by S. L. Gray
"Will you show me what you did when you put it back together?" Amrhic beckoned her closer to the table.
Melanie stepped forward, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "I didn't do anything special. Just put things back where they ought to be. The tablet did the rest on its own. I mean, I had my hand here," she demonstrated, letting her fingertips hover just above the engraved surface, "and the pieces moved without my help." The memory still stunned her. She pulled her hand back. "And that was it."
"No," Amrhic argued. "That wasn't it." She looked up and found him studying her curiously, a faint line marring the space between his eyebrows. "What happened next?"
She swallowed and looked at the stone again. "I...felt something in my fingers. Like a buzz, you know? Like when the refrigerator isn't grounded and you grab the handle in bare feet. I got dizzy, it started glowing—"
"Will you touch it again?" Another prompt from the distinguished man at her side. This time his eyes were eager, filled with hope.
She tucked her hands beneath her arms and retreated the step she'd taken. "I don't know if I should. I don't want to ruin anything."
"Please," he implored, voice gone soft enough to count as a murmur. "There are secrets locked within this tablet and you, Melanie, are the only key. Don't be frightened. You are among friends."
Melanie glanced over her shoulder to where Kade still sat. He'd leaned back into the sofa and draped an arm along the back. The space at his side looked open and inviting. She could curl there and she knew he'd drape his arm around her shoulders. He wouldn't scold or blame. The temptation to hide came on strong.
But so did the urge to stick to her guns and follow through. You decided to accept, remember? It's just a piece of stone. What's the worst it can do? She hesitated another moment, then stepped forward again. She brushed her hands against her jeans, just in case her fingers sweat. She took as deep a breath as she could manage, laid her hand against the tablet and closed her eyes, willing the buzzing sensation to return.
She counted seven seconds. Nothing happened.
"Relax," Amrhic told her when she opened her eyes again. "We're in no hurry. Take your time and find your center, then try again."
Find her center. Cool and calm. She let her eyelids drift shut and tried the technique she'd learned when she’d dabbled with meditation. She imagined white light filling in the outline of her body. It spread from toe to head, meant to sweep away any other obstacles, clear her mind and let her accomplish a goal. With the image full and glowing brightly, she laid her hand against the tablet again.
Still nothing.
Then Kade murmured, "Don't try so hard," behind her. The warm weight of his hands rested on her shoulders and like magic — real magic — the buzz of power swept over her so quickly she thought she might truly faint.
When she opened her eyes this time, the tablet blazed with light. Amrhic stood beside it, staring not at the stone, but the two of them. "Then it's true. You echo—"
"Not now," Kade said, cutting Amrhic off. "It didn't last long when this happened before. No point wasting time if you're looking for something."
"Yes." The other man shook himself and turned his attention to the tablet. Words were still appearing as he bent close, squinting against the light. "Here," he said, stabbing a finger toward marks that moved like ants as they marched into place. "These are the names of founding families," he explained as the letters resolved and he moved the pointing finger to another written word. "Those who became the core of what we are. Can you read them?"
Melanie and Kade answered yes in unison. It made Amrhic look up from his study again. It made Melanie glance over her shoulder in turn. Kade smirked down at her and gestured toward the tablet with his chin.
"What happened to the prophecy?"
Amrhic frowned. "Happened? What do you mean?"
"The last time we did this, there was a prophecy. A riddle about a child with ancient eyes. Kade called her the sage?"
"Ah. Yes." Amrhic bent over the table again. "A direction for the one who finds and reads the tablet first. A pointer, if you will, to the answers we seek."
Melanie hugged herself again and leaned back against Kade's reassuring warmth. "What answers are we looking for, exactly?"
Amrhic smiled, though he didn't look up. "A way to end the struggle between the two halves of our family." His finger never stopped moving. "From the beginning there have been two schools of thought. Those who favor darker means see the power we inherited as a means to change the world. They prefer to keep to the shadows, manipulating and controlling those they hide behind."
