Grace and Shadow Read online

  She met his gaze, and he nodded in understanding. He smiled and handed her her helmet. “Let’s get to the shuttle.”

  She tucked the helmet under her arm and followed him down the hall toward the back of the base. Shadow was already at the controls, a silvery suit over his matte-black one. Shatter helped her into a seat and gave her an ear com. Link would remain on the ground and speak to them, talking Imgrace through the exercises they had designed to test if a void could work in space.

  She curled her fingers around the arms of her seat and held on as they lifted straight up before spearing up through the atmosphere.

  Spaceflight was not something offered to many of her people and, certainly, never to someone in her situation. She focused on breathing until her limbs lifted in her seat.

  Shatter laughed. “Link thought that this would be easier for you in zero gravity, so we have stopped the ship’s rotation and are on a trajectory to take us past the moon.”

  Shadow unbuckled his harness and pulled himself out, extending his hand to her. “If you come with me, we can get your legs back on solid land quickly.”

  Imgrace blinked. “You are powerless now?”

  He nodded. “I am. I can feel it, like I am an empty bucket. A lot of potential and nothing to fill me.”

  She undid the harness that Shatter had helped her with. “I don’t feel any different.”

  “Lucky you.”

  When she was free, he took her helmet and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Here we go.”

  She had been instructed to remain limp, and it was good advice. He moved quickly through the ship until they were in a wide cargo hold.

  Imgrace floated to a series of handholds in the ceiling and gripped two of them. “Now what?”

  Link whispered in her ear, “Do you feel any different?”

  “Not really. I feel like me, just a little jumpier. That could be my surroundings.”

  Link murmured, “Shadow, do you feel anything?”

  Shadow had his feet tucked into a strap on the floor. “Nope.”

  “Get closer to her.”

  Shadow approached, floating gently toward her. She stared at him as he neared her and held her breath. He pinned her to the ceiling and kept his body as close to hers as he could without touching.

  “Anything?”

  Shadow’s lips twisted in a small smile. “Not anything power related.”

  Imgrace blushed, and she turned her head away, but not before she saw a flicker of shadow. She gasped, he jerked and the shadow receded.

  “What?”

  Shadow smiled slightly. “There was a power surge. It was small, but it was there.”

  “Imgrace, what did you feel?”

  She blinked, inches away from Shadow. “Embarrassed and interested in equal measure.”

  Shadow grinned.

  “Imgrace, I know this is asking a lot, but can you kiss him? I promise that he won’t react.”

  Shadow chuckled. “I can’t make that promise, but I won’t touch you or molest you in any way.”

  Imgrace couldn’t get much more embarrassed, so she kissed Shadow before he could say something else witty and humiliating.

  He locked in place while she kissed him, and she felt a rush of warmth through her limbs. Shadows danced in the periphery of her nearly closed lids, and when she pulled her lips from his, he floated away with his shadows snapping and crackling.

  Shadow was talking through the open com. “It worked. I can use my talent.”

  He flipped end over end and used his talent for half an hour. Imgrace made her way to the floor and floated toward the door. When his battery ran out, she was near the exit, and she felt the power drain from him.

  He turned to her and grinned. “Can you do it again?”

  Imgrace was embarrassed. “I suppose I could, but I will go and wait with Shatter while you play.”

  He paused. “Is something wrong?”

  She swallowed. “No, I am sure everything is fine.”

  Link’s calm voice said, “Get to your seat, Imgrace, we will return you to the surface.”

  She nodded. “Thank you. Can I go home now?”

  “We would like to run a few more experiments, but the next round will not require you leaving the base.”

  “Good. When can I go home?” She tried not to sound plaintive, but she was out of her element.

  “Just a few more trials, Imgrace. Relax, you are in no danger.”

  She pulled herself through the halls until Shadow caught up with her. He wrapped his arm around her and kicked off, spiralling them in a straight line toward the control centre.

  He helped her settle in her chair and did up the harness.

  Shatter gave her a thumbs-up. “We are heading home now. Just relax and it will soon be over.”

  She settled in and closed her eyes. She heard Shadow murmuring, but her com was off. The two men chatted with Link as they lined the shuttle up for re-entry. Imgrace felt the change in the angle and the pressure of gravity once again. They were heading home, but she still had more to do before they would let her go. Her civic duty had never been more personal.

  Link had a tray of beverages ready for them, and he handed one to Imgrace the moment she came in. “You did very well. Shadow now has the most powered time of the Jremat out of orbit on record.”

  Shadow smiled. “And what a way to get my power back.”

  Imgrace felt ill. She swayed and Link caught her. “Come with me; you need to lie down.”

  She nodded, and she let Link lead her away from the others, settling in a guestroom and he closed the door.

  The privacy was her undoing. The moment he closed the door, she started to sob; her attempts to hold it in gave way, and she cried. Her first kiss and it had been an experiment with a man who had talented women throwing themselves at him day and night. She had never felt so used in her life.

