Brush of Shade (32 page)

“The kids?
The men?”
I asked in an
attractive croaking voice.

“The kids should
be fine with some fresh air. Thankfully, it’s a big room; it would take a while
to fill up with smoke and toxic fumes.” As though talking about it triggered
the need, he turned his head and coughed.

“What was
keeping the door from opening?” Trent asked over squealing girls spilling onto
the deck.

“Ice made the
doors stick,” Shade said, pointing his flashlight at the crowd of wet bodies
covered in dripping towels. “Go around the other side and through the garage.
Check in with Mason.”

“Everyone this
way,” Trent shouted, holding his hand out for the flashlight.

During the
exchange, the beam highlighted Shadow on his knees with me cradled in his arms.
The dripping, freezing kids surged around the corner too cold and too
frightened to notice or to wait for Trent to take the lead.

“What is going
on here?” he demanded, taking a step towards us.

Shade blocked
his path. “Get inside and tell your parents to meet us in your dad’s office.
Have them tell the firemen the fire is still smoldering in the locker rooms.
Call Olivia’s aunt.”

“But Olivia?”

“She saved your
lives. She’ll be fine in a minute.”

Trent hesitated,
but then the breeze picked up, carrying with it the sound of sirens blaring
over the music. After a final worried look, he ran after our classmates.

Too bad I
couldn’t deal with Shade until later, much later. From across the patio, his
intense stare bore holes into my head. Conflict avoidance seemed like a wise
choice for self-preservation, so I closed my eyes. In all honesty it did help
with the spinning sensation I was still experiencing. Unfortunately, my calm
moment lasted all of a couple of seconds. My Shade radar flared to life.

“Can I move to
the tropics?” I croaked out when his very hot hands clasped my cheeks.

“Try not to talk
until Dr. Long checks you out,” he ordered, his tone all business. Gentle
fingers explored my throat.
“Shad, the light.
Olivia,
open your eyes.”

“I’m fine,” I
replied, doing as he ordered to avoid an eruption of his temper.

He studied my
pupils, his hard expression never changing. Next, his fingers moved on to
explore the latest lump on my temple. I winced. That was all it took to set him
off.

“What were you
thinking? I told you to wait. When I give you an order, I expect you to obey.
That’s the only way this is going to work. If I can’t trust you, you’ll never
leave home again. Of all the idiotic, lamebrain ideas, taking on a Whisperer on
your own is pure suicide,” he shouted, his fury unleashing rolling seas that
churned icebergs into crushed ice.

“I was trying to
get the door open, so the kids could escape,” I retorted, wishing Shadow would
let me stand. At least that way when I spoke, I wouldn’t look like a victim,
again.

“I told you not
to talk.”

“Then stop
asking me questions,” I yelled back, my eyes scrunching as the effort to talk
scraped my raw throat.

“She’s got you
there, brother,” Shadow said.

Shade uttered a
guttural roar. His palms slapped the air, slamming the patio doors closed. In a
cold voice he retorted, “Since when do you take Olivia’s side or mine?”

In a smooth
motion, Shadow was on his feet, standing sideways to his brother with me
positioned out of the line of fire. I expected anger, but his tone was even and
his words were accompanied by a low humming sound. “You don’t want to do this
now. We’re all on edge. Olivia’s cold. We should get her inside before folks
spill out here,” he said, pointing to the figures pulling open the curtains for
the upstairs windows, so more light would spill onto the patio and the body.

“Don’t use your
talent on me,” Shade snapped.

“Then don’t need
it.”

 
“Who . . .” I had to try a second time to get the question out.
“Who did this? Don’t say leave it to the council. Was it—
”

“Purist,” Shade
said with such venom that it sounded like he was swearing. “I recognized the
man from bureau briefings.”

Looking was a
bad idea, but I couldn’t help myself. My shocked cry came out like a strangled
gargle. Shadow dashed across the patio and up the first flight of steps. Kind
though it was, his gesture was too late to shield me from the ugliness that was
my life. I’d seen the pool of blood from the man dangling upside down from the
bar with his head twisted completely around until it hung crookedly off his
broken neck. I shuddered, replaying the eagerness in his voice as he’d plotted
murder. Tonight the purist had revealed how far they were willing to go, and
Shade had responded. I couldn’t see how it was possible to avoid a war.

