I flashed him my most earnest and sexy smile, and he pulled the red velvet rope aside to let me in. Grumbles filtered from the line behind me. I ignored their complaints, sliding into the packed club to lurk in the shadows for the night.
I ordered a drink and took up my place in the farthest, darkest corner. Sipping from the glass, I watched the humans come and go, hooking up, getting shot down, dancing, flirting, drinking. Their actions so normal, it made me feel a momentary sorrow for my own lost humanity. But I shook it off. Even when I’d been a regular human girl, I hadn’t enjoyed the freedoms women had now. All the
I faded into my shadow self, blending with the hazy, dark air. No one noticed, too wrapped up in themselves to pay attention to my corner of the club. I felt better this way, maybe a little more voyeuristic. I didn’t go there for any other reason, so what did it matter if I watched in my solid form or under the cover of darkness? A woman, laughing and swaying in the arms of her date, leaned in to bestow a kiss to his cheek. He smiled and squeezed her tight against his body before swooping down to return the favor. Wrapped up in each other, they kissed and laughed, talked and swayed. A stab of jealousy shot through my gut as I watched them. The building could have fallen down around them and they wouldn’t have noticed. I would never have that. I was too hard, too cynical, and too deadly for soft emotion and affection. I was fire and passion, but not love.
I’d had enough, so I passed from shadow to my human form and made my way to the door. Tiny watched me go in; he’d wonder if I never came out.
“Goin’ home, Darian?” He asked me the same question every time. What would he say if I answered with, “Nope, going out to assassinate some asshole, Tiny”?
“You know it.” What else was I going to say? “See ya later.”
“Be careful,” he said. “I heard there’s been some people go missin’ around here the last few nights. Stay away from dark alleys.”
“Promise,” I said, flashing a reassuring smile. What he didn’t realize: Dark alleys were
I traveled in shadow form, crossing the darkest places I could find. I didn’t have anything to fear; I was safe in the dark. At least, that’s what I thought. The sounds of a struggle traveled to my ears, and I remained shrouded, approaching the source of the scuffle with caution. At first, all I noticed were a pair of legs jutting out from behind some battered metal trash cans. But as I allowed myself to take in the scene, I realized this was not just some homeless person asleep in the alley.
A long, lanky body hovered over the poor guy, its wide mouth fastened on his waist near the stomach. Devouring its meal with indulgent grunts and moans, the creature pulled away, only to paw at its bloody mouth before dipping down and resuming the feast.
“I feel you, Shaede,” an unsettling set of voices said.
I froze. Through my fear, I forced myself to become corporeal and face the source of those grating, seething voices. And let me tell you, Delilah wasn’t kidding about ugly.
The Lyhtan couldn’t have looked farther from human. It couldn’t even pass as animal. Tall, at least seven feet by my estimation, it resembled a praying mantis more than anything. Long, lanky arms and legs connected to a thin, elongated torso. It hunched at the shoulders, giving it a stooped appearance with a distended stomach. It was naked as the day it was . . . born? Made? Created? Slimy greenish drool leaked from its mouth, tinged with its victim’s blood, causing its sharp, pointed teeth to glisten in the dark night. Glowing amber eyes bulged from its pale and drawn face. A shudder of revulsion passed through me. I reached for my pocket, for the bottle that was home on my counter. Could I have even used the bottled shadows at night? Fuck if I knew. I was unarmed, with not even a container of magic sludge to help me.
But a coward I’m not, no matter how on edge I felt. Making sure to keep my distance from the creature, I took a step back; I didn’t intend to be its next liquid snack. I had no idea if this Lyhtan was my personal tormentor, but I figured I’d find out soon enough.
“Who are you, Shaede?” it asked in its many voices.
Well, this one wasn’t mine. I didn’t know if I should be relieved or not. “What do you care who I am?”
“I don’t know you,” it seethed. “Are you one of his?”
“One of his . . . who?” I asked. “I don’t know you either, but what difference does that make? Who do
The creature laughed, and my spine seemed to lose some of its starch. I reminded myself I was the stronger opponent. It was night and he was the weak one. The Lyhtan crept closer.
A menacing hiss issued from its jagged-toothed mouth, and it crouched, looking ready to strike at any moment. It edged toward me. I stood, virtually defenseless, with only my stealth to aid me. I could have passed into shadow and left the Lyhtan behind me, but my curiosity burned. “I wish I had a sword right now,” I said under my breath.
Something moved behind me, and Tyler’s voice murmured close to my ear, “Your wish is my command.”
I didn’t have time to think about the hows and whys of what happened. The handle of the katana slid into my hand. I struck in a flash, passing into shadow and reappearing feet from my attacker. I spun and swung the samurai sword with all of my strength.
A screeching gasp burst from the Lyhtan’s mouth, like a great swarm of people crying out in agony. I sliced through its midsection as if it were made of butter. It doubled over, clutching at its gut, which oozed a thick, orange-tinted blood, and screamed words in a language I couldn’t understand. The wound began to heal as I watched, and the creature looked up, the drool running in a stream from its ugly mouth. Drawing a rasping breath, it turned and jumped, using the buildings of the alley for momentum as it bounced from wall to wall, ever upward, and fled into the dark with a speed that belied its clumsy form. Another grating scream pierced the night, echoing and then dissolving into eerie silence.
Tyler’s footsteps shuffled behind me, and I swung the sword around, its tip barely brushing his chest as he stopped dead in his tracks. He smiled at me.
“How did you get here?” I asked.
His lazy smile grew, and he tried to take a step closer. I pressed the sword’s tip closer to his heart. “No,” I said, staying his progress. “No more games. I want an answer. Now.”
“I told you: Everything is changing.”
Some explanation. The Lyhtan’s blood glistened like wet rust on my blade. I paused to look at it, disgusted, confused, and angry. I looked back at Tyler’s unchanging face. “What does
“It roughly translates to ‘genie,’ ” Tyler said.
“Yes and no.” He shrugged. “I grant the occasional wish.”
I couldn’t take it. One more shock and I would have fallen down dead without anyone’s assistance. I became one with the darkness and left Tyler where he stood.
Delilah waited by my building, looking like a potted plant wilting under the morning sun. Maybe she was getting as tired of our little arrangement as I was. We rode the lift in silence, but she cocked her head in my direction. Perhaps she sensed the questions forming on my tongue.
“Spill it,” I growled. “Everything you know.”
“If I tell you everything I know, we’ll be here for a year,” Delilah said, plopping down in front of the TV. It drove me crazy the way she talked and channel surfed at the same time.
“I’m not in the mood for your smart-ass answers,” I said. But she was right. Good Lord, between her and Levi it would cost a year of my time and a million dollars in fifties to properly educate me. “Tell me about Tyler. When you said you’ve known him for ages, you weren’t kidding, were you? Exactly how old are you?”
“Older than you by about ten centuries,” she said.
“And Tyler?” I asked, dreading the answer.
