Softest Shadow

  “Nonsense,” Catherine says, coming up behind her husband. “You can stay in Andrew’s old room. Mom is staying in the quest room and Nat is in her room. There’s plenty of space.”

  “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

  “It’s really no trouble,” Ryan says.

  “He already paid you guys,” Natalie speaks up. That was true, not that it mattered. I had plenty to spare.

  “Well, it’s up to you but you are more than welcome,” Catherine says. They leave us alone to discuss it.

  “What do you want to do?” asks Natalie.

  “I’m good either way. I’m sure I can get my money back if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “It would be kind of nice to have you here. You could have breakfast with us.”

  “Then I’ll stay.”

  Natalie goes to tell her parents while I get our bags from the car. Natalie shows me to Andrew’s room and then refuses to show me hers.

  “What’s with you and your secret bedrooms?” I ask.

  “Bedrooms are sacred ground where only the worthy may tread.”

  She closes her eyes and pretends to meditate. I tickle her while she has her eyes closed and she runs out of the room.

  “See you in the morning,” she calls behind her.

  “Good night,” I call back.

  ______________

  I listen to the even breathing of the occupants of the house. All but one is fast asleep. I walk, invisible in the shadows, towards the guest room. Transferring to the shadows in the corner of the room, I watch Grandma Pam reading her bible. Was she particularly religious and that’s how she knew who I was?

  “You might as well come out. I know you’re there.”

  Her words are quiet so as not to wake the rest of the house. Curious, she doesn’t seem to want to reveal me. I step out of the shadows and into the light, becoming solid. She marks her place in the bible and sets it on the nightstand.

  “I knew you’d be along soon,” she says.

  “How do you know what I am?” Straight to the point. I don’t have the patience to beat around the bush.

  “It isn’t hard once you know what to look for.”

  “And what is that?”

  “Your eyes. When the light hits them just right, they flicker with fire. Not noticeable unless you’re looking.”

  I didn’t know we had such a blatant tell.

  “Spent time around demons have you?”

  “You could say that.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I could ask you the same thing. You deal in darkness, misery, and sin-”

  “That is in the job description.”

  “So, why are you making eyes at my granddaughter?”

  I didn’t owe her an explanation. It’s none of her business why I’m with Natalie. I fix her with a hard stare.

  “First, why don’t you tell me what you sold?”

  “Excuse you?” She looks shocked.

  “Don’t be surprised. Despite that bible besides you, you don’t reek of righteousness. It takes a strong spiritual person to recognize us. Or someone who has done business with us.”

  She glares at me. She knows she’s been found out. Darkness can’t be scrubbed out, only hidden.

  “My legs,” she answers finally. “I was a dancer. I was on the way to being one of the best. The demon thought it was a fair trade.”

  “For what?”

  “For my husband. He was fighting in the war. I wanted to make sure he came home.”

  Ah, a Sacrificer. Of course. War times were ripe with deal Potentials; family members wanting to secure their loved ones lives, dying soldiers wanting to keep on living, and leaders willing to do anything to win. I study Pam as she studies me. Deals that didn’t involve a soul still left their mark. Dealing with a demon always tainted the soul, even if by a fraction. It’s why we were willing to make those deals as well. Sometimes you just knew they wouldn’t pay the ultimate price but if you could instill even a tiny bit of darkness then that was better than nothing. They might even come back and want to renegotiate, after a while they might want to pay with their soul then.

  “Where is your husband now?” I ask. He hadn’t been at dinner. She debates before telling me.

  “He died a few years after the war. Pneumonia.”

  Makes sense. The conditions of the war would have left his body weak. Depending on her contract, she might have been able to get her legs back if she had paid for him not to be killed by the war. She probably just said that she wanted him to come home alive. Few people thought of the technicalities.

  “Seems you got a bum deal.”

  “No,” she says decisively, “it was worth every minute I had with him.”

  Feelings like that are why Sacrificers are such easy deals.

  “I’ve answered your questions. Will you answer mine?” she adds.

  I consider it a moment and decide on a compromise.

  “No but I will say that I mean her no harm.”

  “What is your definition of harm?”

  “I’m not trying to get her to make a deal if that is what you mean.”

  “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

  “I’m not here to hurt her.”

  “Loaded words from a demon.”

  I was getting tired of this.

  “Are you going to be a problem?”

  “What happens if I say yes?”

  “Then I wipe your memory of meeting me and I’m home free.”

  “Kind of suspicious if I conveniently forget one person.”

  “Then I take the whole day. I’m not picky.”

  We stare at each other a long time before she finally nods.

  “I won’t be a problem.”

  “Good.”

  I make my way back into the shadows. I still had things to do tonight.

  “But only because I see the way you look at her,” she says right before I leave.

  “And how is that?” My voice is hissy in this form.

  “The same way she looks at you.”

  Chapter 10

  A knock on the door wakes me up. I’d managed to get a couple hours of sleep after getting back last night. I’d still had to get a deal to avoid suspicion. My body protests as I sit up. I might not need sleep but it was nice to have it and two weeks with little to no sleep was taking its toll. Maybe I needed to take a day to recuperate. I open the door to a smiling Natalie holding a cup of coffee.