"Penumbra," Kade rumbled, explaining.
Melanie caught herself nodding. She knew this much already.
"We, on the other hand, step into the world and protect those targeted by the men and women who want to rule. We keep the balance," Amrhic said, "and the cost can be dear."
Kade's hands tightened on Melanie's shoulders. "So how does the tablet help?"
"Not everyone remembers their beginnings," the custodian said with a tolerant smile. He didn't look at Melanie and she admitted relief to herself. "Ignorance, however, doesn't always keep them safe. If someone else recalls a name or a family line, there are ways to find them. Once done, some can be swayed to join the darker side. And if not, they can surely be eliminated."
He tapped his finger against the stone again. "If the names are here, the family lines continue."
"Which one is mine?" The question slipped out before she thought better of it, but once asked, she let it stand. If everything he'd said was true, the tablet acted as a physical tie to an ancestor more than three thousand years back. How many people could claim the same thing?
"Matsimela." Amrhic didn't miss a beat. His finger moved, tracing a line beneath a new word. "He is the man who made the tablet in the first place. It's fitting, then, that you should be the one to restore it. Perhaps he planned that all along."
Melanie couldn't say whether the tablet called her or her own curiosity forced her to take a step, but she moved abruptly forward, the need to touch the stone impossible to resist. Kade's hands slipped off her shoulders but his touch didn't matter in the moment. Hot tears threatened when she pressed her palm against the surface and felt it pulse once, faint pressure against her skin.
Then the glow faded, the names disappeared and the tablet cooled.
"No. No!" Melanie jerked her hand back. "What did I do?"
"Nothing wrong. Nothing to worry about." Amrhic spoke calmly. "You broke the connection between yourself and Kade. That's what fuels your power. It's...interesting." His gaze shifted between them. "We haven't seen an echo this powerful in a very long time."
"That doesn't answer the question." Kade's voice sounded sharp. "What does the tablet have to do with winning or losing the battle?"
Amrhic and he locked gazes for a moment. A muscle jumped at the edge of Kade's jaw and Melanie made fists to stop herself from reaching for his arm to soothe him. "Strength in numbers," the custodian answered when the challenge passed.
"It's a simple concept, but valid all the same. The side with the greater numbers has the advantage. If one or the other is wiped out or greatly lessened, then the battle ends. The tablet points out families we may have lost," he explained, with a nod to include Melanie, "and reminds us of those who need watching. If the sand begins to flow again, and more grains are lost—"
"I get it," Kade interrupted, making a curt gesture with one hand. "I get it. It's a roster. All I need to know. Thanks."
That said, he reached for Melanie's shoulders and turned her toward the door, propelling her ahead of him. If she'd stopped, she thought for sure he'd simply barrel over her and not look back. She didn't have time to protest. She barely managed to lean around him and call out a thanks of her own before he'd steered her through the door.
She jerked out from under his hands the moment she had room to move. "What is wrong with you? Are you going to start growling?"
Kade's eyes
narrowed. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the hands-on, Kade, and not in a good way. One minute everything's friendly and calm, the next you're hustling me out of there like your butt's on fire." She peered back at him. He looked somewhere, anywhere but at her directly. That twitching muscle along his jaw was getting a serious workout today.
"I don't want us to get tangled up in all this business about echoes. We stick to the important things, agreed? Find the sage, shut down Penumbra. The rest of this can wait until that's done."
Melanie frowned. "It doesn't sound like it works that way. Us being linked together like this. We can't just pick and choose when to accept it, right? We can't just turn it off."
"No." He sounded like he wished he could give any other answer. "But we can't let it distract us, either. We can't let it distract anyone else."
"Like Amrhic?" She summoned a very small smile. "I don't think he was about to march us to a church and marry us." She paused, curiosity surging again. "Temple? Shrine? Where do the shadow-born get married?"
Kade's expression clouded. "Depends on the couple and this is what I mean. It's not important."
"But it is." When he frowned harder, she held up her hands, gesturing him to patience. "Bear with me for a second, okay? Stop and think and listen to me."
