Shadows of the Past (21 page)

There was a really bad feeling in her gut. Something was wrong, really wrong. Amethyst just didn
’t know what. Maybe something had happened to Hayden? He’d mentioned he was working on a really tough case.

She should have
better explained where she stood in their… relationship, for lack of a better word. What if he thought she was done with him? That wasn’t it. Yeah, she was scared, but she knew he wasn’t like Carl.

Amethyst
had tried to call her mom earlier, but she didn’t answer. That worried her. Mom had been mad when she left even after Carl was gone, but Opal didn’t understand how everything in San Francisco reminded her of Carl. The good, the bad, the horrible.

Maybe a swim would do her good. She could probably convince Hayden to come with her. That would put a smile on her face. That was a much better direction
for her thoughts.

Grinning she started for the lobby, and Fallon immediately pulled her into a tight hug.

“What is it?” Amethyst whispered, her alarm bells going off.

“
Your Mom. Carl attacked her. Something was riding him, a sort of possession. She won’t wake up. Gabriel is with her at the hospital.”

“What?” She pushed Fallon back to look up at
her. “He’s already dead. How?”

“Hayden or your brother can explain that. I don’t understand.”

“Carl isn’t dead?”

“Remember Zack? That was Carl.”

“But he was here, not back down there.” Amethyst backed away. He looked similar, but the coloring was all wrong. He did sound a lot like Carl.
Oh boy
. Her blood went cold. “I don’t understand. Mom is down there and he’s up here.”

Fallon
shook her head. “She came to protect you.”

“From Carl?
Did he hurt her?” Tears filled her eyes. That sense of dread made more sense now.

“She fought. She shot Carl,
and Clint tore him apart. Carl’s dead, but whatever was riding him is still out there. Gabriel called me because he didn’t want to tell you over the phone, honey. I am so sorry, Ame. She’s stable right now. She’s going to pull through.”

Tears flooded her eyes
. “Does Paavo know?” Of course he did. Amethyst stepped back and fell into one of the chairs. “Does he?” She demanded.

“Yeah, they are coming up here. They
’re on their way. They heard, and Paavo thought it would be best to tell you in person. What can I do?” Fallon knelt in front of her. “I know you two are close. Just tell me what you need.”

“I…
I don’t know.” She wiped at her eyes as she heard the bells ring.

She looked up to see Hayden walk in
. As soon as he saw her, he rushed to her, picking her up. Her arms and legs wrapped around him.

“What happened, little nymph? What made you cry?” He murmured against her ear, and it
was so right in his arms that she felt a little better, but her chest still ached.

“My Mom
. Carl attacked her. I don’t know what happened. I’ve had this feeling all day. I just knew something bad was coming. I just didn’t think it would be her.” She barely held back her sobs.

Hayden sat down on the table, holding her tight as he ran his hand down her back in big soothing strokes.

“What can I do? Just tell me how to help.” He was already helping though, soothing the ache, making her feel safe for the first time since running out on him that morning.

“Don’t let me go
.” She shuddered and shook her head. “My brother is coming up already, with Mathis. He probably wanted to tell me in person. Gabriel called Fallon.” She sighed. “Guess no one wanted to tell me on the phone. That just makes me feel like a little kid. You probably think I am too.”

“You’re not, you’re all woman, Amethyst, my little nymph. And you are only little because you’re so much smaller than me,” he purred into her hair.

A giggle escaped her lips. “Thank you.”

“For what?” h
e whispered, nudging her face up to dry her tears with light kisses.

“For making me smile when I didn’t think I could.”

“We’ll figure this out. We need to talk though. I’ve got more bad news.”

After watching Preston walk away, her stomach clenched and she swallowed hard.
“Who?” she whispered.

“We’ll talk. Let’s get you out of here.”

“Tell me Preston is okay. Please.”

He nodded, but a flash of jealousy swept through his dark eyes. “He’s working with me on this. Dinner plans
have changed. We’re meeting back at my place. Mathis and Paavo, too. Gabriel is staying with Opal.”

“I’m going to want to see
my mom, but I probably need to know what’s going on.”

“Brody and I will be there,” Fallon told Hayden and started for the door. She turned back and called out to Adam who was in
his office. “Hey Adam, we’re taking off.”

“Later,” he answered.

Hayden set her down and she looked up at him. “Can I stay with you tonight?”

“Of course.
I was hoping you would, but after this morning, I wasn’t sure.”

“I didn’t handle what you said very well, and I knew you didn’t mean it like that. I just needed a little time to think. You were unexpected and I wasn’t prepared.”

“Neither was I,” he murmured. “I’ll go slow if that’s what you need, Amethyst.”

A weak smile took hold. “I don’t need slow, but if I ask for time to think, let me. I won’t shut you out, but sometimes I need time.”

“I’ll do my best to remember that.” He pulled her toward the door. “Now, let’s go.” Finally feeling a little better, she followed.

* * * *

Izackarus walked slowly through the halls. No one seemed to notice him. He had to stop and lean against a wall as he put his feelers out, looking for someone already in pain.

He felt it, an argument just getting started,
both parties were suffering. He moved down the hall in Darla’s body, and quietly slipped into the room.

A young man stood with his shoulders hunched, near a bed with a frail older woman. “I could take the pain at the very least, Mother.”

“No, Lincoln.” Her voice was strained and Izackarus felt Darla’s eyes tearing up against his will. “It’s my time.” She coughed, and then pushed on. “You are a good boy, but you need to move on without me. I’ve had my life and it was a good one, especially after I had you.”