  “Thought you might need this,” she says, handing me the cup.

  I thank her and take a sip. It has hints of peppermint in it.

  “How long have you been up?” I ask. Her hair is done and she smells different, like vanilla honey instead of her normal cucumber melon. She must have used different soap.

  “An hour or so,” she says. “I thought you’d like to sleep in. My family can be a bit much.”

  “They aren’t that bad.” All but one of them had treated me like a member of the family. Even the children hadn’t gotten on my nerves the way I thought they would.

  “They like you, you know? Dad is all but ready to give you my hand in marriage. You really earned some points with your car. Oh and mom thinks you’re an angel the way you helped her cook yesterday.”

  “I like them too.”

  “I’m glad.”

  We stand there a while just looking at each other before her mom’s voice distracts us.

  “Breakfast is ready,” she calls.

  “Come on.” Natalie takes my hand and leads me downstairs. I almost suspected the whole family to be here but as we enter the dining room I see it’s just her parents and Pam. They wait for us to get seated before eating.

  “I hope you slept well,” her mom says.

  “I did. Thank you.”

  “When do you guys plan on leaving?” her dad asks.

  “This afternoon I think.”

  “Actually,” Natalie says, “Jane called. Appa
rently she had a family emergency and wasn’t able to check on Leo this morning. If it’s okay, I’d like to leave after breakfast so I can get home and check on him.”

  “Yeah, that’s fine.”

  She smiles at me and goes back to eating.

  After breakfast, we pack our bags and prepare to leave. We say goodbye to Grandma Pam inside but Ryan and Catherine walk us out to the car. As I’m loading our bags in the back, a man a little older than her parents comes over from next door.

  “How are you folks doing this fine morning?” he greets.

  “We’re just fine, how about you?” Catherine asks.

  “Oh wonderful. I’m good, just had to come see little Natalie here. How you doing, dear?”

  “I’m doing well.”

  “Very good, very good. And who’s this young man?”

  As he motions to me, he fully looks at me for the first time. He freezes and sweat starts to leak from his forehead.

  “This is Jack. Jack, this is Pastor Franklin,” Natalie introduces us. Great. A pastor.

  “Nice to meet you, sir.” I offer my hand but he doesn’t take it. He continues to sweat and stare at me. Don’t even think about it, old man.

  “Are you feeling alright, Frank?” Catherine worriedly asks. That seems to get through to him and he unfreezes.

  “Oh yes, just a bit queasy. Probably all the food yesterday. I’ll let you folks get back to your business.” And with that, he practically runs back to his house.

  “What was that all about?” Natalie asks. Her parents shrug and I follow suit. That pastor might be a problem. I’ll have to come back and wipe his memory later.

  “Well, drive safe you two,” her mom says. They both hug her as they say goodbye. I shake her dad’s hand and her mom hugs me as well. After the goodbyes, we get into the car and they wave to us as we drive away.

  ______________

  Leo was completely fine and happy to see Natalie when we got there. While she fed him, I carried her bag in. Natalie stood, leaning against the doorframe while I carried it upstairs and left it outside her room. I walked back down and she hadn’t moved.

  “Is there anything else you need before I go?” I ask.

  “You can stay for a while if you want,” she says.

  I think about it. Shadow was still with the neighbors so he was fine but I needed to get back to that pastor. An hour or so wouldn’t hurt though.

  “Sure, I can stay for a little bit.” I walk towards her. “What do you want to do?”

  When I get within reaching distance she grabs my hand, pulling me towards her and her lips. As our lips connect, warning lights flash in my head. They are saying that I need to make a choice, right here, right now. To stay or to go. As I kiss her back, I realize, I made my choice a long time ago.

  I momentarily break contact to pick her up and as I do she wraps her legs around me. I carry her to the living room and lay her down on the couch. She releases her legs and I follow her down, crouching over her. I seek her lips again as her hands play through my hair. Happiness radiates from her and I know her locked up worries as to why I hadn’t kissed her again are melting away. I had remained good since that night in the car, only kissing her on the cheek when I’d leave. She never said anything but a part of her worried as to the reason. She didn’t have anything to worry about anymore. I wasn’t going anywhere and I had been good long enough.

  I break contact again and move to her neck. I make my way across her shoulders and run my hand down her arm. I take her hand and bring it up to my mouth, laying a gentle kiss on her wrist. I place her hand on my shoulder as I kiss along the base of her throat and upper chest. Her fingers run down my back to the edge of my shirt. She teases it up, dancing her fingers across my skin. I move back to her mouth, alternating between hard and soft kisses. My hand plays along her side, moving her shirt and stopping to splay across her ribcage. Her skin is smooth and I rub tiny circles on it with my thumb. Her hips press into mine and I break away to place a kiss above her bellybutton. I make my way up and back down again. I move across her waist and along the waistband of her jeans. As I my hand moves down to her hip, the doorbell rings, startling us both.

  We look towards the door, then back at each other before laughing quietly. Breathing heavily, I move her hair to the side and place my lips back on her neck. The doorbell rings again. Annoyed, I glare at the door.

