Grace and Shadow Read online

  Shatter leaned forward as the bot finished putting his dinner down. “What was it that you did with the batons and that fireball?”

  Grace grinned. “It is a very long story.”

  Link winked. “We have a five-course dinner. You have time.”

  “Why so fancy?”

  “Your short time here made an impression. We want to make sure you know how glad we are to have you home.”

  Shadow and Shatter nodded eagerly.

  Grace picked up her fork and prodded at her salad. “Well, first, there is no citizen of Jremat born without power.”

  From that statement, her audience was rapt.

  An hour later, she was exhausted and ready for a nap, but the Guardians wanted a demonstration. Again, Shadow was chosen as the target of the demonstration, because Link didn’t want to be revved up into contact with half the planet and Shatter was fine where he was.

  They stood outside in case anything went awry, with the sunset fading into night.

  Shadow’s eyes heated. “Another kiss?”

  “It would work that way but not necessary.”

  He looked disappointed.

  Grace laughed and went up on her toes, “Fine.”

  She pressed her lips against his and exhaled gently. Her kernel of focus left her lips and slid into him, causing him to jerk back in surprise.

  His shadows flared wildly, covering the light of the rising moon, swelling and snapping against the base itself.

  Grace yelped when the darkness wrapped around her and lifted her into the air. She didn’t react. She kept herself calm and waited.

  Slowly, the power faded, and he lowered her to the ground. As reflexes went, it would keep her safe if she powered him up during a mission. It would also make her a target if anyone could seek her out.

  When she was on the ground, she smiled at the others who were staring at her in shock.

  Shadow was still shuddering to get under control, and she caressed his cheek, pulling the excess from him to complete his journey to normal. “There you go.”

  “That was...”

  To her surprise, he kissed her, simply held her close and kissed her. Grace wrapped her arms around his neck, and she held on, enjoying the feeling.

  Link cleared his throat. “Shadow, unless you declare your intentions, I will ask you to unhand my kinswoman right now.”

  Grace leaned back, away from the man holding her. “Argus, you can’t be serious.”

  “I am very serious. You aren’t protected. You haven’t been socially active. I don’t want you to suffer an investigation over an unauthorized pregnancy.”

  She let go of Shadow like he was a hot stone. “Pregnancy?”

  Shadow sighed. “I am protected. There is no danger.”

  “I was just enjoying...” she walked past them and headed into the base. Social interaction was complicated. She would have been content just to stand there, kissing Shadow forever. Why did Link have to go and ruin it?

  * * * *

  Shadow raised his brow. “Kinsman?”

  “She is my cousin and has no other family willing to stand up for her. I will keep her safe, even from you. Are you serious about her?”

  Shadow thought about the last three weeks when all he could wonder was if she was safe and he had held his breath for the updates Link passed along.

  “I believe I am. I have discussed her with my family, and the next time I have leave, she is invited to join us.”

  Link smiled. “Really?”

  “Yes. I requested permission to bring her home before she left. I was a little disappointed to find her gone before I was even out of bed in the morning.”

  Link shrugged. “She needed to find out what her options were.”

  “So you sent her to a facility that was ninety percent male? Nice.”

  “Well, she learned she had options and she still turned to you.”

  Shadow felt a surge of smugness. “She did, didn’t she?”

  “Yes, but as her only kinsman, I am going to keep your interactions with her on the straight and narrow.”

  “But we can still continue to interact?” Shadow just wanted to make sure that they were clear.

  Link sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yes, but if you break her heart, I will break your arms.”

  Shadow held out his hand and his commander shook it.

  Shatter piped up, “Hey, she might have been interested in me.”

  Link glared at him, and Shatter opened and closed his mouth, unable to speak. Shadow didn’t laugh. He had been silenced a time or two himself. Link may act as their communications officer, but he was a strong talent who controlled sound.

  When they were back inside the living area of the base, Link released Shatter’s voice. Shatter scowled. “She might have liked me.”

  Link smiled, “And it is with my utmost relief that she didn’t. Shadow is a better fit for her. If she accidentally exaggerates his talent, no one will die.”

  Shatter crossed his arms and sighed. “Fair enough.”

  Shadow rolled his eyes at his companion’s surrender when he realised lives would be at stake. It made Shatter an excellent Guardian but far better at short-term relationships than long-term.

  Shadow enjoyed the attention he got from females, but he was content to put that behind him to see Imgrace’s eyes light up again the way she had when she spotted him on the platform.

  He had been wondering what she would be like when she returned, but a conquering warrior was not something that had sprung to mind. She had gone from a woman wracked by fear to someone ready to face a dangerous world.

  The dramatic fashion had to be a contrivance of the Citadel, but it suited Imgrace very well. It was familiar and yet foreign. It gave her an air of mystery that would appeal to the women of Jremat. Who knew, their female recruitment might just go up.

  He chuckled and headed to his quarters to update his family on the status of the beginning of his relationship.

