Page 8 of Destined for Shadows
Chapter 4
Cori
She couldn’t stop thinking about seeing her ex-husband for the first time in four years. He dogged her thoughts when she worked on customers, cleaned her work area, and even while she sat on the phone ordering supplies. There was no getting him out of her head. He lurked there like a creepy villain stalker who might leap into full form in front of her at any moment. As much as she wanted to believe he was dead and gone, she had to face the facts. He was back…somehow.
But if he hadn’t died that night, why come back after all these years? Where had he been since then? Cori had a theory, but she needed to run it by someone with more experience in the supernatural world than her, which was why she took off work shortly after Asher arrived.
She pulled up to Melena Sander’s pale yellow house. Her friend, who was about the same age as Cori, lived about as far out in the bush as she did except in a more easterly direction from Fairbanks. Her husband, Lucas, had built their home during the summer of the previous year. While he probably had more money than God, he’d known Melena would never accept living in a huge mansion, so he’d had a house constructed to suit his wife’s simpler tastes. It was two stories high with four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, a large kitchen, living room, den, and an office. On the right side, there was an attached two-car garage with a paved driveway leading from it to the highway. Much like Cori’s place, their house sat farther back in the woods. They also had a huge lawn in the front where they’d had their wedding party a few months ago. Though there were nearly one hundred guests who’d attended, Lucas and Melena had plenty of space for them and the entertainment to fit.
Cori did note one new addition to the place. A large recreational vehicle was parked next to the house that hadn’t been there a few weeks ago when she’d last visited. She’d heard the RV might be coming, but it wasn’t for traveling. Rather, it was a private place to stay for someone Lucas and Melena had rescued from Hell last summer. Cori meant that in the most literal sense, too. They really had gone to the place of fire and brimstone to get a person they considered a friend.
Ariel, a former archangel, had been cast into the pit after her brethren found out she’d been helping supernaturals in forbidden ways for years to include assisting them with their rescue operation to free the nerou. Because Melena wasn’t one to leave anyone behind, she had faced down the archangel council to find a way to get Ariel out. With some negotiating, she’d convinced them to let her do it.
So now they had a mentally and physically damaged former archangel staying with them who would need time to figure out what to do with herself now that she was permanently cut off from Heaven. The RV got Ariel out of the guest bedroom and into a place where she could be somewhat self-sufficient, but she still didn’t have herself together enough to plan her future. Maybe she could go into weather forecasting. Surely a former angel who still had some prescience could do a better job of it than the guys on television. Of course, she’d have to leave Melena’s property first, and Cori rarely saw Ariel even when she lived in the main house. Nearly four months in Hell had done a number on the fallen angel, and she’d come out of the experience worse than Bartol.
Not that anyone could blame her. She’d been tortured in ways that made Purgatory seem like a nice vacation destination. It had taken a lot of time and effort to heal all the physical damage done to her, but no one could do much about the nightmares or mental trauma. Melena would try, though, because that’s what the sensor did for those she cared about.
Cori got out of her truck, resigned that it was her turn to ask Mel for help. She tensed when a black jaguar came loping toward her. The huge cat appeared ferocious with its intense yellow eyes and a gaping mouth full of sharp teeth. It leaped up, slamming its paws onto Cori’s chest. She fell back against the truck while the crazed feline licked her cheeks and made happy rumbling sounds in its throat.
“It’s good to see you too, Sable,” she said, laughing. What little makeup she’d worn that day was wiped clean by the time the cat finished. “Now get off of me, you big oaf. I thought you weren’t supposed to be in one of your big cat forms unless there was danger.”
Sable dropped her paws to the ground, then rolled onto her back, rubbing herself against the grass. That was the feline shifter’s way of saying she would do whatever she wanted until Melena told her otherwise. Sable wasn’t like a werewolf and couldn’t shift into human form, but she could become any cat breed she wanted, and she could fully comprehend English. The only trouble being she didn’t like to obey commands much more than her feline counterparts. Only Melena had much of any control over the shapeshifter.
Cori kneeled and rubbed the cat’s stomach. Sable lolled her tongue, happy as a cat could possibly be. She could kill almost anything, including most werewolves, and yet she was gentle and sweet to those she trusted.
“Stop spoiling that monstrosity,” a man said, coming from around the side of the house.
He had long, black hair with a silver glint to it that framed a rigid face and swirling gray eyes. Just like anyone with angelic blood running through them, he had a muscular body, but in his case, he was also rather hulky and never quite looked comfortable in his own skin. Cori couldn’t see his wings at the moment, but she knew he had them. Kerbasi was a former guardian from one of the lower angel castes and currently lived in a shack behind Melena’s house. He was also the man who’d tortured Bartol and Lucas during their time in Purgatory, so naturally, she didn’t like him that much.
Cori scowled. “Shouldn’t you be working or something?”
He rested an arm on the hood of her truck. “Not today.”
“Well, go away. I’m not here to see you,” she said, making a shooing motion.
While Kerbasi had come a long way since he’d arrived on Earth fifteen months ago—thanks to Melena working with him—he still lacked manners and common decency. If they could have forced him to leave Alaska, they would have, but the archangels had restricted Kerbasi to the state and ordered that he work with the nerou. There was a lot of history behind why he got to live behind Melena’s house despite the fact Lucas hated him with a passion. It did help, though, that the guardian made a good guard dog when Sable was off harassing the caribou, and he’d protect Emily, their teenage adopted daughter, with his life.
Kerbasi stared down his nose at Cori. “You are a very rude woman.”
“Only to those who deserve it.”
He dropped his arm and moved closer, his gaze speculative. “Hmm, I do wonder what might have brought you here today.”
Cori stiffened, her mind flashing to the incident from last night. “None of your business.”
“If it will affect anyone in my home, it is.” He cocked his head, staring hard at her while she considered escaping to the house. “Your past has come back to haunt you, I see. It is wise of you to come to Melena for help if your ex-husband has truly returned.”
“How did you…?” She paused, at a loss for words. “Stay out of my head, asshole.” The damn guardian had the ability to read minds, which she’d forgotten since he rarely did it, or at least admitted to doing it. She should have tried harder to keep her thoughts empty of anything incriminating.
He lifted his chin. “You know, I would offer to help, but not if you’re going to act like that.”
“I don’t want your help.”
“Very well then.” He flashed away.
She would have been annoyed about his abrupt departure if she wasn’t relieved to see him gone. After taking a few calming breaths, Cori headed for the house with Sable keeping pace beside her. She hoped Kerbasi would keep his mouth shut. As of yet, he’d never revealed any secrets he’d gotten from her, but that could change at any moment.
Melena answered the door before Cori could knock. The woman had her long, auburn hair pulled back in a French braid and light makeup on her face. She also wore a black pantsuit, so she must have recently come home from her job with the Department of Homeland Security. The division that handled supernatural affairs had needed an expert to help them after finding out the things that went bump in the night were real, and since Melena had served in the military before becoming immortal, they’d figured she’d be a good fit.
