“Don’t be a wimp,” she whispered to herself. Her clock was ticking anyway and she had to speak with the shade.
When she twisted the knob, she gained the necessary courage to go down. She sealed the door and utilized the light of her cellphone to guide her. She reached the floor, felt her toes brush dirt, and stopped. The temperature dropped at least half a dozen degrees on the bottom, unventilated level, and the smell of smoke and rot had grown worse. Using her cell phone, she lit up the ceiling and the shade sitting before her. Despite how many times she’d seen shades in the past, it was always startling to be this close. His skin glowed in contrast to his massively dilated pupils and very dark eyes. He watched her expectantly.
“Hurry up and tell me why you brought me here. I’m not letting you out, so before you ask, no,” she spat.
He hummed loudly.
“You can’t be in a rush now, after how long I’ve called to you,” he said.
Dust sprinkled on her from the ceiling and Adelaide’s head shot up. It could have been caused by footsteps or just the foundation trying to settle.
“They’re not close to here. You see, I can feel all of them all the time. Their auras. Their magic and energy. But it’s weird that I cannot ever seem to feel you,” he said.
She dropped her gaze from the ceiling to watch him and the massive grin that spread over his thin lips. Older shades, she’d found, tend to become more surreal looking with time. They slowly lost all their natural resemblance of being a mage. She could tell immediately that this shade was older, but how powerful and important, she wasn’t sure.
“Yea, it’s just a neat little trick I have. You said you know what I’m doing here…”
She studied his face as she said it, looking for some clue amongst the shadows. This shade, like most, failed to animate very much. But at least it clarified that he knew her secret, though his words hardly made her feel better.
“I do. I know the Hawthorns sent you, I knew it when I saw you with him, when I saw you with that vial,” he finally confirmed.
Her hand rose quickly and snatched the egg shaped pendant hanging around her neck. She should have known it might have been a giveaway, but the pendent wasn’t unique. It looked like something from the dollar store with an extra shine. She held it until it grew hot in her hand and finally stuffed it beneath her shirt.
“Yes. You know who I am. So what? This better be good or I should kill you here and now.”
“Try and I’ll go screaming and crying so loudly that the mages will be here in a moment’s notice. And then how would you explain it? Face it, you’re the one in the corner—not me. Despite what it looks like now,” he called her bluff easily and laughed as he tugged on his own bindings.
She backed up. He was right, but she refused to believe it. She eyed the shade’s bindings every time the wood of its chair creaked. Days had taken its toll on his body combined with whatever Leon had done, but that didn’t make her feel better. Her presence was making him more animated and his excitement unnerved her by the second. His brilliant smile grew brighter.
“Besides, that vial they gave you won’t kill Leon Colton or me,” he added next.
She snorted.
“Then you don’t know what’s in it.”
“You think its poison. You think it’s an easy way to kill Leon Colton, a subtle way that even he won’t notice. That’s why you’re here—to kill Leon Colton,” he said.
This time she stopped. Her nerves crawled and she curled her arms around her body. The shade still wore the same poker face with that stupid smile. She lowered her voice.
“They sent me here for one purpose and that is something they wouldn’t screw up. I’m sure this liquid vial will do the job,” she said.
“Now whom are you trying to convince?” he asked.
All of the courage that she’d gathered to come down here was rapidly fleeting. Only a tinge of rising anger kept her grounded.
“Who are you?” she snapped. Tony had said that the shade had no information. But he knew about the Hawthorns, her offer, and the pendant she wore. He surely had a coven mark on the back of his neck and she made the slow rotation to see it. The shade laughed loudly and made her pause.
“I’m no one relevant to you as of right now. Or even to Leon Colton,” he said.
She started her walk again. Behind him, she maneuvered the phone and shined the light on his neck. The coven mark was an ugly red as if the skin was permanently cut open. She couldn’t recognize the triangular like shape. She didn’t recognize the coven.
“Then why did Leon pick you up?”
“I was spying on the Hawthorns and Leon was out looking for the Hawthorns. Unlike them, though, I couldn’t get away in time.”
“So you’re the Hawthorns’ enemy. Which means you must not like me very much?”
Shade covens fought all the time over territory and mages they considered property. It wasn’t unusual for them to wage war with a coven as large as the Hawthorns’.
“Well, I have to hate you a bit. Anything that advances the Hawthorns’ interest is not good for me. But isn’t it funny that Leon brought me here for answers and you likely know more than I do about them?”
She doubted that but refused to argue about it. Her eyes escaped him and went to the door. Their conversation drew on a little too long and with every tick of the clock, meant someone was more likely to discover them.
“Okay. What do you want? Why did you call me down here?” she asked quickly.
“You need to let me out.”
She scoffed.
“Not a chance.”
She circled the room again until her hand met the stairs’ banister. She itched to return upstairs, up to the realm of the normal or living. The shade interrupted her before she could.
“You have to let me out. If they come to kill me then I will tell them everything about you!”
She twitched.
“You just said that you would do anything in your power to stop the Hawthorns from advancing. How do I know you won’t screw everything up here anyway? How do I know that you won’t go after me or Leon?”
