The Book Of Shade (Shadeborn 1)

by Finn, K. C.

  It was a summer’s day, with impossibly bright sunlight and glowing green grass flooding the picture. Lily was on her knees, tears streaming down her face as she shouted something fiercely at someone who wasn’t in view. Lily couldn’t read her own lips, and she had no idea for whom the abuse was meant. She didn’t look any older or younger than she was right now, but she didn’t remember crying and screaming at anyone recently. Ready to hold up the mirror and tell Novel it wasn’t working, Lily was caught as the scene in the frame slowly expanded.

  Where she knelt in the vivid grass, there was a body lying down beside her. She saw his beautiful vintage suit, his long legs and pale hands telling her clearly who it was before his face was even revealed. Novel lay motionless, no single sign of life within his young, relaxed face. Lily continued to cry, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him as though he might awaken. Nothing. She was saying the same word over and over again, and this time the Lily looking into the mirror knew what it was.

  “No.”

  “’No’ what?” Novel said.

  Lily snapped her gaze up from the mirror and the picture faded away.

  “Didn’t you see it?” she breathed, suddenly frightened.

  Novel shook his head. “It can only divine for the one who’s holding it,” he explained. “Did you see your past?”

  “No,” Lily answered, still reeling from the sight of the corpse of the man sitting beside her.

  “Ah,” Novel added, “then it’s the wrong way around. Come here.”

  He flipped the mirror over in her grip so that her face was showing in the other half.

  “Right,” he continued, “this will definitely be the past side, so you’ll have to concentrate very heavily on going back as young as you possibly can. Your father’s face will be one of your first memories, so it’s going to take some time.”

  Lily could hardly process his words. “If this side is for the past,” she murmured, looking at the compact again, “then the other one was…?”

  “The future, of course,” Novel added.

  Lily swallowed a hard lump in her throat, shaking her head just as she had in the mirror scene.

  “Can it be changed?” she demanded. “The future?”

  “Generally speaking,” Novel answered with a heightened interest. “Elements of it are always in flux. Why? What did you see?”

  He rested one hand on her shoulder, and Lily felt his warmth spread into her trembling bones. He was here, he was alive and what she had seen didn’t have to be so. Lily shook her head and found a tear gathering in one eye, that she hurriedly wiped away. She refocused on the mirror.

  “Nothing,” she said, “it doesn’t matter. Let’s do this past thing.”

  The journey into her past came much less easily, and Lily felt as though her mind was facing an invisible barrier every time she found herself in the wrong scene. There were countless arguments with her mother from not too long ago, scenes of hideous high school hair, the Halloween party where she’d had her first drink, and vomited onto someone dressed as a dustbin. Then there were earlier sights: playing alone in the living room with some dolls, whilst Mum spent all her time on the phone, watching her mother feed her as a toddler with that awful worried look on her face, that Lily had seen just a couple of weeks ago.

  Then suddenly, everything was peaceful. Lily found herself watching a tiny baby with almond coloured eyes as she peered around her crib and wriggled on her back. The baby kicked, excited by the arrival of people, shadows cast against the crib’s wide bars. The scene expanded once again and Lily saw her mother leaning over the crib, her petite frame draped over the side as she cried. Teardrops fell on Lily’s baby self and she wriggled again in displeasure. Her mother’s devastated face was speaking to someone Lily couldn’t see. She willed the mirror hard, her mind pushing against that non-existent barrier with everything she had, willing the viewpoint to shift.

  Her father had shaggy, silver-blonde hair in a fringe that covered a lot of his face, with a beard that made it hard for Lily to tell if he was frowning or smiling. His eyes were hazy and out of focus, but Lily thought she saw a flash of white for the briefest moment as he too came to lean on the edge of the crib. This was the moment that had ruined her mother’s life, the time when he had chosen to tell her what her only daughter was: a non-human time bomb just waiting to discover itself. The parents stood up straight together as the baby Lily looked on, and the Lily of here and now gave a gasp.

