requests went, it sounded simple. In actuality, it was hard to agree. What he asked seemed impossible. Control another person by force of will? Wasn't that exactly what the other side, their enemies, wanted to do? And yet, the blade suspended above her still threatened. She had to try.

So she lifted her hand and made a fist, squeezing with all her might. She held her breath, she held on tight, and her eyes drifted shut.

She didn't need to see to know when she picked up her share of the burden. She became aware, between one heartbeat and the next, that another fluttered between her fingers, quicker, more desperately than her own. She felt a shift against her palm as though she held a creature there in earnest. She nearly let go in surprise. She tightened her grip instead. She heard Kade begin to murmur again, low rhythmic words that could have been a chant.

She heard Noura's voice, sharp with fear: "Mel, don't let them do this to me!"

Her eyes snapped open. She met Noura's gaze and saw the panic there and knew without question that this time she faced her friend.

"Don't let him send me back to them." Her hand stayed frozen in mid-air. Her heart hammered against Melanie's fingers. "They won't like it when I've failed."

Kade kept chanting. Melanie swallowed on a dry throat.

"It won't end with me, Mel. They'll send someone else. It's not over tonight."

With a last whispered word, she was gone.

Chapter S
ixteen

He didn't give her time to protest. He hardly gave himself time to think. Between one heartbeat and the next, Kade moved. "Pack," he said over his shoulder as he systematically turned every
torchiere lamp to full blaze and flooded the room with light. If they meant to use shadows against him, he'd chase the shadows away.

"
Again? Where are we going this time?"

"Somewhere safe," he answered as he pressed his hands against the walls that made the corner Noura
had passed through.

"I thought you said we were safe here."

"I thought we were. Obviously I underestimated how badly they want you."

"And you think moving me
will work this time? That they won't try again?"

She had her arms folded across her chest when he turned back to face her. Her shoulders rose and her chin lifted when their gazes met. A bruise had already beg
un to purple under her skin.

Kade exhaled. He didn't need to finish his inspection of the failed wards. He'd felt them fray when Noura forced her way through. They'd take hours to repair and, distracted as he was, they'd only be half as strong. Not good enough. No point in spending the energy to fix things that offered no defense.

Not when it was better spent defending the woman. He started toward her, forcing his shoulders into a more relaxed posture, but it didn't fool her. With each step he took, she held herself more tightly until he wondered whether Melanie was breathing at all. Her knuckles were bloodless and her lips pressed into a thin, pale line.

He stopped two paces away. He wanted to pull her into his arms, crush her against his chest and reassure her. He wanted to be able to wipe the wariness out of her eyes and the stiffness from
her spine. In truth, though, he'd failed her twice. He'd promised her a safe haven and the promise had become a lie. She had good reason not to believe him at his word.

Understanding didn't make the heaviness in his chest
more bearable. He set his jaw in echo of hers and turned away. "Headquarters," he said over his shoulder. "I'm taking you to headquarters. Even if they could, they wouldn't dare come for you there. We only wish they were that stupid."

He ducked behind the curtain that separated his bedroom from the rest of the loft and stopped short, startled by things he knew he'd find but still hadn't learned to expect.

She'd made the bed, again, the corners tucked neatly and the covers smoothed flat. The pillows, no longer dented in the places where she'd slept, rested on the folded-back edge of the blanket, tidy and inviting. The clothes he'd discarded carelessly last night — jeans and faded t-shirt — were folded on a chair. His shoes were tucked beneath it, toes out and ready to be pulled on again.

It went against every sloppy habit he had and yet it made him smile. She'd only made little changes, but in the moment, it felt profound. Someone else had touched his life. Someone else had shared his space for the first time in far too long.

"What's so great about headquarters?" She spoke up behind him, closer than he expected. He hadn't heard her move. He turned and looked down at her. She shrugged a shoulder and put on a faint smile. "Convince me."

Kade took her hands and tugged her to the bed. When she sat, he settled beside her and leaned, his shoulder braced against her own.
It was the first time he'd offered that space she liked so much without prompting. She took advantage immediately, twisting against him as he lifted his arm. She tucked herself against his side, her cheek pressed to his chest. Much as he hated to admit it, that simple touch lightened his spirit and the burdens he carried.

