Shadowed Fire (Veil of Midnight Book 1)

by A. Vers

  Nix tries to sidestep into my path. But I’m under-rested, worried, and not in the mood.

  I slam my hands out, shoving with more than just my strength.

  He barely slides over the wood, but when his head comes up, flames burn in the depths of his eyes. Any other time it would leave me shivering, and though my stomach quivers, I feed more blue fire into my palms.

  Flames that right now I don’t care about displaying.

  “And here I thought you were smarter than this.” The half-veiled compliment is little more than a menacing whisper as Nix’s body lowers into a fighting stance. Every hair on my body raises in alarm, but I don’t back down.

  Chol moves forward, hands raised in placation. Nix tries to grab him, to pull him back. The prince wrenches away and slips into the space between the Hallow and myself.

  His silver eyes are dark, troubled as he turns to me. The strange gold flecks from last night are absent, but it doesn’t make the color any less striking.

  “I swear on my life I did not use amour to seduce you. We were all exhausted, you were angry and weaving on your feet. I wanted to make you feel calm, safe. You saved my life last night, Sayah. It was a piss poor way to repay you, but we needed you back at full strength.” Chol’s eyes search mine, gaze steady and resolute. “Or as close as you could get to it.”

  Every word he says rings through me like a bell, chiming with honesty.

  And I hate it.

  It would be so much easier to blame him, to believe his magick turned me into a sweet, naive, besotted fool than to think it could ever happen on its own.

  Love is out of the cards for me. I’ve known it for years. To let someone in that far…they would need to know what I am. All of what I am. And that is a secret I will have to take to my grave.

  A grave that may come a lot sooner than I planned if I can’t keep the cambion and the Hallow out of harm’s way. It’s an oddly depressing notion. One that washes over me in a hard dose of reality.

  I exhale, shoving my power and anger down in one go. My magick poofs away with a few small tendrils of smoke. “You boys hungry?” I ask.

  Chol’s tan face reddens, pales, then refills with color. He peers at Nix. “I didn’t this time… Did I?”

  Nix’s vibrant eyes are locked on me, little flames rolling around his onyx pupils.

  I shake my head, and push past them into the long hall. “Come on, you two. We need to talk to the others.”

  They trail me in silence, but their eyes are a steady weight over my spine. It makes my face heat, and I reach for my ponytail. Running my fingers through the damp, tousled strands, I try to reason through my response to them.

  It’s not that I’m unfamiliar with male attention. We run an embassy for everyone who needs it. Male, female, demon, witch, vampire, shapeshifter. If they seek asylum, we help them. With my hair, the paleness of my eyes, long lashes, and crème skin… I’m exotic in coloring. Training to protect our guests has left me strong, lean, and graceful. Many of the males who stay with us notice it, and I’ve never cared that they notice.

  But Chol and Nix?

  It’s too much at one time. Too much beauty, masculinity, grace, muscle, cunning, strength. Courage. Hells, take your pick.

  Just now Chol was honest with me. He didn’t use his magick to hurt me. He genuinely wanted me back to full power. A power he can’t know about.

  ‘You saved my life…’

  The words echo through me.

  I told Aith my biggest question was who was after Chol that he required a Hallow bodyguard?

  I’ve seen what is after them. Hells, I’ve fought it.

  But magick like that comes at a price. Whoever is after the prince not only made a deal with something extremely old, but it risked attacking an embassy and a human consulate to take him. And that screams a desperation that I don’t like.

  Now my magick is barely subpar, the wards are down, and there is no chance of my parents or the others coming back anytime soon. And we are just supposed to sit in the Void and pray whoever attacked doesn’t try again?

  Negative.

  I saved Chol once by accident with magick I should not possess. Magick I swore an oath to hide. But can I save the prince again without it?

  That’s a question I’m not sure I want the answer to.

  Chapter 8

  Mother’s brilliant yellow kitchen is like walking into the sun. It’s an illusion, of course. But I pull the thin, torn curtains down the rest of the way, and air and fake light filters into the space through the busted windows.

