Violet's Shadow, page 8
“…be hard?”
Violet looked over at Hannah. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
They walked to the door. “I said, leaving your old life, is it going to be hard?”
“Hold on a second. Let me grab my cell, just in case my mother finally texts.” She snagged it and then they were out the door, walking down a long corridor with lots of different doors. Lots of different colored doors. It was fun. Several Shadows stood at the other end of the hall. They waved, Hannah waved and they moved in the other direction.
Chapter Seven
Violet picked up the conversation again in the elevator on their way to the basement. “Not too hard actually, which makes me feel kind of sad.”
“I’d think it would make you feel happy. To finally be where you belonged all along.” Hannah led the way as they stepped into another long corridor. “On this level are lots of offices, meeting rooms, etc.”
It was lovely and empty, for which Violet was ridiculously happy about. Feeling inadequate at the moment didn’t really do it for her. “But I’ve lived my whole life and truly have nothing to show for it.” It sounded whiney to her, but Hannah didn’t seem to notice.
“I disagree. You’re so young, and you got to the exact place you needed to be for Rayden and the other enforcers to find you and protect you and to shade you into the compound. Each of those tasks fraught with peril. And you made it.”
“But that’s all happened within the last, what? Seventy-two hours? A handful of hours hardly validate the rest of my days up to this point.”
“Those hours have made you into the woman you are. They served their purpose, and quite well from what I can tell. Here’s the workout room. It’s pretty ginormous, which is good with how much testosterone we have to support here on a daily basis.”
Several people on the inside noticed them, a few others were elbowed until pretty much the entire room was focused on them. They all seemed to en masse bow in her direction.
“See, they already like you.”
“But I haven’t done anything to earn their respect. Why would they show me any courtesy other than a straggler who has Shadow blood?”
“Your blood happens to be a might bit higher elevated than a straggler.”
“But you know what I mean.”
“There are prophecies about your arrival.”
“Prophecies.” Violet blew out a deep breath as her stomach growled again. “I have no idea what I got myself into by coming here.”
“You’re going to do great.”
Violet rolled her eyes. “You only see the good in people, don’t you?”
Hannah shrugged, not seeming to give it a lot of thought. “I tend to see people for who they really are, not what they want others to see or what they pretend to be. Which is another reason I like you. I can already tell you are who you say you are. Nothing more. Nothing less. Though I think you sell yourself short, but we’ll work on your self-esteem.”
They made their way around the lower level and then headed to the floor where the kitchen and dining areas were. A smattering of people were here and there. All stopped when they passed, waving or bowing. Conversations trailed into whispers and smiles. Strange, no one approached them, though.
“What are you thinking?”
“Why has no one approached us? At least just to talk to you?”
“Shadows tend to keep their distance from me. A select few are different.”
“In heaven’s name, why? You’re lovely.”
Hannah smiled again. ”Which is another reason I’ve been so looking forward to you coming. I’ve missed having friends.” Violet opened her mouth to ask more questions, but Hannah cut her off before she could. “All in good time, Violet. All in good time.”
Violet let it go, because she knew how nice it was to have your space when you needed it, but she was definitely curious as to why anyone would shy away from Hannah. She was wonderful.
They passed another opening and it was a media room with a huge flat screen TV and a group of people watched Godzilla. Violet laughed behind her hand, so she didn’t draw attention to herself.
“What’s so funny?” Hannah whispered.
“I was worried when I first saw Rayden as a wolf that he was a werewolf. Somehow I knew he was a man. Must have been the eyes.”
“Werewolves,” Hannah scoffed. “Another myth gone wrong. Where someone came up with the on the full moon stuff still boggles my mind.”
“Wait. What? Werewolves are Shadow related too?”
“Of course. Humans turning into wolves in the dark of night. Where shadows are quite plentiful.”
Violet walked along, trying to wrap her head around everything. It all made sense, yet it was so against everything she’d ever known. “Still feel like I’m in some kind of book. Like someone’s going to change the page and something else is going to happen.”
“Life is like that, don’t you think?”
Violet had originally thought the other Shadow was nice but ditzy, especially with the far off looks and the lack of concentration, but all of a sudden she was convinced she’d completely misjudged her.
Her affable nature bespoke someone young and naïve. “There’s quite a bit more to you than your pretty packaging I do believe.”
Hannah smiled and linked her arm around Violet’s.
The strangest thing happened when she touched her. Her vision whited out for the briefest of seconds. A flash of something showed up, but it was gone too quickly for her to catch what it was. Then she blinked and all was back to normal.
Hannah was chatting about something so she decided not to mention it. The last thing she wanted to be was the freak in a new place.
“And they grow really well in the sunshine with the rest—”
“Sunshine,” Violet interrupted.
Hannah looked over at her. “What about sunshine?”
“I love it. Is that weird?”
“Why would it be weird? Think about where shadows come from outside.”
Didn’t take long for her to figure it out. “From lights. From the sun.”
“Exactly. And pretty much all Shadows love being outside. It’s just inherent in our natures.”