"There's nothing I can say to convince you," he confessed. "I don't know what it would take. I can explain everything that's happened. I can tell you
it's part of being what we are, but I grew up with this stuff. I don't know how to make it all right for you."

"Because it's
not
all right." Melanie lifted her head. "None of this is right. Walking through shadows, monsters in San Francisco. Nothing you could say would make any of that normal, and yet, here I am." She sighed as she settled. "So tell me why moving will make everything better. And make it sound good. I'm counting on you."

"No pressure." Kade forced levity into his voice to match the false note in hers, then concentrated on a suitable answer. "At headquarters, there are people watching 24/7, just in case something throws itself against the wards. It takes a map to get through the place even after you've been there and there's always someone in the halls."

There was a long silence. Melanie tapped a rhythm against his chest, counterpoint to his heartbeat. Absent-minded movement as she listened, he thought. "Does that work as a selling point on other people?"

"I've seen mules less stubborn that you are," he joked. "Yeah, it usually works on other people. They can protect you, Melanie."

"
You
protected me. Don't think I didn't notice. Noura, or whatever she was, tried to stab me. She would have, if it hadn't been for you."

Kade shook his head, though he tightened the arm around her. "That wasn't me. Shielding isn't one of my talents. It had to come from you."

Melanie lifted her head again, eyebrows tugging together as he watched. "From me."

Explanations weren't a talent of his either. He searched for the right words and plunged on. "You know those stories about people lifting cars when they flip over on their kids? Getting shot when they're trying to save their families and never feeling the pain?"

"Sure." She nodded slowly. "It's the adrenaline. Fight or flight."

"Right. So you saw a threat incoming and you acted to defend yourself. You picked fight. The difference between you and someone lifting a car is you had a different set of options handy.
It's not the first time you've done it," he pointed out. "Pulling shadows in your apartment?"

"I wasn't scared then."

"Weren't you? That was right after their first attempt. You'd been shot."

Except I wasn't, because of you..
. And I wasn't afraid, honestly, not the first time. Curious is a better word."

"Your curiosity is pretty impressive, then."

Silence reigned. Melanie took a breath. "I want to believe you. I want to think I've suddenly turned into some kind of crazy action hero. A superhero," she amended. "I'd like to be able to save the world, but things like that don't happen to normal people. They don't just wake up and suddenly find themselves possessed of super powers. Or boyfriends who walk through walls."

That was apparently too much to say. She patted his chest this time, like an apology, then
stood to pace. Though the stiffness had disappeared, she carried herself with a sort of awkwardness that made Kade ache in response.

"They'll have more answers," he said to her back. "There are people there a lot smarter and a lot older than me. They can explain why you and why now. I'm just guessing." And he hated it. Before Melanie, he'd been able to brush aside his
own curiosity and the occasional frustration of having to wait for answers. He was a warrior, a guardian not destined to ever be a wise man. Everyone had a role to play.

She turned back to face him, the ghost of a smile breezing over her lips. Her shoulders rose
another time and she asked, "Do we have to go through shadows again?"

He nodded
, smiling wryly. "Only way to get in."

"At least the scenery's interesting." For a second, her smile looked genuine. "I'll get the tablet." She ducked the curtain and stepped out of the
makeshift room again.

Kade closed his eyes and sent up a silent prayer of thanks. One less fight now meant the road to the next might be a little less rocky. Every little bit helped.

If nothing else good could be said about this new life, it wasn't boring. As a matter of fact, Melanie thought while she stared up at the vaulted ceiling far overhead, she might not mind a little boredom for a change.

Instead, she stood in the middle of a marble corridor that wound through a structure best qualified as "pyramid." "Temple," perhaps, she corrected herself. Or "ziggurat." Whatever the term, it clearly didn't belong in the middle of the San Francisco she knew.

