Shadowed

"I know. Lizzie’s dead." Edward ducked his head and toed a clump of grass uncomfortably.

"Yeah." Sali agreed. "Edward, don’t leave Cloud Chief unless somebody is with you. Promise?"

"I promise." Edward shivered slightly in the warm Oklahoma air. His father hadn’t given complete details on how Elizabeth Frasier had died; just that she’d been killed, somehow. That was incentive enough for Edward to remain where he was unless accompanied by an adult and a strong one at that. Ashe’s father, Aedan, came to mind. After all, Edward had seen the chunk of granite Aedan had casually snapped off the Frasier’s kitchen counter. He’d put his hands experimentally on his kitchen counter, but it hadn’t budged a millimeter.

"How strong do you think Ashe’s dad really is?" Edward asked to fill the silence.

"All vampires are strong," Jason said. "I once heard that a single vampire killed twenty werewolves, but I wasn’t there so I can’t say whether it’s true or not. And boy, werewolves are damn strong. Don’t ever forget that. Some shifters, too. You’re here for a reason—so we can protect you until those people stop hunting you. Don’t ever think for a minute that either side will allow you to live your own life. If they tell you that, it’s a lie." Jason got up and went to relieve Trace, who’d finished another complete round and was heading for the tent to get a drink.

* * *

"Denise, I don’t know what to do. We’ve managed to crush him, when all we intended to do was take the possibility of a cell phone away." Ashe was minding the store while Adele shut herself inside the tiny office to eat lunch and call Denise. Sali had been scheduled to come to Cordell and work with Ashe at the store, but Adele knew Ashe would be too embarrassed to work with his friend this quickly.

"His birthday is coming up. What else did he want?"

"We were planning to buy a tablet of some kind. He could download books that way and not have to leave Cloud Chief to buy them," Adele sighed. "And Aedan and I know what happened to the Frasier girl. One witness said it was like huge, invisible hands lifted her off the ground and tossed her through that window. Ashe is in so much danger and he doesn’t even realize it."

"Adele, how long do you think he can stay behind this boundary, or in the presence of someone else? He’s growing, just like Sali and the others. Marco was driving at age sixteen, and leaving the community behind regularly. The others will, too, just as soon as they’re able."

"But Sharon and Jonas keep an eye on Wynn. I don’t think she’ll have the freedom the others do—she’s just too rare."

"True. Can you imagine what might happen if humans discovered a real unicorn?"

"There are some who wouldn’t rest until she was captured, I know that much," Adele replied. "And it could be the same with Ashe. He has talent that is more valuable than gold. His life may be in danger from more than the Elemaiya." Adele didn’t voice her fears over the Vampire Council.

"Yeah. Marcus says the same, but he won’t elaborate."

"Just don’t ask about it, Denise. Ashe has enough to worry about as it is."

"Wouldn’t think of it. If you need help with Ashe’s birthday party, just ask." Ashe’s birthday was June twenty-second, barely a month away. "I can make punch or bring snacks."

"I’ll call you later, after Aedan and I decide what we want to do," Adele said. "I need to get back to the store—Ashe refused lunch but I’ll send him to the kitchen anyway. Maybe he’ll make a sandwich for himself. If Mr. Winkler hadn’t installed the security cameras last year, I wouldn’t have left him out in the store by himself." Adele glanced up at the monitor over her desk; Ashe was ringing up a customer who’d purchased seed packets.

Denise agreed and hung up.

* * *

"Honey, go get a sandwich. You can eat in my office and phone Sali if you want," Adele said as she walked back into the store. Ashe glanced at his mother’s face—it appeared pale and worried.

"I’ll go phone Sali." Ashe moved toward the back of the store where the kitchen and Adele’s office were.

"Make a sandwich, hon. You’re growing again." Ashe didn’t reply, he merely tossed up a hand in acknowledgment and kept walking.

"Sali, I don’t want to talk about it." Ashe bit into the half sandwich he’d made for himself. The store had been busy from the moment they’d opened, and he was hungry. Sali was asking for details on the cell-phone humiliation, as he’d dubbed the incident.

"You just gave the money away? Ashe, you could have gotten all kinds of stuff with that. We could have bought new video games. Or books, even." Sali didn’t like to read and never made a secret of that fact, so the books suggestion was an afterthought.

"Sali, Cori is going to college. She needs things, too. More important things than video games."

"Dude, did you have to give it all away?" Sali whined.

"I didn’t need it," Ashe replied tersely. "Look, I’m eating lunch. Can’t talk with my mouth full, dude. Bye." Ashe hung up and bit savagely into his ham sandwich. Glancing at the security monitor over his mother’s desk, he watched as a man walked through the door. The monitor that Mr. Winkler’s security company installed a year earlier displayed six separate images from cameras located throughout the store. One image showed his mother in an aisle, helping a customer with weed killer. The man who’d come in wandered out of the camera’s view, so Ashe kept a watch on his mother as he ate. Adele rang up the customer who quickly left the store, purchase in hand. Now a lull had come; no other customers were inside the store except for the man who was wandering aimlessly through the aisles. Ashe’s skin began to itch.

* * *

"They are wary, wise wolf, after the girl was killed." Wildrif dipped his head respectfully to Obediah Tanner.

"Then how do we get to the others?" Obediah’s wolves hadn’t been in on the girl’s killing, so his reward money was diminishing. Three of his were watching the boundary at a safe enough distance that the Cloud Chief Pack wouldn’t notice or scent them. Somehow, the girl had managed to get past Obediah’s guards.

"Hire a rogue witch or warlock," Wildrif suggested. "A strong one, to take down the boundary. And if the one we find has some friends, hire them, too. Should be easy enough to get those kids out, once the boundary comes down. And if they die, well, there’s no real way to connect them to you, is there?"

"You know where to find somebody?" Obediah’s interest was piqued instantly.

"I believe I can find some who are willing," a slow smile spread across Wildrif’s face.