He took a breath, held it and kept scowling, but he let it go with a shallow nod after a moment. "I'm listening."
How had she become the voice of tolerance here? She was the one new to a world of magic and shadow creatures and prophecy. Maybe that made it easier to convince herself to go with the flow. She'd never known a different way to live this life. She'd been thrust squarely into the middle of Kade's world, and he'd claimed he wanted to be stuck with her. Well. He got his wish.
"When we met, you saved my life by letting that bullet go through me. I couldn't have done that on my own. It happened before I had even the slightest idea, so that was you, right?"
Another grudging nod. "Probably."
"So you showed me what was possible, whether you meant to or not, and I woke up." She shrugged. "Awakened. Something changed and I did the shadow-pulling thing, but it was easier with you. Turning invisible in the park? You told me to do it. Fixing the tablet, stopping Noura...you were there every step of the way."
"Because you haven't been taught. I haven't had time."
"Maybe," she allowed. "Then again, maybe it's because I'm not supposed to work without you." She was veering dangerously close to a protestation of her feelings. She'd already slipped with the boyfriend label. Now she stood on the brink of saying too much.
"Oh hell," she breathed, and dove. "Maybe it means I need you as much as your people need me. Maybe...maybe I want you with me, Kade. Maybe I like being stuck with you, too. No, screw that. Not maybe. I know I do."
Not how she’d planned to have the relationship talk. She’d been planning to get him back to her place when things settled down again. She was going to apologize for moving too fast for him. For flinging herself at him, more or less. For forcing him to treat her as a partner and not just a project before he was ready. The moment had come now, though, and she wasn't going to let herself hesitate with this, either.
"Melanie." He all but groaned her name. He was going to give her some new excuse. She could read it in his eyes. He'd find a reason to push her out to arm's length again so he could try to pretend he didn't feel anything.
She stepped into his space and pushed up onto her toes so she was as close to eye-to-eye with him as she could get. She held his gaze. "Tell me you don't want me too. I dare you."
If he really didn't care, if he really wasn't interested, it should be easy, she reasoned. He could be all business, pure tactics and no emotion. He'd put her in her place, despite their past moments of tension-filled affections, and she'd accept it. Not happily, not easily, but if he could compartmentalize like that, she'd learn to live with it. He hadn't signed on for a romance, anyway.
He stared at her long enough that her ankles began to ache and her toes were cramping. Just when she thought she'd have to drop back to her heels, he gave in. His sigh was soft, his expression resigned, but she caught his faint smile before he kissed her again.
A warm kiss. A proper kiss. One that lingered as he wound his arms around her waist and she slid hers around his neck. A kiss he smiled into, lips curving against her mouth. A kiss that broke with laughter. "I'm a pain in the ass," he confessed. "Not a liar."
"You laughed," she murmured in response. Sylvie had asked how often Kade laughed earlier. This counted as a major victory.
"Yeah," he agreed. "Because you're crazy. So am I, I guess." He sobered. "We still have work to do. Just because someone somewhere decided we're a match, we can't let it get in the way."
"Never," Melanie promised. "It's a blessing, not a curse."
He groaned again. "Don't say that in front of Garamendi." He set her back on her feet and she went willingly now. "Speaking of whom..."
"Yeah," she agreed again. She didn't take his hand this time. She already had all the reassurance she'd need. "We need to find the sage."
"Forget it."
Kade felt as though he'd been chewing rocks. His jaws ached. He swore he felt grit in his mouth. He'd made fists so hard his knuckles throbbed. "What do you mean, forget it?"
"I mean just what I said." Garamendi kicked back in the chair behind his desk and steepled his fingers. "There are people who need to know how to find the sage. You don't."
Kade's eyes burned. "It was right there on the tablet, Dominic. Find the sage. We both saw it. You don't think that might be a sign?"
