Master of Shadows

by Lynn Viehl

  Once he felt satisfied, Will went inside the gallery and looked for Robin. He spotted him with the contessa, but saw no sign of Chris Renshaw.

  “That scowl on your face makes me think the woman with the titian locks is your Agent Renshaw,” Salvatora was saying to him. “She was staring at you just before she scurried off to hide.”

  Will was tempted to join them, but decided to watch from a distance. Robin guided his companion away from an eager young girl who had inexplicably dyed her short, spiky hair a glowing shade of pink, and accompanied her to a pedestal case set somewhat apart from the other exhibited artworks.

  He had never seen The Maiden’s Book of Hours, but the ancient manuscript inside the glass case atop the pedestal seemed to match the description Robin had given him. It seemed the thing his master had coveted for so many centuries was finally to be his. The odd thing was, once standing before it, Robin barely spared it a single glance. His gaze, bright with hostility, kept straying toward the closed door to the manager’s office on the other side of the room.

  “Did we come here for the book, or for her?” Will muttered.

  Will moved toward an unoccupied corner, where he stood with his back to the walls and kept watch over his master and the contessa as well as the crowd of mortals surrounding them. Standing guard was, for the most part, boring work, but he usually had no difficulty keeping his mind on his duties. Nor would he have tonight, if not for the call he’d made to Reese from the car.

  He wondered why her voice had sounded so strained. She’d made the excuse of a sore throat, which must have pained her greatly, for when she had first started speaking she’d sounded like a man. But under the hoarseness he’d heard something else—sadness, or perhaps loneliness—exactly as he had before, when they’d met in the club. It made little sense to him, for Reese had always been a happy, energetic woman. It had been the first thing that had drawn him to her.

  No, there was more to it than that. Will rarely got involved with mortal women, but from the first time Reese had come to his master’s city home, she had made her attraction to him quite transparent. Accustomed to females being immediately drawn to his master, Will had felt both startled and flattered by her attention. He didn’t mind standing in Robin of Locksley’s shadow, but it had been quite pleasing to step out of it for once.

  All of that had changed since last night. Something had happened to Reese, perhaps, something that had persuaded her to think differently of him. But Will would swear that she still cared, even more so than in past. He had felt it in her looks. He had heard it in her voice. It had called forth the same response from him.

  He dragged his thoughts back to the present as he saw Robin abandon the contessa and stalk across the room and force his way into the manager’s office. Suppressing a groan, he went after him.

  By the time Will reached the door, Robin had closed it and jammed the knob. Will had no choice but to stand outside and listen.

  “I didn’t notice you coming in,” he heard Chris Renshaw say.

  Robin’s response was quick and vicious. “You are a better liar than that, madam.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Rob. I have to get back to the show.” Her footsteps came toward the door. “Excuse me.”

  “No,” Robin snapped. “I do not excuse you.”

  Will put a hand on the knob. He knew his lord was greatly put out by how Chris Renshaw had used and deceived him, but she was still a mortal. In his anger, Robin might forget that.

  “I know you saw me,” his master continued. “Why did you not come to me?”

  The female’s light footsteps retreated from the door. “All right, I did catch a glimpse of you and your companion when one of the press asked me about you. I didn’t come over because I felt awkward about approaching you.”

  “Awkward.”

  “I didn’t want to say anything that might embarrass you in front of your date.” Chris’s voice paused for a long moment. “I didn’t mean to be rude. Again, I apologize.”

  “You were protecting me. I see.” Heavier footsteps moved across the room. “Tell me, what did you think would embarrass me most? That you might slip up and mention that you used me for sex? Or perhaps that you never told me your full name? Or that you left my bed this morning without bothering to wake me or say farewell?”

  Will winced.

  “I wrote you a note—”

  “Oh, God, yes, how could I forget? The effusive, affectionate, one-line note of thanks.” Like Chris’s, Robin’s voice came from the back of the office now. “I’ve not earned such an unstinting amount of gratitude since the last time I held a door open for an elderly woman using a cane.”

