Shadow Born (The Dark Shade Book 1) Read online

  Swallowing the last of my whiskey in one gulp, I rushed outside to follow the men.

  Three

  The dark of the night was illuminated by the Shade lights. They were crystals filled with green light, and they hovered a few feet over the ground all around the streets, near the trees that had green leaves even in the dead of winter, near the buildings that didn’t look any different from the ones in the human realm.

  I saw the wizard and his friend just before they disappeared around the corner. I followed them, but by the time I got there, they were gone. The Shade had taken them to wherever they’d needed to go, and since I had no idea where they were headed, I couldn’t follow.

  The ground shook again, a little less than before, but out here in the open, people felt it more. I felt it more, too, and it was coming from the other end of the street. People were running away from it, and most looked afraid.

  Muffled sounds of things slamming on the ground and animals growling reached my ears. My body moved on instinct, and I started to run, too. Whatever was happening, it was close. I didn’t need a shortcut at all because I could see the smoke rising in the air just fine, and the closer I got to it, the more I heard.

  A fight was going on behind the two-story building in front of me. It sounded violent, too. Wolf howls took over the night and most people ran in the other direction, but some were rushing to it, too. Plenty of curious minds like mine in the supernatural community.

  And when I finally reached the other side of the building, the wizard I’d spied on and his friend were already there.

  Ahead of us, a one-story building wider than half the entire street was burning. In front of it, there were five werewolves and three vampires fighting one another like savages. Blood everywhere. Magic hung in the air, together with the white smoke from the burning building. And every time a vampire or a werewolf threw one another against the ground, the Shade groaned, like it was in pain.

  The Guild was nowhere to be seen yet, but I had no doubt they would be here soon. And since the wizard and his friend were already here, watching, so stressed they were sweating, it meant this was exactly what they had been talking about at the bar.

  Shifters. Vampires. And among them would be whatever they were fighting for, that same thing that was going to make me a lot of money.

  Slowly, I walked closer and searched for a place with enough shadows to keep me hidden. But the fire burning the better half of the building made it impossible to get close from the other side.

  I thought I would have to try anyway, but then one of the vampires jumped on the back of a huge wolf with dark brown fur, and he basically flew ten feet away. He landed near the end of the street and took off running without missing a beat. The fact that we could all see him meant he was injured badly enough not to be able to run at his full speed. If he did, he’d have disappeared by now.

  Three of the wolves ran after him, while the others continued the fight.

  I ran, too, because I just needed whatever the vampire had stolen. If it was half as powerful as that wizard said, there was a chance it would make me enough money to hire the Crimsons.

  That was all the motivation I needed. I moved fast, but shifters were faster, and vampires, injured or not, could outrun me even on my best day. That’s why it took me a while to reach the end of the street, turn the corner, and all I had to guide me were the howls and growls of the werewolves.

  They were getting closer by the second, though, and when I reached the end of the street, the body of a werewolf was flying in the air, coming right at me. Heart in my throat, I moved away just in time to watch it pass me by and slam against the window of a building across the street, breaking it to pieces. I didn’t wait to check if he was dead—even if all that glass had ended up inside his body, it took a lot more to kill a werewolf. He’d heal from those wounds in no time.

  I turned the corner to see the other two wolves still fighting, but not just the vampire who’d run away. A sorceress was with him, too, and the colorful magic assaulted the wolves as fast as the vampire did with his fists. Magic hung in the air when the sorceress raised her hands up, and bright blue light shot out of her palms. She pulled the spell down and into the wolves who’d jumped in the air to get to them, throwing them both to the other side of the street.

  The vampire was already running. The sorceress didn’t follow. She went to meet the wolves that were already getting back up. If she saw me running after her vampire friend, she didn’t attack me.

  The palm of my hand itched, as if my body was trying to tell me that there was a way to get to that vampire faster. I didn’t think—I just let my magic out. There was no need to look to see that it had worked. My magic was the only thing I could count on, when even my mind and memories failed me. Seconds later, Zahara appeared by my side, running. She was in front of me in a blink, and I jumped in the air on instinct. I’d done this so many times before that I didn’t even need to think about it. I landed on Zahara’s back, my legs firmly on her sides, and she took off running after the vampire with a roar. Everyone could hear it, but I didn’t mind. My face was covered with shadows. Even if somebody was watching, they wouldn’t be able to tell who I was.

  The vampire could outrun me any day, but not Zahara. She was faster than even shifters. She was already close to the vampire, who kept looking behind him, as if he was having trouble believing his own eyes. I guess I’d have been tempted to blame it on my imagination if I saw a woman riding a panther made of shadows.

  He didn’t slow down, but we kept on him. And when we saw the Shade barrier on the other side of the street, my heart skipped a beat. Humans couldn’t see Zahara at all. To them, I’d look like I was flying, and that was bound to get a lot of attention. No way the Guild wouldn’t hear about it. I’d gotten into trouble in the past, but so far they’d never been able to track me. Zahara was a shadow—untraceable. Not even werewolves could track her because she left no scent behind.