“You have no other option!” he snarled. His composure lost, his teeth came out and skin crackled like broken glass. Yanking against the restraints, he attempted and failed to free himself.
“I can’t let you out. They would know I let you out,” she said slowly. If the shade could have gotten free on his own, he would be gone. It would be an easy deduction to who helped him escape now. She could blame a lot of behaviors on her guise of being a stupid human but that was not one of them.
She felt sick to the stomach now while watching him tug and hiss.
“I cannot die here. Who are you more afraid of? These mages, or me? These mages will not kill everyone you know. I will.”
The realization crept up on her slowly and she forgot how long she stood down there with the shade. While it sank in, she walked for the stairs again.
“You’ve made your case,” she whispered to the shade. “I am most afraid of the Hawthorns. If I complete this mission they will protect me. If I complete this mission, I’m sure they will help protect my family too. They will.”
Adelaide climbed the stairs and shut the basement door behind her. The shade stayed silent after she left down the hall. Seeing Adam’s door, she experienced a moment of fear. Her feet led her there and she slipped inside. Still as she’d left him, he never stirred from his sleep. She crept to the side of the bed before sitting on the edge. This made his eyes flutter open.
“Adelaide, are you okay?”
“Yea. Just more nightmares.”
With each passing second, he woke up more. Maneuvering in one sweeping motion, he threw the top sheet back and held out his hands. She slid into his arms, tucking close when he wrapped them around her. It was warm here, verging on being hot, but she didn’t mind.
“Stay. Sleep,” Adam moaned, nearly incoherently.
“I can’t sleep,” she admitted. When h
e didn’t answer, she was certain she’d lost him, but he twitched. A long yawn and his eyes flickered open again.
“Then I’ll stay awake with you,” he said softly.
She watched him shamelessly. Just when she thought he’d budge, she shifted to gently pin his arms.
“I just wanted to thank you for being so nice to me while I was here, and for everything. I don’t deserve it,” she said. Her voice threatened to break and she swallowed the lump building in her throat.
He yawned. He shook off some sleep and looked stone faced, studying her.
“Don’t say that,” he answered.
“I feel bad for you. I feel bad for wasting your time. I feel bad for leaving and being another girl who ran away.”
She saw some recognition flash over his face, but he stayed calm.
“I don’t blame you. I knew you couldn’t stick around forever. You didn’t waste my time because I enjoyed spending it with you…” he whispered quietly enough that she barely heard the disappointment in his voice.
“If it was any other time, any place, any circumstances, I wish I knew you.” She sniffled. That actually hurt. She wouldn’t be staying, but Adam didn’t know the half of it. The sensation of pain growing overwhelming, she moved away, but Adam’s hand just pulled her back.
“Hey, what is that they always say? It’s better to have loved and lost. I’m trying to live by that now,” he said.
Taking his hand, she pressed it to her heart wondering if he could feel it too. Then the impulse came. She leaned forward and kissed him. The familiar sensation rapidly took her out of the moment and away from all of the terrible things waiting to happen. She switched places with him and lay on the bed. They kissed quickly, greedily, like they always had, but Adelaide wanted more of him. Arms slipping around his back, she tugged him closer until his chest pressed against hers. Adam reacted by shifting his attention to her neck.
She moved and separated his knees until their legs intertwined. He kissed and nibbled at her neck with more enthusiasm. She groaned to encourage him on—the coven overhearing be damned. Adam growled back and pressed harder until she gasped again. Her hands grazed the waistline of his pants and he lifted his weight from her suddenly. Their gaze met for a long moment. Adam’s chest heaved with his quick breath but still gave her a bit of space. He gave her a minute to think and that made her smile.
Adelaide pulled him down closer and raised her knee to press between his legs. Her gesture quashed whatever restraint lingered in Adam and he then met her lips hard. Moving quickly, his attention turned to her ear, her chin, and then her neck while his hand sought under the hem of her shirt. He broke away long enough to pull it over her head with her eager assistance. The cool air prickled across her skin before his warm hands replaced it. She moaned again. It encouraged him to shift his attention down to her hips. His fingers latched on her waistband and tugged.
Once her pants were off, it sped up in seconds. She needed to feel every bit of him and she found him happy to comply. In the next second, he’d lost his own clothing.
When their hips rocked together, they found an easy rhythm. The world faded around her. All that is and ever was right then was the feeling of Adam with her. His scent was all she could breathe and his hot touch all over her body, all she would feel.
Like every moment, it ended too soon. A thin layer of sweat provided her some cool in the hot room. When she opened her eyes to watch the ceiling and catch her breath, it officially passed. Adam collapsed beside her with a deep noise of satisfaction into his pillow. While Adam closed his eyes, falling back into a stupor or sleep, she stayed awake. Staring at him now, she watched his bare body bathed in the moonlight. The ugly purple on his abdomen drew her attention. It didn’t seem to hurt him during the act, but his mind must have been on other things. Leon had hurt him on a good day and a lucid interval. She refused to imagine a bad day. And the day Adam would inevitably stick himself between Leon and someone else and be killed because of it.