  “Do you want to wait until they go away or answer it?” I ask.

  “I can answer it. It might be important.”

  She goes to get up but I stop her.

  “I’ll go.”

  She flops back down on the couch and I get up, fixing my hair as I walk towards the door. It was probably some person doing a survey or some other pointless thing. The faster I got rid of them, the faster we could pick up where we left off. Without checking the peephole I open the door. I barely avoid the sword that lunges towards my chest.

  I jump back, kicking the door closed and calling my shadows. The assailant fazes through the closed door and stands poised for battle. I take in the girl before me. She has long white hair that flows down a pure white dress and her eyes crackle with blue fire. Great. An angel.

  “Let me guess, the pastor called you?” I ask but her only response is the tip of her sword sailing towards my neck.

  I bring up my shadows and block the attack. She lunges again but I easily dodge and put some distance between us. I launch shadows at her. She blocks them with her sword but one gets through, slicing her cheek. A drop of red blood trails down her face. I smile to myself. I can handle this. My confidence falters when Natalie comes through the doorway. She comes to a halt when she sees the angel. She stares confusedly at her before looking at me. When she does, she breathes sharply and covers her mouth. Damn. My eyes. I look back at the angel, with eyes I know are burning with red fire. I can’t fix what Natalie just saw, I can only stay alive and hope Natalie stays out of the way. Angels can be overzealous in their fights and humans have paid the price for it.

  “Natalie,” I say calmly, “I need you to go back into the living room.”

  “Jack, I don’t-”

  “Go Natalie!”

  She flinches and I know I shouldn’t have raised my voice but I need her safe. I put out the fire and turn towards her.

  “Please Natalie,” I say, hoping to get through to her. I see emotions flicker across her face. Fear, confusion, worry, but she nods and I breathe a sigh of relief. While I’m distracted the angel attacks.

  Natalie screams as the sword sails past my cheek. I leap onto the banister and springboard over the angel, landing behind her. Shadows slam into her, sending her flying down the hall. Natalie stands frozen in the doorway. Blue fire erupts down the hall and fills the foyer. I jump through the doorway, grabbing Natalie as I go. I deposit her in the corner and ready myself as the angel floats through the fire. The blue fire burns through her hair, playing with it like wind. It’s cleansing fire, used to burn out corruption, not very good if you are a demon.

  I launch myself at her, going for the sword. She avoids me but not a shadow and it cuts her hand, making her drop the sword. I flick my wrist and it slides across the room. She glares and sends fire after me. I jump over it but she leaps at me at the same time and it’s either the fire or her. I didn’t choose the fire. She rams into my side, taking us both down. We hit the coffee table and it shatters. A piece of wood embeds itself into my arm and I yank it out. Blood drips onto the floor. The floor grows cold and I barely move in time before the spot where I was crouching catches on fire.

  I couldn’t use my own fire. It was destructive and unpredictable. It would eat the house, maybe even hurt Natalie. I’d have to find a different way to beat her. I look around and try and come up with a plan. The angel was trying to box me in with fire but as long as the flames didn’t get any higher, I could jump over. She didn’t have her sword anymore, which was good. I could run, maybe lead her away but she might not take her flames with
her and Natalie would be in trouble. They weren’t good for humans either. If she had ever sinned, told even a little lie, it would burn through her like the sun. It wouldn’t kill her but the pain would be indescribable.

  I leap over the fire and grab the sword, throwing it at the angel. She grabs it before it can slice her shoulder. Perfect. I leap again, towards the area with the least amount of flames. I throw shadows at her and she deflects them effortlessly. As she blocks my attacks, she advances. She makes a go for my face and I let it cut me. I go down, holding my bleeding face, begging mercy with my eyes and she goes for the killing blow. At her feet, I gather my shadows. When she attacks, she’ll be vulnerable and then I’ll strike. She raises her sword, readying the final attack. I ready mine as well, angling them towards the vital points of her body. Everything was going according to plan, until long brown hair stepped in front of me, and the into the path of the sword.

  “No!” I yell. I grab Natalie and twist us around so we switch places. She is safe but unfortunately, now I’m not. There is no time to avoid the sword and I close my eye and wait for the pain. The sword slices into the area between my neck and shoulder. It severs bone, tendon, and muscle as it makes its way deeper into my body. If the cut on the face was like a paper cut than this was like getting hit by a truck with a sawblade on the front of it. Screams tear through my body and I collapse and fall to my knees, Natalie slips from my arms. The angel rips the sword out and I feel relief. It would be short lived. I sense her raise her sword again. My shadows have dissipated and through the pain I can’t gather them again. I feel the air crackle and brace for more pain.

  “Stop!” Natalie’s voice cuts through the air. She moves to block the sword again.

  “Natalie, no!” I try and grab her but it pulls at the wound and I can’t move. She stands protectively in front of me and to my surprise, the angel lowers her sword.

  A disembodied voice comes from the angel’s mouth, “Step aside child.”

  “No,” she says defiantly. The angel tilts its head in confusion.

  “You would protect this demon?”

  Natalie flinches at the word demon but stands her ground.