  Unfortunately, it just highlights the broken table, scattered bits of glass, and remnants of the fight.

  The quiet of the house hums around us, boxing in the room. But the kitchen is the largest cold spot in the house, and as an eighteen year old female, it’s my favorite place to be despite the irony of it all. I set about pulling out pans and things from the rubble of the pantry as the candles all around the room dance merrily in the breeze.

  “So…where is everyone?” Chol asks.

  He perches on the last unbroken stool before the marble bar, forearms resting over the top in a state of delighted contentment. His eyes are heavy as I move around in front of him, and as the mouthwatering fragrance of bacon fills the room, he makes a small sound of appreciation deep in his throat.

  My face heats. “Give the smell time to work it’s way into the house. It’s better than any alarm.”

  Nix seems oblivious to both of us, his strong body pressed into the short hallway between the kitchen and the open garden door. It’s the darkest place in the immediate vicinity and I can’t decide if he’s there because he likes the dark, or because he wants to watch for intruders.

  I tug a flat of eggs from the refrigerator and start cracking them. “I spoke to my Mother this morning,” I say into the quiet. “Or tried to.”

  Nix peers at me in surprise. “Are they on their way back?” There is something in his voice. But I don’t dare call it hope.

  My lips purse. Apparently, he doesn’t agree that I have done well enough protecting them.

  “No.” The word comes out harsh and he rocks back a little. I cough and turn back to the pan. “There was an attack at the consulate last night.”

  The silence is deafening.

  “There’s no way that’s a coincidence,” Chol says.

  As Nix asks, “Was anyone injured?”

  I nod, slowly. “A few guards were drained of their power.”

  “Drained?” Nix’s voice is closer and I peer at him. With his back to the door, he is wreathed in a white glow from the illusion stones. But no one would ever mistake him for angelic.

  “Mother said whatever it was vanished like something ‘burned it off’,” I say and he blinks. “I agree—and I can’t believe I am going to say this—with Chol.”

  Chol glowers. “Hey.”

  I ignore the prince. “It can’t be a coincidence.” I turn a bit, shoving the sizzling bacon off the flame so it doesn’t burn. “You sought asylum here at Midnight. Why?”

  Nix’s mouth tightens and his jaw mottles. I glance at Chol and his gaze is averted, staring out the far windows.

  My fingers tighten around the turner in my hand. “Whatever came last night…It will be back. It was only dumb luck that it didn’t return while we all slept. So it’s simply a matter of time now. And I need to know what I’m up against before it gets here.”

  Nix folds his arms over his chest, that stubborn set to his jaw resolutely in place. I try to ignore how his upper body ripples and flexes, but it’s damn hard.

  My head turns between them, waiting. No explanation sounds. The silence deafens, roaring over and through me with all the delicacy of a bull in a china shop. I throw my hands up in exasperation and toss the turner in the pan. It jostles the pile of scrambled eggs, discarding several fluffy pieces onto the stovetop.

  I glare at it then at the two males in the room. “Breakfast is ready. Eat or don’t. I don’t care.”
<
br />   I stomp out of the kitchen and into the open gardens. The warmer air buffets me, pulling at my tee and my hair. It whips the strands into my face and mouth. I shove them down with harsh movements and dive deeper into the brush and trees, seeking distance. Solace.

  Father’s hybrid roses trail over everything. Thick, wild red blossoms that scent the wind with a mildly pungent odor. I pluck a single velvet petal loose and watch it fall to the old cobbled pathway. It lands like a drop of blood on the stones. Leaves and debris cover the walkway, crunching under my boots as I flee farther into the shadows and farther from the kitchen.

  The occasional break in the canopy above allows light to bathe my shoulders and arms. I huddle in on myself. Not that it’s cold. Even in winter it never really gets cold at Midnight. The Void illusions give us mild days and brighter nights, but the temperature stays the same. Father always said it was something about the wards and the pocket of space the house dominates. Magick, for lack of a better word.

  But with Father absent and no energy to power the illusions this far out for much longer, the Void will grow dark again here.

