Shade Read online

  She groaned lightly.

  “You were blinded,” he stated. “I couldn’t read you, couldn’t see.”

  “As soon as Misha and I touched, I was blinded,” Tess confirmed, her sorrowful eyes looking past Shade, seeking me. “I only saw blackness. Unending and unrelenting blackness. Whatever happened to you girl, I am sorry. But I couldn’t see anything. I could only feel what you felt in the depths of that darkness, how you reacted to it and how it felt in you. There was so much pain and sorrow … I’m not sure how you endured. And I don’t know why he chose you, why he saved you.”

  Tears leaked from my eyes again, frustration bubbling as the realization that the visit had been useless hit.

  “There is something more there in you. More than that Mark. You all were right about that. It’s heavy and dark, and more powerful than anything I’ve ever felt. I’m just sorry I couldn’t see its form or its purpose.” When none of us responded, she added, “But you should know that I also felt joy. Recent. Joy and comfort … and love,” she added looking from me to Shade then to Blood and back again. “Whatever might be happening inside, it seems your soul has found some peace, what it’s needed for a long time. Perhaps it’s a balance, or perhaps more answers will come as you continue down this road. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you more.”

  Shade wiped a hand over his mouth and his lips tipped into a tiny smile. He stood and kissed Tess on her forehead. “Spoken like a true fraud.”

  Blood let out an amused breath and moved around the room, lifting things from the floor.

  Tess rolled her eyes at Shade when he backed away. “Boy, can you never be serious?”

  I smiled at her endearment toward him despite all that had just happened. “Thank you, Tess,” I said, wiping my face again. “I’m sorry that I …” I looked around at the mess and, taking a cue from Blood, got to my feet. “I’m just glad you are all right.”

  “Oh, sweetheart. I’ll be just fine. And this …” She glanced around and shook her head gently as I picked up a bottle. “This is just another experience, one I’m glad to have had despite what most others would think. It’s not every day you meet a Marked Soul and have your Sight temporarily blinded. It’s nice to have a break in the monotony of card readings for bachelorette parties and discussions of wills and insurance policies between souls and living relatives.”

  Shade helped her to stand, making sure she was steady before he allowed her to move. Then he walked to me, took my hand and kissed my palm before righting an overturned chair.

  After a few silent moments, Blood held up an empty bottle, the one Ramona had used to trap him. “And the witch? What are we to think of her? She contained me. She’s studied.”

  “Wasn’t she just scared and trying to help Tess?” I rubbed my face where she’d slapped me. She’d escalated the situation without thought, but that choice was understandable. I acted out to defend Blood and would do the same for any of them. “She couldn’t see you, right?” I asked Shade. “Did she think you were attacking her?”

  “Afraid it might have been more than that,” Shade admitted. “Have you read her, Tess?”

  “Yes,” Tess replied.

  “So you know she’s rather active in the supernatural community, maybe not in the best of ways.”

  “She has a past, yes, and maintains many friends and connections. It’s why I hired her. She’s respected and learned enough in her arts to deter anyone who might be bothersome. She can also offer more services to human clients.”

  “So she practices here?” Blood asked, holding up a wrapping of small dried flowers.

  “Mainly with sales of goods already made, like tonics and such.” She eyed Shade. “How far did you push her, Reaper?”

  “I needed a closer look, and I’m glad I took one. Her past, as you say, isn’t as far gone as you believe. She and some friends have been dealing for favor and riches. And I’m not talking love potions and jinxes. She’s dealing hexed silver pieces, including bullets.”

  9

  “Are you serious?” I asked after Shade delivered the news about Ramona to Tess.

  Beside me, Blood growled in his throat.

  Tess blinked a few times. “You’re acting like sales of these things haven’t occurred over the last millennium or even since the dawning of the supernatural world. You know full well that they are always looking to rage war amongst themselves. You’ve reaped many souls ended by things of that nature. Why is this a big deal now? Has there been an influx of vampire and werewolf deaths I’m unaware of?”

