Chasing Shadows

by ERIN BEDFORD

  For magical jizz they sure were hypnotizing, I thought as I leaned down toward them. My hand reached out on its own, and as my fingers brushed the surface, the weird little swirls latched onto me. They pulled the feet out from under me jerking me from the path and into the freezing water.

  Holding my breath, my eyes widened as the glowing things became more like leeches that were trying to drown me. They latched onto any skin they could find and began to pulsate around me. I could feel my magic being drained from me as more and more of them found their way to me.

  I tried to claw at them, but my fingers just slipped through their bodies. My heart pounded in my chest as I began to really panic. Though, I couldn’t touch them, the weight of their bodies made it close to impossible to move, let alone swim to the surface. I fought to move my arms and legs, but my energy was completely zapped, and I was running out of breath. I’d never been a great swimmer, preferring to lounge than to actually exercise. At this point, my lungs were burning from the extended length I had been underwater, and I thought for sure I was going to die.

  Then, by some miracle, the little bugger suddenly ripped away from me. If they’d had mouths I was sure they would have been squealing in fright as they scurried away. My body became lighter, and I struggled to move toward the surface. My eyes were only half open, my will to live and oxygen low, so I couldn’t make out the blurry figure that cast a shadow over where I floated in the water.

  Hands reached down and grabbed me beneath my arms. They pulled me through the water and as I broke the surface, I let out a gasp. That gasp turned into a coughing fit as the water that had managed to find its way into my lungs decided it changed its mind and wanted out of this joint; I didn’t blame it. I was beginning to wish I had never come.

  Taking in the air like it was going out of fashion, I lay on the stone ground, my savior having the opportunity to decide if they wanted to finish the job the little shits had started or not.

  My eyes fluttered open and made contact with a black cloak with no feet. Frowning, I forced myself to become more aware as my eyes trailed up the long cloak and over the broad chest to land on a face so familiar to me. The dark blue eyes on the handsome face shot through me and to the place where I held the little pieces of my previous self.

  Dorian. Wait, no. It wasn’t Dorian. He looked kind of like him but not exactly. Maybe a relative? Whoever he was, he’d saved me, and I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

  “You must be Chess’ lady friend that’s come to save him.” He held a hand out to me, which I readily accepted.

  “That would be me.” I coughed as I came to my feet. “Savior and all that, but you can call me Kat.”

  “Very well, Kat,” he said, his lips twitching at the edges. I knew what he was thinking. My name was Kat and I’m dating a Fae cat. Ironic I know. It wasn’t like I hadn’t thought of that myself but bringing it up just didn’t seem important. Maybe I would just start going by Moderator so people would stop being surprised by it.

  “Your feline friend, I am afraid is otherwise occupied, but you are free to wait for him to finish his task.” The man who I could only assume was the Reaper moved past me and toward the large doors of the building. Opening up the door, he gestured inside, “Please come into my home.”

  Raising a wary brow at him, I questioned, “How do I know you aren’t just going to hold me prisoner like you are doing Chess? I’m supposed to be saving him from you, not becoming buddies.”

  The Reaper laughed, he threw his head back, making his dark hair cascade down his back. “I can see why the feline is so taken with you as well as my son.”

  “Your son?” That had me moving. I had been right, he was related to Dorian. But I would never in all my years have guessed that he was his father. Dorian’s dad was the Reaper, who’d have figured. Actually, take that back. With as creepy as his mother was and brooding as Dorian could be, I could totally see those two getting together and making a Fae prince baby.

  Not answering my question, he entered the building assuming I would follow. I didn’t disappoint and hurried in after him.

  Inside, was no different than what I expected a Greek palace to look like. Large columns and high ceilings, it would put my mother’s palace to shame.

  I didn’t pay much attention to the decor as we came upon the top of the room where a large slab of rock sat. On that rock lay Dorian’s body wrapped in blue energy and standing next to him was…

  “Chess!” I ran across the room and stood by his side. When he didn’t turn immediately at my call I knew something was up. Placing a hand on his shoulder, I dipped around to look at his face.

  His eyes were closed and his face scrunched down in concentration. One hand was lying on Dorian’s chest, and the magic surrounding Dorian’s body was wrapped around his hand. Dorian’s veins were filled with black and pulsated under his skin.

  “What’s wrong with them?” I asked the Reaper as he came up beside me. I didn’t drop my hand from Chess’ shoulder, just the contact with him made me feel better. I could feel the hole in my heart start to close, and my body felt lighter as if a huge weight had lifted.

  “The Shadows are still in my son and your beau is helping me to get them out. Once he has then he will be free to leave this place.”

  I frowned hard at the Reaper’s explanation. “But what if he can’t get them out?”

  He shook his head, a deep sadness in his expression. “Then they will be both stuck in his mind forever, to forcefully remove him would kill not just my son but possibly him as well. Then it would have been all for naught.”

  I looked back to Chess and Dorian, a fist clenched around my heart. I had just found them again and now I was at risk of losing them both. I couldn’t let it happen. I wouldn’t.