“Is it their
goal to kill all the humans, to wipe all trace of us and what we’ve stood for
from this valley? It’s too horrible too contemplate, but we must or at least I
must. That will be my job when I become the warden,” I said, my voice thin and
shrill even with my injured throat.

“Your aunt and
the elders will get the situation resolved long before you’re warden,” Shade responded,
joining us on the landing, his silken drawl for once barely touching my raw
emotions. “Perhaps some good has come out of this evening. The snow twisters
were a declaration of intent. This was a first strike. Now the council will be
forced to acknowledge the larger threat. Do you understand why it’s imperative
that you follow my orders? You can’t continue to treat our warden’s safety and
our valley’s future so lightly.”

“Do you get that
they were my classmates? That I had to do something.”

“They aren’t
responsible for the survival of an entire race,” he shot back.

I sucked in a
shocked breath. “What a monstrous thing to say. Their lives are important,
too.” I turned to climb the set of stairs leading to the upper patio. Heated
air flowed like a second skin across my body, holding me there for a beat,
reminding me of his greater understanding of this place and other things I
didn’t want to consider.

“Where do you
think you’re going?” Shade demanded.

“I doubt you’ll
be interested,” I answered frostily. “I’m going to find Trent and his friends,
because unlike you, I care if they’re alright.” Rippling air pressed against my
body. I couldn’t believe we were fighting after he’d just saved my life. But
there was something about his aggression that made me want to respond in kind.

“Shade, notch it
down,” Shadow ordered, coming to my defense.

“I’m just
explaining to Olivia that she’s not going anywhere tonight unless one of us,”
Shade pointed the mini flashlight on his key ring at his coughing brother and
then back at himself, “goes with her.”

“Fine,” I said,
“Shadow, are you coming?”

Shadow groaned.

“This isn’t a
game,” Shade snapped. “The elders are going to want an accounting of what
happened here tonight. I’m going to escort you to the meeting room while Shad
makes sure no one disturbs the body. At least that way, I can make sure you
stay out of harm’s way.”

“I’d prefer to
go with, Shadow, because when you’re like this, you’re scary and not in the
least bit understanding,” I said.

“I’m not upset
with you,” he retorted.

“Really?
Because you sound like you’d like to throttle me.
My throat hurts too much already.” I sniffed, but the tears I’d been holding
back started to spill.

“Everyone is
safe. Don’t cry,” he said loudly, making it sound like an order.

I hiccupped.
“Stop yelling. It makes me cry more.”

“Please stop. I
hate it when girl’s cry,” Shadow said, sounding amused. “Argue about this
later. I’ll take her inside.”

“No, I need to
make this right,” Shade replied.

“That’s fine by
me. It’s your shirt that’s going to get all damp,” Shadow said, sounding
winded. He put a hand on Shade’s back and doubled over with a hacking cough.

 I pushed
past Shade and crouched at Shadow’s side. “Shad, you’re wheezing. I’m going to
walk with you up front, so you can get checked out by the paramedics.”

Shade gripped
each of us by an elbow and drew us up onto our feet. “Olivia, procedures
require that I escort you to safety. So could you please not give them another
reason to fire my ass? Don’t worry about, Shad. As soon as the police arrive,
He’s going to get that cough checked out, right, Shad?”

“I’ll get right
on that.”

“Sure you will.
Now I know how Mom felt all those years. I’ve got to get inside. Anxious
parents and worked up elders will be arriving soon.”

“Tread
carefully. This isn’t the night to challenge,” Shadow called out after us.

Challenge who?
The elders?
The purist?
I wanted to
demand an answer, but I was afraid of reigniting Shade’s temper. Once we were
alone, I tried to feel his emotions, but all it did was make my head pound
harder. He guided me through an arched entrance I was unfamiliar with to a door
hidden behind an evergreen screen. He rapped a lion head knocker against its
metal plate. We waited in silence with his vibrating hand pressed against the
small of my back. My heart clenched when a string of cheery holiday lights
flipped on above the door, revealing glaciers massing and a stone-cold
expression that I couldn’t reconcile with the man I knew.

