Page 11 of Shade
When she kept making that scary noise, I slowly approached her, squinting at her in a desperate attempt to see something more than a blob of darkness against the pale floor. I'd liked this place because of the off-white carpets, because in full light, I could at least see the darkened blobs of stuff against it and avoid tripping or hurting myself too much.
It looked like Pixie was smacking something at the edge of the bed, but when I leaned down and carefully touched the spot, there was nothing there. It was still darker than the other areas, though. It took me a moment to puzzle out that it was the bed's shadow, and another to figure out why Pixie was reacting the way she was.
"Shade? Are you in there?"
I didn't think he could reply even if he was. He'd never been able to talk to me unless he was in a completely dark area—like under my bed—and could come out of the shadow he was hiding in. Instead, I felt something brush against my fingers, soft tendrils like I'd felt yesterday when his shadows had enveloped me. It really was him, and he was here. Had he come to see me? How had he even found me?
Shade
I'd spent the whole day debating with myself over whether or not I should give Diego some space to deal with everything I'd told him. Yes, he'd kissed me when I'd told him we were mates, but he could change his mind once he'd had some time to think, and if he had, I needed to respect that, no matter how much I needed him back in my life.
Of course, in the end, I'd found myself searching for the shadows that I now knew were looking after him, and once I'd found them, I'd used my shadow travel to go to them, to go toDiego.
I'd stayed with him as he took the bus home, then followed him inside. I'd watched him cuddle his cat, appreciated the delight on his face when she started purring, and then followed him all the way to his bedroom.
When he started heading toward his shower, though, I'd pulled back, moving to the shadow of his bed. The first time I saw him naked would be when he wanted me to, not like this.
Of course, his cat somehow noticed my presence once she wasn't distracted by him anymore—cats tended to be highly aware of me, for some reason—which pulled his attention to me as well. I couldn't not tell him I wasn't there, and since I couldn't speak, I extended some of my shadows up to greet him, glad he was leaning over so his body shielded my shadows from direct light.
"It's really you. You're here!" Diego exclaimed, and a wide grin spread across his lips.
Shooting to his feet, he carefully made his way to the windows and pulled the blinds closed, then shut the bathroom door and flipped the lights off, dousing the room in almostcomplete darkness. There was still some light sneaking in from under the blinds, but I could easily avoid it if I stayed on this side of the bed. I imagined there would be more light if the sun hadn't set, but for now, I was safe, and I didn't waste a moment before rising out of the shadow.
"Diego?"
"It worked," he said, then grinned as he stepped closer to me. I wrapped my arms around him, and he immediately snuggled in. I breathed him in, smelling sweat, Diego, and, strangely enough, ketchup?
"Oof, I must stink," he said, trying to pull back as if he'd just remembered he'd been on his way to the shower. I held on, not letting him go,
"You smell just fine," I assured him with a chuckle. "Though I am curious about the ketchup."
Diego groaned, then smacked his forehead against my shoulder as if it was somehow my fault.
"A student had one of those little ketchup packets you get with your fries, and he needed help tearing it open. I tore it a little too much and spilled some on my shirt."
I pulled back to peer at his shirt, and there was a spot of faded red on his stomach. "Ah, there it is."
"Does it look bad? Jess kept insisting it was fine, but her voice said she was lying," Diego grumbled, making me chuckle. He looked so cute with his nose all scrunched up like that.
"It's not good, but I'm sure it will wash off."
"I hope so," he mumbled, then hugged me again. "Are you going to stay?"
"If you'd like me to," I said, and he squeezed me tighter.
"If it were up to me, I'd never let you leave," he confessed, and my shadows clung tighter to him in reaction because I felt the same.
"Itisup to you, Diego."
He pulled back, tilting his head up. "You mean it?"
"I do. Last time, I made the decision to leave, and I've regretted it every day since. I have a second chance now, and I'm not going to waste it."
Diego smiled widely, then leaned up to press a chaste kiss on my lips before moving back and stepping out of my hold.
"First, I'm going to take a shower. Why don't you try to make friends with Pixie while I'm gone? Then I can make us some dinner and we can eat in bed."
I glanced at the cat who'd been eyeing me warily from her perch on the other side of the bed, and felt like my chances weren't good. But she was Diego's cat, and he clearly loved her, which meant that when he moved in with me, she'd come with him too. It would be best if I won her over before that happened.
