I’d forgotten how stubborn she could be and was reminded of all the times my cousin was forced to throw her over his shoulder and physically remove this girl from danger. Looking at her now, it was hard to believe she had once been a fragile human. “Something Chase won’t like,” I said between gritted teeth.
“Lexi,” she said sternly, already getting that motherly tone of disapproval down pat.
It had been months since I’d actually fought a demon, but then again, I’d never fought a shade, so maybe the lack of practice wouldn’t be a problem. I consoled myself by thinking demon hunting was like riding a bike. The moves were ingrained in my brain.
Or so I hoped.
“Look, I’m not going to do anything stupid. I just need to make sure we’re not in any danger.”
“Should I call Chase?” Angel was a girl who could hold her own, but she also didn’t take chances when it came to those she loved. She left the crazy stuff up to my cousin to handle. He did crazy so well.
I shook my head, peering at her over my shoulder. “Not yet, just stay put. I don’t think it can attack us as long as we’re in the sunlight.”
Her brows drew together. “A demon? Since when did they adopt vampire traits?”
An image of a glittering Edward Cullen as a demon popped into my head. “They haven’t. Not a demon. I think it’s a shade.”
“Should I know what that is?”
With cautious steps, I walked closer to the alley, careful to avoid spots hidden from the sun. I wanted a closer look. With Angel here, it was best not to engage. I wished I had spent more time asking questions during my time in the underworld, learning about the Courts of Hell and all those things that resided within them other than demons, instead of simmering about how I would kill my mate or escape. In hindsight, my energy could have been better focused than stewed in revenge and bitterness.
If I had learned more, perhaps Angel and I would be better prepared for the shade stalking us.
I knew next to nothing about the restless spirit from Hell, other than it needed to keep to the shadows. Light was the only defense against a shade that I knew of. Dammit. What did it want?
Maybe I should draw it out into the sun?
Or capture it?
God, if I didn’t have the pregnant Queen of Inferno with me, I wouldn’t think twice about capturing the shade. The last thing I wanted to do was put Angel in harm’s way. So the capturing would have to wait. For now, I needed to get Angel to safety. That was my main concern.
My eyes narrowed in on the animal-like shadow, the way it slunk against the brick building, bending and stretching to test the boundaries. “Lexi,” the shadow whispered. It had no mouth, no face, no solid form. I didn’t understand how it was able to speak. Maybe it hadn’t spoken at all. Maybe its voice was in my head.
A cloud rolled in as I approached the sidewalk, blanketing the sunlight, and the shade made its move.
Fuck.
That was all I had time for, one quick f-bomb before the shade was on me, coiling itself around my body from head to toe until I was encompassed in a mist of darkness and frost. The air expelling from my lungs puffed in front of my face, and I comforted myself with the knowledge that the cloud would eventually pass, shooting beams of sunlight upon me. It couldn’t hold me forever. Whatever the shade had in store for me, I could take it.
“Lexi!” Angel shrieked, panic in her voice.
I threw out an arm, advising her to stay put and that I was okay, and tiny black flames danced over my fingertips. What the hell? I didn’t want her to come any closer to the shade, and nor did I have the time to dwell over the sudden display of… I didn’t know what was on my hand. Turning to the shade, I asked, “Why are you here?” It didn’t seem to be actually harming me.
Like smoke, the shade curled and churned over my body. “The prince sent us.”
Us? How many were there? “Why?” And which prince? It could just as easily be Soren that commanded the shades. The thought made my heart jerk in my chest and the flames of darkness lick brighter on my skin.
“To warn you. The queen isn’t finished with you,” it hissed.
“Tell me something I don’t already know.”
“He can’t protect you here,” it added, growing agitated, its form flickering.
“Tell your prince that I can take care of myself. This is my turf.” I also had about a hundred other things to say to Ashor, like how he was an asshole for sacrificing himself. How I would never forgive him for shoving me out of his life and for whatever weird darkness he implanted inside me. “Tell him—”
“A war is brewing. And when it begins, the havoc will bleed into your world. When the time is right, he will come for you. He will do what he can to shelter you from the aftermath.”
My pulse thundered in my veins. Ashor had found a way to communicate, to warn me. The thought ran laps in my head as the shade unwound itself from around me to skirt back into the shadows. “Wait!” I called after it, surging forward into the alley after it. “Is he okay? Is he safe?”
But it was too late. The shade had disappeared, and the dark flames on my fingers extinguished.
Shit.
I wanted more time. There was so much more I needed to know.
4
Every instinct in my body was telling me to chase after the shade, no matter that I didn’t know where to start looking. Or how to actually catch the damn thing. The alley before me was empty, and the shadows cast against the ground and the building didn’t move.
Yet, I continued to stare. Waiting. Hoping. Wanting.
“Lexi,” Angel hiss-whispered behind me.
“I’m okay,” I responded, raking a hand through my hair as I exhaled.
Her brows were drawn together in deep concern and worry. “What the hell was that?”
I stared down at my hand and answered, “A shade. It was sent to give me a message.” My fingers were bone-cold, the kind of cold I only felt in the Court of Darkness.
“What message? Who sent it?” she rattled off, a protective hand over her belly.
“Ashor. It was a warning about his mother.” I didn’t want to cause Angel any more stress, not in her condition. The impending war could wait, but I would inform Chase so he could keep an extra eye on his wife.
The tightness in her shoulders relaxed a degree. “I have to say, you really know how to pick them. A prince. But not just a prince, the freaking Prince of Darkness.”
I started walking to the car again, Angel following. “It’s not like I had a choice.” That was the thing about fate. We believe we have a choice in the matter, that our decisions are ours to make, but what was meant to be always finds a way to be.
“Don’t you, though?” she rebutted. “It is up to you how far this thing with the prince goes. Your souls are linked. That you can’t change, but that doesn’t mean you have to complete the Triplici. If you don’t want this, don’t want him, there are ways…”
My breathing became tight in my chest, an ache that grew until I couldn’t breathe, causing me to stumble. “To break our connection?” I finished. Kali had offered Ashor the same alternative, and the idea provoked the same gut-wrenching reaction—panic as I’d never experienced before.