Page 4 of Guardian of Shadows

Anthony tapped the soda can with his forefinger. “How are we supposed to locate a creature who can disappear into thin air?”

“I’m glad you asked. There’s a pattern to her thefts. I don’t know if it’s on purpose so her movements can be tracked, or if it’s a matter of something like a ritual. I mean, she is hitting the bank on the new moon, and this month, that’s Tuesday.”

Anthony loved a good mystery, but this seemed impossible. “But how will we know which bank?”

“Like I said, there’s a pattern.” Carleigh tapped her keyboard, and a map appeared on the monitor. Using her mouse, she indicated each city as she spoke. “It wasn’t until the ninth occurrence that the Feds were alerted. During the first hits, she moved from South Carolina to North Carolina, then to Tennessee and Georgia. The next thefts were those same states only she chose different cities. The last set began in Tennessee, where she moved to North and South Carolina, then to Georgia. Again, the distance between each location was almost exactly four hundred miles. She’s already hit the first three states, and if my calculations are correct, her next location will be in this area of Tennessee.” Carleigh highlighted the city of Nashville. “Granted there are other cities within the parameters which would give her the correct mileage, but she never hits small towns, probably because she’s going for big scores. If she mimics her previous thefts, she will likely choose something close to downtown where there are lots of people.”

“The better to get lost in a crowd. Have you alerted... Who hired you?”

Carleigh scrunched her nose the same way their aunt Sophia did when getting ready to say something ridiculous. “Here’s the thing. With Agent Stallings nosing around Atlanta, Madsen may have hacked his computer and bugged his phone to keep an eye on him. Since Connor and Alyssa have twenty-four seven security, Stallings hasn’t been able to get anywhere near them. The bastard met with an FBI agent friend a couple of weeks ago. Since these thefts now fall under the FBI’s jurisdiction, Special Agent Barnes told Stallings about them, and Madsen shared with Nikita who shared with Harlow and me. When I mentioned our ‘case’ to Mason, I may have fibbed just a little.” Carleigh held her finger and thumb less than an inch apart, grinning. “It’s not a case but more of a puzzle.”

Anthony downed the rest of his soda and tossed the can in a recycle bin after crushing it. “Then why do you want me to find this female if it’s not an active case? Mason’s going to expect to get paid.”

Carleigh’s smile faltered. “Two reasons. One, to see if we can. And two, I think she wants to get caught. Why else take small amounts from the ATM? And I’ll pay Mason’s fee.” Anthony wasn’t worried about the money. He and all his cousins never had to work if they didn’t want to because of the large trust funds set up for them by their parents. When you lived several centuries, you could amass a small, or massive, fortune.

“But if she gets caught, she’s going to jail.” Anthony stared at the screen, wondering why someone so beautiful would want that.

“No, she’ll go to prison. This level of theft is a felony. We need to find her and figure out why she’s doing this. Plus, I want to know what kind of voodoo allows her to disappear.”

Anthony wouldn’t lie and say he wasn’t intrigued by the gorgeous female. “Okay. I’m in.”

?Chapter 2

Grevolus entered the kitchen with a glassful of whiskey and dropped into the chair across from Elle. She was daydreaming about the past instead of eating her breakfast. She was thinking of home. Not the one she shared with Grevolus after he proved to the light fae elders he was her father, but the home she shared with Ballymar, the male who raised her and her older twin siblings, Yari and Thran.

Elle took a bite of her egg and bacon sandwich without glancing up. She had no one to talk to other than Grevolus, and she would rather sit in silence than carry on a conversation with him. She didn’t want the male to see the loathing in her eyes. If he didn’t know she hated him by now, he never would. It had been fourteen sun cycles – or years as they were called on Earth – since he claimed her as his daughter. Four years since he whisked her away from Winterhaven, home of the dark fae, and made her participate in a war between the dark and the dragons. Grevolus and a host of fae had been called on by Melisandra, the dark Queen, who believed she and her followers were better than dragons and had attempted to murder the King and Queen of Evyndral, engaging in battle with the dragons and the light fae guardians who protected them, including the twins.

When Grevolus – because she refused to call him father – saw the darks were losing the battle, he made Elle hide them in the shadows until they could escape. It was an ability he hadn’t known her capable of until he witnessed her using the shadows to hide her and her stepmother on the hill where Elle was supposed to be aiming her arrows at the light fae and dragons below. A portal between the realms opened, and Elle’s sister and the dragon princess stepped through. Taking advantage, Grevolus dragged Elle into it, even though they had no idea where it led. Her half-brother Tovin followed but hadn’t been quick enough. The portal snapped closed, severing his head, where it landed on the sand beside Elle’s feet.

She couldn’t imagine the uproar that his headless body caused in the fae realm. It would have let the Queen know someone had gone through the portal, or at least attempted it. Elle had prayed the twins would have found her by now. Yari and Thran were guardians for the dragon prince and princess of Evyndral, and their duties might not allow them to travel to Earth from the fae realm. She wasn’t giving up hope. She would never stop looking for them every time she left the house.

