Page 51 of Seduce Me in Shadow

Isit behind my desk, steaming coffee at my elbow, and struggle to focus. Weak sunlight leaks through my office window. It’s an ungodly seven in the morning, but it won’t be long before Caden arrives, and I have to look at him. Work with him.

Be unable to touch him.

Last night was, in a word, incredible. He was so passionate, so wrapped up in us as he kept me trembling for more, despite giving me one orgasm after another. Caden was the lover I’ve always wanted. Well, except for the fact he never kissed me. Odd, that. Then again, we were so busy doing other dizzyingly pleasurable things together.

But we’re done now. And the sense of rightness I felt between us last night is gone. He snuffed it out. With regret, obviously. That doesn’t change reality, however. He’s letting everything going on in his life come between us.

Then again, is he the one who truly ruined us? Maybe last night only happened because I wished it into reality, a byproduct of the fact I wrote my fantasy about him in that damned red book. Right down to the connection that made my heart leap.

If that’s the case, how bloody ridiculous and pathetic. I deserve my heartache.

Penning my sexual fantasy in the book and having it come true seems fantastic, but then I write about the unexplained all day. And I’ve believed more than a few of my articles. I just never imagined something woo-woo would happen to me.

Maybe I underestimated the diary.

I cover my face and fight tears. Even knowing Caden is after the name of my informant in the magical war story, I still confessed my desire for him in writing, then succumbed to his touch. And I blamed him. God, how mental!

Granted, we clicked, but I have to put this into perspective. We didn’t share a grand affair of the heart. It was a shag, right? I’ve never allowed any man to break my heart, and Caden won’t earn that distinction after a single night, especially if I brought this mess on myself.

Launching my email, I vow to focus. I perk up when I see a message sent last night from a uni friend who works in the coroner’s office. She has news regarding the partially decomposed bodies of the soldiers in the tunnel discovered just over two weeks ago. The email simply reads:Call me before nine.

Heart pounding, palms sweating, I ring Chloe’s mobile.

“’lo,” answers a groggy man.

“Is Chloe there?”

After a moment of shuffling and a giggle, my old friend answers, “Syd?”

“Sorry it’s so early. New boyfriend?”

“Coworker with benefits.”

I hope that works out better for her than it did for me. “What’s your news?”

“Good morning to you, too,” Chloe shoots back. “Veryunofficially, here’s what I know about the bodies discovered in the tunnel.”

“Following the November fourteenth skirmish I’ve been writing about? The magic thing?”

“Exactly. Tests have identified all the bodies. Are you sitting?”

“Yes. Out with it.”

“All the bodies were of servicemen—from all over the world, including seven of the eight Americansoldiers who mysteriously disappeared on September nineteen from a training exercise at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. They were all part of the Marines Special Operations Command.”

My jaw drops. “Special Forces… I remember hearing about the disappearance of those soldiers!”

“The higher-ups at the office are all being very hush-hush. But that in itself says something. Next of kin are being notified now, but their identities aren’t being released to the media yet, so I can’t give you that or my boss would be suspicious.”

Chloe has already delivered more than expected. I owe my old friend a pint or two at least. “Of course. Anything else you can give me?”

“You know from our previous conversation that the bodies were decomposed weeks beyond what their battle wounds suggested. Your grainy photos showed that several were decapitated, a few others shot or stabbed. But they bled as profusely as if they were alive. And here’s the kicker: they bled black.”

I couldn’t have heard her right. “Black?”

“Indeed. It’s a complete mystery. Their blood has no color and no type. Everyone was identified by fingerprints, distinguishing marks like tattoos, or dental records.”

What would cause such a thing? New disease? Black blood sounds crazy, but working atOut of this Realm, I’ve quickly learned that nothing is impossible. “Odd.”

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