Shadow of Doubt: Part 2 (9 page)

“Took you long enough, honey.” Nanny’s
voice grated against his ear.

“Sorry.” He swallowed the bile that
rose in his throat. “It took me awhile to realize the mistake I’ve
been making.”

“Which one?” Her voice gave away
nothing.

“You. Me. We’re the same. I’m an idiot
to throw it away.” He waited to see how she’d respond.

“You’re right. You are an
idiot.”

“What do you want me to say? I’m done
playing with humans.” It took all his will not to say Aurora’s name
and to act indifferent. “Where are you? I want to see you…to be
with you.” The bile rose again.

“I’m at your place, waiting in your
bed. I knew you’d come around.”

He pulled the phone away
from his mouth and gagged. Aurora and he had made love there and
Nanny’s naked body would forever defile the image. “We’ve got
little over half an hour before dawn. It’s going to take me twenty
minutes to get back from the park.” The desperation in his voice
didn’t require any pretending.
Come on,
Nan! Meet me halfway
. “Is the girl
there?”

Nanny’s laughter came through the
phone like a screech. Erebus pictured the “Wicked Witch of the
West” from that silly movie he’d watched at a drive-in a long time
ago. He coughed and straightened to compose himself, thinking fast.
“I take that as a no. I just wasn’t sure if you wanted her to watch
us. You know, take a few pointers.” He hated himself but was
willing to do anything to save Aurora.

“You’re joking, right? We both know
how that’d turn out. You’d be distracted if you saw that bitch tied
up and crying.” She laughed again and then cooed. “She’s not here,
sweetie, but I am.”

Aurora was alive, just not with Nanny.
She could be safe – for now.

Erebus pushed his luck. “Come meet me.
I’m on Stewart Avenue now. Meet me at the end of Lake Street, by
the Starbucks I always go to. It’ll take you ten minutes.” Anxiety
quickened his step. He was running out of time.

“It’s raining, and it’s too late. I
can use your K-Six here and meet you tomorrow.”

Shit!
In the heat of the moment, he’d forgotten about the old
British pay phone setup in his living room. He had no idea if it
worked. If it didn’t Nanny would disappear from his life forever.
It was tempting, but too dangerous if he couldn’t find Aurora in
time.

“It doesn’t work.” He
groaned. “It’s not set up as a payphone anymore. Come on, I can’t
wait. I – I want you
now
.” He clenched his jaw, hoping he
sounded convincing.

“Ohhh…this is new. So now
you
need
me.” A
click sounded, then silence.

“Nanny!” Panic shot up through his
chest.

“Calm down, soldier. I just set the
phone down to get my raincoat on. It’s all I’m wearing.” She
paused. Erebus shook his head, knowing she was playing her ruse,
trying to get him to picture her. Fine, he’d play her
game.

“Get your ass over here. Five minutes.
Then we’ve got fifteen minutes – ten for us and five to get to a
pay phone.”

“I only need eight.” She hung
up.

Erebus broke into a run, oblivious to
the rain now pouring down. He had five minutes to figure out what
he needed to do, every second ticking away on Aurora’s
chances.

He reached the planned meeting place
before Nanny. His breath came short and rapid, from the run and
from gut-wrenching fear. His heart rate slowed to its normal
rhythm, but the pressure in his chest wouldn’t leave. Letting his
stride come to a standstill, he waited in front of a phone booth,
crossing his arms over his chest. The rain continued to batter
down, but he didn’t notice.

Spotting Nanny walking briskly down
the street towards him, the anger inside him begged for release.
Her black trench coat tied loosely at her waist, her breasts were
almost completely exposed while she ran. Her skin looked
translucent against the black, the rain making it look like
snakeskin. A mortal could only dream about someone like Nanny
dressed like that. Knowing her, he wondered again how he ever
thought her lovely. Every part of his entire being loathed
her.

Holding his breath, he checked his
watch again. They only had ten minutes till sunrise. He waited.
This was going to be the longest ten minutes of his life – longer
than immortality.

“You came.” His voice sounded curt in
his ears. He didn’t care.

“Of course.” She looked up at the sky.
Even though the grey clouds hid the night, she’d know how much time
they had. “This is going to be tight. One phone booth. Where’s
another one?” She glanced up both sides of the street. Her coat now
lay open on her shoulders. She couldn’t even be bothered to
modestly cover herself.

“Two minutes up the road.”
He pointed behind him.
Seven
minutes…

“This one’s mine.” Never the unselfish
one, that Nanny.

“Of course.” He slid the door
open.

“You want to do it. In there?” Her
eyes grew big.

“Sure. Make’s it kind of
symbolic – you, me, what we are, what we represent.”
Five minutes…

“Oh…I forgot you’re into all the
symbolism shit. Whatever.” She stepped into the booth, untying her
belt as she brushed past him. She turned and raised a leg against
the phone book attached under the phone. “I never –”

Erebus slammed the door shut
and held it tight, cutting off her words. He stood outside the
booth, his shoulder, knee, and foot wedged against the bracket to
keep the door closed. Nanny’s mouth hung open, a moment of
confusion written on her face. Then her eyes narrowed as she
slapped her hand on the glass, her raincoat completely open.
Three minutes…

“What the hell are you doing?” she
hissed.

“Fucking you over.” He couldn’t keep
the grin off his face. “Open the door!”

“No.”
Two minutes…

“Idiot! I’m the one
inside
. This isn’t going
to save you or your precious bitch.”

Aurora was still alive. Nanny had just
given him that information. Hope and determination seared through
him. Outward, he struggled to keep everything calm, refusing to let
Nanny read into anything.

“One minute, ‘Bus.” Venom dripped from
her voice.