“Warming up?”
Shade asked as he lowered himself onto the floor next to the loveseat he’d
dragged in front of the hearth. “I got you more tea.”

“I’m going to
float away,” I replied still sounding quite hoarse.

He frowned and
handed me the chamomile tea that smelled of lemons.
“Sip.”

I did and tasted
something sweet. “You put honey in it? It feels good on my throat. Of course it
could be the pain pill Dr. Long gave me.” I yawned. “Darn fire is making me
sleepy.”

“We’re still
waiting on two more parents. Go ahead, close your eyes. I’ll wake you up.”

“Where’s my
aunt?”

“In the hall talking to Mayor
McCowan
.
She’ll be right in.”

“Olivia?” he
said quietly a moment later. “Sorry I made you cry.”

“You’re mean,” I
replied, drifting off to the soothing crackling of the fire.

“I’m sorry about
that, too.”

“It’s okay,” I
mumbled.

“Olivia?”

I pried one
heavy lid open and waited not even trying to respond.

“You were right
to go for the patio doors. Even though we got the maintenance room fire under
control, its noxious fumes had seeped into the dressing rooms. During the time
it would’ve taken to file the kids past the smoldering piles of towels and
trash by the lockers, the fumes could’ve made them and us quite sick. Right,
Shad?”

“I don’t need to
go to the clinic,” Shadow replied once he’d stopped coughing.

“They were glad
Trent was locked in the pool room. It amused them to think of the pain his
death would cause me personally,” I said, clutching my arms to my chest. “They
were hoping I’d be watching from one of the upstairs
windows.”   

The fire roared
and crackled. Sparks battered against the screen.

After a quick
look towards the door, Shade stood to tend the fire. “Easy, Shad,” he cautioned
in a low voice.

“I don’t think
so. A couple years ago it would’ve been our friends locked in there to die.”

“I’m well aware
of that.”

 “Maybe the
council will finally grow a spine.”

Shade stabbed
the poker into a log. “And do what? Round up every purist including children
for daring to think differently.”

“That’s not what
I’m saying. Outside you were the one talking about the council finally seeing
the larger threat. Now you’re back to appeasing?”

“Dare I not? I
killed a man tonight. I’ll have to answer to both sides.”

“He gave you no
choice. It wasn’t like he cared about those kids’ lives or Olivia’s.”

A soft cry
croaked out of my swollen throat. Shade’s jaw stretched taut. I swear I heard
it crack. He locked eyes of spiraling white bands that had split and frayed
onto his brother.

After an
extended silence, Shad thumped his armrest. “You plan on softening this blow
for Olivia, too? I get it; you had to kill someone. It’s a terrible thing, but
it wasn’t like you didn’t anticipate this scenario when you took those darn
oaths.”

 “I can’t
believe you think I should stoop to their level.”

“Don’t twist my
words. They started this war. They had to know we wouldn’t sit still. Let the
purist cry foul. We saved a group of kids tonight. Their parents won’t be
arguing your actions. I suggest you get your emotions under control before the
council decides you’re too emotionally charged to handle our warden’s
security.”

 Shade
swung away and began prowling restlessly between the hearth and the windows.
Finally, his gaze settled upon my heavy lids.
“Rest.”

I pushed aside
the pile of blankets and sat up slowly, feeling twinges from my latest round of
bruises. Toasty air stroked my face. The cold that had settled deep in my chest
refused to be vanquished or maybe it was the nauseating feelings gnawing away
at my insides that made me shiver and stammer. “What sort of people are they?
What did I ever do to them? I’m filled with all this hate: theirs, mine,
yours
for what they’ve tried. I don’t want to feel like this
towards people I don’t know. I don’t want to be like them. How do I make it
stop?”

Shadow had come
to his feet, his palms outstretched to his twin. In a soothing beat that
reminded me of Sister Willow’s calming technique he said, “Let me give you
ease.”

“No, I must be
reminded to control my fuse. The evening should’ve ended differently,” Shade
retorted. His eyes scrunched briefly as he rolled his shoulders ending with a
vibration that traveled down the length of his body. “Olivia, I didn’t mean for
you to catch my emotions. You’re nothing like them. Get back under the
blankets,” he ordered, shoving them into place.