Darla knew that the woman was Lincoln’s mother, and that she was battling stage four lung
cancer. What she didn’t know was how Lincoln planned to heal his mother.

“Mom,” he wiped at his eyes and tilted his head. “I don’t want to watch you suffer. At least let me take the pain.”

“No, son. Please. I never asked you to watch over me. It’s nearly my time.”

Iz
ackarus was half tempted to take the failing body, but in his weakened state, he wasn’t sure that was wise. He could smell her death lingering in the air.

However, he could take the body for a short
time, and tear more pain from the man before him. He settled in to wait, knowing that the woman’s time was near.

He started to imagine pouring into her body to get up and scream some terrifying message at Lincoln. Or maybe filling her body with his essence to tear the IV from her arm and carve into her flesh with the needles.

Tears streamed down Lincoln’s face, and again, Darla’s will was strong enough to send tears leaking out of her eyes.

There was a croaking sound as the woman’s chest stopped mid-rise, then a gurgle and
finally silence. After a long moment her body went limp. Lincoln slumped into the chair behind him as a sob tore free.

Izackarus flowed out of Darla, heading for the corpse.

Darla cried out, “Lincoln, protect her.”

Lincoln shot to his feet, as Izackarus’ shadowy mist descended toward the body.

A stream of brilliant light filled the room, and Izackarus had no choice but to rush back into Darla’s body to hide, but he didn’t have control yet.

Darla ran into the hall, and for an empty storeroom where she collapsed as Izackarus wrested control from her.

* * * *

Space, Amethyst might want space. He wasn’t sure how to deal with that when he knew he wanted none. After he told her the rest of the story, he worried she would run.

The ride to her apartment was quiet. He knew she was hurting, and he didn’t know what to say. Words were never a gift of his. He was more inclined to fix problems than talk through them.

Amethyst was a whole new experience. One he never wanted to let go. He understood why she wanted to be sure, but it tore him up that she might doubt him.

He pulled up and parked. She looked over at him with a sad smile. “You coming?” She climbed out of the SUV before he could open his door. Amethyst was already on her way into her apartment.

The urge to tell her to wait swarmed him, but he fought it back. If the
Shadow were here, she would probably feel him. She had all along. Shit, maybe trying to protect her from all of it was the wrong decision. Fallon had already told him to tell Amethyst everything. He had waited and that obviously hurt her.

Shaking his head, he stepped into her apartment. She had put her own touches on the place. It was inviting, and he liked seeing her pictures on
the wall. He assumed they were her friends. There were some of Jamie, Fallon, and even Preston. He was almost afraid to ask what she felt for the mage.

It was too quiet
. He stepped into her doorframe and found her staring at a picture of her family. A tear trailed down her cheek.

“Sweetheart, are you okay?”

She turned to meet his gaze. Her shoulders rose and fell as she twisted her fingers through the ends of her hair. “I know it’s stupid, but I feel like this is my fault.”

“Why is that?” He asked softly, waiting for some sign that she wanted him to close the distance and pull her into his arms.

With a sigh, she sank onto the bed and dropped her eyes to the floor. “Maybe if I had just slept with Carl sooner he wouldn’t have done whatever he did to invite whatever it was into him. I sent him away. It was the only way unless I wanted someone to kill him. There were plenty of volunteers, and unfortunately, any one of them would have done it. I just didn’t want his death on my hands, and yet, it is.”

She wiped at her eyes and dropped her head into her hands. “I thought I finally did the right thing. Mom was practically begging me to just get it over with, and it took him sending me to the
Council before I went through with it. I just wanted him out of my life, and now he seems to be tearing it apart.”

Hayden moved to her and knelt in front of her. He nudged her chin up and peered into her eyes. “I’m not sure exactly what happened with Carl, but I guarantee this isn’t your fault.”

She let out a bitter laugh. “I wish that were true. You didn’t see the look of devastation and horror on his face the last time we had sex. He ran out of there faster than I could catch my breath. I fell apart, and next thing I know, Preston was calling me to tell me that Carl killed himself. He planted a dagger in his own chest because I sent him away.”

“Oh, Amethyst, you can’t look at it like that. Do you know what his last name meant?”

She closed her eyes and shook her head.

“Umbra is shadow. He had some fae in him.
Shadow Fae, to be exact. Not much, but it’s probably where he got some of his magic. I did a background check on him. He was a warlock, one who appeared weak, but he had ties in darker magic that he couldn’t flaunt.”

She shook her head. “He wasn’t powerful. He gave off almost no magical energy.”

“Because it wasn’t directly magic, it was more to do with shadows. He called a Shadow Fae from another realm. Izackarus was imprisoned, but somehow Carl found the incantation to bring him into our realm.”

Her eyes rounded as she looked up at him. Her whole body trembled.
“Izackarus? I know that name.” She whispered. “He killed my grandmother as she imprisoned him.” Her hands covered her mouth.

“Look at me,” he told her, and she did. “We’ll find a way to stop him. I swear to you that we will.”

“It is my fault.”

“No. I bet Carl had the scroll for a long time. I bet Izackarus was sending him dreams. I bet it would have happened no matter what. He would have come
after you as soon as he found his way into this realm.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better, Hayden.”

“It should. It means you aren’t to blame.”

She wrapped her arms around herself. “He attacked my mother, he shot my friend. What did he do to Darla?”

Hayden swallowed hard. “That’s a little more complicated. I believe he possessed her.”

Amethyst shot to her feet and moved away.