  But I’d never messed with humans before. They didn’t know about the existence of supernaturals or the Shades, and the Guild did whatever it took to keep it that way.

  It must have been my lucky night, though, because the vampire didn’t run past the Shade barrier and into the human part of the city. Instead, he started climbing a two-story house close to the edge. There were people around us, and they could see me perfectly. They all stopped to watch, but Zahara was focused. And when we reached the house, she climbed it, too.

  I held onto her neck with all my strength, and my eyes were closed when I slammed onto the back of the vampire and sent him tumbling over the square rooftop.

  Something wooden slipped from his fingers and rolled to the other side, where the building connected with the next. There was no space between them, so whatever that thing was, it wasn’t going anywhere.

  The vampire was on his feet before me. No wonder he couldn’t run at full speed. His right leg was a mess, his flesh torn almost completely from his thigh down to his shin. It was a miracle he was still standing on it.

  His fangs were bloody and in full display. He snapped his jaws when Zahara growled at him. Nothing she would have loved more than to sink her teeth in him, but she couldn’t touch anyone except me.

  He wouldn’t attack—he was in no condition to fight, and he didn’t know how strong I was. I kept my calm and watched him. He would try to make a run for it again—that was the only way he could make it out of here alive.

  I smiled, and maybe he saw it. Vampires could see in the dark as well as me. All their senses were enhanced, and if they lived past their first century, they made for some really dangerous opponents. But I doubted this guy was older than a couple decades. That’s why he didn’t even try—he simply shot to the side, his hand outstretched to reach the box.

  “Don’t,” I warned, and he froze again. “Don’t make me kill you. Walk away.”

  He looked at the shadows hiding my face for a moment, but he couldn’t see my eyes. His mind was already made up, and he made for the box again, giving me no other choice. I moved with him and reached for the handle of my sword. The second it made contact with my skin, the vampire saw it, saw the blade glistening under the moonlight, right before it cut through his neck.

  His head flew in the air and his body hit the rooftop instantly.

  Zahara growled again. “Now your sword is filthy.” She sounded pissed about it.

  I really didn’t mind. “It’s fine. I’ll clean it later.”

  “It’s an Anara—vampire blood is beneath the work and magic it took to make it,” she said, making me roll my eyes. “The best elven blacksmiths have shed sweat over it. It deserves more respect than you give it.”

  “For fuck’s sake, Za.” Now was not the time for lectures, especially since we hadn’t even known what my sword was until a few months ago. Yeah, it was the work of elves, the best weapon makers in the universe, but it was made to kill. I doubted its makers cared whose blood it spilled. “We have to go.”

  I went for the box lying innocently on the concrete. It was as big as my fist, made out of something that felt like plastic but looked like wood. Two triangles meeting at the tips were engraved on all sides, and it had no lid that I could see. It was heavy, but there was no magic hanging to it that I could feel.

  “What is it?” Zahara asked.

  “No idea, but it’s supposed to cost a lot.” I put my sword back in its sheath, and the box in the pocket of my jacket. “C’mon, let’s go home.” I hopped on her back, and she moved to the edge of the rooftop, about to jump and take us out of the Shade. Then, I’d be able to breathe easier.

  But when we saw the ten werewolves that had gathered in the street below, sniffing the air and looking around, searching soundlessly, I realized that going home now was no
t the best idea.

  “Change of plans,” I told Zahara, and at the sound of my voice, the wolves looked up. “We’re going to Lake Charles.”

  Her answer was a growl. The wolves howled at us. I secured the shawl around my head once more and held onto Zahara. She moved to the other side of the roof and jumped off. I hated heights, so I held my eyes closed until there was ground underneath her paws again.

  Her muscles, though they were made of shadows, were strong as steel underneath me. It always hurt to ride on her, so I tried to avoid it when I could. Now, though, I was thankful that she was here. I’d have never been able to outrun those werewolves by myself.

  We could still hear them howling as she turned corner after corner, going deeper into the Shade. They couldn’t follow us. They couldn’t track us. I wasn’t afraid, only excited.

  Whatever that box in my pocket was, it would get me a step closer to finding out where I came from.

  The wolves were gone. No Guild officer had followed us, either. And once we made sure of that, we slipped out of the Shade barrier and into the human realm, at least half an hour away from my apartment.

  A park, which barely anybody used, separated the city from this Shade’s entrance. It was mostly deserted, though kids played in it during the day. All the swings and slides were half-broken, and there were graffiti drawings everywhere on the cement. Rows of pine trees were at the edge, dense enough to keep me hidden in the dark. Plenty of shadows to keep me invisible from prying eyes. It’s why I’d chosen this place and marked the ground with my magic just after the first tree line. It connected to the other marks I’d made around the country—three of them, though I’d only been using one lately.

  The spell was one of the many I’d remembered through the years. They came to me suddenly, when I wasn’t even thinking about spells. At first, I’d hoped that everything else would come back to me the same way, but it never did. Just some spells I didn’t even remember learning. Unusual ones I hadn’t found in any grimoire I’d gotten my hands on.