After being taken from her home in Summerland that fateful day, she spent her youth hiding from her half-brother as much as possible and wistfully dreaming that one day a dragon would choose her to be their consort and take her away from Winterhaven since she was no longer allowed to train for the dragon guard trials. It was an impossible dream since she was considered a dark fae even though her mother had been from the light court. Her beautiful mother, whom Grevolus had conned one night, hiding his true visage with glamour. He drugged Lorhana when Ballymar had been away on Summerland business, then took advantage of her weakened state. It was the same glamour that Grevolus insisted Elle use to hide her pale blonde hair.

It wasn’t until they came through the portal that Elle learned the reason for his treachery. Grevolus wanted a child with light fae abilities. When he admitted as much, Elle’s anger brought forth purple fireballs on her hands, surprising both Grevolus and her. In that moment, he marked her with a sigil, binding them together. If she killed the male, she also died. If she ran away, he could locate her anywhere in the realm. In other words, Elle was stuck with him.

The fae realm was so very different than Earth. In Evyndral, they had no electronics. They used balls of energy to light their way in the dark. They built fires when there was a need for warmth. They cooked over an open flame. They grew their own food. Made their own clothes. Forged weapons. There were markets where they traded their wares. Each family was given a yearly stipend from the light Queen. Things had been different in Winterhaven. Elle assumed things were the same in Autumnvale, the other dark court. Melisandra, the dark Queen, wasn’t as generous with her fae. They did things mostly the same, but they didn’t have nearly as much gold to spend on frivolities. With the light fae and dragons winning the battle, Elle wondered what happened to the dark fae who hadn’t been slain and those who didn’t participate in the battle.

Adjusting to the new world was difficult. Not only did they look different with their clothing, pointed ears, and weapons, but they didn’t speak the language. Elle devised a speech translator, and that made it easier, but the only money they had was a few gold pieces Grevolus brought through in his pocket. Humans traded with plastic cards, or if they used actual money, it was paper. For months, they hid out in a shack on the coast of South Carolina. To survive, they agreed to work together, but Elle hated what that meant. Stealing went against everything her parents taught her.

As they traveled from town to town, Elle learned as much about human transactions as possible since she was the smarter of the two. At least that’s what she thought. As it turned out, Grevolus was biding his time, watching her. Learning what Elle was capable of. They moved around quite a bit, finding remote places near larger towns. They stole clothes and food. Neither knew how to drive, so they took public transportation or walked. Grevolus stole driver’s licenses and bank cards. He convinced folks to give up their pin numbers where he used ATMs to steal their money. She had no doubt there were more than a handful of dead humans who had fought back. Her heart ached thinking of the old man, Mac Johnson, whose house she now lived in. Grevolus hadn’t bothered giving Mac a proper burial. Instead, he had dragged him off through the woods and left him. Elle waited until nightfall and dug a grave, offering a prayer to the goddess D?nthú on his behalf once his body was covered in dirt.

Using glamour, they could become anyone, and that was what Grevolus had done. He killed Mr. Johnson and took possession of his property, accounts, and identity. They both learned to drive the old man’s truck. Becoming someone else gave Grevolus the idea to go for bigger thefts, and he tasked Elle with those jobs. They had amassed what she felt was a small fortune, but to him, it wasn’t enough. Elle doubted it would ever be enough. Not until they were caught.

It had taken Elle months to figure out the banking system. She hid in the depths of the building, observing each transaction. She then walked to nearby neighborhoods and peeked through windows as the occupants went about their lives. She had convinced Grevolus it was necessary so they could assimilate among humans, but the truth was she missed being around the twins and her dad. Seeing families interact with love made her homesick. Not for Winterhaven. That would never be home. She missed the warm climes and the colorful landscapes of Summerland. She missed having a father who welcomed her into his arms each morning before breakfast. The teasing banter of her older siblings. Learning weaponry from each of them. Now, Elle’s bow sat in the closet of her bedroom gathering dust.

Elle learned much from spying on human families, including how to use things like telephones and computers. The first time Grevolus stole a laptop, he grew irate when it didn’t work properly, but she explained how they needed an account and internet. Eventually, they were able to secure both, and Elle spent many nights scouring the web to learn as much about Earth and humans as possible. That helped her fit in when she traveled to different places to steal money for them to live on.

“Which city are you hitting next?” Grevolus swirled the amber liquid around before taking another sip. The alcohol was nothing like the sweet wine in the fae realm, which took three times the amount to have the same effect. He guzzled the human alcohol like it was water.

Elle took a bite of her food, giving her time to formulate a response. If he knew how she chose the banks, how she had a plan which hopefully got her arrested, he would kill her. Then again, she was the sole money maker now, and he would have to get off his ass and go back to taking smaller sums of money from ATMs if she were dead.

“I’m talking to you, girl.”

Elle swallowed the bite of sandwich, then wiped her mouth with a cloth napkin. She had already chosen the location as it kept with the pattern she’d been laying out for someone to notice. “Nashville in Tennessee.”

“And when will that be?”

If he paid the least bit of attention, Grevolus would know. “Tuesday. That’s the next new moon.” Hiding in the shadows was something she learned when she was young. That ability was one of the reasons she was stuck on Earth with her sire. What Grevolus didn’t know was that her power had increased in the last couple of years. Now Elle could call on the smallest shadow and pull it around her like a cloak, obscuring her from view. “I’m leaving after I eat so I have plenty of time to find the right female.”

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