The Company of Shadows (The Company #1)

by Olsen, Lisa

  “Until now.” She reached for his hand and he threaded his fingers through hers.

  “Until now.”

  * * *

  Cady tried to remember Ethan’s point about not forming any attachments to stuff when they locked up the car down the street from the destination he had in mind. It wasn’t her car. Still, she couldn’t help but think they’d be lucky to find it drivable in the sketchy neighborhood. Her own apartment was considered to be in the safer part of the Tenderloin, or the TenderNob, but the street he’d led her to was in the heart of the poorest section of the district. Decaying tenement buildings lined the streets and decrepit single room occupancy hotels offered cheap accommodations as long as you didn’t mind no kitchen or sharing a filthy bathroom.

  Ethan didn’t stop at any of the SRO’s though, to her relief. Instead he led them into a side door next to Donut Planet, where a narrow staircase took them to a series of tiny apartments over the dilapidated shop. The gray paint on the walls was peeling and the stairs were scuffed and worn, but it was reasonably clean and didn’t have the stench of years of urine seeping into the linoleum. Someone was trying, at least, to make the best of what they had to work with.

  Leading her up to the top floor, Cady suppressed a groan at all the stairs, and from the speed at which Ethan shambled up beside her, she guessed it was rougher on him than he let on. Finally, he stopped in front of apartment 6-A, fumbling with the keys until he found the right one.

  The small studio apartment was sparsely furnished, a double bed tucked into one corner, a worn loveseat in front of an old fashioned TV with the dials. There was one strip of counter designated as kitchen space with a coffee pot next to a tiny sink, a short stack of dishes sat on an open shelf above it. A mini fridge hummed in the corner.

  “Who lives here?” Cady asked, grateful to find a private bathroom on the other side of a door in the back.

  “No one. It’s a safe house.” Instead of sitting like she thought he would, he set the duffle bag on the edge of the bed, rooting around until he came up with the flat plastic box.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Giving us some extra protection.”

  “I thought you said this place is safe.”

  “It will be when I’m done with it.” Ethan drew a series of symbols on all four walls with charcoal, lips moving as he worked, though she couldn’t quite catch the words. “There, that should keep his ass out,” he said with self-assurance when he was finished.

  A week ago she would have laughed at him for placing all of his confidence in a bunch of marks on the wall, but now Cady felt safer just looking at the black symbols. She’d seen first hand how impenetrable they could be. She could also see how worn out Ethan was as he inspected his handiwork, wavering slightly on his feet.

  “Hey, you’d better sit down before you fall down.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Park it,” she ordered, brows knit together until he sank onto the edge of the bed obediently. “Can I get you anything? I don’t suppose you have any food in this place.”

  “No, thank you,” he answered automatically before rethinking the question. “Actually, there should be some tea in the cupboard if you don’t mind.”

  “Is it the same tea you have at home?”

  “Yes.” His voice sounded far away and when Cady glanced back, she saw his eyes were closed, though he hadn’t made any move to lie down. There was a metal canister of loose tea leaves in the cupboard with a tea strainer next to it. With no microwave or hot plate in the place, she set the tea to brewing in the small coffee pot, guessing at how long to let it steep before she poured him some in one of the two brown mugs she found.

  “It’s hot, be careful,” she warned, holding the edges carefully to offer him the handle. Ethan’s eyes slid open and he murmured his thanks, gulping the tea down despite the scalding heat.

  “Is there any more?”

  “You bet, hold on a sec.” This time Cady added a little tap water to keep him from burning his insides in the process. By the time she got the third cup into him, he looked less worn around the edges, his blue eyes clear and alert.

  “Thank you,” he said with a warm smile.

  “I’m glad you’re feeling better. What’s in this stuff?” she sniffed at the coffee pot before she rinsed it out in the sink.

  “The tea has healing properties that work particularly well with my body chemistry. You shouldn’t drink it though, it’ll make you sick.”

  “No chance of that, the stuff is nasty.” There was a short stub of a sponge and the dregs of dishwashing soap that made the brief clean up easier. Cady found the chore soothing, the hot water washing away the remains of the tension she carried in her body.

  Strong arms wrapped around her as Ethan pressed her hands between his under the stream of water. “Are you really alright?” he asked at her ear.

  “Yes, I think so,” she replied, relaxing against his chest until she realized that he held her tightly, almost desperately. She couldn’t see his face, but his lips brushed over her temple, a shaky breath leaving his body. “What about you? Are you alright?”

  “When I saw him there with you… I didn’t… I didn’t know what to do.”

  “Really? Kudos to you then, you came off like you had a plan.”

  “I’m serious. I’ve faced plenty of demons before, I always know what to do.”

  “It happens to the best of us.”

  “Not to me.”

  “He didn’t hurt me,” she reminded him gently, turning off the water before returning her hands to his. “The next time we come up against him, you do what you have to in order to stop him. Don’t worry about me.”

  “I did though. I didn’t like it.”

  “Having to worry about me?” Cady turned around so she could face him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I never would have guessed it from the way you talked back there. Would you really have killed me before you let him have me?”