The terror that always overflowed
before sunrise began to seep into him fast. Shadows weren’t
supposed to be out. Sweat spread across his forehead as he gasped
shallow breaths of air. He tried to focus on Nanny’s face, but
everything began to blur. Unfocussed, he stared as her fuzzy shape
sank towards the floor.

Unable to hold on any
longer, he did what he’d been planning all along. He’d rationalized
if they could possibly share the booth, they’d be the same shadow,
intertwined. He’d know all her thoughts and actions by nightfall –
if it didn’t destroy both of them first.
Now! Go now!

Both hands ripped the door off its
hinges as he tore it open. He barely held consciousness as he
collapsed into the booth, crashing into Nanny.

They disappeared into the
shadows.

Chapter 8

Payback

Confusion filled him. That
same feeling of trying to swim through deep water, to break through
for air, lingered. For the first time, he wasn’t alone.
She
struggled and fought
as well, but the way she reacted, her panic gave the impression of
limbs and body flailing everywhere. She’d drown both of them if he
allowed her fear into his core. That trapped feeling held them both
in. His thoughts were hers, and her terrified feelings belonged to
him. Their occlusion was one, both fighting to escape, both knowing
it was futile. The weight of that realization knocked them
senseless. Trying unsuccessfully to focus, the spinning inside
their heads too much, they knew they’d pass out again. Both dropped
in defeat, back into the black oblivion.

Erebus woke seconds later, his back
resting against the inner booth’s chilly glass wall. Someone had
ripped the door off its hinges. It rattled against a strong breeze.
Outside was dry. The wind must have blown the rain away.

Cool flesh pressed against his arm. He
could feel it through his coat. The events of last night hit him in
the gut, knocking him breathless. He jumped away from the booth as
if it was on fire and turned to the object of his
hatred.

“I know what you’ve done,” he hissed
at Nanny.

She stood dazed inside the phone
booth, still trying to focus on coming out of the Shadows. Her
raincoat was completely buttoned up, her belt tied
tight.

Erebus experienced everything Nanny
had ever done, every thought and feeling she’d ever had – all of
it. For everything he knew about her, she would know the same of
him.

Spit sprayed from his mouth. “Get out
here. Now you understand why I could never be with you or why I
would never come back to you.” He’d never experienced fury like
this. It felt as if his emotions were becoming
more…human.

She’d never cried before, but now her
eyes brimmed and spilled over. He had no sympathy for her, and no
time. He needed to get to Aurora.

“What have you done to me? You’ve made
me feel,” she sobbed, wiping tears away with the back of her
hands.

“It isn’t all about you.” Her hardness
had given him some kind of edge. His softness had obviously done
something to her as well.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” she said, barely
above a whisper.

“I don’t care. You’ll never change.
You might feel this way for a few nights, but you’ll go back to
your old ways in no time. We both know that. Just forget about me.
Don’t ever seek me out again. Do that and I won’t report you to
Janus, or even worse, the Night Council. That’s the only thing I
offer, and I’m only presenting it once. Get out of here, tonight.”
He turned to go. She’d know he spoke the truth. She knew everything
about him up until this moment. He wasn’t lying.

“I can help you get the girl.” Her
hand came up to grasp his arm and she stepped towards
him.

“I don’t need your help now! Get away
from me!” He ripped his arm out of her grasp. Without looking back,
he walked away. His only focus now was getting Aurora.

Hailing a taxi that just happened to
be driving by, he told the driver to take him to the Rum Jungle. He
stared blindly out the window. The passing buildings became a blur.
It turned grey as his mind brewed over Nan’s memory of last night.
He shook his head; her memories were his now. It was like
everything she had ever done he had been there with her. It made
him want to vomit.

“Driver, can you please hurry?” Erebus
closed his eyes and rubbed the sides of his temples with his
fingers, unable to stop himself from recreating what she had done
to Aurora. He allowed his thoughts to turn into hers so he could
trace her actions from last night. It was weird thinking her
thoughts but he wanted to know everything Aurora had gone through.
He searched Nanny’s memories and let himself pretend to become
her.

The minute her Shadow came out last
night, Nanny put into action what she’d been planning since
figuring out Erebus loved the human – the damn mortal girl. How
could he want something so…so fragile? The girl was pretty, but
nothing compared to herself. He should’ve just slept with the girl.
She might have been alright with that, but the way he’d looked at
the little, young thing the first night she’d seen him. She knew
right away. It was impossible to miss. Then Erebus had gone and
tried to build a life, to pretend to be one of them. That was like
trying to rope the wind.

Pathetic. He should be with
only her. He
belonged
to her. They were the same. They were the first in centuries
to carry the same Shadow. Now this playmate girl threatened to ruin
everything. Her Erebus was too sensitive to be a Shadow. He needed
a strong mate to keep him in line. She, Nanny, would remind him of
his potential. She was the only one able to do it, well, except
maybe one of the Night Council. But truth be told, she considered
herself as strong as them and knew one day she’d be one of the
women sitting on the judgment thrones. Fully in charge and
drop-dead gorgeous. She couldn’t be more perfect for the
job.

All this nonsense about
Erebus thinking he could be in love with a human, she had to stop
it and knew exactly what it would take to make him realize
their
potential. One
night back in her arms—in her bed—would remind him they couldn’t
stop destiny.

Nanny flipped Erebus’ phone open. Just
before leaving last night, she’d switched cells when she’d noticed
his coat on the couch by hers. It had been easy, a little
bum-wiggle and the boy was all flustered.

She scrolled through the small list of
names on his contacts. Aurora. That was the girl’s name! This was
going to be even easier. She tapped her manicured, red painted
fingernails against the keys, trying to think of an Erebus text
message to send the girl. Where would they meet up? College town,
little choice for good places. She giggled when the perfect place
popped in her head. She began texting.