Page 3 of The Shadow's Soulmate

“What you shouting about?”

“None of your business.”

I smiled a wicked grin at him. He grimaced. He wanted to snap back. I stared at him until he dropped his eyes. Even he wouldn’t dare upset me. None of them would. They knew what I was capable of. As he turned, a dark thread of shadow flowed behind him, finding its way to me. His dark intentions affected me somehow. Now that I was interested in. I reached out and touched it. Always too curious for my own good.

This vision nearly sent me to the floor. It was so powerful.

The bald guard talking. “The minotaur. We’ll make him maze mad. Then they’ll see how dangerous these beasts are. They should all be dead. We can make people see what they are like. It will be on the news. There’ll be an outcry.”

The minotaur, raging, eyes red. Crashing through walls. Demented. I reach out and touch him. His mind is consumed with a woman. His mate. She is on the floor, bloodied and broken. Dead. The minotaur has lost everything and will destroy everyone.

The brown-eyed woman again. Dying. Light fading. Calling for me. I’m screaming.

I dropped the dark thread like it was an angry wasp. Whatever was happening was centered on him. This angry little man and his hate for all of us. I’ve never minded hate. Hateful people dothe most interesting things and are very easy to manipulate, if you have a mind to. Which in the past I often have. You don’t get power through being kind.

The image of the brown-eyed woman flashed back into my mind. I didn’t understand it, but the thought of her dying was painful. The thought that whatever he was going to do ended with her death, made me furious. I walked after him, devoid of thought. Pure instinct and rage. I could just kill him and the problem would be solved. I’d enjoy it, and whoever this woman was would be safe and I could forget about her. Yes, killing him was the best way. It was always the best way.

The light fades, and the brown-eyed woman is dying. Another man, scrawny and bitter, now stands in the wreckage of the prison, filled with contempt.

I will kill him, too.

The light fades, and the brown-eyed woman is dying.

I shook myself out of the vision. It felt like a horse had kicked me in the gut. I faded through the walls and began looking for her, feeling the pull of her light. Eventually, I wandered into a lounge. Several of the therapists were there chatting and eating lunch. A group of do-gooders.

I knew without looking around exactly where in the room she was. I could feel her presence as I melted into the shadows in the corner. None of them would be able to see me. Somehow, despite this, her head whipped around and she looked right at me. I was nothing but shadow, but she saw me. Brown eyes narrowed as she watched me try to fade further back into the wall.

I felt like I couldn't breathe. I didn't even need to breathe, but I was still suffocating. If I could just touch her, maybe it wouldease. If I could envelop her, slide inside her. Perhaps I’d be able to fill the hollowness inside me that I’d never noticed. Until now.

She stood and walked towards me.

“Hi, do you need something?”

Her voice was shaking. She was terrified of me. The fear was dripping off her. I’d always enjoyed frightening people, but this was unbearable. I never wanted her to fear me. Not me, not anything. The weight of unfamiliar emotions dragged me down until I thought I might collapse.

“Is there a minotaur here?”

Her mouth gathered in a little pout as she thought. I wanted those lips.

“No, I don’t think we’ve had a minotaur here for years. Why?”

As she tilted her head, her brown hair bobbed around her face. Her breath trembled as she tried to stay calm. A shirt dress ran over her curves, unbuttoned just enough to show a flash of cleavage that swelled as she tried to take a deep, calming breath. She was small compared to me. I could overpower her instantly. But still she stood here, in front of me. Scared but drawn to whatever was going on just as much as I was. My hands itched to touch her, and I had to clench them into fists to stop myself. Magic danced between us.

“Just wondered.”

It was a stupid answer, but I’d lost all composure. I had to get away from this. With one last look into her eyes, I blipped back to my cell, where I slid down the wall and tried to get the image of her from my mind. I wouldn’t go anywhere near her ever again. If I did, I was certain she would destroy me.

Chapter 3

Ella

Istood in the kitchen breathing in the scents of the cookies that were just coming out of the oven.

“Now, now, give them a moment to cool!”

The staff chef was stern, and I sighed as I waited, staring at them. I ignored the feeling of being watched. I didn’t need to turn around to see who it was. Sometimes he was just wisps of shadow and sometimes he was more solid and draped in a dark robe. His face was always difficult to make out, except for his eyes, which had swirls of white in them that moved constantly.

For weeks now, he’d been appearing in corners. Watching me. I knew I should report it. It was getting out of hand. But something about it sent a tingle up my spine, just as strong as the fear it invoked. I finally took a cookie and concentrated on eating it. The sensation prickling at my back never left. Once I had finished, I turned around, just in time to see the shadow disappear back through the wall.

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