Garamendi's gaze flickered to Melanie and back. She stood beside Kade, not leaning on him now, though she stayed close. She stood up straight, chin lifted, shoulders square and a spark of anger in her eyes. Kade didn't think it was directed at him, but it didn't matter. It made her look steady.
It didn't sway the man in charge. "Sure, it's a sign, and we'll look into it." He sat forward smoothly and smiled at Melanie. "You've done us a great service, putting that tablet back together. I can't thank you enough or explain how much it means. You will continue to have our protection for as long as you have need."
Kade could hear the "but" coming.
"But I am not about to send you wandering off through shadow again, no matter who's beside you. End of discussion."
"Do you know how crazy that sounds?" Kade rested his fists against the edge of the desk and leaned. "You all but threw us together, and now that we know the next step, you want to get in the way?"
"I want to keep her safe." Garamendi stabbed a finger toward Melanie, his temper kindling too. "I want you to remember that you work for me and that maybe, just maybe, I know a little bit more about the situation." Their gazes locked for a long moment, then he sat back again.
"There've been hits on the safe houses. Attempted breaches and I'm not talking small scale. They're combing our locations to find the sage, too. Up against one or two, and you'd probably be fine. Against a whole squad, there's no telling. That's not a risk I want to take."
"What if I do?" Melanie didn't need to shout to command attention. She looked at both of them and asked again, "What if I do? What if I want to risk it? You wouldn't have the tablet if it wasn't for me. Me and Kade," she amended with a glance at him. "So I'd say that entitles me to see how this ends."
Garamendi arched an eyebrow. Kade bit back a grin. "And I'd say she was right about that," he agreed, straightening. "You wanted her on our side. Now she is. If you pull us off of this now, there's no telling what happens to the prophecy. We needed Melanie to start finding answers. What makes you think you'll learn any more if you put your keystone girl in a corner somewhere? For safety."
Garamendi's gaze shifted between them for a few more minutes, then he took a breath and pushed his desk back, pulling open a drawer as he moved. "All right," he said, climbing to his feet. He held something folded against his palm. "You make a fair point, and you said
it prettier than Kade." He came around to their side of the desk and perched on the edge, one leg hitched up. "But I want you to be sure when you say you want to throw your lot in with us. We don't make one-time sorts of deals."
He opened the hand resting against his leg. The metal shape he displayed against his palm made Melanie's eyebrows lift. It made Kade's stomach twist in memory.
Despite the first, obvious impression of a linked pair of wings at the end of a short metal rod, there was more to the tool than ornamental beauty. While they watched, while Garamendi held it, it warmed from the cold gray of iron to a fierce orange-red. Garamendi didn't flinch at all.
"This is the symbol of all we are," he said evenly. "A sign by which we identify one another. A pledge to protect and defend any other we find bearing the mark on their skin. It's not something we offer lightly. Nor is it trivial to accept." He stood. "It will hurt and it will bind you. Once accepted, it cannot be removed and it will not be forgotten." He stepped toward Melanie. "Are you sure you want to see this to its end?"
Kade watched Melanie swallow. He saw the brand's glow reflected in the sheen of sweat on her forehead. He remembered how he'd struggled not to tremble when he stood waiting for the iron to touch his skin. He'd thought he might get sick. He knew he couldn't scream. He lifted a hand to rub at his chest, a spot just above his heart, where the mark rested on him.
It was meant to be a symbol of freedom. Wings to carry them away from the bonds of earth and darkness. The artist who had first crafted the shape had clearly wanted it to reflect their origins, though. Delicate yet sinister tendrils curled away from the more solid center, reaching out as though they could pull the brand deeper into skin.
Melanie swallowed again. "Does it matter where it goes?"
Garamendi shook his head. "Lady's choice."
"Very generous." Wry smile in place, she turned her back to him and lifted her shirt, exposing the skin above her waistband. "I wear strapless dresses, sometimes. It'd be better not to have to explain." Her knuckles were white where they bunched up shirt fabric. She darted a quick glance sideways to Kade and he summoned up a smile, gave her a little nod.
