Shadowborn (40 page)
Authors: Jocelyn Adams
Tags: #Romance, #paranormal, #the glass man, #unseelie, #urbran fantasy, #fairy, #fae, #seelie
Liam gave me a crooked smirk. He didn’t show up as trouble on my radar, but something about him tweaked my curiosity. No backwoods barber cut that chestnut hair. It looked too modern, standing up a little on top as if he’d fingered some gel through it. The accent in his mellow voice sounded farther south than Pennsylvania, and he didn’t scream ‘redneck’ like a typical farmer.
Countries all over the world exploded into rubble several years before, and speculation about the hows and whys led to a world pandemic of paranoia. I usually chose safety over food. His acceptance of me sneaking around his place was too quick, and Rourke set off every alarm bell I had in my head, but the thought of real food tantalized me. Besides, like that squirrel that I’d pissed off, I needed to fatten myself up for winter and build energy to stay ahead of my hunter.
I hung back while Liam walked toward the house with the shotgun propped against the muscular swell of his shoulder. He turned and called back, “C’mon now … ’less you’re not hungry.”
His you’re-not-fooling-anyone look almost made me smile, but I kept my expression neutral.
I stared up at the farmhouse standing tall before me with a pristine red tin roof and two windows on either side of the screen door. The depth of quiet seemed unnatural, but other than that, it looked like a typical farm.
I turned away, reconsidered the safety of the forest.
Stay or go?
My empty gut growled its answer. People didn’t often part ways with their money anymore. That, and I wanted a chance to snoop around for the source of energy strong enough to intoxicate me.
Two days would be safe, wouldn’t it?
Maybe I’d feel Liam out over a meal and check on that boy. Thinking of him alone with that nutball, Rourke, made my spine itch. If it wouldn’t put him in worse danger, I’d take the kid with me.
I peered at Liam from beneath the brim of my black cap. “Are the rest of the guys coming for the meal?”
Liam resumed his path toward the house, shaking his head. “Garret’s a big boy. Supper’s in five minutes whether you’re there to eat it or not.”
Hands on hips, I kicked the grass and paced. I didn’t like anyone seeing through me so easily. The guy crawled under my skin and started to fester, and I’d only been with him for five minutes.
He did offer to feed me and give me a job.
It wasn’t like me to act so ungrateful. That kid held me back.
Okay, eat first, kid right after, then I’ll snoop around for the energy source.
I took a last look and listen for the usual warnings of my hunter. When I found nothing but motionless forest and heavy silence, I started after Liam.
2
I sat across from Liam at a wooden table, devouring leftover meatloaf and canned peas. After the forest crawlers I’d been eating for weeks, it might as well have been prime rib and caviar.
Power had become scarce after some paranoid zealots blew up one of the remaining power stations in the northeast, so Liam left the lights off. A halo of amber encircled us from a hurricane lantern flickering in the center of the table. He won another point in my book.
“Where did you get the peas?” I asked. Shadows played along the landscape of his face, darkening his eyes and highlighting his full lips. “Most of the grocery stores have been picked clean, and they only get new stuff in once a month if they’re lucky.”
He’d put on a blue plaid shirt and shaved off his scruff. All cleaned up, he didn’t look much older than me. Maybe twenty-three or so. A fresh cologne or aftershave wafted to me.
Nice.
“I filled up the cellar when I saw where things were headed.” Liam’s fork hovered over his plate. “Got enough down there for a few more years if I eat light.”
A stash of that size would bring out the local goons. Every town had its little gang of thugs who plundered and burned whatever house they happened across, especially if they found the cache. Maybe that’s why Liam had his gun out?
He looked up from his plate. “Momma said it wasn’t polite to hug your knees at the table.”
My feet slipped off the chair and settled on the hardwood floor. “Sorry. Bad habit, I guess.”
“So …” He slid his large hands along the table and stared at me. “Who you runnin’ from?”
I had a moment of brain freeze but continued to chew my mouthful of peas without spitting them over the table. I met his suspicious stare without flinching. “What makes you think I’m running from anything?”
Liam wiped the back of his hand across his mouth as he shoved his empty plate aside. The purposeful look on his handsome face made me want to squirm, but I resisted the urge.