  “Rob.”

  “Robin. That is my name. Say it. Say all of it.”

  “Robin.” Chris’s voice grew so soft Will could barely make out her next words. “Listen. I’ve never done anything like that, and I really didn’t know what to do except leave. I told you, I don’t pick up guys in bars. I don’t have one-night stands.”

  “There, now, that has a ring of truth to it.” His master’s tone changed as well, and became deceptively soft. “But technically speaking, I wasn’t a one-night stand, was I? You didn’t stay the night. By my calculations, love, you owe me two more hours. I’d like to collect.”

  “Excuse me,” the young woman with the pink hair said as she appeared before Will. She eyed the door. “Is there something going on in there?”

  “Nothing to concern us.” Will guided her away from the office and into the short hall beyond it, where he deliberately shed some scent. When her pupils expanded, he said, “Leave the gallery and return to your home. Think no more of this night.” He glanced at her vivid locks. “And please stop putting that color in your hair.”

  “Leave. Forget. Color.” She nodded vaguely and wandered off toward the front entrance.

  Will resumed his listening post in time to hear Chris say, “Someone is going to come looking for me any minute.”

  “Let them try.”

  “Robin.” Garments rustled. “Please stop.”

  His master’s next words came as tentative as the hurt coloring them. “Did it truly mean nothing to you?”

  “Maybe it started out that way,” Chris told him, “but when I woke up and saw you sleeping next to me, and remembered…I didn’t know I would feel like that.” She hesitated before she added, “I didn’t even think about you, not really. I got dressed as fast as I could, and I ran.”

  Will understood her actions then. She hadn’t used Robin and left him. She’d fallen in love with him, and run.

  “You can’t regret being with me,” his master said, sounding appalled. “Not how we were together.” When the woman didn’t answer him, he said, “Chris.”

  “No. No, I don’t.”

  Her voice went too low for Will to hear as she murmured to his master, but he felt a wave of relief. Now that she had explained, surely it would dispel Rob’s anger.

  “If that is true,” Robin said, “why did you run away?”

  “Haven’t you ever done something amazing and dangerous and exciting,” she asked him, “that you later wished you’d never done at all? Because you know it could change everything you have, everything you are?”

  Reese, Will thought, awash in his own regret. If he had let her go two months ago, when he had first sensed that their affair might be coming to its conclusion, she might now be happy. Was that it? Had he held on to her too long?

  “So you ran away because you wanted more.” Robin uttered a bitter laugh. “Yes, actually, I have done that myself. I believe this is where my severely bruised pride takes a tumble.”

  “It’s not you. It’s me. My life. My choices.” Chris sounded better now, more sure of herself. “I am glad you understand. I’ll never forget you, or the night we spent together.”

  The bluntness of her rejection made Will rub his eyes.

  “Before you send me on my way,” Robin told her, “and go back to living you
r life as it was, there is something else I want you to remember.”

  The sounds of their embrace compelled Will to reach for the knob again, until another idea occurred to him. As angry as he was, Robin would not disgrace himself in front of his old friend. Will looked across the gallery for the contessa, but she no longer stood by the book. Frowning, he walked away from the office and turned, searching the crowd for her.

  A painfully loud screech shattered the air, and icy water showered down over Will, drenching him. As the patrons screamed, his head snapped up to see the streams of water spraying from the overhead metal spout in the ceiling. He blocked the spray from his face with his hand and noticed that every other ceiling spout had activated, and then he felt an icy sensation pass over him.

  Across the room, glass shattered.

  Frost bloomed over his sodden garments as the cold sank deep and burned against his flesh. Then he couldn’t feel his hand, and looked up to see it encased in a spray-shaped sheath of ice. At the same time, the streams of water pouring down instantly froze all around him, crackling as they formed thick bars. The same happened around the gallery, until every one of the patrons had been trapped in a frozen cage.