I grabbed his
hand before he could turn away. “I’m so sorry. If only I’d stayed home. I’m
Roland’s heir. I’m supposed to unite the clans. Instead you had to . . . to
kill someone.”

He squatted next
to me and began massaging my left leg. “I’ll get to the bottom of whoever was
behind this. Your job is to finish high school and get into college. You’ve a
right to be scared. Just don’t let fear beat you. That’s taking the easy way
out. That’s not you. This past year’s girl had grit to spare. You’ve just got
to find that again. But that’s for tomorrow. Right now I’m more concerned that
you’re hurting and chilled to the bone. Take a big sip of that tea. Now give
your eyes a quick rest while I help get you warm.”

He’d put on a
brave front, but I knew him pretty well by now. Through lowered lashes, I
caught his tight-lipped expression reflected in the glass of a landscape
painting of the valley and Shadow’s furrowed brow look of concern. 
                                                               

***

“What happened
to his partner?” Mayor
McCowan
asked once everyone
had taken a seat and been given a brief overview of the evening by my aunt.

“He was gone by
the time we got there,” Shadow answered. “They probably had a meeting place. By
now he’s got to suspect that something went very wrong.”

Dr. Long looked
up from his notes. “Warden Claire and I are in agreement. The morning paper
will list electrocution as the cause of death.”

“Since we can’t
risk the attention of outsiders, we need to come up with a version of the truth
for the police blotter that doesn’t say this was an attempted mass murder of
innocent children,” Mr. Cassidy interrupted in a loud, angry voice.

“Mark, I’ve
taken care of it,” Aunt Claire spoke up, coming forward now to stand alongside
the mahogany desk at the front of the room. “The paper will report that a fire
broke out during the perpetrators failed attempt to bypass the alarm system. I
will make sure the paper mentions that children were trapped by smoke, and the
perpetrators made no attempt to help them escape. People need to know how close
we came to a tragedy here tonight.”

“Can we afford
to stir things up more? We risk discovery,” a gentleman I didn’t recognize
asked.

“
Roquet
, I understand your concern. Every precaution will be
taken,” Aunt Claire said, projecting an unruffled front. “The
purist have
gotten bolder while we’ve hoped to appease. If
not now, then after what action on their part do we say enough? Amongst their
membership they harbor criminals. These individuals must be rooted out.”

“My son could’ve
died tonight,
Roguet
,” Mrs. Cassidy said in a shrill
voice that bordered on hysterical. “Were it not for Olivia’s quick thinking,
I’d be planning his funeral. How dare you think of only yourself? Everyone knows
your voting record. Is it because you want those people to continue shopping in
your store or because you’re pure blood?”

Roquet
downed the last of his brandy. “I’m offended you
would think that way.”

“Enough,” Aunt
Claire said, raising her voice. “We’re here to sort out the facts.”

“We’d have more
facts if Shade hadn’t been so overzealous in the performance of his duties,” a
woman accused from the back of the room.

“Olivia was
being strangled,” Shadow argued, defending his brother’s actions.

“Ever heard of
negotiating?”

“Oh sure, you
people let this situation get out of control, then when Shade is forced to do
his duty, he’s the one you come after.” Shadow’s disrespectful voice swept the
room, sending the flames in the hearth licking higher and the fire popping.
“Face the ugly facts. A male Whisperer was crushing a human’s windpipe,
Olivia’s to be exact. In cold blood he’d locked kids in a burning building and
was waiting around to watch them die. In what reality was he going to negotiate
when he was happily squeezing the life out of his sworn enemy?”

“Shad, enough!”
Shade snapped
,
his
narrowed eyes riveted upon my face.

Aunt Claire
looked at me and then pointed at the door. “This is no place for Olivia.
Shadow, take her home.”

“Why? What else
is there that I haven’t heard or experienced?” I argued. Several people,
including my aunt, cringed at my rough voice.

Mr. Cassidy
straightened from speaking low in his wife’s ear. He smoothed his shirt and
stepped to the front of the room. “This valley isn’t that big. How hard can it
be to find out who the dead man called friend? It’s high time these people
remember they live in this valley and are subject to the rules set down by
their ancestors.”

