Shadows of Fate (Shadow Born) (3 page)

“Have I been replaced?” She shrugged off her duster and tossed it on the chair by the door. “Don’t you think two Shadow Bearer mages are a bit much? You can barely handle me.”

Seraph snorted. “I could handle an army of you, little girl.”

“Sure you could.” She walked over to the desk, motioning for the gorgeous stranger to move. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all.” His raspy voice slid over her like hot fudge. Thankfully, she was allergic to chocolate.

He stood, towering over her by more than a foot. His body was as lean and chiseled as his face. He stepped aside.

Careful not to touch him, she took possession of her chair again. The scent of sage still lingered in the air around her.

“Gray is one of my new recruits,” said Seraph, but Brenna quickly tuned him out. Vaguely paying attention, she stared at the picture that hung on the wall next to him. Puppies, playing in a field of daisies. Happier days. Happier thoughts.

“Are you listening to me, Brenna?”

She jerked. “Of course. Gray is working with us. That’s great, welcome.” Giving Gray a quick salute, she turned back to Seraph. “I’m glad you brought him by, but I am busy so, if that’s all…”

“He’s your new partner.”

Her hand froze in midair. “I’m sorry?”

“Xavier’s tests came back. It’s bad. I can’t keep him on active duty.”

“So you’re giving me someone who’s wet behind the ears?” She cringed at the power surge coming from Gray. His anger was tangible. Too bad, but there was no way she was working with someone who was probably here to kill her. “I don’t have time to teach him the ropes. Give him to someone else.”

“He’s one of yours.”

“Which is exactly why I don’t want him.”

“
He
is
in the room. And
he
doesn’t care what you want.” Gray’s hands landed on the desk in front of her. “You are the only person who comes close to my power level. I might kill the others in less than a week. Do you want that on your conscience?”

He had a point. Although he clearly had a skewed perspective of his own abilities.

As partners, they were required to share their magic. Most of the time she had to work solo because one big job would burn Xavier out for weeks.

“I guess you’re going to have to work alone. I don’t work with Shadow Bearers.” She faked a yawn, slid back in her seat and crossed her arms. “I have work to do. Lots and lots of work.”

Seraph held up a hand. The sword that hung from his shoulder shifted. The jeweled scabbard glistened in the fluorescent light. “I didn’t ask your permission, Brenna. Gray is your new partner. Deal with it. Take him home with you. He needs a place to live.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. He’s homeless too?” The grin spreading on Gray’s lips was like salt on a rancid wound. “I don’t have time for this.”

“Make time.” Seraph threw a file on the desk in front of her. “It’s done.”

Brenna glared at his retreating back. Leave it to Seraph to put her in an untenable situation.

“What’s in the envelope?” Gray reached forward to grab it, but she yanked it away.

Glaring at him, she opened it. “Our next assignment. It’ll keep until tomorrow.”

She began to slip it into the top desk drawer, but Gray muttered an incantation under his breath. It appeared in his hand as if it had been there all along.

Slamming her hands on the table, Brenna rose to her feet. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“My job. See if you can keep up.” He leaned against the wall, flipping through the file.

Her anger spiraled. Even the sound of his breathing was getting on her nerves.

She stepped from behind the desk, and stood in front of him. “I just pulled a job. I’m exhausted, and I have to take you home and get you settled. Put the file down and let’s go.”

“No.”

A simple word. An infuriating word. A word that made her want to pull his hair out. Instead she moved closer, her lips inches from his. His breath danced across her skin as her magic spun around them.

He looked down at her. “You look like your father when you’re angry.”

Now she
would
have to kill him.

Chapter Two

Brenna closed her eyes, urging her pulse to steady as she pushed through her rage. “You know my father?”

“Somewhat.”

There weren’t many people on her world who had seen her father. As Lord of their clan, he kept himself secluded. For Gray to have seen him meant he was either royalty or high level military. Neither option boded well. “If you’re that high up in the clan, I should know you. I haven’t been gone that long.”

“A lot can happen in ninety years.” He handed her the file as if he hadn’t just challenged her a moment before. “Seraph said you knew a place I could stay.”

She’d let it go, for now. “Where’s your stuff?”

He gestured to a leather messenger bag propped against the black metal filing cabinet. A scabbard lay beside it, showing the hilt of a katana.

“That’s it?’

He shrugged. “I travel light.” Uncurling his lean body from the wall, he grabbed the bag and tossed the thick strap across his shoulder. “Shall we?” One arm outstretched, he waited.

His glamour wrapped around her, warping her reality as it tried to bend her to his will. He was getting to her. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she allowed herself to enjoy the pure masculine energy he exuded.

An overhead light flickered as Gray stepped into the narrow hallway. Sparks flitted across the white washed walls and the light exploded.

She had warned Seraph. Two Shadow Bearers in the same building was dangerous. Two working together was a recipe for disaster.

With a wave of her hand, she turned off the rest of the lights. Staff yelled and grumbled in the halls as the emergency lighting kicked in.

“Tap down your magic,” she said, turning to Gray. “This place was built by humans. It can’t handle this much power.”

There was a flicker of distrust in his violet eyes. “I’m not going to lower my defenses just to make you more comfortable.”

“Of course not,” Brenna said, shaking her head. “Let’s blow up the place then. No one will miss it.” She stormed off, the heels of her boots snapping. He may be the first man her body had reacted to in
 
ninety years, but he was just a beautiful bastard. There was no accounting for taste, even her own.