  I peer up at the dim horizon through the trees and shield my eyes. A few stray wisps of clouds glide along a navy-blue sea. The sky is rich, pretty, and depressing. I sigh and lean against a slim crape myrtle.

  The whole situation is insanity. Stuck in a non-magicked house with the Prince of the Cambions and his equally hot assassin bodyguard. Now we are all in danger and I am supposed to protect the Prince where Nix can’t-- But I have no idea what I’m even protecting him from.

  With Father gone, the wards will remain dead, and I can’t carry the whole house and defend the Prince anyway. Not without replenishing all of my power. Power I can’t let Nix or Chol see in its entirety.

  But it means our first lines of defense are gone. No guards, no wards. Nothing but us and the supernaturals still sleeping against… What exactly?

  I press my head harder into the wood trunk with a grimace. “I can’t keep them safe without knowing what is going on, and I can’t protect them completely without them knowing what I am,” I grumble under my breath. “It’s bloody pointless. All of it.”

  Staring out into the grove, my mind whirs until even my breathing grows erratic. It’s like suffocating on responsibility.

  Soft footfalls snap over a few leaves. Pulse racing, I crouch low and pull my daggers from my boots.

  My head turns and relief leaves me sagging. Nix and Chol ease down the path. They are both watching me, gazes steady and calmer than I am.

  I stow my knives begrudgingly. Unfortunately, they won’t help with this.

  Chol stops a pace ahead of his guard. “The consulate is less than an hour away through the convergence,” he says. “We can leave now and be there before nightfall.”

  I raise a brow and wait.

  “You shouldn’t have to take this on alone, and it’s unfair for me to ask you to do so.” Chol shifts, but he never looks at Nix. “In order to repay the debt I already owe to you, I will leave. It will keep you safe, and you won’t have to worry anymore about what has transpired. My life for yours.”

  Nix eases closer. “We’re not keeping any information from you out of spite or the notion you are incapable or weak, but for your protection more than ours.”

  I blink. High compliment indeed coming from the young Hallow.

  “This was never meant to be Midnight’s burden to bear. I wasn’t meant to be Midnight’s burden,” Chol continues. “Nor by extension…yours.”

  “We sought asylum here only long enough to seek something more permanent amongst the consulate. It was never supposed to go this far. Not this soon.”

  I look between them. “But you still won’t tell me what is after you, huh?” I ask Chol.

  He flushes. “I swore not to speak a word of it. For names have power. Even here.” Silver irises glitter in his tan face. “I need you to understand, if I thought telling you would help… I would break the geas binding me.”

  Nix stares at him, lips parted. “Chol—”

  Chol holds up a hand, silencing his guard with ease. It’s the most princely motion he has made towards the other male since his arrival. “We came here to hide, Nix. In less than twenty-four hours, we were found. Even with the wards. Even with the Void, we were found. Again.” He gestures toward me, but his gaze is all for the Hallow at his side. “Sayah has done more to get rid of…Well, she saved me. And you. Are you telling me, you don’t feel like you owe her too?”

  Nix steps back. As though realizing what he did, he stops and goes still. Something rolls over him. Though his expression is carefully blank, his eyes shimmer. “My honor is still intact. I fought. As I have since your Mother hired me to remain at your side. I have never forsaken my vow to you. Last night…” His voice hardens and trails off. “I will go ready our things to depart.” He clamps his mouth closed and walks away.

  Chol moves to follow.

  I lunge, fingers wrapping around his hand. He peers at me, storm clouds rolling in his eyes.

  “Let him go,” I say as we both watch Nix blend into the shadows on the far side of the grove. “He’ll be back.”

  The prince hovers before me, indecision plain on his face.

  “Oh, so now you don’t trust me to protect you?” I quip, only half joking.

  He whips around, color rising into the strong line of his neck. The blush is unbearably cute. “That’s not—” His gaze darts. “Nix is—”

  “Your friend and you’re worried about him?” I ask.

  He sags a little. “Is it that obvious?”

  My lips tremor. “Only to someone who pays attention,” I say with a shrug. “We’ve hosted dignitaries before. Ever since you arrived, wherever you go, he is always right there. That kind of devotion kind of transcends Prince and guard.”

