by S. L. Gray
The minor adjustments changed the picture laid out before them. Suddenly she could see the places where the broken pieces met. Rather than lecturing him on all the trouble he might cause if something else snapped, she reached too, nudging more pieces into place until what had been an incomplete image now appeared whole, save the gaps and chinks in the ancient clay that made it up.
Now the words that waited on the tip of her tongue were a thank you. How long had she been staring at the same broken image and not seen how to fix it? She really was too tired.
She had no time to speak, though. As she took a breath to say the words, a curious heat swept up her arm, followed by a wash of prickling pins and needles, as if the limb had been asleep and was now waking up. She pulled her hand back from the table, but not before she saw a ripple like the shimmer of heat above blacktop in summer spread across the surface.
The fragments moved.
Not quickly, or far, but there was no mistaking the way they shifted closer together or the way the seams between pieces sealed themselves and disappeared. The gaps and spaces at the edges of each portion of the artifact filled in, though she couldn't say how. It was as though time had reversed, undoing the passage of centuries to restore the tablet to what it had once been.
The world canted sideways. The room certainly felt like it was spinning, and yet the man seated beside her was warm and solid and not moving at all, no matter what her eyes told her.
They couldn't be trusted. Especially not when she saw a flash of golden light. It flared just beneath the now-unbroken surface of carved clay. Rather than fading out entirely, it resolved and separated into glowing characters. Not part of the tablet's decoration, but written or painted or however they'd been made between and around the hieroglyphics. Like a secret code written on a Moebius strip, they wound around the other figures in a language Melanie knew she'd never studied.
She could read every word.
"You did it." Kade's voice came out something close to a rumble. He sounded as awestruck as she felt. "You did it," he repeated. "You found the answer. You found — we've been waiting centuries and you did it with a touch." He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her toward him, then caught her face instead and kissed her hard. "You found the names we've been looking for. I can't tell you what that means."
"You have to," she insisted, when she caught her breath and found her voice. She startled herself with the vehemence in her words as she pulled away and climbed to her feet. Think, don't feel. Ask, don't dwell.
"Look at this." She bent to trace words with her finger as she read them aloud. "Truths cannot be spoken by those who have not seen. The child with ancient eyes must undo what has been done?" She looked over at him, heart thumping insistently against her ribs. "What is that, Kade? What does it mean? Crimes and murders and — Oh God, did I just get myself in deeper?" She didn't need an answer. She saw it in his face. She could read it in the cooling of his excitement and the way he drew back, brow once more furrowing.
She jerked her hands away from the stone. "I don't want it. I don't want to know. Don't answer my questions," she ordered. "Don't tell me anything else. I won't have to lie if someone asks. You should go," she added, hugging herself as she turned back to face him. "You shouldn't be here. I don't want you here."
"You can see that?" He hadn't moved.
"Of course I can see it. I read it, didn't I? Just now, I read it word for word and you heard me, I know you did." Everything inside her felt like it was vibrating. "Can't you?"
"That's not the point." Now he stood, too, and paced across the room, one hand clapped to the back of his neck. "I'm supposed to be able to see it. I've been speaking that language since I was a kid. The words are hidden under warding spells that ought to guarantee they never appeared to you. Unless you've got the blood."
The knot deep inside her stomach pulsed, once. "What blood?"
"The blood. Our blood. Share in the bloodline. If you can read that tablet, you're one of us. Which means Garamendi was right." He paused and screwed up his face. "It means he set me up."
"Garamendi?"
"My boss." He pounded a fist into the other, open hand. "Son of a bitch."
It took her a moment to find the right question in the jumble that now filled her mind. "Why would he do that? How? I don't understand." Questions tumbled past her lips, no matter how she tried to hold them back. She didn't want to know but at the same time needed answers.
"He knew," Kade said. "He knows everything. He tried to warn me and I didn't believe him because I didn't want to believe. I should never have taken this case. That son of a bitch!"
Melanie flinched at the shout. She watched him pace a tight circle, then gave in to a rising surge of indignation. "What, exactly, is wrong with my case?"
Kade let his hands fall heavily and went back to the couch. He sat and put his elbows on his knees. He rubbed at his eyes with his fingers and thumb then pushed the hand back through his hair, forcing waves into the thick, dark locks.
"There are these things called echoes. Think of them like soulmates. They're legends, stories we get told as kids. No one with any sense believes they exist." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself while he talked. "But if echoes are real, then they're part of us, the shadow-born. You don't find echoes in the human world."
He said human like it tasted bad. Melanie frowned and put her hands on her hips. "And?"
He shot her an accusatory look, then went back to pacing. "Garamendi thought you might be one from the start. Thought you might be mine, actually." He held up a hand, stopping her from saying anything, despite the breath she took. "It's crazy, I know, and impossible if you're what we — no, I — thought you were. Just a woman."
"Just?"
"Human."
She scowled. "You're not making this better.
"Melanie." He stopped pacing and faced her. "You can pull shadows. You can read that prophecy. That means you're one of us, one of the lost ones. Someone back in your family tree walked shadows just like I do. No, better, because you've got some powerful stuff in your veins."