  But they worked.

  This one in particular had made no sense to Augustus, the wizard who took me in and basically saved me from the Guild. He believed that learning magic and spells was like swimming—once you learn the motions, you never forget them. All you have to do is get back in the water. According to him, that’s why I hadn’t lost the spells, or my ability to wield my sword, with the rest of my memories.

  Augustus had tried the same spell, too, when I showed it to him, but he never could get it to work. He was convinced that whatever my magic’s brand was, it was different from an ordinary witch’s, and that was the reason why my unusual spells worked for me but not for him.

  The spell was long, and it had taken every ounce of energy from me to cast, but it had been worth it. Because once I lay my mark on the ground, the magic that made a permanent residence out of it could take me anywhere I needed to go, so long as I’d been there before and had marked the spot for my spell to connect with.

  I looked around me for one last time. The Shade was at my back, its nearest buildings twenty feet away, and there were no people in sight anywhere around me—at least that I could see.

  Which didn’t really mean much.

  For the past year, someone was always following me around. It was a woman—that’s all I knew. I had never seen her face. It was covered, just like mine, and she was always hiding on top of buildings, around corners, in alleyways, watching me from afar. Every time I followed her, she simply disappeared. I had never even gotten close enough to make out anything except her black cloak and her leather boots.

  I called her my personal stalker, and right now, if she was there somewhere, watching me, I couldn’t even see her shadow. It didn’t bother me as much as it used to. It had been a year and she had never come close to me. I’d never seen her during the day, either.

  Whoever she was, maybe I’d get lucky and she’d get tired of keeping tabs on me soon, move on to someone else.

  Or maybe I’d eventually catch her.

  “Hop in,” I told Zahara and showed her my palm. Her growl turned to a hiss before it disappeared completely, her shadow slipping into my skin again.

  The words of my spell came out in a whisper, and a minute later, the magic awoke lazily, like it had been asleep for a long time. It expanded into a circle over the ground, darkness slipping out of the dirt like liquid. I held onto the magic until it was wide enough to fit me.

  Then, I jumped inside it and disappeared from New Orleans.

  Four

  Alexander King

  * * *

  The waiter spoke. I saw his lips moving, but I’d been too distracted to hear his voice. We stared at each other, and a second later, his eyes moved to the floor, and his cheeks flushed. The blood running in his veins was warm, full of flavor. Full of life. So much better than the bourbon I was drinking.

  “May I…may I get you another, sir?” he finally repeated.

  I looked away at the busy street in front of me. “Yes, thank you.”

  He took the empty glass from the table and disappeared inside the restaurant.

  Could I at least make an attempt to pay attention to my surroundings? I always wondered that.

  But the better question was, did I want to?

  The New Orleans Shade buzzed with life around me. It was supposed to be contagious. They said the magic in the air here filled you to the brim, but I never felt it. I’d been here many times before, and every time was the same, including tonight.

  Maybe the next would be different.

  At the end the wide street, Steven Connelly turned the corner and walked ahead with his chin up, eyes on me. Two men twice his size were right behind him, and they had eyes on everything else. If somebody even breathed wrong Connelly’s way, they’d see it. They’d act first, ask questions later.

  The people knew. That’s why everyone looked away from the three as soon as they noticed them. They were all afraid of the bodyguards because of their size, the look in their eyes, their nature. One a vampire, the other a werewolf.

  What they didn’t realize was that the most dangerous predator here was Connelly himself. He could kill both the vampire and the werewolf in the time it took a heart to beat. That he chose to keep all that power hidden away further proved what he was capable of.

  When he approached the restaurant, he smiled at me. I returned it. It was the polite thing to do. The waiter must have returned at some point because my glass was full of bourbon again, and I hadn’t even noticed. It didn’t bother me much, anyway.

  I stood up and shook Connelly’s outstretched hand.

  “Alexander, my boy,” he said, slapping my cheek the way he’d done since I was a teenager. I don’t think he ever understood that I’d grown up a long time ago.

  “Hi, Steve. It’s good to see you.” He, at least, was someone I remembered with perfect clarity.

  “You haven’t changed a bit.” He sat down across the square table from me. The vampire and the werewolf were already stationed on either side of the restaurant, hands folded in front of them, watching everyone who dared to look our way.

  “And I’m never going to.” I brought the bourbon to my lips and drank. Tasteless.

  “Tell me—how have you been?” Excitement shone in his brown eyes. His smooth skin and the brown of his hair hid more than just his power. He looked to be in his early forties, the same way he’d looked since I was about fourteen, when I first met him.

  And I was forty-seven.

  “Good,” I said with a nod. “I’ve been good. How about you?”

  “Busy—that’s what I’ve been.” He folded his hands over the table and looked to the side before I even noticed that the waiter was on his way to us.

  I gave him a moment to order his food. The waiter didn’t ask me if I wanted to eat. By now, he could tell what I was. Nothing on the restaurant’s menu was going to satiate my hunger.

  My mind drifted away again, so focused on the people around me that it took a moment for Connelly’s voice to reach me when he spoke.