The Reverence of One: Book Three of the Shadow Series (41 page)

“Thank you,” said Test, the words barely audible as his breath failed him.

Ea
ch of the spirits lifted a hand though
not one of them spoke. As Test took Alyssa into his arms, the glass to the main door shattered violently. No one flinched, no one even looked. In a brilliant final display of hot white light, the Shadows phased and began their journey home.

Ikuhabe had known that Isaac’s plan to use the media to draw Test to him would mean outing their kind, but Isaac’s thirst to destroy the threat of the young Shadow blinded him to any other risk.

He had cut off his hair, something that came with great difficulty as he considered it part of his heritage, and dressed himself in flower print shirts and cargo shorts. He found it appalling, but had to do what he could to change his appearance as the entire world was now aware of the Shadows’ existence
after
the incident in
Kansas City
. He hoped that the others were being as careful as he.

A month had passed since Isaac’s death, and though Ikuhabe had been tempted to find Test and his family,
he found himself satisfied with a peaceful existence.
He had chosen to move back among his people, and had abandoned his home on the East Coast in a quick manner, leaving behind most of his possessions. It didn’t bother him that he had little
.
M
ost everything he’d accumulated was a reminder of his past—something he did not want.

As he sat in a lawn chair in front of his newly acquired trailer home, he watched the sun set as he did nearly every night. With a cold glass of iced tea in hand, he watched as some children played catch in the street. The occasional car would pass, but it was a relatively quiet evening.

He leaned his head back and let the sun bathe his face in its warmth. The light shone brightly through his eyelids until the moment that something shaded his face.

He opened his eyes and leaned forward to see a red-head
ed, freckle faced male
and a
pale skinned
strawberry blonde
female
standing over him
with childlike, mischievous grins
.

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