The guilt lingered in the aftermath of happiness, but lessened. She’d be selfish for Adam. Whether he knew what he wanted or needed. Or not.
Twenty-one
When she’d first arrived, the floor plan of the massive house seemed complex and confusing. Now she navigated it with ease. Walking through the first floor, she looked it over one last time while listening to the natural sounds of the Coltons’ home. From her time here, Adelaide learned the coven members’ daily habits. At nine a.m., Priya and Tony would be sleeping upstairs. Preeti would be in the shower, using up all of the hot water. Angie would be out on rounds outside of the house. Adam was the only wild card, but Adelaide left him asleep in his room this morning.
Stopping at the kitchen, she picked up the two ceramic mugs from the counter and spied Angie out of the window. The redhead’s job was to stay aware of any incoming shades but the woman settled on the porch, basking in the sun. More shades might have come after sniffing out Leon’s aura, but Angie obviously thought they were not close enough to be a threat.
Maneuvering carefully with the hot cups, Adelaide walked up the stairs slowly. The water whistled through the pipes on the second floor. Priya and Tony’s room was silent and dark.
Every member of the coven was accounted for minus one. And she knew where to find him. By the time Adelaide reached the third floor, she felt his aura. The entire third floor felt like it was pressurized all of the time now and it slowed her pace.
He heard her before she even reached the door.
“Hello?” Leon called out.
Adelaide knew she couldn’t run away now. His door was halfway open so she nudged it with her foot. It creaked on its hinges as it opened. Leon’s eyes lit up with recognition at her appearance. He was sitting on the banister of the bed. A sweeping glance of his room revealed that he was alone among his piles of books and dirty clothes.
“Hi,” she said.
“I forgot we have a human here. It’s always weird not feeling an aura. You’re like a ghost,” he laughed.
His smile made her feel safe enough to walk inside but she watched him carefully as she did. He sat cross-legged in sweatpants and no shirt. His hair was erratic from sleeping recently but his facial scruff was well maintained. Face still gaunt though, he always looked like he was only steps away from collapse.
“I brought you some tea. I figured you could use something in your stomach,” she said quietly.
His gaze locked on the cup she held out to him and hesitated before he accepted it. He placed it on the bedside dresser without taking a sip. Adelaide’s heartbeat sped up but she managed to keep her face placid.
“Thank you. You’re very thoughtful. Sit awhile. I wasn’t finding anything in these books anyway.”
She took a second look at the musty covers of the book stacks around him, but she didn’t recognize the titles.
“What are you reading?”
He shrugged.
“I’m just looking for answers again, but I can’t find another reported case anywhere of someone like me.”
Adelaide perched in a chair closest to the door and farthest from Leon.
“That just means you’re unique,” she said half-heartedly.
Her fingers itched to grab her pendant but it was no longer around her neck, so she clasped her hands around her cup instead. The tea smelled strongly of honey and prompted her to take a small sip. Leon never mimicked her movements. His steaming cup sat ignored and grew colder by the second.
“Unique isn’t good if you need answers to get better. I’m sick of being sick,” Leon said. He tossed the book aside and it crashed into the stack. Then he scooted forward to the edge of the bed. “I’m surprised you came back to talk to me. I was afraid I scared you away last time,” he said.
She worked to sound sincere so she spoke honestly.
“I’m terrified of you because I never know what to expect. The guy I could commiserate with over Adam or the one that nearly killed his brother.”
L
eon’s face paled significantly.
“Is Adam okay?”
Adelaide knew at that moment this was dangerous territory to venture into, but she needed to bet her chips that Leon wouldn’t flip out.
“He says he’s fine,” Adelaide said quickly.
Leon shook his head erratically.
“Adam always says that. Adam hasn’t been ‘fine’ in forever. He’s always taking on other people’s problems too, trying to protect them. I wish he would let me deal with this on my own sometimes,” Leon said.
She laughed dryly.
“Hey, that’s another thing we agree on.”
Leon’s face softened.
“Well, at least he has you.”
Adelaide’s chest suddenly felt constricted. The unusual onset of pain left her eyes watering. She mentally coached herself onward. It hurt, she realized though. Sitting here with Leon now actually hurt. Leon suddenly leaned back and picked up his mug from the table. She forced herself to watch his face and not his hands, but she saw that Leon’s grip on the cup was idle.
“So how are you doing?” she asked.
This conversation was dragging out longer than she expected and she felt the minutes tick by slowly. The other members of the coven couldn’t sleep forever. She listened for the sounds of the house again, but found it perfectly silent in Leon’s room.
“I’m okay now, I promise. Let’s talk about something else. What is your life like in the city, Adelaide? I miss being there so much.”
“What do you miss about the traffic and taxes?” she asked but didn’t manage a smile to follow up the joke. The pain in her chest was rapidly becoming unbearable. She eyed the door and wondered if she could still double back. The thoughts grew so tempting and the inner battle raged while Leon rambled on unsuspecting.
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