  His thumb trails over the back of my hand, and it’s only then that I realize his fingers are still wound with mine. I pull gently away.

  Chol assesses me before giving me a teasing smile. Somehow, it lacks the usual mischievous heat, and a part of me wants to take his hand back. But I don’t.

  “Just don’t tell anyone,” he says mildly. “It will ruin my image that I’m friends with my guard.”

  I study him where he stands part in and part out of the shadows of the tree. “You two have been together for a long time?”

  Some of the smile slips. “Four years,” he admits.

  “So since you were…”

  A hint of real warmth fills his gaze. He knows I’m fishing for details about him, and he likes it. He steps a little closer. “Since I was seventeen,” he says, drawing my gaze to the full bottom swell of his lips. “Nix was eighteen, and already a badass even then.”

  “Somehow I feel like he came out of the womb a badass,” I grumble.

  Chol laughs, and the rich sound glides through my ears. Some of his humor fades. “I wish we didn’t have to go.” There is a stark honesty to his words.

  I tuck a few wayward strands of my hair behind my ear as my heart gallops. “But you can go topside. Visit Earth.”

  He exhales. “Yeah. I guess.”

  I press deeper into the tree and watch him.

  The quiet between us is not strained. Or, not with awkwardness anyway. Warmth flows through every inch of my body. My eyes close for a second and reopen. There is no trace of amour in the air, just good old-fashioned desire.

  He smirks. “You know how I know when you use amhara?” I shake my head, eyes locked on his face. “Your irises flash with white light.” He bends a little, lowering his head closer to mine, like he’s checking my eyes.

  My pulse pounds. “So I have a tell?”

  The smile deepens, and he gives a little nod. “You have a lot of them right now, too.”

  I blink.

  One tan hand comes up. The tip of his finger trails down the side of my neck, raising gooseflesh in a rush. “Your heartbeat is like wings under the silk of your skin.” His fingertip moves slowly
upward, curving over my cheek. “Soft rose coloring, hot and beautiful. Excited.” My knees weaken.

  His eyes dip at the same time his thumb scrubs over my bottom lip. “And your lips always part on a sweet sigh…”

  Cookies and something warm, like cardamom, scents the air. But it’s nothing compared to the juniper and amber fragrance that pours from my skin. I stare up at him, chest heaving as his golden face lowers closer to mine. His heat blankets me, cocooning around my frame until I want to sink into it. A taste. Just one taste of what I could have…

  He presses his finger under my chin, tilting my face up. My eyes close, waiting.

  The touch vanishes and so does a lot of the heat.

  My eyes flutter open, confusion and need spiraling through me like a storm. Chol is three foot away, panting as his hands clench and his forearms flex. The tightness in his shoulders is palpable.

  I push from the tree and walk closer on trembling legs. “Chol?”

  He takes another step back. “Just…just give me a minute.”

  I stop walking, arms going around my waist. The heat is beginning to cool, and it leaves an awkward awareness in my stomach.

  After several deep breaths, he glances at me. “I’m sorry, Sayah.”

  I shrug, like it’s no big deal, but my insides are a mess of frazzled nerves.

  “My control was slipping,” he starts. “I swore I wouldn’t use amour, and I meant it.”

  My lips part and all I can do is stare.

  He paces cautiously toward me and gently reaches for my hand. His palm is warm, broad, and surprisingly calloused. “I wanted to kiss you goodbye. But I guess this will have to do.” His head lowers and those full lips graze my knuckles.

  All the blood in my body burns. I press my free hand to my trembling stomach. He rolls his gaze up to watch me, a lot more heat in that one glance than should be possible for such a chaste gesture. Even with a cambion. His teeth scrub in a teasing bite across the middle ridge of my knuckles before he replaces it with another kiss.

  “Chol?” Nix’s voice is like ice done my spine. My head whips up as Chol whirls too.

  The Hallow speeds into view, eyes bright and sword in hand. He takes in the closeness of his charge to myself with a blank stare. “We have a problem.”