  Chapter Three

  Link heard the sobs through the headpiece Imgrace still wore. He winced and returned to the others. “Boardroom, now.”

  Inside the room, he brought up an image of Imgrace, and it rotated slowly as power readings came out. “This was when you felt the flicker. This is what happened when she kissed you.”

  The entire schematic of the body lit up and energy flowed out of her.

  Shadow grinned. “Imagine what would happen if we did more than kiss.”

  Link slammed his hand down on the table. “So’orn, this is serious and you are going to listen. I did that research you asked for, and I found that Imgrace Kelart has never had a relationship with anyone. No male, no female. She fears talents, she isn’t in awe of you, she is afraid of you.”

  Shadow lifted the lens of his helmet, and he stared at Link. “Afraid of me? Why?”

  Shatter answered. “It isn’t just you. She is vulnerable, and some would consider it sport to kill her and claim it was an accident. She knows it. She can’t have a relationship because what is the first thing that we tell each other?”

  Shadow scowled. “What our power is, what our rating is, what our job is. And she has no answers for those questions.”

  Link shook his head. “No, there is no answer for her. I also looked into her family history. It is worse.”

  Shadow blinked. “Worse?”

  “She was diagnosed as a void; her parents set her up with a bot tutor and immediately applied for permission to have another child. Permission was granted without hesitation and that is chilling. They had their second daughter; she was tested when she was three and found to have a combined talent of both children. At the age of twelve, Imgrace was put into an apartment with a bot and an automated caretaker and left to grow up on her own. She has three degrees and is eighty percent of the way to nine more. She hasn’t seen her family in fourteen years, and they have no interest in her.”

  Shadow looked at the replay of the woman filling with power that she had given to him. “And she doesn’t dat
e.”

  “It could be worth her life to try it. I am pretty sure that that was her first kiss and you made jokes about it.”

  Shadow winced. “I will apologise.”

  Link held up his hand. “No. She can’t know that we looked into her history. Trust me; girls don’t like that sort of thing.”

  Link could see So’orn going over his behaviour and not liking what he remembered.

  “Right, casual encounters might go with the job, but she isn’t one of the women who chase us. She just wants to be left alone, and I can only say that the manifestation of her abilities is distressing for her. She has to kiss a talent to spark their power to life again at close range. It is her worst nightmare.”

  Shadow sat down. “What can we do? What can I do?”

  “Well, tomorrow is you trying to activate biological samples transported from the ground past orbit. She will be able to sit here and visit with me. If the samples don’t activate, I will have her try to do it through her biological link.”

  Shadow perked up. “Can she do that?”

  “We will find out tomorrow if nothing else takes us from our studies.”

  Shatter nodded. “Good plan. I am up for some sleep, so I will tune in for a bit and then get some rest. See you two tomorrow.”

  Link nodded and Shatter left. Link closed the display and crossed his arms. “Any questions?”

  So’orn opened his mouth and snapped it shut. Finally, he said, “I was flirting with her, and she was freezing up on me. I didn’t stop, and I should have stopped. There was nowhere for her to go. How do I undo what I did?”

  “You may have frightened her, but you didn’t threaten or assault her. Her rational mind will explain your behaviour to her, but if you want more from her, you need to temper your actions going forward.”

  So’orn nodded and got to his feet. “Right. I am going to craft a plan of attack, so to speak. Good evening.”

  Link smiled and watched him go. He was only three years older than Shadow and Shatter, but sometimes, it felt like decades.

  He ran a hand through his hair and flicked the display on again. She grew up into quite a beauty. He remembered her from early family photos, but after she was officially diagnosed, his cousin ceased to exist as far as the family was concerned. He had always enjoyed her serious little face and the care she took with those around her. When she was eight, she explained that she was scared all the time, and the next family gathering, she was gone. He had been fourteen years her senior, but she had seemed older than him in some ways. Now that he saw her as a woman who had shut herself off from the world, he wanted nothing more than to help her find someone she could trust. She deserved someone she could trust who saw her for the valuable being that she was.

  * * * *

  Someone was baking, and it smelled amazing. Imgrace got to her feet and took a quick shower before removing the red suit from the refreshing unit. It was still too tight, but she was used to it after the one day. It beat going naked.

  She tucked her boobs in until her cleavage was more circumspect. The neckline was still far too wide, but she could make do.

  She pulled her hair into a tail and left her room, following the smells coming from the kitchen. The light was weak, but it was fighting to be noticed as it streamed through the windows. Bots were making breakfast, but Link was sitting nearby, flicking through a data pad and looking studious.

  “Good morning, Link.”

  He smiled. “Good morning, Imgrace. I am sorry that you had such a rough day yesterday.”

  She chuckled and had a seat near him, her legs dangling inches above the ground on the high seat at the counter. “I have had worse.”

  He put his data pad down. “That sounds like a story.”

  “Several of them. I have run into more talented conflicts than I have fingers on my hands.”

  She rubbed her palms together. “Why the sudden push for a Guardian presence in space?”

