Page 35 of Safe in Shadow
Silence was all well and good—but it wasn’t something that came naturally to her, not when there was someone else around, especially not someone clenching his fingers around her arm like she was his only lifeline.
“So. The town being haunted? You know anything about it?”
Nyx shook his head.
“You don’t know, or it isn’t?”
“I can’t leave this area—the house and what used to be the grounds. But people come here. Some bad. Some good. Some who know—about me.”
She puzzled that sentence out in her mind for a while. “Do you think there are others like you?”
His cheek muscle jumped. “There are many creatures we never see while we live. You can see me now. You’ll start to see others.” His back suddenly straightened, and his dark eyes shone into hers with such intensity that it made her jerk back.
He didn’t release her arm. He simply stretched with her, face serious and unsmiling.
“I will not let the evil ones touch you. Except me.”
Grace swallowed. “Are you... evil?”
Another long silence. His fingers slowly unhooked from her arm. “I don’t know.”
Chapter Twelve
She didn’t move away from him.
In fact, she got closer.
“People can change. You don’t have to be evil if you don’t want to.”
He almost laughed at that.
“I cannot remember my life. Not even my name.”
She shook her head sadly. “I can’t imagine what that’s like. I got to poke around the library’s historical archives, and I saw the names James and Cynthia Cameron. Nothing about a brother. I’m sorry. I only saw this one deed about the sale of the land, so that doesn’t mean you’re not somewhere else in the files. We’ll find your name.”
“I do notwantmy old name.” The words were hard and firm. He meant it—and he said it with conviction, even though he didn’t know why.
“Oh. Bad memories?”
“Nomemories. Not really. Except for James. James, I know, at least now. I see flashes of him, and I cannot remember our lives together at all, but I rememberhimso clearly—the feeling he gave me. I will never forget. Dear, wonderful James,” he whispered, head bowing again.
Warmth. Love. A true friend.
Someone worth protecting.