  I turned to the Reaper with determination on my face. “What can I do?”

  He gave me a grim smile. “Exactly what you are. Give him your support. Just being at his side will make him more powerful, and hopefully that will be enough to get them both out alive.”

  Hopefully? I didn’t like the sound of that, not one bit.

  Chapter 18

  Chess

  THE ROOM LOOKED as if once upon a time it could have been someone’s bedroom. Now, though, it was covered in darkness, the furniture in the room barely visible through the billowing energy coming from one side of the room. Just standing in the doorway made my skin crawl.

  “So, what’s the plan?” I peeked over at Dorian, who stood by my side, his rigid frame telling me he was feeling exactly what I was feeling if not more so. He’d had this thing inside of him for so long it probably affected him worse than me.

  “Plan?” he gave me a quick look before his eyes trained back on the slithering form before us. “What plan? You are supposed to save me, remember? What do you think we should do?”

  I was hoping he wouldn’t say that. Sure, I had jumped in feet first knowing that the likelihood of me coming out was slim, but I hadn’t thought of what to do once we got in here. How the heck were we supposed to expel that massive thing from his body?

  My eyes searched the room, my brain scrambling for some sort of idea. I don’t know what happened but the next thing I knew I was thrown off balance, a sharp pain in my heart. Kneeling on the ground, I clutched my hand to my chest and hissed.

  “Cheshire?” the prince looked down on me. “Are you all right? What was that?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. There was this pain right here.” I patted my chest and winced.

  “Could your body be being tampered with?”

  “I don’t think so, the Reaper was standing guard. I doubt anyone would try to mess with us with him there.” I thought for a moment, accessing the pain in my chest, and then realized what it was. The hole. The hole was closing up. It had been open so long that the force of it closing had brought me physical pain, and if it was closing that could only mean one thing.

  “Kat!” I c
ried out, jumping to my feet. “She’s here. She’s beside us. I can…I can feel her.” I placed a hand on my shoulder where a weight had appeared.

  “Good, then she can watch us both die if we don’t figure out what to do about this,” he said bitterly waving a hand in front of him, “Why not ask her if she has any ideas?”

  I gave him a pointed look. “It doesn’t work that way. We are connected, yes, but I’m not in my mind right now, it wouldn’t be possible to contact her. But now that she is here, my magic is complete again.” A slow smirk climbed up my face, and I stretched my arms over my head, a renewed strength plowing through me, filling my veins with power. “And that means these guys don’t have a chance.”

  “Powerful or not, we are not going to get far if we do not have a plan,” the prince pointed out with a raised brow.

  Unfortunately, he was right. Fattened with power, I was being cocky, and that could get me killed if I approached this the wrong way. My eyes scanned the room once more. They landed on the corner of the room where the darkness was the thickest.

  Squinting my eyes, I could barely make out an object on the wall. It was a mirror! That must be where they were latching on to Dorian.

  “Do you see that over there?” I tried to discreetly point to the corner of the room. “Do you think if we destroy it then they wouldn’t be able to hold on to you anymore?”

  Before the prince could answer me, the malevolent energy in the room started to coil and churn. Screaming voices came from the cloud. They were too jumbled up to make out clearly. The wind from their screams blew at us forcing us back from the doorway and into the hall. The moment we were in the clear, the door slammed shut in front of us.

  “I guess that answers that question.” I dusted myself off as I picked myself up off the floor. Dorian climbed to his feet as well, standing beside me with intensity in his eyes that I hoped would never be directed at me.

  “They are just playing with us,” he snarled at the door, “they knew we were here the whole time and were just laughing as we quivered in our boots. Now, though,” he pushed his sleeves back with a nasty grin, “We know how to defeat them.”

  “Yeah, but they shoved us out. How are we going to get to the mirror to destroy it?” I stared hard at the door envisioning where the mirror was on the other side. There had to be some way to get to it without getting blasted back out again.

  “You leave that to me,” Dorian said with a confidence I didn’t have. “I will be the diversion while you get to the mirror.”

  “Right.” I pumped my fists and then gave him a curious look. “What exactly are you going to do?”

  “Something very prince-like.” His lips broadened into an all-out grin and then he started for the door. Ignoring the handle, Dorian lifted a foot and kicked the door. It went flying across the room and smashed on the opposite wall.

  “Whoa!” I exclaimed at his strength. “If you could do that why didn’t you do it before?”

  He shrugged and said, “I just now realized we are inside my head, so that means I can do whatever I want. Thus, kicking down the door.” He gestured to where it lay in pieces on the floor. “Let’s see them keep us out now.”

  We stepped back into the room, and the Shadows went berserk. They tried to blow us out again, but we were ready for them this time. Holding our ground, we forced our way in, the shrieking of the lost souls ringing in our ears.

  “It’s all you, princey.” I gestured forward.

  Dorian frowned at me, probably not liking my nickname for him, before he took a step forward, he held up a finger. “Excuse me.”

  The Shadows stopped whipping around the room, their screeches becoming a dull roar. It was interesting that just his voice would command such attention. Probably had something to do with him being the Reaper’s son.

