Page 62 of From the Shadows
“They were haunting—no pun intended. At least I don’t think so—the halls, whispering to each other, and at one point, I swear I heard Hal giggle.”
“I’m not sure how they’ll do it, but I hope they can make it work. Jakar deserves someone he can call his own.”
“Sounds like there’s a story there.”
“Not really. In our tribe, the shaman is expected to be focused on the group’s well-being, even to the exclusion of his own happiness. Jakar never smiled. Like, ever. It was sad and pained me. When I tried to talk to my parents about it, they shut me down, telling me, as royalty, I had to think of the group as a whole, not the individual parts. And while it might seem like they’re doing the right thing, they assume that every person has the same needs, and that’s not true at all. They wanted me to treat everyone exactly the same. I couldn’t do that. To me, every person formed an important part of that whole, and I could no more ignore their suffering than I could my own. In the end, I couldn’t hack it and walked away.”
“Ran away,” Shay corrected.
“Fine, yes. I ran away. Not because I was afraid. I mean, they weren’t bad parents, but they were so far removed from the reality of our people that they almost considered them a different species. Me? I was happy going into the town and helping out at the tavern, or working at the diner when they were shorthanded. That stuff gave me purpose.”
“And you don’t talk to them?”
Her eyes widened. “What? Oh, no. I call them on occasion. I mean, I’d try more often, but it’s always the same. ‘When are you going to stop this foolishness and fulfill your duties?’ And my answer is also the same. I’m not. Ever. This place? These people? They’re more my family than my own, because they know me, and they accept that I’m a hell raiser.”
Shay served breakfast. Jeremy came through, inhaled what Shay served him, then ran off to visit the library, where Shay had added new books about snakes. The rest of the team dragged themselves into the kitchen and wolfed down their plates, then got up and put their dirty dishes in the washer, before they went with the others to patrol.
The Fates had been on the phone frequently with Diego, telling him about things that they sensed. This sent them all scrambling every morning to get to the places the attacks would most likely occur. For a couple of missions, they successfully thwarted the vampires, but far too often, they were late and had to deal with the aftermath. It was taking a toll on Diego, whose nerves seemed to be fraying. He was snappy and easy to anger. Oh, he did his best to drop his troubles at the door when he got home, but when they were in bed, Diego clutched Shay, taking every death they dealt with as his own personal failure.
“Diego is torn, I think,” Ranna said, pulling Shay out of his thoughts.
“Oh?”
“Jakar tells him I’m not fully healed and ought not be out in the field. I say I’m fine, and there are too many fires to put out to be short people. He’s reached out to others, but they’ve got their hands full too. He gives me orders to go out, but if I find more than a few vamps, I’m supposed to call for backup.”
“Which you would never do.”
She grinned. “I love how you know me.”
“Ranna, you’ve got to be kidding me. We can’t lose you.”
She stood, half a danish in her mouth, and pulled him in for a hug. “We need you too, Shay. Never forget that.”
He knew that, and he loved it.
Ranna’s phone rang. She answered it, a scowl on her face. “Where?” she demanded. “I’m on my way.” … “No, I don’t need anyone else.” … “Yes, Dad, I’ll keep out of trouble.” Then she disconnected and slid the phone back into her pocket. “In a pig’s eye.” She gave Shay a quick kiss on the cheek. “The Fates called Diego. We have five groups causing havoc, so we’re off. We probably won’t be back until late.”
And with that, she was out the door, leaving the house empty except for Shay and Jeremy. He wasn’t lonely. He wasn’t. Much. He sighed at how quiet the house was. He missed the rambunctious team and Jeremy who filled it with life. Well, his duties kept him occupied. At least for the most part.
A few hours later, he made a snack for Jeremy, then took it up to the library, where he was poring over his books. When Shay put the peanut butter and grape jam—the only jam Jeremy would eat—on the table, he looked up and smiled.
“Thank you, Shay.” He pointed to the book. “Did you know some snakes live almost entirely underwater? They only come to the surface to breathe, and even then it could be several hours between breaths.”
Shay loved seeing Jeremy’s excitement. “I did not. That’s fascinating. Have you ever turned into a water snake?”
He frowned. “Some books say that sea snakes can’t really live well on land. I might try it one day, but not sure when.”
“You love your snake books, don’t you?”
“Yes!” Jeremy barked. “You don’t know how much I’m learning. Check this out.”
He got up and struggled out of his clothes. He closed his eyes, and Shay could see the concentration on his face. A few moments later, there was a full-sized anaconda climbing the table leg. When he got to the top, he shifted back.
“All that is done with muscles. It’s weird that I’m so skinny, but in snake form, I can crush prey.” He snickered. “I don’t want to kill things to eat, though. I’ll take a peanut butter and jelly any day.”
“After today, you won’t need to worry about that ever again” came a dark voice from behind them.
Shay twisted and found a vampire in their home. And it wasn’t Diego. “Who are you?”