  She dropped the mirror and it clattered away. Lily found herself slowly regaining focus on Novel and the present moment, her eyes expanding in the light of the little room. The illusionist was holding both her shoulders and seeking out her face carefully, his pale eyes filled with concern.

  “Well? Did you see him? Is everything all right?”

  “No,” Lily said, shaking her head. “I mean, yes, I saw him. But I don’t thinking anything’s all right.”

  Salem approached them from the other sofa and crouched down to be included.

  “Just tell us what you saw,” he whispered.

  “He wasn’t just tall, like Mum said,” Lily replied, thinking of the sight of her mother’s petite frame. “He was a giant. He had about two foot on her.”

  “That would make him-” Novel began, but Lily was ready to cut him off.

  “Seven feet tall,” she completed, her lip trembling, “and isn’t that what you said? This Maxime guy, the turncoat? So tall you’d never forget the sheer size of him?”

  “So you’re a Schoonjans,” Salem mused.

  “Yeah, the wrong Schoonjans!” Lily cried suddenly, making him topple backwards on his haunches. “The wrongest of all the wrong shades I could possibly be! The daughter of some all-powerful maniac who’s trying to wipe us all off the face of the earth!”

  She threw her head into her hands desperately, feeling Novel’s smooth palm rub across the back of her shoulders. Tears fell that she couldn’t stifle and as the shock forced her body into a tremble, she leant against his body and fell into his grip. His lips came to rest against her temple as she sobbed, warm breath soothing her clammy brow.

  “This doesn’t change anything,” he promised in a whisper, “it doesn’t change who you are. And I’m still here to protect you.”

  The future-vision of Novel’s perfectly still body haunted her once again, and Lily clung to him desperately, letting go of all control as every tear in her body soaked into the deep navy folds of his pinstriped suit.

  Kindred Souls

  The discovery of her dubious heritage sent Lily into a desperate quest for power. She spent days on end consulting the Book of Shade for everything it was willing to show her, practising moves from every page until even the stars couldn’t recharge her enough to go on. Novel couldn’t have missed the signs of her sudden determination but he never mentioned them, simply taking her newfound focus into account as he pushed her harder to achieve whatever defensive cast he was teaching. But, for Lily, it wasn’t enough to defend any more. She wanted to learn to attack.

  She arrived in the Imaginique’s auditorium one night with the Book of Shade in hand and put it down on a crate so loudly that Novel jumped where he stood. He had been fixing what looked like a large silver sarcophagus, but he put down his tools and ignored the prop as his eyes fell on Lily’s determined expression. The Book of Shade opened itself to a page, and she and Novel both approached to see what it had revealed.

  The Kindred Flame.

  “No,” Novel said immediately.

  “But why not?” Lily pressed. “It says we could be powerful together. If you’d just teach me how to attack like you do, then-”

  “I can’t,” he insisted, his hands starting to spark. Novel was clearly furious, but it wasn’t directed at Lily. The lightning sparks were exploding into his own palms, leaving little Lichtenberg figures on his hands. He walked away a few paces, running the damaged hands through his white hair, and let out a sigh.

  “It’s not you that can’t do it. It’
s me.”

  “Don’t be silly,” Lily countered, watching his strong back as he tried to keep his posture from looking too defeated. “You’re much more powerful than me, than Salem, than anyone I’ve seen.”

  “Casting as kindred souls requires both parties to have a command over all the elements,” he explained sadly, “and I don’t have water. Whatever else I can do, however great my other skills become, I will always be a failure there.”

  The pages of the book began to flutter and turn again. Lily looked down to find the very first page of water casts, the ones she had looked at the first time she’d ever held the book. Instinctively, she cast the waterball into her hand as easily as if she were breathing. She looked at Novel, a little smile creeping into her lips.

  “Catch!” she yelled, suddenly throwing the ball right at the base of his spine.