“You snuck across my yard like a trained mercenary. Dressed in a black getup without so much as a pebble misplaced under your shoe or a crinkled leaf to make a sound. Had the lay of the land within seconds too, I bet. Took down a man who outweighs you by fifty pounds as if you done it before. You hardly flinched when I set my gun on you. Now, you’re sittin’ there all hunched around yourself like a rabbit in the grass. Definitely runnin’. I just hope it’s not from the law.”
“No trouble with the law.” It wasn’t a lie as long as the one who hunted me wasn’t a cop in whatever hell he’d crawled out of. I held up my hand. “I swear on my mother’s spirit.”
“Folks are dead, then?”
I looked away while I wiped my mouth with a paper towel. A familiar pain gripped my heart. “I appreciate the meal. If you can show me where your hires stay, I’ll get out of your way.” I found it best to avoid the question when I couldn’t think of a good lie.
The sound of my mother’s last cries echoed in my head,
‘Run, Lilabear, run!’
The memories hit me hard and fast, her warm blood dripping through the floor onto my face, the agony as I scraped my fingers raw to escape the hole she’d hidden me in so I could save her from him. My legs tensed, eager to launch me away from the table, but I forced my body still. I dug my fingernails into my palms.
“Don’t mean to pry. Just curious, is all.”
Curious didn’t cover it.
Who is this guy?
A cop? A private investigator, maybe?
No career farmer, that’s for sure.
I shoved my wavy hair behind my ears and took a moment to calm myself before I spoke. My energy boiled and surged beneath the surface. Tiny sparks flickered to life in my head.
Not now. Please, not now. Concentrate!
I didn’t need my power to spike in the middle of the guy’s kitchen.
“Don’t ask me about them again.”
“All right. Don’t get your knickers in a twist.” With a crooked grin, he looked down at my plate. “How long’s it been since you had a hot meal?”
I glanced at the bit of meatloaf left on my plate. Had I scarfed it down like a starving fool? “A few days, maybe. Why do you ask?” I wiped at my mouth in case I had a grease moustache. My stomach groaned, so full I thought it might split down the middle. I guess it had shrunk on all that bird food I’d been eating.
He gave a disbelieving snicker and gazed at me for a long time without saying anything. The way his eyes settled on my face drew heat to my cheeks.
Mother loving hell.
I looked away. Nobody but my hunter had ever made me blush.
“You have some of the prettiest eyes I ever seen.” His voice warmed me down to my toes. I held my breath. “Blue as a couple o’ sapphires.”
Before I realized I’d moved, I had my pack in one hand and the door knob in the other. Could he see the other colors in my eyes? I inspected the skin on my arms. It stayed a pale peach like normal skin instead of its natural golden cream. My illusion hadn’t failed, yet.
Liam’s chair screeched across the floor. “Wait! That wasn’t meant to be a line or nothin’. You’re eyes are just—well—I never seen any like ’em. Look, I’m an old fashioned guy, not one of them country hicks that goes around touchin’ ladies I don’t know. At least not the way you’re thinkin’.”
Hand frozen on the door and my heart hammering against my ribs, I peered over my shoulder. “Fine, but we need to be clear. I’m only here for a bit of travelling money, and then I’m moving on. If you try anything funny—”
“You’ll roast my nuts on a spit. I get it.” He chuckled.
I cracked a tiny grin but erased it before I turned around and gave him the hard stare I’d perfected years before. “So we’re clear?”
“As Goddamn crystal. And you’re crazy if you think I’m lettin’ you stay anywhere near Rourke, or any of my men for that matter. Just cuz I’m old fashioned, don’t mean they are.” He nodded to a door in the back. “There’s a room off the kitchen with a cot and a lamp for readin’ if you’re that sort. Should do you fine.”
“No!” I huffed out a breath and reeled in my tone. I mean, thank you, but that’s not necessary. I can take care of myself.” If I could handle a lunatic hunting me across the country and every backwoods creep who wanted a piece of me, I could handle a bunch of farmhands.