  “I don’t know.” He hung his head. “Any other girl I’d say yes, in a heartbeat, because it’s a kinder end. But you… I’m not sure I could be the one to make the light go out of your eyes.”

  “Hey, it’s a good thing to have those kinds of doubts. It makes you a human being,” she soothed, tilting his jaw until he looked at her again. “For the record, I’m glad you have reservations about killing me to keep me safe, but your first instinct is the right one. I’d rather be dead than his plaything. Let’s be clear about that.”

  Ethan nodded, a grim cast to his jaw. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  “You and me both,” Cady sighed, relaxing against his chest. “So, what happens now?”

  “For now we rest,” he groaned, leading her to the bed. “Then I have to check in, regroup, figure something out. I don’t know, I can’t think straight anymore.” Ethan lay back on the bedspread, shoes and all.

  “I don’t know how you can think about sleeping yet, I’m still jumpy.” Cady pulled off his shoes and then her own, setting them on the floor beside the bed.

  “I broke my leg on the way down. Healing damage like that always takes it out of me.”

  Cady stared at him, her jaw slack. He said it so nonchalantly, his eyes already closed. “I thought you said it was fine.”

  “And it is. I’m fine now, I just need to rest. You can watch some TV if you’re not tired.”

  She knew better than to argue with him about it; he seemed to know what his body was capable of, no matter how ridiculous it sounded to her. “No, I’d better get some rest too, it’s late.” Climbing beside him, she snapped on the ancient air conditioner above the bed, wiggling her fingers in front of the vent until she felt a trickle of colder air. With a last look around the room, she turned off the light. Ethan didn’t stir when she lay down next to him, and he didn’t object when she scooted closer either.

  “I’m supposed to work tomorrow,” she ventured, not sure if he would hear her. “Do you think he’ll try to come after
me there?”

  “Nope. You’re not going back there.”

  “But…”

  “Not until this thing is over.” His tone brooked no argument. “I don’t want you going near that place.”

  “I’ll lose my job.”

  “I’ll get you another one.”

  “Just like that?”

  “Just like that,” Ethan repeated, jaw cracking as he yawned. “I didn’t like you working there anyway.”

  “Uh oh, you are the jealous type, aren’t you?” she smiled and he chuckled in response.

  “Maybe I am, it’s been a while.”

  “How long has it been since you last had a girlfriend?” Cady propped her head up to see his face.

  “A long time.”

  “How long?” she pressed, and Ethan let out a stretched breath.

  “Embarrassingly long. Let’s get some rest.”

  Cady let it go, laying her head down on the pillow, but sleep didn’t come. “I am your girlfriend now though, right?” she asked after a few minutes of silence. “That wasn’t just an act to flush the demon out.”

  “Yeah, you’re my girl now.” His fingers sought hers in the darkness. “Come what may.”

  “Come what may? Way to ruin the moment,” she chastised, but Cady didn’t pull her hand away.

  “I’d try and salvage it if I wasn’t so damn tired.” His voice sounded far away again, like he was already starting to drift and she felt bad for keeping him awake.

  “You get some sleep, we can pick this up later. I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me now.”

  “Like the sound of that,” he murmured.

  “Me too.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Rage.

  Driving, blinding, rage consumed him, all the more frustrating as he spent it uselessly. Asherik lashed out without thought for consequences. No longer content with the company of shadows, he struck again and again in full view of any who happened by. A shock of blonde hair or a flash of blue eyes was all it took to trigger his wrath. To any that reminded him of the reaper who’d stolen all from him, he meted out the punishment deserved.

  Death.

  But neither the snap of bones nor the last gurgling screams touched the core of sadness that gripped his heart.

  He’d lost her.

  Had her in his grasp and then lost her.

  “Love me,” he commanded the next pretty face who hurried past, gratified to see her eyes widen in bliss as his sway took hold. Ignoring the blood staining his hands and clothes, and the seedy pallor of his current form, the woman pressed herself against him, warm and willing. This was what it was supposed to be, he thought, as he drank deeply of what she offered.

  Why couldn’t she love him?

  Ash let the woman lead him to her sad little hovel, delighting in the sag of the decrepit mattress as she all but threw him back against the bed in her eagerness. Losing himself in the softness of skin and tangle of hair, he fancied they were her hands tearing at his clothes. It was long red hair wrapped around his fist instead of black, and soft brown eyes that stared up at him, filled with love, not vacant blue ones.

  “Jesus, honey, don’t make me beg,” the woman whined, her voice high and nasal. The spell broken, Asherik looked down to see not the lush mouth of his lady love, but a gap toothed, come hither smile. All at once she seemed repellent to him, old and broken. Like the last time, he found he couldn’t perform.

  “What’s the matter, baby?” Her hands groped against unwilling flesh. “Can’t get it up? I can fix that.”

  “Get off,” he shoved her against the wall.

  “I’m trying to,” she giggled. “Let me show you what I can do.”

  “I said get off.” There was a crack as her head hit the wall and Ash knew he’d broken her. Why should he care when he was broken himself? What had she reduced him to when he couldn’t be a man anymore?