When they reached the reception desk, Lucy’s face appeared behind the protective glass, a snarl on her lips. “Blow another light, and I’ll kill you myself,” she growled, rising on tiptoes. Her tiny ears flipped forward, she blew out a long breath and turned to Brenna. “Three more moon pies and we’re good.” She slammed the glass closed and disappeared behind the counter.

Instead of taking Gray topside through the chambers, Brenna led him to a set of elevators. They stepped inside, the door closing behind them. She leaned against the metal wall, next to the control panel.

Between floors, she casually pressed the red stop button. “Why are you here?”

Gray dropped his bag. “Meaning?”

“Did the Council send you? Did my father send you? Were you banished? Did you come here for the hell of it?”

“Try again.”

“Enlighten me.”

“No.”

“No.” She moved closer. “No is not acceptable.”

A smile played across the slash of his lips. He didn’t appear the least bit threatened. “No is all I’m willing to give.”

For a moment frustration stole her ability to speak. “I will find out.” She turned and hit the elevator button, plunging the metal death trap downward again. “We’ll be working together from now on and nothing escapes my notice.”

His body shook as he chuckled, causing the leather strap tying up his hair to slip free. Thick black curls cascaded over his shoulders as he stepped forward. “I didn’t imagine you would equate yourself to God so soon in our relationship.”

Brenna bit her tongue and embraced the sharp haze of pain. He was intolerable. Maybe her housemates would kill him in his sleep. She sure as hell wouldn’t stop them if they tried.

Unnerving silence filled the car as they waited. When the button dinged and the doors slid open, the tension still followed them through the darkened tunnels. Sweat trickled down her back. She adjusted the corset to allow herself to breathe more easily.

“Nice Outfit. If that’s standard issue, I could definitely get used to this place.” He grinned. “But there’s no way
I’m
parading around half naked. That’s way above my pay grade.”

Brenna took a deep breath, biting her tongue. Absolutely intolerable.

Unlike the tunnels that guarded the entrance of the lair, these were rarely used. Dirt swirled in the air, burning her eyes and teasing her nose, as she pushed forward. Normally, she would have wrapped a scarf around her face, but she hadn’t planned on being here tonight. If she was going to pass Gray off as a friend to the other residents of the boarding house, he couldn’t be seen coming out of the tunnels.

After the Fall, single family houses had fallen out of favor. Protection in numbers was the priority. Once the atmosphere had become hospitable, the few families left had moved back east away from the worst of the damage. This population shift created a renaissance of sorts in the eastern states. Factories were erected and commerce began to flourish.
 

But at the same time the West had been forgotten. Even now, fifty years after the Rise began, the only residents of the western states were law enforcement, rogues, gypsies and, of course, deviants. Most were forced into housing units, or boarding houses out of necessity. Former hotels and mansions turned residential, each room rented, meals and facilities shared between those who lived there. Underground tunnels ran beneath many of them, preparing for the worst. Each house was run by one person who created and enforced the rules. To get in, you had to pass their inspection, but once you were in it was until death. Of course, if you broke the rules, that might come quicker than you thought.

They stepped out of the tunnels onto the broken pavement near what had once been Golden, Colorado. The boarding house she was taking him to, the one she shared with Hilda and several others, had once been a historic landmark. As they moved down the road toward the once stately manor house, she could feel his humor rising.

“I didn’t expect swanky.” Gray laughed as he patted down his clothes and brushed back his hair. “Seraph said you lived with thieves and murderers.”

“That’s a matter of opinion.” She cleared her throat, trying to rid it of dust. “They tolerate me, but Marissa probably won’t accept another hunter.”

“So I’m what? Some vagrant you took in off the street?”

She shrugged. “Why not? I’m a generous person.”

She ignored his snort. Dust kicked up around them as they walked the abandoned streets. Everything went into lock-down at night. Only the strongest deviants and the odd suicidal human felt safe traipsing around outside the city once the sun had set.

Their footsteps echoed as they made their way up the steep hill. The boarding house stared down at them, frame tilted slightly to the right, its body drowning in vines. The moon hovered over the nearby rooftops, cascading light down across dirty windows and soiled wood.

“Home sweet home.”

She moved up the old wooden steps that ended in front of a massive stained glass door. The door was the only thing that had survived the war relatively untarnished. Purple, yellow and orange, it was awkward and out of place in the midst of the decaying manor.

She pressed her hand against the clear panel beside the door, which clicked open. Together they stepped into the dark front corridor, the air thick with shadows. She hurried Gray into the main hall. If he stayed, he would learn the dangers here soon enough.

Gray eyed the drooping floral pastel wall-paper that hung to the floor in patches. “Nice place.”

“It has heat and running water. The pretty places didn’t.” The proprietor of the house, Marissa stood in the doorway to the kitchen, candlelight highlighting her slender figure. “Now we just keep the look for the ambiance. Are you here about the room?” She stepped forward, her waist length black hair swinging about her hips.

“He’s a friend.” Brenna picked at the loose wall-paper. “I checked him out. He’s clean.”

Marissa cocked an eyebrow. “No drugs. No stealing. No mooching. Everybody has chores and everybody shares equally in the bills. Is that a problem?”

“I don’t have a problem with rules,” Gray replied.

“What about living with ghosts?” Hilda’s voice floated toward them, attached to a glowing golden globe. Stopping next to Brenna, she swirled into corporal form. “I get to follow you everywhere, right, Brenna?”

Brenna ignored the ghost’s sly wink. There was no stopping Hilda. Where she wanted to go, she went.

“You can follow me. Just don’t get in my way,” Gray answered, with a slight nod. “I don’t want to know you’re there.”

“Fair enough.” Hilda reached out a pale hand. It disappeared inside his much larger one and they made a semblance of a handshake.