Then again, she didn't belong here at all. She'd been caught somewhere between reality and a dream. They'd stepped into shadow and walked between worlds to get here. They'd been met by Officer Garamendi
, who looked more intimidating in a suit than in policeman blue. She'd been handed off to Sylvie, who'd escorted her through a whirlwind tour and now stood silent at her shoulder, waiting for a response.

"I don't know what to say," Melanie admitted. "It's impressive, certainly. Like seeing history brought to life, which is a little strange." She let her gaze wander over the smooth walls and well-tended floor
. Not at all like the ruins she'd wandered while traveling. "It's alien." She winced at her words. "Not that I mean to imply that any of you—"

Sylvie cut her off with the graceful movement of one hand. "You never know, we might be. There are an awful lot of people who think the pyramids were ancient spaceships and Egyptian knowledge came direct from the stars."

Melanie should have laughed. She felt the urge but a shred of uncertainty held it back. The smile she managed wobbled a bit.

"That was a joke. I promise," Sylvie said, fingers a light pressure against Melanie's arm. "Sorry, my sense of humor's a little off. It's a self-defense mechanism when you work with people like Kade all day."

"He's not
that
bad, is he?"

Sylvie arched an eyebrow. "You guys haven't been together that long, I know, but when was the last time you heard him crack a joke? Does he laugh a lot around you? How about smiling?"

Melanie racked her brain for a concrete example of the things Sylvie asked. "I know he smiles. I'm sure I've heard him laugh."

"But you have to think about it," she said triumphantly. "My point is made. Someone's got to lighten things up from time to time." She spread her arms and shrugged. "That means me."

Now Melanie laughed and it came as a relief. It felt genuine, not something forced or strained. She couldn't say that about any other moment that came to mind over the last week or so. Except a few seconds of silence in Kade's company. A wave of heat swept over her and she knew she blushed. "I can think of worse jobs."

"Worse or better?" the other woman teased and nudged her shoulder.

"Don't answer that question. She'll hold it against you and remind you of which one you picked six months from now." Kade invited himself into the conversation as though he'd been there all along. He stopped at Melanie's other shoulder. When she looked up at him, he asked, "What did I miss?"

"Girl talk," Sylvie said before Melanie could answer. "No boys allowed in the club. You'll just have to suffer. You're back," she added, hardly pausing for breath. "Does that mean he's ready for her?"

Melanie frowned and looked between them. "He who? Ready for me?"

"Amrhic, our custodian. Keeper of the answers," she explained. "Not the guy who mops the floors. Kade, you didn't tell her who she'd be meeting?"

"There wasn't exactly time," he answered. "Speaking of which, don't you have something to do?"

Though he didn't touch her, Sylvie gave in and gave up space, holding both hands up as she backed away. "You're in for a treat," she told Melanie. "Amrhic's fun, when he's not being spooky." She waggled her fingers in a sort of wave and turned to walk away. "You can tell him I said that, if you want," she offered over her shoulder. "He's got a sense of humor, anyway."

"Ignore her," Kade said the second she stepped out of earshot. He turned and blocked Melanie's view of Sylvie's retreat. "She likes to stir things up for no reason. She calls it being funny."

Melanie bit back another laugh. The panic that
had threatened a moment before eased away and she imagined her racing pulse slowing down a beat or two. She'd been living in fear that all of this was a dream and she'd wake from it in a hospital with tubes and wires sprouting from every limb. That worry melted away with the brush of callused fingers against her palm as she took one of Kade's hands. His touch felt far too real to be imagined. He didn't pull away.

"So who is this guy?" she asked on an exhalation, fitting her fingers between his
hopefully. She knew she'd surprised him with the boyfriend label, but she couldn't go on not knowing what to call him. They were more than friends, closer than mentor and student, so she'd chosen boyfriend. Eventually he'd put his foot down. She'd live with the title until then. "Is the custodian at the top of the food chain around here or something?"

Kade smiled a little and ducked his head. "He's pretty high up there. Sort of a living library. He remembers names and dates and bloodlines. Keeps our histories."

They'd started moving again and Kade turned them down a corridor lined with ornate iron sconces. In true mummy-movie fashion, flickering torches lit the way. Melanie couldn't help herself. "Is the mood lighting necessary?"