  * * * *

  Imgrace shook out one of her casual outfit and slipped into it, enjoying the long black embroidered tunic that fastened over the ruby-red bodysuit. The suit was iridescent and one of the lovely choices offered by the quartermaster.

  She left her hair loose and headed into the common areas. Link was up, just like he had been the first day she was here. “Still working in the predawn hours?”

  He looked up from his data pad. “Still waking in the predawn hours? I think it is a genetic thing. All those horticultural talents in the bloodline.”

  She smiled, and the bots brought her tea. “That must be it.”

  “I have been reading the reports on you. The Citadel is exceptionally impressed with you, and Administrator Nekron has placed a note in your file that you are to be considered Specialist status.”

  “Oh. Wow.”

  “He also applauds your willingness to dig into the more painful parts of our history. He sounds smitten with you.”

  “Well, I didn’t know he was the administrator, I called him Combat Master Nekron.” She shrugged. It was hard to take someone seriously when you had pinky wrestled him in a hallway.

  “Well, he also asks that if you are not in a relationship with someone here, he would like to offer you a position as his fiancé at the Citadel, followed by respectable marriage.”

  That took the wind out of her. “What?”

  “I have the most formally worded proposal that I have ever seen in front of me. What shall I do with it?” His eyes were sparkling with amusement.

  “Can I use your tablet?”

  He slid it over, and she quickly worked a polite refusal with references to the honour he had paid her, and she did it in Dhemon. It had seemed only proper to learn his language since he had gone to the trouble of learning hers.

  “There. Send that.”

  Link looked at it. “I can’t read it.”

  “I politely thanked him for h
is consideration of me for the honourable position as his wife, but I decline on the basis that while I feel tremendous affection for him, I cannot see my life at his side.” Imgrace smiled brightly.

  “Wow. That is the nicest put-down I have heard, and I have heard dozens.” Link hit send.

  A shadow snaked out and tickled her palm. “Who did you just turn down?”

  She turned and watched a tousled So’orn make his way into the room in loose trousers and nothing else. She blushed red and turned her face back to the amused expression on Link’s face.

  Link explained. “The administrator of the Citadel was also the Combat Master that trained Imgrace. After her time with him, he found himself smitten, and he wanted to ask her if she would consider a position as his wife.”

  So’orn sat down heavily on one of the chairs. “What did you say?”

  She stared at him and then yelped when his shadows closed around her and lifted her off her chair and onto his lap.

  “I do not think that it is any of your business.” She crossed her arms and sat with her back straight while on his thighs.

  He looped his arms around her waist, and he rested his chin on her shoulder. “We both know it is.”

  “You already know I turned him down. He is brilliant and charming, but I cannot see my life at his side.”

  He whispered in her ear, “What do you see?”

  She turned her head to meet his gaze. “Shadows.”

  He kissed her, and she turned to fully meet him. Her fingers tangled in his hair, and he gripped her waist tightly.

  Absently, Imgrace heard her cousin get to his feet. “Call me when breakfast is ready.”

  She smiled slightly, but So’orn had her full attention.

  Shatter came in, and he ignored them, sipping a cup of tea and watching the previous day’s newsreels about the new Guardian and speculation on where she had come from.

  Imgrace couldn’t care less.

  Chapter Eight

  Two weeks after her return, she finished her demonstration for the medical board, and the shock of the doctors and analysts was more grim than satisfying.

  One of the doctors raised his hand. “How did you discover this frequency?”

  “Contact the Citadel. All that I know is that the scan that detected it hurt like hell.” She ran a hand through her hair from her position at the podium. “Voids aren’t voids at all. We contain a piece of Jremat inside us, and we can offer that to others of our world while we travel. It was when the Guardians ran a test on me that I learned I wasn’t the holder of a big pile of nothing. After that, the Citadel trained what was there, and now, I can trot it out at will.”

  She didn’t add that she was getting stronger and definitely didn’t mention that she could power an army as long as she wanted if she was properly motivated.

  Grace smiled hopefully. “Any other questions?”

  A hand at the back rose up.

  Grace couldn’t make out the person, but she pointed. “Yes?”

  “What about your family?”

  That stunned her. “What about them?”

  “Have you made any contact with them since discovering that you weren’t a void?”

  The voice was vaguely familiar.

  Grace shrugged. “No. I haven’t spoken with my parents since my sister was born, confirmed as a talent and they signed me over to automated care. I am sure they are very content with their choices, and I wish them well. I have my life and they have theirs.”

  The room muttered and the voice chirped again, “You don’t hate them?”

  She looked into the shadows and hoped to make eye contact with the woman speaking to her. “How can I hate them? I don’t know them. They don’t know me. It is better that way.”

  She looked around the room at large. “Anything else?”

  One of the physicians up front raised his hand. She nodded.

  “Grace. Are you single?”

  Oh, for the love of... “I am seeing someone and it appears serious.”

  The chime rang, and she exhaled in relief. “Good afternoon.”

  Her minder came to her and smiled. “There is a cocktail hour, and many would like to speak with you in a more casual surrounding.”

