thm that made the shadows pulse. Elena's car was at the far end, and sh

n car with a promise to call, and Elena had stayed behind longer than she meant to, standing at Daniel's grave until the groundskeeper st

years ago like it was a fact rather than a delusion. She'd spent three years being told, gently, by well meaning

elt w

ike a door opening onto winter. Her breath fogged in front o

e

d it pulled. Elena hit the pavement hard enough to scrape her palms raw, and when she twisted to look behind her, the shape fr

didn't seem to ma

rian wa

y except for her and the thing dragging her toward the dark, and the next Adria

hing in the air that had no business having substance, and when he threw it, the shadow shattered apart with a sound like glass breaking underwater,

in front of her.

voice came out sma

you off this ground." He offere

not an

agreed. "

away from him until she hit the side of her car. "You just, that

h anything. Not

ria

e'd just watched. "Vale International. We handle threats other people can't. I'v

t tell me wh

t should have frightened her more than it did. "You want the rest of it, and you're going

ing anywher

nd it will find you again, and nex

e hated that he could see it.

ence was a choice, not a hesitation. "Because I've been keeping you al

le. I've never met

aid. "You just d

real question you give me half an answer wr

time, his eyes searching her face for something she couldn't name. "I know how insane this sounds. I've had three hund

the night. Somewhere behind his calm, Elena thought she saw something tha

ything else. "Not mine. One of my company's. My driver will t

t agree

just have to be alive tomorr

man who'd shattered a shadow like it was made of glass, and Elena stood there in the ruined quiet of the pa

is," she asked. "About w

than I'd like." He glanced up from t

ass stains on her coat and blood drying on her palms. Adrian didn't get in with her. He stood at the curb instead, watching until t

left him, hands in his pockets, watchi

r knees, trying to steady her breathing. Whatever was happening to her

One new message, no contact name,

ed to the last woma