She was feeling lightheaded again. Soulmates. Walking shadows? Her? She tried for a laugh but the sound was mostly breath. "If you knew my family, you'd know how ridiculous that sounds. We're about the most ordinary, not-exciting family there's ever been." She paused, searching for some other explanation when a new thought came over her. An even crazier idea but they'd already started down that road. "So, when I kissed you...and you kissed me..."
Kade shook his head sharply. "Heat of the moment. I was excited."
"And I was grateful but I still kissed you." She knew her eyes were wide. The idea was sinking in. "I don't randomly kiss people. Do you?" He didn't have to answer. She could read it in the clenching of his jaw. "So if I'm one of you, and we have this thing between us, how can you believe echoes aren't real?"
It was his turn to laugh. "Do you want to be tied to me? Do you think you know me well enough to make a decision like that? You don't know anything about me, Melanie. If you did, you'd be running the other way instead of considering this at all."
"I'm not considering," she answered, then pressed a hand over her eyes. "I don't know what exactly I'm doing. The tablet just flashed at me, you're telling me I'm something supernatural, and this is all just a little too much, honestly. I need time." She needed to keep it together. She took a deep breath, exhaled heavily and let her hand fall.
Kade was standing right there, in her personal space. She hadn't heard him move. Her heard skipped a beat and then she felt herself relax, oddly comforted and calmer than she'd been all night.
It felt wonderful. She sighed and closed her eyes again. "If this is because of the echo or whatever, I'm going to pretend it isn't weird and just enjoy the feeling for a minute, okay? Just stay right there."
She heard him chuckle almost as quietly as he'd moved. Something rustled and she imagined him raking his hair back again. "All right," he murmured finally. "Fo
r a minute, it's not weird."
And then she felt his arms around her again. She heard the steady thump of his heartbeat and forgot to be surprised or nervous or scared.
Very carefully, she slid her arms around him in turn. He let her and she couldn't help smiling against his chest. "There are worse things than being a little weird, I guess."
He chuckled again, the sound more like a rumble from this close, reminding her of the big cat again. "Yeah. I guess. For now, anyway."
They stood that way until Melanie swore her heart was beating at a steady pace that matched Kade's. Little by little, the excitement of the night wore off, leaving her feeling tired again. "I think I could sleep for a week," she confessed.
"Then go sleep." Kade let go and stepped back, halfway across the room before she could protest. "I'll be here. I'm staying," he said like he expected an argument.
He wouldn't get one. "Good. Good night, Kade."
Chapter Twelve
The more time Kade spent in Melanie's apartment, the more he appreciated the sense of sanctuary. He'd been constantly on the move for months now, bouncing from one safe house or hotel room to another. Despite the best attempts of the resident designers, none of those places felt the slightest bit like home.
Not that Melanie's did either, but he could see the appeal. On the surface, the furnishings looked too formal to be comfortable. She kept the fabrics tidily preserved. Even her clutter had been stacked by priority.
But like the woman inhabiting the space, a cursory inspection couldn't tell the whole story. She was asleep again but he wouldn't drift away to other business tonight. He had none more important than puzzling over her and the mystery of their connection tonight. That gave him permission, he reasoned, to inspect the little personal touches scattered throughout the room.
He spent some time browsing her bookcases. She kept hardbound art books and impressively thick tomes of history there, all neatly lined up and arranged from tallest spine to shortest. There were a few books on philosophy tucked in between, but nothing that surprised him. The thin paperback about the Mayan prophecy the media had tried to spin into an apocalypse made him chuckle, but he doubted she'd bought it for herself. It was probably a gift from someone making fun of her love of history. Though she'd tucked it away and made it almost invisible, it still had a place on her shelf. The gifter had to be someone she cared about, maybe even a part of her family.
There was a mantle on her wall, hung at just the right height to top a fireplace. Where it might have been, however, a custom cabinet now filled the hole. She kept movies and CDs in there, organized by genre from what he could tell. The mantle, though, had been reserved for pictures of family, smiling out of a dozen mismatched frames.
They were all happy in the photos. They were all content to share space. No one hovered in the background of a group shot. When the frame was filled by only a few people, they leaned on one another companionably.
The one picture that caught and held his attention showed Melanie, some years younger, sandwiched between an older couple. Judging by their features and the way all three smiled alike, the others were her parents and as good-natured as she seemed to be.
Not that he could tell a life's history from the single frozen moment in the frame. Still, if anyone of the trio had been acting, they deserved credit for their talent in selling a feeling.
Kade and his family hadn't taken a picture like this in a very long time. Even before the ambush that had cost lives, the pictures he remembered all showed some strain. Not because they didn't get along. They'd been close. They'd been friendly. He loved his family and knew he was loved in turn, but they life they led didn't leave much room for softness. They didn't lean on one another. They had each other's backs.
His father had been a soldier in the shadow war before either of his sons were born. He taught both of them to follow in his footsteps well. Gabriel had actually considered joining the human military before being convinced that a fight on front should be enough for any man. The three of them made a damned effective team. They were sharp, they were skilled, they were indispensable.
