15. A Shade Above
ELOISE
After applying for positions at a few more schools in the area, I do laundry and clean while Grams sleeps the day away. At least she’s resting comfortably today. Whenever she wakes, I try to get her to eat and drink something, but she refuses. When I help her to the bathroom, she can’t wait to return to bed and resume staring out the window toward the family graveyard. It’s as if she’s waiting for an appearance from her beloved Howard. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I”ve accepted that she’s dying, but part of me wants to hold her to me for as long as possible. Another part, a part I’m not ready to acknowledge fully, is starting to understand that she’s ready to go.
Grams has the look in her eye of someone who has better places to be.
She’s fast asleep by the time I roll the two big black garbage bins down the lengthy driveway to the curb for tomorrow”s pickup. I always enjoy this walk. The grounds of Harcourt Manor are extensive. It’s a little over a quarter mile to the road. As the sun sets behind the pine, hackberry, and sycamore trees that populate our property, I admired the stars and the half-moon in the clear night sky. A person could see eternity from my front yard.
I take my time walking back, allowing the night to seep into me through my coat and the skin of my cheeks. Its touch is reassuring. The universe above me is constant and eternal, unlike my small, inconsequential life, caught in a maelstrom of change. Maybe long after we’re all gone, we”ll become part of that great, star-filled expanse. Maybe there will be a day when Tony, this house, the money… none of it will matter. It should be a depressing thought, but somehow it”s comforting.
“Is staring at the moon a regular habit for you?” Damien appears beside me in the blink of an eye a la David Copperfield, and I lurch back, barely managing to muffle my scream and not wet my pants.
“What the actual fuck?” I hiss through my teeth, then charge forward, slapping his head and shoulders and giving him a solid shove in the chest. My tantrum has zero effect on him. I might as well have shoved a brick wall. “Damn it! I have a human heart, Damien. Do you even know CPR if I went into cardiac arrest? Worse, if I”d screamed, you might have killed my grandmother with worry about me.”
The corner of his mouth twitches. “My apologies.”
I smack his shoulder again fruitlessly. “Don”t sneak up on me like that.”
He sticks his hands in his pockets, his stuttering smirk telling me he”s trying not to laugh. “I”d hate to send your little bird heart into cardiac arrest, but if it eases your mind, I do know CPR.”
I squint at him. “You do? Why?”
He arches a brow. “I”ve lived here hundreds of years. It”s a useful skill.”
“Really?” It makes no sense to me. Why would a shadow monster need to know CPR?
“One reads,” he says, shrugging a shoulder.
I notice he’s wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. I’ve only ever seen him in a suit. “Why are you dressed like that? Actually, I don”t care. What are you even doing here so early? It”s barely ten.”
That twitch in the corner of his mouth takes on a smug quality. “Our weak-minded Tamara was able to retrieve the address of Gold Weaver, Inc from her memory. It”s a warehouse, but I”m not sure it”s what you are hoping for. I”m dressed like this because anything else would stand out where we need to go tonight. I came to ask if you”d like to accompany me there to see it for yourself.”
“Tamara gave up the goods?”
He flashes me a conspiratorial grin. “She is truly as simple as they come. Barely a glance in her direction and she spilled the contents of her brain like a candy dish.”
I”d like to say I’m a big enough person not to revel in that, but I”m not. I thoroughly enjoy the idea of Tamara contributing to Tony”s downfall, and I cackle at the thought of Damien coaxing all the info out of her. “So, where is it? When do you want to go?” I fold my arms against a night breeze that chills me to the bone.
“Now would be best. There are only so many hours before dawn.”
“Okay.” I hold out my hand.
His brows sink and he stares down at my offered palm. “What exactly do you think is going to happen here?”
“You”re going to take my hand and whisk me away in a column of smoke to show me the warehouse.”
He snorts, then gives a low, gritty laugh. “No.”
“No?”
“I”m afraid it doesn”t work that way. Only shades can travel through shadow. If I tried to take you with me, the transmutation would split you into a million molecules, never to be put back together. The process would make quite a mess and result in your death.”
Inhaling sharply, I point at his chest. “You just called yourself a shade.”
He rolls his eyes. “Yes, I am a shade. Not a vampire. Not the boogeyman. A shade.”
“Oh.” I scratch my neck. “What exactly is a shade?”
“The clock is ticking, little bird. Would you like a lesson on supernatural creatures of the universe or to find a way to stop your husband from taking your home?”
“Hmm, you”re a grump tonight.” I plant my fists on my hips. “How are we supposed to get there?”
He peers at me as if I’m dim. “I assume you have a vehicle?”
I sigh. “Yeah, I do, but we”re going to have to stop for gas.”
“Lead the way.”
After a quick detour to grab my purse and keys, I load Damien into my Jeep, a feat that requires adjusting the passenger”s seat all the way back to accommodate his grizzly bear sized height and girth. He tells me the warehouse is in Richmond, so I take off in that direction, glancing wearily at the oil light. I”ve added the last quart from the garage. With any luck, we”ll make it to Richmond and back without it needing more.
After a few miles of riding in silence, I glance over to his side of the Jeep. “It must be hard for you to travel like this when you can basically go anywhere you want in the blink of an eye.”
He doesn”t say anything for a moment, but a muscle in his jaw tics. “It is no inconvenience spending time with you.”
I do a double take, then stare at the road. Another glance over, and he’s impassive, but my mind toys with his comment. It was… nice? “It”s no inconvenience spending time with you either,” I say.
“Why would it be for you? I”m serving your needs.”
“I don”t have the candle with me. You don”t have to be here.”
“You don”t have to be touching the candle for it to work,” he grumbles. “We have a spellbound agreement. That”s enough.”
“So, whatever I tell you to do, you”ll do?”
“If it pertains to our agreement.” His eyes shift over to me. “Why? Would you like me to repeat what I did for you last night?”
He did not just go there! A distracting throb starts between my legs, and I shift in my seat. No way am I going to let him have the satisfaction of thinking he”s undone me. Not when the undoing has been so fretfully one-sided. The glow of a Mobil station is my salvation.
“No. I want you to pump my gas for me.” I pull up to a pump and get out. “Fill ‘er up, Damien. I”m going inside for a cup of coffee. Do you want anything?”
He gives me a withering stare and unfolds himself from his seat.
“Or don”t you eat… snacks.” I have no idea if shades live on blood or also eat like humans do.
He rounds the car to the pump and flips open the tank. “For your information, I do occasionally eat snacks, as well as other things, but nothing you might obtain in there appeals to my palate.” He tips his head toward the building.
I shrug. “Suit yourself.” As I head inside, I think about how comfortable I”ve become with Damien. Our exchange tonight seems almost normal. I was frightened of him before but now he’s pumping my gas. Do I think of him as a friend? No. A lover? Maybe. I’m not sure how to classify our relationship after last night, honestly, but I do know his fangs don”t seem quite as long or sharp at the moment. Could it be that Damien, the shade, is more man than monster?