  “I told you a vampire—Tucker—tried to kidnap Misha after figuring out she’s Marked. He had hexed bullets and almost killed Blood while holding Misha hostage.”

  “Hmm,” she said. “Well, that’s definitely something new. They don’t come after you all very often. Mess around with Death’s messengers and bad things are sure to happen.”

  “Yeah, well … I’m afraid your witch may have played a roll in those plans.”

  “What exactly did you see? And what condition did you leave her soul in when you left?” she asked, concerned for her assistant.

  The front door chimed. “Let me get that and close up.” Tess opened the room door just as someone yelled from the front.

  “Shade!”

  Bone.

  As soon as she stepped into the hallway, Tess’ other client—a short, balding man in a business suit—exited the other room. His eyes were wide as he looked around. He had to have heard all the commotion minutes before and probably had been too scared to move.

  “I’m so sorry for the disturbances. I—” A banging door cut off Tess’ words.

  I leaned out behind Tess enough to see Bone stalking down the hallway, his eyes boring into the man and Tess.

  “Leave,” he said to the man, who practically came out of his skin at the sound of Bone’s order before hugging the wall to get around him and running away. “Tess,” Bone said in a bland greeting.

  “What the hell do you think—” Tess started until Shade stepped around us into the hall and placed a hand on her shoulder.

  “You need to chill,” Shade said to Bone.

  The hallway felt so crowded with them both there. I could barely breathe and I was still mostly inside the room.

  Tess ducked back into the reading room, irritated by the outburst, mumbling as much under her breath. Before she was out of the way, Bone spotted me and closed the space between us.

  “Misha.” His palms cupped my jaw delicately, and he dipped his face down to mine, kissing my lips softly. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “She’s fine,” Shade echoed, and Bone’s eyes snapped over to meet his gaze.

  The hard look on Bone’s face was a little shocking. I’d seen him direct a bit of anger toward Ash but not Shade.

  “She’s fine,” Blood added his confirmation from inside the room.

  Bone leaned down again with a sigh and kissed my cheek. “What happened?”

  “Shade,” Tess called out. “Please turn my sign to closed so no one else walks in and shits themselves. I’ve got enough mess to clean. And I’ve already lost my assistant today. I’d rather not lose any clients.”

  Shade walked past Bone, shoulder checking him a little in the process since the hallway barely fit them side-by-side and both—obviously irritated with each other—refused to turn. The rest of us retreated into the room.

  Bone grabbed hold of my hand. I looked up, meeting his eyes, which were still narrowed with some doubt. When I squeezed his hand and smiled, he took a long breath and let my fingers slip away, and I jumped back into cleanup.

  “Tess was blinded,” Blood said, picking up more items strewn across the floor. “Their connection was physically locked, and she wasn’t able to see anything in Misha.”

  Bone followed our lead and bent down to grab scattered papers. “Is that all? When we finished with most of the Wraiths and were on our way back, I thought I felt Shade shift.”

  “I did.” S
hade reentered the room, holding a broom and beginning to sweep. “I thought it might have affected Tess, so I took a closer look. And then her witch assistant trapped Blood—”

  “What?” Bone stopped and stood upright, his arms and back muscles tightening enough to see their outlines through his dark T-shirt.

  “I was in this form and she caught me off-guard with a quick containment circle,” Blood replied. “Shade was in Reaper form and connected to Tess. We’ll explain more at the house. We should be—”

  “We should have been more thorough before coming,” Bone interjected.

  “No need to dwell on things you can’t change now,” Tess said, shaking her head earnestly. “It’s over and done.”

  “Oh, it’s far from done. Tell me more about this witch of yours.” Bone crossed his arms, staring down at Tess.

  “I think you should ask Shade. He’s the one who read her.” She looked over at Shade as he scooped things into the dustpan. “He also still needs to tell me how scrambled he left her so I know if I have to go clean up yet another mess.”