  Only one Kyn had the talent to turn water to ice in a heartbeat—his master’s oldest enemy, Guy of Guisbourne.

  Will wrenched his hand free of the ice block and kicked his way out of the trap, drawing his dagger as he whirled, looking for the hateful visage of the dark lord. He saw no sign of him, but soon found the source of the shattering sound. The pedestal case in which The Maiden’s Book of Hours had been displayed now stood empty, the glass smashed by a powerful hand.

  Will made the rounds of the rooms. When he felt sure the rogue was not inside the gallery, he intercepted Robin and the mortal woman as they hurried out of the office.

  “My lord,” Will said, “’twas done by Kyn.”

  “By one Kyn.” Hatred made Robin’s voice harsh. “This is Guisbourne’s work.”

  “What are you talking about?” Chris looked from Robin to Will and back again. “Who’s Guisbourne?”

  “I did not see his face. He set off the water system somehow, and used talent to freeze the streams.” Will felt like a fool. “Once the mortals and I were trapped, he smashed the case and helped himself to the book.”

  Robin surveyed the room in disgust.

  “Cyprien banished him at the winter tournament.” Will shook his head. “To defy the seigneur’s order of exile would be signing his own death warrant.”

  “He has nothing left to go to, Will,” Robin said. “His seneschal is dead, his Saracens deserted him, and his jardin was burned out. All he has left is his vengeance.”

  Will couldn’t understand it. “Why would he do this instead of challenging you directly?”

  “He knows I would kill him.” Robin moved to the ruined case and put his hand on the empty velvet base inside. “This is more personal than a duel. He could not have her in life, so he would keep from me the only likeness of her that exists.” He drew his hand away and curled it into a fist. “Track him. Now.”

  Will moved around the gallery until he picked up the dark lord’s scent, which led from the case to a side door. Here he had stood watching, Will realized from the heavy odor of aniseed.

  The bastard had actually taken a moment to stop and gloat over his work.

  He went outside, a dagger in his hand, silently praying to find Guisbourne still near. This time he would finish the work the dark lord’s seneschal had begun at the Realm, and deliver his head to his master.

  But the scent trail led him only to a deserted alley between the gallery and a neighboring building, where it abruptly vanished. Will knew only one way Guisbourne could have managed that. Frustrated, he turned his attention to the problem at hand—the mortals caught in the attack. He took a moment to disconnect the landlines at the terminal box outside the gallery before returning inside.

  “Guisbourne’s scent disappeared in the street outside,” he reported to his master. “He must have used a car to escape.”

  “Did you disable the telephone lines?” When Will nodded, Robin’s tight expression eased.

  “Contact the jardin. We will need a dozen men here while we clean up this mess and attend to the humans. Alert our friends at the police department as well.”

  Will turned and found himself enveloped by the fragrance of marigolds, and facing the contessa and four armed guards.

  “I regret to say that your men cannot come to your aid, my lord,” Salvatora Borgiana said with a beguiling smile.

  Robin studied her face. “You were a part of this?”

  “I intended only to take the manuscript from you,” she told him. “Unfortunately, it seems that Nottingham had a better plan than I.”

  Robin’s voice grew cold. “Why do you want the book?”

  “My family bought it from Nottingham when he came to settle in Italy. My father made a gift of it to my younger sister, Beatrice, when she took her vows. ’Twas the only earthly possession she ever treasured, and upon her death it was supposed to come to me.” Some of the smirk left the contessa’s face, and for a moment she looked as enraged as Will felt. “I have waited seven hundred years for this night.”

  That didn’t impress his master. “Obviously, my lady, you will have to wait a little longer. Now, if you will permit me—”

  “I have just sent word to all of my warriors to capture your men and take control of your stronghold,” the contessa said. “I have also secured your mortal female’s partner as another hostage. You will find Nottingham, retrieve the manuscript, and bring it back to me.”