“Yeah, I get that about you. But if you’re workin’ for me, then you stay where I say. I wouldn’t trust Rourke with my old boot, let alone a … a woman.” A mild pink blush washed over Liam’s skin.
“What were you going to say instead of ‘woman’?” I took a step toward him, tried to catch his gaze, but he scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck and stared at his feet.
“Oh, hell. Doesn’t matter. Stupid shit tends to come out of my mouth around—” He groaned and walked to the door he’d pointed to. “The room’s all made up. I got one of them slide locks I can put on the door if that’s what’s eatin’ you.”
“I’d rather stay with the others.”
He paused, his hand on the door knob. “Tell me why?”
I didn’t want to outright say I wanted to check on the kid or that he reminded me of my brother—bless his soul. Liam might have taken it as a jab at him—that he wasn’t looking out for his guys. I shrugged. “Because you shouldn’t have strangers in your house, that’s why.”
He strode over to me with his arms crossed. “You don’t trust me, do you?”
“Don’t take it personally, but I don’t trust anyone.” I leaned back against the front door, the handle pinched between my fingers. The urge to reach out and touch him grabbed hold of me again, but I forced it away.
What’s happening to me?
A smile quirked his lips. “You wanna check up on Garret, don’t you?”
My lip curled up in a snarl. “Someone needs to.” I turned, yanked the front door open and went onto the porch. The damp air soothed my warm face. Twilight had come and gone, and the first of the stars leapt out against the velvet sky. A silence stretched over me like a comforting blanket. My unease clicked up a notch—more because I found nothing alarming than anything I could sense.
Liam came out behind me. “What the hell’d I say to make you devil-eye me like that? Garret’s a big boy; he can look out for himself. It’s not worth putting yourself near Rourke.” He came around to face me, but I jumped down the porch steps before he could block my escape route.
“I saw the way you looked at that creep.” I strode down the path through the roses. “I think he scares the hell out of you as much as he scares that boy. If you’re too big of a coward to take care of your people, then I’ll do it for you.”
So much for diplomacy.
Involving myself in his mess could have been disastrous, but I couldn’t walk away, not then.
Heavy footsteps pounded the ground behind me. Liam jerked me around by the arm.
“Get your hands off me!” The air trembled around me. The well deep in my head overflowed, and the sparks grew to flames. If I didn’t control it, my skin would turn into a bright beacon—complete contrast to the night.
Come on, dammit. You can do better than this.
Liam threw his hands up.
It would be a rush to let the power go—better than anything.
No! Don’t think about that.
As long as I held the energy inside and didn’t form any specific intentions, I wouldn’t level his house or do something equally unproductive.
“Did you just call me a coward?”
I groaned and shook my head. “I didn’t mean that, but how can you sit here all calm after you saw the look in that kid’s eyes? If you want me to go, fine, but not before I see that he’s all right. I’m not looking for someone to take care of me, so stop with the macho routine.”
Laughter burst out of him, startling me. I stepped back.
“How long you been on the road, Laura?”
I glared at him. “Why?”
“You look a little worn round the edges. The way your eyes lit up when I mentioned food and the way you hovered around your plate reminded me of a half-starved dog I found once. And the way you talk … seems to me you don’t keep company with people much.”
“I remind you of a dog. Nice.” I uttered a bitter laugh. “You’re a real charmer, Liam.” I shoved the bent gate open with my foot.
“Now why’d you go and take it like that?”
I thought I heard him kick something, so I stopped and spied on him through a curtain of my hair. He stood beyond the gate with his hands on his hips, glaring at the ground as if it had beaten him in a fight.
After a long pause and a few audible breaths, he said, “Fine and dandy, Laura whatever your name is. You want to sleep with the pigs, then have at it.” He pointed a finger at me. “But don’t go blamin’ me if you wake up with one of ’em naked on top of you. Crew quarters are a ways from the main house, so I won’t hear no screamin’.”
I concentrated on a white static nothing in my head. “I never scream.” Under my breath, I added, “not anymore.” I’d heal. They wouldn’t.
“Yeah, I just bet you don’t. That pride of yours is gonna do you in one of these days.” Liam marched past me. “Well, come on then, I best introduce you to the rest of ’em. This ought to be good for a laugh or two.”
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