  “No mess. It was only enough to throw off her day,” Shade replied. “She’s going to have a hard time connecting the dots.”

  “Good,” Bone said. “We’ll need her information in case we need to talk to her. And we learned nothing new? You couldn’t see anything?”

  “No,” Tess admitted. “I have limited abilities. The ironic thing is if I had the help of a witch as powerful as Ramona, we might have been able to get a better view.”

  I stilled. Magic. “After what she did to Blood, I don’t think I ever want to see her again.”

  Shade nodded.

  “Misha, I’m taking you home before it gets late. Shade and Blood can stay and finish with Tess.”

  I glanced at Shade and Blood, not wanting to leave them after what had happened.

  “Ash is watching outside. We’re clear to go,” Bone said, taking hold of my arm and moving toward the door.

  “No,” I whispered, stopping before we got into the hallway. “I’m fine here. I want to stay with them … help finish cleaning here first.”

  “They’ll be fine. Your body is probably ready to crash after that connection,” he urged slipping his arm around me.

  I relaxed under his touch and pulled closer against his body, inhaling his drawing scent. Even though I would have loved to have curled up with him right away, I knew I should stay with Shade and Blood. It had been our experience, and I wanted to see it through. Plus, I had pretty much caused the damage to Tess’ place, so I wouldn’t just leave them to clean it alone.

  “I know you are thinking the best for me, and I love that, but I’m fine and so are they,” I said, glancing over my shoulder and seeing two sets of eyes drop, focusing back on the mess. “You go. Take care of anything you have to do. We’re almost done anyway.”

  “You’re sure?” he asked, speaking the words to the top of my head, into my hair.

  I tipped my face back to see him. “Yes, I’m fine. I’ll see you later.”

  “All right,” he relented, hooking my shirt neck with a finger and tugging lightly to view the puncture wounds before dipping down and pressing his lips to mine. He kissed me slowly, holding the sides of my face, swirling his tongue around mine, making me lose focus on reality.

  “Mmm.” I broke away, a little dazed and questioning my choice to stay.

  He grinned at me, his jaw muscle ticking beneath his skin in an enticing way. His hands released my face, and he looked over to Shade and Blood. “We need to talk outside for a minute.”

  They nodded and followed him out into the hall and disappeared. The front door chimed.

  I was still staring at the empty hallway a few moments later when Tess cleared her throat. I turned to her with a small smile.

  “There is no doubt who is in charge of their house,” she said. She tilted the dustpan over the trash, dumping remnants of dried herbs.

  Bone. “He does seem to step into that role, doesn’t he?” Truthfully, it was part of his allure. Dominant. Aggressive. Assured. But all of them showed a good amount of those traits. He just took charge of most things.

  “No, honey,” she said with a chuckle. “I wasn’t talking about him. I meant you. You’re in charge of that house now. Don’t need Sight to see that. They will do anything for you.”

  ***

  It wasn’t long after Bone had left that Shade, Blood, and I finished helping Tess piece her reading room and store back together. She spoke some about her relationship with Ramona, but it appeared she hadn’t known any recent events that Shade had read in the witch’s soul, only things from her past.

  “So witches can’t see everything?” I asked, thinking about all that had happened as we drove away from Tess’ shop. “She couldn’t see you when you changed.”

  “They are tapped into the supernatural world, but they are still wholly human, unlike vampires and werewolves,” Shade answered.

  “And me. And true psychics.”

  “Right, since you were touched by Death. Witches use spells or potions to see. They make the Sight potion for others.”

  “For Purgatory?” I asked, recalling Dani serving it to me there.

  “Purgatory has regular purchase orders through local brewers,” Blood added. “They keep it stocked for witches and for humans who are aligned with vampires … or those who want to explore that kink for one night.”

  I wondered briefly how he knew and thought of the puncture wounds on his body. Was he into that kink?