  “You do not command me, madam.” Robin glanced at her men. “If you wish to hunt down my cousin, send your own men after him.”

  “My men have other responsibilities.” Salvatora swept her hand in an elegant motion, and her guards drew their copper swords. “It should be no trouble for you to retrieve the book. But if you need more reason to pursue Nottingham, consider the lives of all the Kyn and humans under your rule. One call from me, and my men will begin executing them, twenty at a time.”

  Reese was still at Rosethorn. Will’s scent sharpened, and his fangs sprang into his mouth.

  His master’s eyes turned to pure copper. “I thought you named me your friend, Salvatora.”

  “A woman can have no friends in this world, my lord. Not if she wishes to survive.” She flipped a hand toward Will. “You may have your seneschal verify that I speak the truth, if you like.”

  Robin gave Will a nod. He walked away a short distance before he took out his mobile phone and called the estate.

  An unfamiliar voice answered the call. “Name yourself.”

  “This is Will Scarlet, seneschal to Suzerain Locksley,” he said. “Your mistress has given me leave to speak to one of my men. Put Sylas on the line.”

  “You will wait.”

  During the interval of silence that followed, Will tried not to think of Reese, captured and helpless, at the mercy of invading Kyn. He knew her training included how to protect herself during such clashes between his kind; she would do as she had been taught. The fact that she was mortal was some measure of protection in itself. The Italians needed human blood to survive, and they wouldn’t be quick to destroy their only sustainable source of it.

  Will’s thoughts darkened. Reese was his woman. Whatever the outcome, whatever devil’s bargain his master struck with the contessa, he would hunt down and gut any Kyn male who had laid a hand on his lover.

  “This is Sylas of Daven,” a harsh voice said.

  “’Tis Will,” he said. “Tell me what you know.”

  “The contessa’s cavalieri attacked us during the welcome gathering,” Sylas said. “We engaged them, but they brought out strange pistols that shoot darts of blue liquid. I do not know what it is, but every Kyn they shot fell senseless and unmoving.”

  Will reined in his temper. “It is a sleeping potion discovered by Lady Alexandra, Cyprien’s sygkenis. It will
not harm them.”

  “The Italians spread through the stronghold from the main hall, and did the same to the interior guards and household staff. Once they secured the house, they sent out detachments to deal with the patrols.”

  Whoever had orchestrated this had known exactly what they were doing. “How many have fallen?”

  “All but me,” Sylas said. “The entire garrison has been imprisoned in the tunnels below. I was kept awake to speak with you.”

  “Do what you can,” Will said. “We will come for you soon.”

  “Aye, seneschal, I shall. Give my love to Rebecca when next you see her.”

  Rebecca of Daven never left Rosethorn. By giving him the message, Sylas was telling him that Rebecca had managed to escape. Will had no doubt that the chatelaine had also taken many or all of her ladies with her. “I shall.”

  Someone snapped something in Italian, and the line went dead.

  Will returned to Robin. “They permitted Sylas to speak to me, my lord. It is as she says. Her men have captured the jardin and are holding all of our people in the underground tunnels.” He looked around for the contessa and her men, but saw they had departed.

  The sound of approaching sirens distracted Robin.

  “The police.” He cursed under his breath in the old tongue, eyeing Chris before he gave Will a meaningful look.

  His master didn’t have to tell him that before they could rescue their Kyn, they would have to first deal with the humans.

  Rebecca inched along the narrow passage. The walls scraped her shoulders and her breasts, but she knew she was close. Behind her, the women she had led into the impossibly narrow gap also made their way through it, each blindly following her.

  At last the wall space widened, becoming a small chamber outside a barred door. Rebecca listened as her ladies crowded in behind her, and then lifted the heavy plank of wood. Carefully she eased the door open and stepped out into darkness, breathing in the air until she felt sure no other occupied the immediate area. She turned back and gestured for the women to come out.