“I should really be more freaked out by all this, shouldn’t I?”
“Life’s too short to worry about the wouldas shouldas couldas. Make each day as if it were your last and dance like nobody’s watching.”
The fever made her stumble, and Violet took several deep breaths until the wave of heat passed. Then she looked around to make sure no one was staring at her. “There’s no one around. Aren’t Shadows night owls?”
“Most of them are, but we tend to stay outside when we can. Just makes us all happier.”
“Which means you’d probably prefer being outside as well, but you’re stuck inside babysitting me. Sorry you drew the short straw.”
“Oh, shut up. I’ve been waiting eons to meet you. Wouldn’t have missed this day for anything.”
“You flatter me, but I don’t think there’s any truth in it. I’m nothing special. I sure as heck don’t feel like anything magnificent. Well. When I was a wolf earlier today, it was pretty freaking awesome.”
Hannah paused, and Violet stopped with her.
Taking both of her hands, she faced Violet. “Do you think the great men and women of this world knew their potential of greatness as it happened? Do you think Martin Luther King knew what an impact his words would have when he spoke, ‘I have a dream?’ No. Not most of them. You embrace your path and make the most of it. This journey is the only one we have. So squandering it with worry is counterproductive to both ourselves and the many people we can help.”
“How old are you?”
She smiled and bounced up and down a bit on the balls of her feet. “How old do I look? I love it when people guess.”
“I’m twenty-five and I was thinking you were younger than I am, but you seriously have one of the oldest and wisest souls I’ve ever met.”
“I’m a fair bit older than twenty-five.”
“How much older?”
“Almost three hundred.”
Violet shook her head, and they continued walking. “Rayden said he was three hundred. That’s craziness. Seriously not something I can wrap my head around. And you guys look like me. What’s the lifespan of what you are?”
“What we are. You’re not human anymore than I am. We tend to look physically about the same as we did when we shifted for the first time. So we all look around twenty-five to thirty. Hot, huh? And we have people who are pushing eight hundred. Geezers.” She snickered on some inside joke Violet couldn’t even begin to process.
“Knowing…most of what I grew up with is now kind of useless knowledge is disconcerting. Well, maybe not useless. Makes me feel better about the history lessons I had to sit through that I could care less about.”
“Why does that make you feel better?”
“’Cause they were completely untrue. Most of it, at least. So getting a B in history isn’t nearly as bad now as I thought it was then.” She was rambling and she knew it, but damn. Shaking her head, she tried to focus. “Did you guys grow up together here? You and Rayden.”
“The compound wasn’t here then, but we did grow up together.”
“If not here, then where?”
“Britain actually.”
“England. Makes sense.”
“How so?”
“I thought I noticed an accent from Rayden the first time I spoke to him.”
“Funny. It’s almost completely gone now, but it comes out in him when he gets territorial.” Hannah bobbed her eyebrows, and Violet chuckled and drew in a breath to say something.
But she paused and took another breath as she lifted the edge of her tank top and sniffed again. “Weird.”
“What?”
“I swear I keep smelling cologne on me, but—”
“It’s not exactly on you.”
“You smell it too. Is it on you?”
Hannah shook her head, clearly pleased with something. “Nope it’s on you. Well, it’s coming from you.”
“Huh?” Violet thought she should have probably come up with something better to ask, but one word was all she could cough up.
“Rayden marked you.”
Violet automatically reached for her shoulder and the mark felt hotter to the touch. She wondered if it was going to get infected.
“No it’s not going to get infected.”
“I keep talking out loud here. I never did that before. Like…ever.”
“It’s different here because of the pack communication. We tend to filter less. Love how you’re so natural at all of this. You’re awesome. But no, your bite mark won’t ever heal, but it won’t get infected either. It’s not like you were bit by a dog or something.” She snickered, clearly pleased with herself.
“Good joke. I’d say I’m going to steal it and tell Rayden, but he made a rule I can’t make any more cracks about dogs.”
“He made no dog jokes a rule? Oh, my gawd, how hilarious. He’s such a stickler on the rules. So when you think of any, just tell them to me and I’ll say them. It’ll be so funny. Anyway. Back to him marking you. You carry his scent now.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope. So anyone else who comes anywhere close to you will know immediately they shouldn’t touch. At least not if they want to live with all of their original parts and pieces.”
Pleasure coursed through her veins at the thought of belonging to Rayden in some way. But she wasn’t certain if she should feel so excited and she decided to answer with a sort of question instead. “Well, that’s… territorial?”
“Quite. We’re animals. Pure and simple. So we tend to communicate with all of our senses. Not just standard forms of verbal communication.”
“I can hear him in my head.”
“Sure you can.”
“Just that simple? It’s just a…a…yep?”
“Other things are complicated. Really complicated. Things, which bring us closer together. Things, which tie us together as a pack and help ensure our future. Our lives and general existence are difficult. So we take it easy where we can get it.”
“I can only imagine.”
“You look a bit overwhelmed.”