  Shrugging at the thought, I watched as he came right up to where the Shadows had conformed together near the bed. The form they made was almost that of a man but without a mouth or eyes to see out of. Dorian didn’t seem to let this bother him, because he started talking to it.

  “Are you aware that you are trespassing in my head?”

  The Shadows laughed, the sound of it ground on my nerves and burned my ears. “We were invited, you cannot send us away now.”

  “Apparently, you do not know when you are not wanted.” He shook a finger at the figure, the absurdity of the act making me smile. “Now, I command you to leave my head at once.” The haughtiness in his tone left no room for argument, if only the Shadows felt that way.

  The Shadows did not take kindly to being commanded, and they reached out for the prince. While the Shadows were busy with Dorian, I made my way over to the mirror. When I stepped into the darkness chills covered my skin, and I had to force myself to walk forward even though everything in me was screaming to turn back.

  Just short of crawling, I finally made it to the mirror. Staring into it was a bit strange. The reflection looking back at me wasn’t myself. It looked like me but was more of a shadow replica. My eyes glowed and a dark aura surrounded my body, I had to look down at myself to make sure it was actually in the mirror and not what was really happening. Thankfully, it was just my reflection that looked that way. The Shadows were trying to throw me off.

  I glanced around for something to break the glass with and found a statue of the queen’s head lying on the floor. Reaching down slowly, as to not spook the man in the reflection, I wasn’t surprised to see that he did not move with me. I picked the statue up, its heavy weight filling my hands.

  Before I could smash it against the glass, though, the man in the mirror spoke, “You do not want to do that, Cheshire.” His voice sounded like mine but with an echoing affect that dashed any illusion of him being me.

  “Oh, I assure, I do.” I held the statue up ready to slam it against the glass but was once more stopped by the voice.

  “They are lying to you,” the voice of my shadow self said, “they wish you to destroy us because they know we are right. We are Fae and should walk the human world as gods, not cower in fear to their rules and armies.”

  My arms let the statue drop slightly, and I leaned toward the mirror as I said, “It is that kind of attitude that had me beaten and parentless before I reached puberty. That high and mighty thinking will only get you killed. I won’t let what was done to me be done to anyone else.”

  “But we could help you,” he implored, “We could make you a king. Then all those who cast you aside would bow down at your feet. Can’t you just imagine it?”

  I actually could. When I was younger I had dreamed that very same dream over and over again, hoping one day for it to come true. That was back before I met Kat. Now, I realized that the only way I was going to get what I wanted, and have people look at me the way I wanted them to, was to make it happen myself. I couldn’t control what they thought about me, but I could control how I reacted to them. I wasn’t going to be any body’s puppet, not anymore.

  “Hurry up already, would you?” Dorian’s voice cut into my thoughts, and I chanced a glance over to where he was beating off the shadows that were trying to grab him. Looks like the gig was up.

  “You can’t help me,” I said to my reflection, “Only I can help myself, and you? You’re done.” I smashed the statue against the mirror, and at first, nothing happened. Then a crack started where I had hit it. Just a tiny one, and then that small crack splintered out into more, until the entire mirror was covered with them.

  Before he became completely erased the shadow image of myself smiled. “You will regret this, cat. We will make you wish you had taken our bargain.”

  “Not in this lifetime.” As the words fell from my mouth there was an explosion that threw me across the room. The glass shattered, and the piercing screams were back. I clutched my head but it didn’t help. They were inside my mind, and I couldn’t make them stop. Before long it was too much for me to handle, and everything went black.

  The darkne
ss didn’t last long, because I was shoved quite forcefully back into my body. My eyes snapped open and I found myself staring up at the face of the one person I had been craving to see. Kat.

  “Hey, you. It’s nice to have you back.” She smiled down at me and then her face changed. She frowned hard, and her eyes glinted with anger. Grabbing me by the shoulders, she shook me with all her might. “Don’t you ever do anything like that again! Do you hear me? I thought I lost you!”

  She threw me down to the ground and then pulled me up again and into her arms. My eyes wobbled in my head from her treatment. I could only let her hug me. Then when my brain finally settled, I wrapped my arms around her, tucking my face into her neck, just to breathe her in. She smelled like home, and I was never leaving her again

  Chapter 19

  Kat

  I COULDN’T BELIEVE I finally had him back. It felt like forever since I had been in his arms, and now that I was finally here, I couldn’t imagine ever letting go.

  Chess didn’t seem to have any inclination to release me either, and we would have probably stayed like that forever, just holding each other had a throat not cleared near us.

  “While, this is all very touching,” the Reaper’s voice cut into the air, causing Chess and I to pull back from each other but not let go. “We have a bigger problem at hand.”

  “What’s that?” I asked from my spot on the floor where Chess had collapsed.

  “While we were able to dispel the Shadows from my body we weren’t able to destroy them completely.” Dorian stepped over to us. The blue energy no longer covered him and his veins had gone back to normal. I had to say I was relieved to see him like his old self again. I couldn’t deal with an evil Dorian much longer.