  Without thinking or even looking, Novel shifted and his hand immediately found the ball hurtling towards him. As he turned his body the waterball did not collapse, but stayed quivering just above his lightning-marked palm. He stared at it, then up at Lily’s grin, then finally at the book. His eyes widened and he dropped the waterball in shock, but it floated along the ground and followed him at the heel, until he was back beside Lily and the crate. His eyes studied the Book of Shade’s pages, his lips moving with the motion of words and Lily slowly realised that he could see the water casts too.

  “I don’t understand how this has happened,” he murmured. “I mean, I can only see half the page, it’s not much really. But it’s more than I ever expected.”

  “Maybe it’s my turn to teach you something?” Lily suggested with a chuckle.

  Novel’s lips twitched like he was almost going to smile, but they stayed level despite the mirth twinkling in his eyes. “I only wish we had more time,” he groaned excitedly. “We’d be positively unstoppable if we could learn to cast together properly.”

  “Well let’s get going anyway!” Lily insisted. “Anything we can learn to do might help.”

  Novel nodded hurriedly in agreement and looked around the stage, forcing a surge of gravity to bring the shining sarcophagus nearer to them.

  “We’ll need a target,” he said as the heavy structure wobbled gently.

  “Weren’t you just repairing that?” Lily asked.

  Novel waved a hand. “It’s for Salem’s act, not mine,” he countered. “He can fix it himself.”

  The Book of Shade over-leafed itself yet again, and Novel glanced down at the new pages quickly. He turned to Lily and took her hand, the Kindred Flame igniting their grip in bright orange flames, then looked back over his shoulder at the book for guidance.

  “It seems to me that it’s about thinking the same thing at the same time,” Novel explained. “It says: Being of one mind, being of one body and being of one power.”

  He squeezed her hand more tightly and Lily rather thought that the ‘being of one body’ part meant something else that hadn’t occurred to him yet. She found herself watching the stretched muscles in his neck as he craned to read the book, his smooth, pale lips hovering over the ancient words. She stepped closer to him, feeling the flame at their fingers grow larger. In all this time that she’d spent with him, she had never before felt so tempted by their close proximity, but now he was here, right beside her, and everything felt like one big opportunity waiting to happen.

  When Novel turned his head back, he jumped again at how close Lily’s body was to his, almost flush against him like they had been under the coloured lights of the club. She squeezed his hand tighter, letting her other arm travel nervously up to his shoulder. Her fingers snaked up to rest at the nape of his neck and the illusionist took a deep, sharp breath which that expanded his chest with a shudder. He tried to speak, his lips moving but making no sound, like he could think of nothing to say, no excuse to delay the moment further. Lily took that as a good sign, and let her eyes fall onto those smooth lips, the lips that had promised her safety and protection for so long, without ever asking anything in return.

  She leaned up and kissed him lightly, just once, but as she pulled away Novel’s arms suddenly swept around her and dragged her back against his body. There was a ferocity in his lips like nothing she’d ever felt as he returned her affection with a deep, lingering kiss, his strong hands flexing against her back and shoulders as he became consumed by the moment between them. Lily knew she ought to break for breath, but there seemed to be no time for trivial things like oxygen. She kissed him back passionately, flinching only when she realised that her feet were no longer on the ground.

  Novel’s powers had lifted them into the air, and if Lily half-opened her eyes, she could see they were surrounded by the orange flames that had once only engulfed their hands. They surfaced from the kiss and Novel glanced around in a wild panic, sparks of lightning flashing on his lips and reflecting in his wide eyes. He shook his head as the flames died away and Lily felt herself descending sharply, her feet hitting the theatre boards with a painful thud as Novel took his hands from around her body.

  “I’m sorry,” he panted. “I’m so, so sorry.”

  Lily didn’t have time to ask what he was sorry for, before he had taken off and disappeared backstage.

  She found him in his dressing room, assessing himself in the ornate mirror that was his mother’s gift. Novel’s young pale face flushed pink with panic as he leant on his sink. He caught Lily watching him in the reflection, and turned as she approached again with a sheepish look.