“Understatement of the day.”
Hannah smiled. “Wanna go outside? Meet some people?”
Violet nibbled her lip. “Do they know who I am? Well, who you guys think I am?”
“Yes. No hiding when Rayden shaded here with a female with purple eyes.”
Violet jerked to a stop. “Oh, God. When we showed up he was— And I was— And it was night time and there were probably lots of Shadows around outside and—”
“All of them.”
Hearing the words didn’t make them any easier to process. “Excuse me?”
“Yeah. Everyone was outside. Waiting for him. Well. And you.”
“And how many is everyone?”
“Couple hundred.”
“Ugh.”
Hannah took her hand and led her toward a door. “Think about it this way. You can’t possibly be seen in anymore of a delicate position so getting embarrassed shouldn’t affect you at all.”
“Can I think about it? For like a year?”
“Nope. Let’s go. All of the enforcers you already met are here so you’ll know people, and I think you’ll actually have a really nice time. And there’s food. Really really good food. With Vinson on the grill your taste buds will be glad you did.”
Violet thought about it as good old-fashioned nervousness filled her system. It was a strange thing to be pleased for, but it was like a little reminder she was still the same twenty-five-year-old she was a few days ago.
Well.
Maybe an upgraded version of herself, and she was so hungry.
“Come on. Don’t over think it. It’s like ripping off a sticky bandage. Fast and painful and then it’ll be all over with.”
“Uh-huh. But every time I meet someone won’t it be like ripping it off over and over again?”
Hannah pushed the door open and let out a little laugh. “What’s two hundred bandages amongst friends?”
Chapter Eight
“Where is she?” Rayden stepped outside into the courtyard, flanked by Freeman and Morgan. He could scent his…Violet, but he couldn’t see her in the first two seconds of clearing the threshold. Which was one point nine seconds too long in his royally horny opinion.
“To the right,” Morgan answered with a nod. “Can’t see her, but I bet she’s in the middle of that crowd of guys.”
Rayden heard about the first half of her sentence and then his laser focus drowned out everything else.
The ground he walked on could have been flooded. The picnic tables he moved past could have been on fire and he wouldn’t have stopped. His focus was completely and utterly honed in on the woman holding court in the middle of a massive circle of shadows.
He pushed people aside. Might have said excuse me to a couple. Might have growled at a few dudes who didn’t move fast enough for his liking.
Remove might have.
His need for her was a living, breathing mass of fire in his gut. The ache for her kiss was like nothing he’d ever known before. Her touch. Her taste. He needed it. Craved it.
He brushed another female Shadow as he stepped inside the open circle they’d made around Violet and he physically recoiled at the contact.
What the fuck.
He’d heard of mated Shadows being repulsed by the touch of another, but no one said anything about feeling the need to scrub the skin off where they’d touched. Or the need to shower the stink of everyone else from her body. Or the need to rub against his nsyr so all he could feel was…her.
“Rayden.” Her voice. Her reverent voice. As if he were something special. As if she felt even the tiniest bit as needy as he felt. It reminded him of fairy tale princesses and porn stars grafted together. Disney movies were never going to be the same again.
“Show’s over folks. Violet needs to…” He took her in from head to toe where she stood next to Hannah. “…rest.”
Even in the dark he could tell she flushed with his implication of the kind of rest she’d be getting.
“Rest. Uh-huh,” one of his enforcers mumbled behind him.
Rayden spared a glance at him to know who to give the shittiest jobs too on the next rotation of duties. Morrison. Check.
Several Shadows waved goodbye to Violet, a couple lingered to say a few more words and a little Shadow, who couldn’t have been more than four ran up and hugged her legs.
Violet was gracious, kind, attuned to the conversations of the pack around her, but he saw through it. He saw the flushed skin, the faint tremors in her shoulders, the way she kept biting her bottom lip and glancing in his direction, and her tiny flinch when she shook the hand of the mother of the little Shadow being gently tugged away.
“So very wonderful to finally meet you all. I know I’ve never really seen you before, but I swear I’ve known you for years and years. I can’t wait to talk with all of you more.”
He watched it all and wanted to fucking roar.
She needed him.
Edging toward him, finally disengaging from her fan club, he wanted to throw her over his shoulder and cart her inside to their room.
Theirs.
Fuck.
The thought of having to share his room with anyone else two weeks ago had been torture. But now? After he’d had her in his bed, in his space, he couldn’t imagine it any other way.
When she stepped closer to him, her eyes glowed. “I need you,” she whimpered. “I’m about to go out of my skin. And the touch of someone else is…distasteful. Females are not awesome. Males? Horrible. But Hannah was okay. I could touch her and it was fine. That was strange but nice. And now I’m rambling because I’m about to come out of my skin to get to you.”
“Who. Touched. You.” The growl lit up fast and furious.
She laid her palm against his cheek, and he leaned into it. “Pretty sure it wouldn’t go well for him if I told you, even though it was completely friendly, so I think I’m going to plead the fifth.”