  Once again, I’d started on the other side of the back seat but scooted over to the center, settling against Shade, wanting to be close again. He lifted his arm and welcomed me with a smile and a tiny bite of his bottom lip.

  “Is she someone we need to worry about, like Tucker?” Her intentions of helping Tess seemed genuine and truly the only motivation to contain Blood. But I didn’t know this world like they did.

  “I’m not sure,” Shade admitted. With my ear pressed against his chest, his words were resonant and calming. “Bone wants to talk with her eventually about the hexed materials she’s made and sold. We need to make sure it doesn’t go beyond the natural order for witches.”

  “Oh,” I said and the word instantly turned into a yawn I couldn’t stop.

  “She has also met other Reapers,” he added.

  “Really?” Blood asked. “Why didn’t you mention it earlier when we were with Bone?”

  “I figured it could wait when we were all at the house, including Ash. I didn’t read it as an immediate concern, but the feeling was strong and held deep inside her past.”

  The more I listened, the more tired my body and mind grew. The connection to Tess had taken its toll. And now that I was comfortable, I couldn’t fight sleep. I slid my head down Shade’s chest onto his lap and kicked my feet and legs onto the seat.

  His hand collected my hair, repositioned it, then pushed his fingers through to rub my scalp.

  My breaths slowed as I focused on Shade’s touch. Gentle. Soothing.

  “Do you believe Tess?” Blood asked, his voice far away. “About the witch?”

  “I do,” Shade answered. “But we don’t know enough about Ramona. Her reaction to contain you was quick, almost immediate, after I shifted. It’s possible she thought I was hurting Tess. I don’t know. Something about it all isn’t sitting right.”

  “Could be past experiences with the other Reapers.”

  “Could be. She was prepared, had everything she needed stored there. But protecting Tess is also part of her job.” His fingers stopped for a moment then began again, rubbing slowly. “One thing I’m certain of is that I don’t trust her knowing about Misha. And after what happened with Tess, she definitely knows or will figure it out soon enough.”

  10

  I was rocking. Floating. My feet bounced with movement. My head, though, was stable against something firm and warm, and my body pinned to something solid. Something mobile. Something breathing. I could hear it,
could feel it against me and throughout my entire body.

  I cracked open my eyes to a faded gray T-shirt and inhaled deeply. “Shade.”

  “Almost there,” he whispered, and I closed my eyes again, exhaustion overtaking any desire to be awake.

  “We need to talk.” Bone’s voice.

  “Yeah,” Shade replied.

  We moved more, but with Shade’s strength and support, I barely felt it at all.

  He jostled me lightly, and I cracked my eyes open again, watching as he turned us and closed a door. We had returned to the house, and he’d brought me to his room.

  I sighed lightly. His arms shifted and laid me down onto his bed. My shoes slipped off and a cover was drawn over me. I curled up beneath the blankets and burrowed into the pillows.

  “I’ll be back in a little while,” he whispered above my ear and pressed a kiss there.

  “Please stay,” I mumbled, wanting him with me.

  “I … Okay.”

  After only a few moments, a phone chimed and then the covers lifted and the bed dipped behind me. As soon as his body settled, I turned over and tucked into him, placing my hand on his firm, bare chest and lifting my leg over his.

  Sleep took me instantly.

  ***

  The room was almost dark when I woke. My body had turned, but I still felt Shade’s large frame wrapped around me, my ass bent and pressed to him, his arm tight, locking me in position.

  His breaths were slow, rhythmic, and warm as they blew into the hair at the top of my head.

  He’d stayed.

  I smiled and inhaled deeply, arching my back in a little stretch.

  “Mmm,” he hummed, and I let out a giggle.

  It was nice to wake up in someone’s arms. In the times I’d awoken in Bone’s bed, he’d already been away. If I had to guess it was to let me sleep more … and I also hadn’t asked him to stay. But waking up wrapped in arms, blanketed in a feeling of comfort and adoration … it was something else new and made my heart feel full.