  “The Citadel wishes to have representatives on the moon, and to have us there with no powers doesn’t seem right. We are looking for a way to preserve our talents away from home so that we will not be at a disadvantage.”

  “And you think that I am the key to that?”

  He smiled. “I think that we have tried everything else. We would not ask you if we had another choice.”

  She nodded. “I came to grips with that last night. Aside from my genetic failings, I am a good citizen. I will do what I can.”

  “Walking Shadow is not nearly the jackass that he seems. He has flown to the moon and back dozens of times. It was the first time that he had felt like himself, and it made him act in ways that were not appropriate to the moment.”

  Imgrace nodded. “I caught on to that as well. He was giddy and excited. He just misdirected it.”

  Link laughed. “I will have to imagine what he looked like when he was giddy.”

  Imgrace whispered, “It was horrifying.”

  They were still laughing together when Shadow and Shatter arrived, without their ubiquitous headgear.

  Shadow’s matte-black suit gave him away, but the bronze skin and dancing blue eyes made him look like the handsome poster boy for the Guardians that he was. Across the world, young men lined up to be tested and to go into law enforcement with only a handful each decade moving into Guardian status.

  Shatter had a slightly darker complexion with eyes a deep amber that sparked with good humour. “Good morning, Imgrace.”

  “Good morning, Shatter. Good morning, Shadow.”

  Shadow opened his mouth, closed it and smiled. “Good morning, Imgrace.”

  Shatter asked, “What was so funny?”

  She grinned, “Early to rise gets the joke. If you want to laugh, get here first.”

  Link snickered as the bots set the table for four. Breakfast was served, and Imgrace was starving. She attacked the food with enough ferocity to kill it again and realised that she had not only missed lunch the day before, but dinner as well.

  When her plate was empty, she was scanned and it was filled again.

  She paused and looked at Link. “What was that?”

  “They are assessing your caloric need based on the schedule for the day.” Shatter answered for him.

  As she watched, the bots scanned the others as they finished their plates.

  She shrugged and kept going. When she was done, she groaned and drank the sharp tea that the bots had served her. She loved sharp tea in the mornings.

  When Link finished his meal, he blotted his lips with his napkin and her suspicion was confirmed. Her cousin Argus was sitting next to her with the same friendly smile he always had when he was talking to her.

  “We will take you to medical, do some scans and draw some blood and tissue samples. Shatter and Shadow will then take the samples out of orbit and try to activate them or use them as batteries. If you can activate the blood or tissue from here, we will determine that as well.”

  She nodded and smiled. “And if I can do that, it will mean that I can just turn it on and I don’t have to be there.”

  “Precisely. Shall we?”

  She followed him to medical, and he settled her on a tall chair with a wide back.

  “Sorry about the equipment, it is all gauged for us. You are more petite.”

  Imgrace smiled. “It is fine, Argus. I can get along anywhere.”

  He smiled. “You recognized me.”

  “At breakfast. I had to watch you eat to be sure.” She chuckled as he set the scanner over her and it took a baseline.

  He set vials out and lifted an extractor. She had engaged in this procedure with her physician several times since her diagnosis, just to be sure.

  He withdrew vial after vial until a dozen were set in the rack. The rack was in a heated unit, and each tube contained an anticoagulant. They would be as fresh as they could be.

  “For tissue, we can use a scraping from the inside of your mouth. I just
need a little, and then, I can use a regenerator on you.”

  Imgrace nodded and opened her mouth so he could rub the brush across the inside of her cheek.

  After half an hour, he had samples of everything and her scraped bits had gotten medical treatment. Her arm had also suffered a core puncture that had taken a full charge to heal. She was fine, and he had a box full of her genetic material. She was really hoping that they could find a way to make it work.

  Shadow and Shatter took the box from Link, and everyone did a com check. Imgrace had to go back to her room to get hers, but the bots had put it on the bedside table when they had made her bed.

  They launched without incident, and Imgrace sat and played with puzzle dice while they waited. She wanted to ask Link a thousand things, but she didn’t want the other two to know what she knew about Argus.

  Link kept busy during the flight by catching up on paperwork. He fussed with budgets and recruitment letters while she sat and made patterns with the dice and their carved surfaces.

  When they reached weightlessness, the men announced it and Shadow started to experiment with her blood.

  Imgrace kept working with the dice until Shadow stated that nothing he did could provide him with the power he had felt the day before. There were flickers but nothing solid.

  “I am going to try and focus on the blood. Keep the scanners going.” Imgrace took a breath and imagined the vials of blood and then the warmth that she felt while kissing Shadow.

  “We are getting a reading!” Shadow was excited.

  She evened her breath out. He wasn’t the only one. One kiss and she had a memory strong enough to send a signal through space.

  Imagine what would have happened if he had kissed her back.

  Chapter Four

  Imgrace still got queasy when she thought about what Shadow had done with all the blood samples. Some had been held in the hand, some had been topical and some had been ingested. All carried a shadow of energy that he could use, but none of them worked as well as direct contact had. Great.