  “Did I do something wrong?” she asked tentatively.

  “No, I did,” he answered immediately.

  “I don’t think you did,” she added with a half-grin.

  His flustered face didn’t show any sign of calming down. The kiss had upset him, and Lily felt her heart sink down like it was suddenly coated in lead. Doesn’t he want this?

  “There’s been a problem, you see,” he explained with a sigh. “From the first moment I saw you, in fact, in the audience.”

  “Go on,” Lily said, approaching him. She could see her own cheeks were blushing too in the elegant mirror’s reflection, but pride wouldn’t let her run away without hearing him give a straight answer.

  “It’s been happening for a while now,” Novel said gently.

  “What has?” Lily asked, trying to lift his chin to make him look at her.

  He held her hands in his, and watched the kindred flame ignite.

  “Us,” he replied. “I’ve consulted the books, the stones, the stars. They all tell me the same thing.” He spoke like every word was an apology. “I’m meant for you, Lily. And I think you’re meant for me too.”

  “You’re right,” Lily said without a shred of care for exposing her heart. “I already know you’re right. I think everyone else saw it before I did, though. I still wasn’t sure until that kiss. But now…”

  She couldn’t bring herself to describe how he’d made her feel, not with a look of such pain still on his face. He ought to have been happy, but something was troubling him, lingering on his lips like he didn’t want to say it out loud.

  “We’re fated,” he said. “There’s no way around it.”

  “Do you want there to be?” Lily asked with a sudden frown.

  “No!” Novel answered, suddenly grabbing her shoulders and pulling her close. She grinned at him and the embarrassed curl quirked on his lip again. “I mean, of course not,” he repeated softly, “but I thought you might think it was unfair. I’m hardly an ideal man to be fated for.”

  Lily might have agreed with him, once upon a time, but every moment she had spent with Lemarick Novel always left her wanting a moment more. She could imagine the expanse of time they had ahead of them to be together and suddenly living a few hundred more years than expected didn’t seem so scary. He could teach her everything she could ever wish to know about who she was and what she could do, and somewhere along the way, she would learn how to make him smile again.

  Without another word, she kissed him and he f
ell back against the sink with the shock of another embrace. This time Lily could feel the lightning sparks against her lips, and a rush of air like a hurricane wind swept all around them, knocking Novel’s make-up and props to the ground. He let her kiss him a few lingering moments more before he pulled away, holding her at arm’s length. The mirror glinted a shaft of light across his breathless face, his pale eyes glowing with passion.

  “We still shouldn’t do this,” he uttered.

  Lily felt like she wanted to slap him again, but she held it in and opted for compassion.

  “Why? What else is wrong?”

  “Maxime Schoonjans,” Novel began, “is an old and very powerful shade. He’ll be sensitive to shifts of power in this town, and there was some serious power in that kiss. If we keep doing this, we’ll light the theatre up like a belisha beacon, and practically invite him to tear it down.”

  “You’re telling me that I finally figure out what I want, and now I can’t have it?” Lily demanded.

  She felt Novel’s hands tremble at her shoulders as he tore his impassioned gaze away from her face.

  “Just for now,” he said softly. “It does present a very strong incentive to get rid of these hunters though, doesn’t it?”

  If she hadn’t been able to see his stoic face in the mirror, she would have sworn from his tone that he was smiling. She put her hands on top of his, then rubbed them up his arms until he let loose a sharp breath, his whole body shuddering a little.

  “Very strong,” she agreed with a grin.

  The Professor

  Lily-the-shade spent the next few days on a cloud of excitement, but her newfound feelings for Novel were really the last thing that Lily-the-student needed, as she entered the room for her Modern History final exam. Lawrence waved to her from his place at the back of the room, but the ‘Silence Please’ placards were already up, so she could only smile at him and cross her fingers to wish them both good luck. In truth, she hadn’t studied anywhere near as much as she needed to, and luck was something she was desperately praying for as the invigilator brought round the papers.