Shadow Borne (28 page)

“
But?” Claire
prompted.

I followed along at Mark's other side,
silent but curious to hear his response.

“
I'm confused.
Disappointed in a way. Bob was adamant that I was the only one who
could defeat Kahn. So why couldn't I beat him?”

Claire walked in silence for long moments
before she spoke again. “But you did, Mark. You did beat him.”

“
I meant–”

“
I know what you meant.”
she interrupted. “But I think you're looking at this in the wrong
light. I remember that day, you know, when Bob and Marta told you
Kahn was your father. And they never said you could beat him in
some macho hand to hand test of skill.”

“
Thanks dear.” Mark
muttered.

Claire smiled, ignoring his grumbling. “As I
was saying, what they said was you're the key to his downfall.” She
turned her radiant expression on him. “Don't you get it, Mark? You
made all of this possible. You formed the largest army ever, in the
entire recorded history of Terlain. These men and women all fought
under your command. You did defeat him. And so did we. Together.
You see?”

“
Yeah,” he said, slowly.
“Yeah, I think I do.” A wide grin spread across his face. “But I
can hardly believe it's finally, really over.”

“
Well, almost.” I spoke up
for the first time. “There's still the matter of what we're going
to do about the Breathers.”

***

In the end, we let them all go. Not everyone
was one hundred percent in favor of that, even if no one was bold
enough to challenge Mark about it. And so freely they left us at
the northern most edge of Grandview, bound for their home in the
ice and snow. And maybe letting them go would turn out to be a
mistake, but I didn't think so. The Life Breathers were as much
victims of Kahn's dark magic as the rest of us and who were we to
decide their fate, anyway?

No, I was certain we hadn't made a mistake
in wishing them well and seeing them on their way. Just the
opposite; to my way of thinking, we'd forged a friendship with a
new and powerful, if unexpected, ally.

The artificial shimmer had worn off and the
fence that separated our town's border from the forest looked plain
now, ordinary.

“
Do you think the Matrons
will show up and recast the enchantment around the fences?” Claire
asked as we jumped over the hip high barrier.

“
Who knows?” I shrugged
and we moved further down the path that would take us back to town.
We slowed our pace and men filed around and passed us on the trail.
“We don't need it anymore, so...”

“
Yeah.” she nodded.
“That's going to take some getting used to. “Not that I'm not
glad.” She grinned.

“
For sure.” I smiled back,
until a flash of tan and blue caught my eye. Aranu walked past, but
he didn't follow the others on the path toward town. Instead, he
veered off to the right, heading toward the beach and the
falls.

“
Go.”

My gaze swiveled back to Claire and I opened
my mouth but no words came.

“
Go on.” she repeated,
touching a hand to my arm. “Go talk to him and I'll see you at
home.”

Home. Tears sprang to my
eyes but remained unshed. My throat burned and I nodded, reaching
out and snagging Claire into a fierce hug. Her hair was cool where
it brushed my face and her strength propped me up, steadying me for
the next step I was about to take.
Family.

My
arms tightened around her before I let her go and stepped
back. “What if he tells me to go to hell?”

“
Then we'll get drunk
tonight. It'll be fine. Go.”

“
Okay.” I nodded and
watched as she ran to catch up with Mark, turning once at the bend
in the path to wave and give me a thumbs up sign.

I wasn't at all sure it would 'be okay' as
Claire put it, but there were some things I needed to say to Aranu.
So I turned and followed the trail he'd taken, the one that led to
the path I knew by heart...

***

“
Hey.” I said to Aranu's
back a few minutes later. At the water's edge, he tensed but didn't
turn around.

“
Okay.” I nodded even
though he wasn't looking at me. “I know you don't want me here.” I
forced myself to continue when it was tempting to take the easy way
out and turn around, go back the way I came.

“
I know that at the
moment, I'm not your favorite person. Hell, you probably hate me
and I guess I don't blame you.”
Much.
“But there's something
you
should know about
earlier, what I said...” I took a deep breath, feeling like it was
me who stood at the edge of the falls.

“
I didn't mean it.” I
said. “Any of it. Well, except for the part about wanting you to
leave. I meant that. But not because of all the reasons I gave you
at the time. So, the thing is, I...I love you.” I paused and sighed
when he kept his back to me. “I haven't loved Mike Roberts in a
very long time, if I ever really did. I don't know.” I frowned,
folding my arms over my chest and pacing idly up and down, staring
at the bright silvery moon overhead. “I haven't had time to sort
all of that out. He was a good friend once and maybe he will be
again, someday. But he doesn't hold a candle to you.” I finished,
coming to a stop at the edge of path, where I'd started. It was
hopeless but at least I could leave here with the knowledge that
I'd tried.

“
Okay. So, I just came
here to tell you that. I'll go now.” I murmured, turning and making
my way down the path. Well, I sighed, at the end of the day, Aranu
may hate me, but I'd done what was necessarily back in that
clearing. What I'd had to do in order to survive and make sure
everyone else did, too. My lips curved wryly. Somehow it always
came, full circle, back to that. Wasn't that the life I'd signed up
for?

I was about a quarter mile away from my
cabin when I heard leaves rustling behind me.

“
Aries. Wait.”

I froze and slowly turned around.
“Aranu.”

His eyes held mine and for once today he
wasn't aloof or cold.

He continued his steady progress, not
stopping until the toes of his boots nudged mine on the path.

“
I never wanted to hurt
you.” I said, staring up at him. In the next instant, he'd snatched
me against him. The leather covered elastic band was pulled from my
hair until the black locks tumbled free down my back. His hand
palmed the back of my head and his lips rubbed over
mine.