  Even the solace of dreams held no allure. The reaper wouldn’t leave her unattended again; Ash couldn’t hope to find her through dreams any longer. There were magics known to him, powerful spells, but nothing he tried brought him any closer to finding her. His enemy had to be shielding her from him somehow. But the reaper would slip up. He would fail and Asherik would be ready.

  An idea came to him then, simple enough to execute; humans were easy to mislead. Regretting now his earlier violence, he set out to choose the perfect host. The body that would lead to the reaper’s downfall.

  * * *

  “Motherfucker!”

  Cady startled awake, hands coming up to ward off whatever attack must be headed her way before she realized Ethan’s anger was directed at the TV. “Seriously?” she groaned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Tell me you’re not freaking out over a baseball game.”

  “Take a look at this,” he pointed, grim faced, and Cady scooted out of the bed in time to see a police sketch that looked suspiciously like Ethan’s face up on the grainy screen.

  “What the… what’s going on?”

  “He killed another one. Only this time, a witness came up with this,” he pointed again, hand clenching into a fist that slammed against the fragile arm of the loveseat, hard enough to crack the frame.

  “Whoa, calm down, it’ll be okay.”

  “Yeah? He’s effectively tied my hands behind my back. He can’t find us so he’s got the cops doing his dirty work. Son of a bitch!”

  “Hey…” Cady bent to wrap her arms around his shoulders, laying her head atop his. “We’ll figure this out. Right now all they have is a guy that looks sorta like you. In a city this size, it could be anyone.” She held him tight until she felt some of the tension drain from his body. “Let’s focus on something more immediate. Do you have any money?”

  Ethan craned his head up to look at her. “Yes, why?”

  “Because I’m starving and the smell of those donuts downstairs is driving me nuts. How about you take a nice hot shower and I’ll go down and get us some breakfast?”

  “By yourself?”

  “Hey, I’m not the fugitive,” she shrugged, letting go of him to slip on her shoes.

  * * *

  The sugary goodness worked its magic, and after gorging themselves on buttermilk bars and coffee, Cady left him to take her own shower. It came out more tepid than hot, but at least the bathroom was clean. Ethan produced a spare t-shirt for her out of the duffel bag, but she had to put the same shorts on.

  Expecting to find him in a better mood when she emerged from the bathroom, Cady scowled when she found him sitting in front of the television again. “That had better be a movie you’re watching,” she chided him lightly, trying to use his fine toothed comb to work out the worst of the tangles in her hair.

  “The news at noon should be on soon. I want to see if they have any updates.”

  “Why not check the internet?”

  “I already did, they’re still running the same stories as this morning.”

  “I doubt they’ve found anything new already. It hasn’t been all that long.”

  The streaky blonde newscaster proved her wrong though, reporting with a mixture of perky gravity that the police had released the identity of the suspect. Ethan’s driver’s license photo flashed in the picture beside her head. Or rather, David Brown’s. “Oh no…” Cady groaned, sinking beside him on the loveseat.

  “David Brown has been linked to two other unsolved murders earlier this year. Police say the suspect is considered to be armed and dangerous, and extreme caution is advised when coming into contact with him. Anyone with information as to his whereabouts is encouraged to call this special task force number and not to engage him directly.”

  “Well, that’s it then.” Ethan turned off the television, his eerie calm somehow more frightening than the display of anger before. “I’m screwed.”

  “I can call the police, tell them you didn’t do it.”

  “They’re not going to believe you. The killer’s girlfriend isn’t exactly a credible witness.”r />
  “You’re not a killer.”

  Ethan didn’t say anything for long minutes, staring at the blank screen without moving. “I have to call this in,” he said suddenly, drawing a cheap prepaid phone out of his pocket.

  “What will they do?”

  “Bring in another reaper, reassign me to a place that’s not as hot for me.”

  Send him away. He said it dispassionately, as if he didn’t care one way or another. “What about me?” Cady asked softly.

  “You could come with me.”

  The invitation surprised her, she’d half expected him to say she’d be safer with him gone. “Really? Where do you think they’ll send you?”

  “I don’t know, it could be any of the districts.” Ethan scratched his upper lip with the top of the phone; he needed a shave. “Or I could be in hot water for exposing myself like this. Shit, you can’t come with me. It’s not safe.”

  “Then don’t call in.” Cady slipped the phone out of his hand and set it on the scarred table. “There has to be something else we can do to find this guy. That’s our first priority. We can figure out what to do about the police later. How long before you’d normally have to call in?”

  “I’ve got another day, maybe two before they start checking up on me.”

  “Alright, let’s make it count. How about you do whatever it is you do to try and get another vision? While you’re doing that, I’ll go out for more supplies. You can’t fight demons on donuts and coffee three times a day.”

  Ethan smiled faintly, his gaze traveling over her face. “You know you’re kind of amazing?”

  “What’s this kind of stuff? You’re damned right I’m amazing,” Cady grinned. Standing up, she clapped her hands together loudly. “Alright people, let’s move like we got a purpose.”

  “Hicks said it better.” His eyes flashed playfully.

  “Take that back,” she demanded hotly, hands on her hips, and his head tilted to one side as he considered it.

  “Alright, he wasn’t as cute when he said it.”