  Shadow was picking her up in an hour on his way home from the mop-up after a minor flooding incident down the coast. He had listened to her lecture with amusement.

  Grace was now a public figure, and her original identity was now well known, just as Shadow’s, Shatter’s and Link’s were. She hadn’t heard from her parents or sister, but she was getting the feeling that that was not too far in her future.

  She followed Dr. Treilat through the halls and into a ballroom where tea, alcohol and snacks were being served. Grace grimaced. It wasn’t an intimate gathering; there were more people here than at the lecture.

  Grace tucked her elbows in, checked her batons and straightened her shoulders. Dr. Treilat took her from one conversational group to the next. A young woman with a familiar set of features was in the third group.

  “Grace, this is Dr. Kelart of the horticultural centre.”

  The gathering grew hushed.

  Grace looked at her sister and smiled blandly. “Pleased to meet you.”

  Dr. Kelart gave her a long stare. “Guardian Grace, may I speak with you for a moment?”

  Grace smiled and looked at the folk around her. “You heard her, please excuse us.”

  Keeping control of the situation by dismissing the folk around them was a cheap shot, but it was very effective. Dr. Kelart was suddenly less aggressive.

  Grace moved toward her and stood straight. The small nametag that the doctor was wearing pronounced her to be named Grassis. Grassis Kelart.

  “What did you wish to speak with me about, Grassis?”

  She jolted in surprise. “Um, Mother and Father would like you to cease using your family name. It doesn’t make them look good.”

  “Tough. It is my name by birth, and I will continue to use it. What else?”

  Grassis looked uncomfortable. “They would also like you to cease speaking about your upbringing after I was born.”

  “Too bad. I did very well with the means I was given. I even had to learn to repair the food dispenser when I was thirteen, because I hadn’t had food for three days and they would not respond to my com requests.”

  Her sister flinched. “I didn’t know that.”

  Grace sighed. “I know you didn’t, but what they need to understand is that I survived my childhood, I survived my adolescence and I remain a survivor to this day. Please tell them that there is no malice involved. I am stating the facts. My position in our society has changed, but I haven’t. They had ample chances to learn who I was, but now, they can watch it as the Guardians haul me all over the globe.”

  Grassis nodded. “I understand, I think. It is good to meet you.”

  Grace smiled. “It is good to meet you, too. Congratulations on the early doctorate.”

  “Thank you, but how do you know that?”

  “I know how old you are, Grassis.” She chuckled.

  “Oh. Right. Oh, wow. It’s So’orn, the Walking Shadow.” Grassis looked all fluttery, and she swallowed nervously. “He is coming this way.”

  Grace chuckled. “I should hope so.”

  Shadow came up to her, embraced her and gave her a kiss to curl her toes. Gasps rang through the scientific community, and when he released her, he was grinning. “I want to introduce you to someone.”

  Grace’s heart was still pounding. “Me first. Shadow, this is my sister, Grassis Kelart.”

  Shadow nodded a greeting. “Pleased to meet you. The only other family member of hers that I have met is Link, and he is a pain in the ass.”

  Grassis let out a startled giggle and clamped her hand over her mouth. “Pleased to meet you, Shadow.”

  Grace inclined her head. “If you will excuse us? Oh, if you want to talk more, you can go
through the base. They can find me pretty much anywhere.”

  Grassis smiled. “I will do that.”

  Shadow eagerly hauled her through the gathering until they were standing in front of a serious couple in conversation with others of a similar bent. Grace could hear them discussing the ramifications of her being raised primarily by bots and her lack of social interaction.

  He cleared his throat, and the group turned to them, several with guilty faces. They had just been discussing the likelihood that Grace threw herself at men to get attention and social interaction.

  “Grace, I would like to introduce you to my father, Professor Liro’os Maneki. Dad, this is Grace of the Guardians of Jremat.”

  The other sociologists watched as Shadow kept his hand on her back as he edged her toward his father. Grace hissed at him and stepped forward, extending her hand to Professor Maneki. “I am happy to see that his good looks will remain immune to time. With no brains, it would be a shame if Shadow stopped being pretty.”

  The room gasped and Professor Maneki cackled. “He said you were made of acid with a good heart. Call me Liro’os.”

  Shadow made a face at her, and she made a face back. “You have been talking about me?”

  “Only when you sleep.”

  Grace winced. “That is extremely creepy.”

  Shadow gave her a lascivious grin. “I know.”

  She laughed, and his father watched them with a happy expression on his face.

  “Just like me and your mother, except she was telling me what to do.”

  Grace glanced over to the debaters with the lewd minds. “For your data, I haven’t engaged in any physical or sexual relationships. Until I could take care of myself, I couldn’t trust a talented person not to kill me.”

  Liro’os watched his companions scuttle away. “They are going to be working over the ramifications of that for a while. Men always forget that trust is a factor. You have had more reasons not to trust than any woman alive.”

  “Yes, but lately, it is less trust than having time to get something started. We no sooner peel off two layers of my suit than an alarm goes off, though I think Link might be setting them off.” Grace grinned.