And they were held together, reminded that there was more to the world than blood and battle, by his mother's gentle presence.
He put the picture back in its place. How long had it been since he'd gone to see her? When the mission went wrong and his father and brother paid the price, Kade had been too angry at himself, too guilty over surviving to be a decent son. He'd left her on her own rather than burdening her with his misery and refused to look back or visit. When he was better, he’d told himself. When he'd answered for his mistakes, then he could go home.
"You can always come home."
Kade turned toward the hall that led to Melanie's room. He expected to find her there. Maybe he'd said something out loud. Maybe this echo thing meant she could somehow read his mind. Whatever the reason she'd climbed out of bed, he'd reassure her that things were fine and she could go back to sleep.
Only it wasn't Melanie standing in the hallway. When he thought back on what she'd said and the warm familiarity of her voice, he knew it wouldn't be before he looked.
"Mom."
She stood at the edge of Melanie's living room, as out of place and faint as a wandering ghost, and yet he knew she was real. She wore a bathrobe and slippers. She looked like she'd been sleeping, too. If he was going to have a hallucination, he would have imagined her dressed at least.
"What are you doing here?" A sudden prickle of sweat broke out at his temples, his pulse kicking hard. "Are you all right? Is everything okay?" She didn't look injured or scared or angry, but when he crossed the room toward her, he saw tears in her eyes. "Talk to me."
She laughed, a quiet burst of sound, and shook her head. "Give me a minute, will you? Let me catch my breath. It's been a while since I did this and...oh, Eric. Look at you."
He did, obligingly, looking down at himself before looking to her again. "What? What about me?" And more importantly, "How did you find me?"
His mother clucked, scolding. "You look exhausted. I won't ask if you've been sleeping or when you last ate. I'm just going to say you should do more of both." Her smile warmed. "As for the other question, I always know where you are."
He frowned, remembering Farris had found him, too. Garamendi had been tracking him. So now he'd taught his mother to spy as well? "How?"
She shrugged easily, not at all bothered by the frown. "I'm your mother. It's my job to know, even when you'd rather I didn't." Her smile flared. "Just now, you reached for me." Her eyebrows rose. "Ah, but not on purpose. Well. It was the first time since the funeral that I've had that particular feeling. You needed me for a minute. I thought I'd come see what was wrong."
Once she'd said the words, Kade knew she spoke the truth. He'd been grimly determined not to need anyone, to get by on his own. He wanted to need his mother almost less than anyone in the world. He was a man and grown men didn't run to Mommy when the world knocked them down. She'd always been the one to soothe his hurts, though, and to talk him into using common sense when he was at a loss.
"I'm sorry," was the only thing he could think to say after a minute.
"I'm not." She shook her head again, still smiling, but heaved a little sigh too. "It felt good. Feels good," she amended. "And even better just to see you.” Her gaze swept him up and down again and he read both worry and disapproval in her expression. Just for a moment, then it was gone again. "So tell me what's going on. Why the mood?"
She wandered while she waited for an answer, exploring the living room as much as she could without being able to touch anything. She didn't tiptoe or act as though she thought it odd to be in someone else's apartment without an invitation. Then again, his mother never had been one to waste time with permission or apologies.
He cleared his throat. "I'm on a mission."
"A pretty nice one," she commented. "Whoever you're visiting has very nice taste."
"Melanie." Trust his mother to like her
because of her furniture. "She's the target. I'm playing bodyguard. This is her place."
His mother turned to face him, eyebrows lifting yet again. "And?"
Kade hesitated before answering. She didn't need too many details. He didn't want to put her on Penumbra's radar. "And she might be one of the lost ones. She's got power, that's for sure. Garamendi will figure out how much."
"Of course he will," his mother agreed. "That's what Dominic does. But that's not what I was asking, Eric. What's going on between you and this woman?"
It had been nearly a year since he'd seen his mother. Longer than that since the last time he'd blushed and yet it threatened now. She watched him, coolly expectant and slightly amused, while he worked up the courage to confess. "Garamendi thinks she's my echo."
Fair was fair. In exchange for his embarrassment, he was rewarded with his mother's look of surprise. "Your echo," she repeated.
Kade nodded. "He told me about you and dad." That they hadn't told him themselves still bugged him a little, but he supposed they never thought they had to say it. It wouldn't have changed anything. They'd still be his parents, still a family.
"He would,” she said with a wry twist of her lips. "Well, then I don't have to." She seemed satisfied by that. "But I know you and I know you're sometimes slow to believe. So, what do you think about this Melanie?"
Too much, he wanted to answer. Too often. He liked her smile a little more than he should. He appreciated her calm in the face of crazy. He worried about her ability to survive whatever Penumbra had planned even with him standing by her side. He'd promised to be there for her and he didn't break his word.
He gave in. "I think he's right." Damn it, anyway. "I like her, Mom. I like being near her. I want to keep her safe, of course. That's my job. It's more than that, though. When we're together, something keeps pulling us even closer." He shrugged, a stiff, uncomfortable movement. This was like getting caught making out in the basement. "I'm starting to wonder why I should fight it."