“Elder Cassidy
is right. We need to take a firm stand. I say drag the lot of them before the
elders and force them to speak,” shouted the father of one of the football
players.

“I want everyone
to keep a cool head,” my aunt said in an uncompromising tone. “I refuse to
believe these unsavory events were condoned by everyone in the purist
community.”

“Send Olivia
back east. Her coming here is what stirred up the purist,”
Roguet
suggested.

Mayor
McCowan
leveled a look upon Shade that made my innards
twist. He eased over to
Roquet’s
side and placed a
hand on the man’s shoulder. “I’m afraid sending Olivia away won’t be enough.
One of their people is dead.”

Shadow shot to
his feet. “You want to give them my brother?”

“That isn’t what
I said. Regrettably, the first death was not by purist hands.”

“Not from lack
of trying.”

 Over the
rumble of voices Mayor
McCowan
addressed the room.
“We’re missing an opportunity. I believe the purist leadership will come to the
bargaining table once Shade turns himself in to the Enforcers. If we express
interest in their concerns, things might settle down.”

“I can’t believe
you’d sell my brother out for votes,” Shadow shouted, getting into the mayor’s
face. Shade grabbed his arm and dragged him back to the hearth, but not before
several empty glasses toppled over from the sudden burst of air.

Several individuals instantly
vibed
.
A few demanded Warden Claire call the Enforcers.

“We should be
thanking Shade for saving our children not offering him up to placate
monsters,” Mr. Cassidy said, talking over people. “I refuse to bargain with
would be murderers. I say we test Olivia tonight. If she proves acceptable,
make her take up the warden’s duties. No offense, Claire, but we need a full
range warden. It’s time we ferreted out those who would undermine our way of
life. What say you?” Mr. Cassidy demanded, turning to those elders assembled in
his private study.

My mouth went
dry as he rallied support. The deep, plush cushions molded about my body,
holding me in the room just like the mountain ridges marked the boundaries of
my shrinking world. Shade shifted closer. While I appreciated his solid
presence, he was committed to the valley and in the end would abide by the
decisions of his elders.

“Everyone calm
down,” Aunt Claire said in a loud, authoritative voice, causing several heads
to swivel in her direction. She waited for the room to settle before continuing
in a tone that left no debate as to who was in charge. “I won’t risk innocent
lives on either side. I most certainly won’t agree to any action that would
force my unprepared niece to take up duties beyond her years. Need I remind
you, Mark,” she said, piercing Mr. Cassidy with a hard stare, reminding him of
his place, “that Olivia is Trent’s age? Need I remind all of you of Warden
Ethan Wagoner Pepperdine’s preparations that were agreed to by the governing
council?”

“The council
agreed before things got out of hand,” Mark Cassidy said less forcefully than
before.

“The girl is too
young and inexperienced. Leave her be,” a woman said off to my right.

“Test her at
least,” a voice called out. Several others shouted their support.

“Don’t force me
to act to protect the heir,” my aunt warned.

“My son almost
died tonight. A leader has to put the good of the whole ahead of their own
desires,” the football player’s father said, pushing his way closer to my aunt.

“I see. It’s
alright if someone else’s kid gets hurt. Ethan’s child is as much a child of
this valley as your son, Dillon,” Shade said, his low voice the rumble of an
approaching storm.

“I didn’t mean .
. .” The man’s face turned beet red. He cleared his throat and spoke in the
general direction of the loveseat. “Ethan and I played football together. I
never meant to imply that Olivia’s life was any less important than my own
son’s.”

Several angry
voices debated in the far corner of the room. I couldn’t make out which side
they were for. I swallowed hard. My life, my future had become something to be
appropriated. My gaze flicked from person to person, scanning the room in
search of support. I tried to make eye contact with my aunt, but she was engaged
in a heated debate with Mr. Cassidy whose face mottled over as he gestured
animatedly. All the hate and anger boiling over in the room turned my stomach.
I drew the pillow to my chest, clenching it close, my chin buried against the
velvety suede. A hot hand dropped onto my left shoulder. I could feel the
steady vibrations through my shirt. The empty cushion next to me dipped down. I
turned to find Shadow looking past me at the arguing elders. Before I could
fully digest that unexpected kindness, Sadie Cassidy’s voice cut through the
din.