“
I know that. All of it.”
he said when he finally lifted his mouth from mine. “I knew it
then, that you didn't mean any of the stuff you said earlier.” He
took a deep breath and pressed his cheek against my hair. “I was
never angry with you. I was mad at myself for being so weak. I
could have blown the whole thing and got us killed today, Ari. I'm
so sorry.”

His arms tightened and I reached up to
stroke his hair. “But you didn't.” It was all I could think to
say.

“
I know that you can
handle yourself, Ari. But if I lost you...” he shook his head and
let me go. “I can't even say it. I can't–”

I threw myself at him, locking my arms
around his neck and holding tight. “Then don't.” I whispered,
pressing my lips to his neck, tasting the salt of skin and feeling
the shiver go through his tall frame.

“
I love you so much, Ari.
Since we were kids. It's always been you, for me.” he said, pulling
back and smiling down at me. His thumb smoothed over my
brow.

“
And it's always been
you.” I murmured back. “You've always been there for me, ready to
catch me, ready to avenge me.” I shook my head, my lips curving
against his chest as I let myself rest there for a moment. His chin
pressed against the top of my head and he wrapped both arms around
me.

“
It's going to be you and
me. Forever.”

“
I like the sound of
that.” I grinned without opening my eyes and we stayed just like
that for long, precious minutes.

“
So,” he leaned down and
whispered in my ear. “Where are you headed?”

“
Anywhere you want to go.”
I shrugged.

“
Plans for tonight?” he
asked as we started walking together toward my cabin.

“
I was going to grab some
clothes from the cabin and head to the big house to get drunk with
Claire.”

His hard face broke into a smile and he
shook his head. “I think we can do better than that.”

“
Yeah? Well, what did you
have in mind?”

“
Bathing in the hot
springs near the beach. Sleeping under the stars.” he said, his
serious, dusky eyes telling me there wouldn't be much actual
sleeping happening tonight.

“
You're on. It's a date.
I'll–what the hell?” I came to an abrupt halt as we entered the
clearing. Beside me, Aranu cursed.

“
My cabin...what happened
to my cabin?” I demanded, staring at the pile of rubble on the
other side of the plain wood fence.

“
Well,” Aranu stroked a
hand over his chin and studied the broken mess. “If I had to
venture a guess, I'd go with 'bomb'.”

“
They blew up my cabin.
The damn Coatyl blew up my house.” I uttered in disbelief. “Look at
it, Aranu. It's completely ruined! Damn it!”

We crossed the fence and walked a slow
circle around the wreckage. Glass crunched under our feet and
slowly my blood began to cool.

“
It's not that big a
deal.” I sighed, shaking my head. “I was just shocked.”

“
We'll build a new one.”
he promised.

“
We will?” I glanced at
Aranu and smiled. He caught my stare and smiled back.

“
If you want
to.”

“
Oh, I do.”

He grinned and swung me around in a circle,
kissing me and I couldn't help thinking how appropriate it was, to
love one another, surrounded by bright moonlight and the broken
pieces that would soon become new. He set me on my feet and a
glimmer of white, near the top of the rubble, caught my eye.

“
Hey, what's
that?”

“
I don't know.” He picked
his way over the splintered wood and glass and plucked a piece of
paper off the pile. “It's a note.” he said, climbing down and
handing it to me.

I took it and scanned it, then smothered a
giggle.

“
Well, what's it
say?”

“
Here.” I handed the paper
back. “It's from the security company. I forgot I told them to come
out and install a new system.” I gave up and began to laugh. “The
day I met you in town. I had the dead Coatyl in that sack when I
went to see about the security system. I take it they weren't
amused when they came out.”

On the paper, two words had been hand
lettered in bold print. 'I QUIT'

Aranu read the note and his eyes flashed to
mine. The paper fluttered to the ground as he threw his head back
and laughed.

And seeing him like that, with me, felt like
the sun coming out in the middle of the darkest night. Full
circle.

The End

Thanks for reading
<3

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http://awest2011.wix.com

Turn the page to see more from Angie West.

Go back to where the
legend began with Shadow Cave, book one of the Shadows Trilogy.

"A
flame to light the path. Gateway to all things past. A door from
which there is no going back. Born in truth; forged in lies. Never
betray the secret...forever shielded from human eyes."

Chapter 1

Access Denied

“
Access denied.” Damn, and all of those other phrases that a
‘lady’ was not supposed to say in polite company. Not that I was in
polite company, or any company for that matter. Shielding my eyes
from the rain that was pouring down in heavy gray sheets, I scanned
the mostly deserted parking lot. Not a soul in sight. Damn. Damn.
Shit. Hey, nobody ever said I couldn’t ‘think’ cuss words. Right
then, I was thinking every foul, vulgar phrase I had ever
known.

“
Hey wait!” Thank God—a live person...one of the desk clerks,
maybe. I could see him through the frosted glass of the wide double
doors, pretending he didn’t notice me. I tried again anyways, for
good measure.

“
Hey, open the door! You don’t understand! I work here. My name
is Claire Roberts, and I’m a scientist!” If anything, the man tried
even harder to ignore my presence...not that I blamed him exactly.
To him I was just a screaming nut job. Brushing my hair might have
helped. Not that I hadn’t, but the wind and the rain had...well,
never mind. Not important. The point was the man was definitely not
going to let me in the building. He didn’t even glance my way
again. Man, was he good. Normally, the tight security would have
been reassuring—had I been warm and dry on the other side of that
door.

I pulled my coat
tighter around my body and tried not to shiver. I could try calling
John again, I supposed. Checking the time again I shook my head in
disgust, dropping the cell phone back into my bag. It was too late.
The meeting would be well underway by now. Besides, I had already
left the man two messages over the past…I peeked at my watch
again…twenty-five minutes. ‘I’m stuck outside the building John. I
forgot my badge key, John. Why the hell am I here this early
anyways, John?’