Shadow Kissed 03 - Shadowman

shouted. The soldier glanced from Shadowman’s face to his show of magic.
    All right? No. Shadowman rubbed his hands together, and the Shadow dissipated.
    But now at least he knew what he was. Would have known straightaway, if not for the panic that drove him.
    â€œWe cannot go to the Annex,” Shadowman answered.
    â€œSir?”
    Angels. Shadowman snorted with the irony. By now they, too, must have realized what he’d become. They’d striven hard enough to wipe his kind from the face of the earth during the last war between Heaven and Shadow.
    He couldn’t risk a confrontation with the angels. Not with Layla’s soul waning.
    â€œTake us anywhere else,” Shadowman commanded. “Anywhere without angels.”
    The last place he could go was the Annex. Surely, death awaited him behind the gleaming faces of the host. That he’d created a gate to Hell was proof enough for judgment against him.
    Stretching his palm open again, Shadowman pushed rage into magic. The faelight sprang forth again.
    No, the angels would not welcome him. He had to find another way into Shadow.
    He required a quiet, dark place—he slid his gaze to Kev—without an audience. And then maybe, maybe . . .
    â€œGo that way,” Shadowman commanded.
    He knew just the spot.
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    Layla crashed into a chair, banging her chin, tripped, and fell on the floor as she crossed the divide between the worlds. It hurt, but she kicked to get free and stand in case another surprise awaited her. She glanced around, breathing hard. Abigail’s room was dingy next to the vibrant contrasts of Twilight. Solid, cluttered, with a lingering smell of illness in the air. Dull and wonderful. But no surprises.
    She was back. A laugh burst out of her. Holy crap, somehow she’d made it.
    Had Adam and Talia made it out with the babies? The thought sobered her up real quick and got her moving.
    She tore to the door, skidded to a stop near the console table, where she hoped Zoe had left the gun—yes!—then ran down the haunted hallway. No ghost, but then Layla had a much better hold on life now. She’d seen the shining thread of it herself. At the elevator, the button light did not come on when she pressed. Probably not working.
    â€œShadowman!”
    Layla didn’t expect an answer, but he had to be there somewhere. Not dead, not Death. Then what? She didn’t care.
    The stairs wouldn’t open either—one of Segue’s inner cages had been triggered again—and since she didn’t have her handy door opener nearby, she opted to use her Glock. Bam! Bam! Bam! she fired the gun at the ceiling to alert somebody of her presence. If Adam was left at Segue, he’d investigate the shots. It took an interminable three minutes for two teams of soldiers to show up. She dropped the gun and held up her hands.
    â€œMs. Mathews?”
    Yes, duh. A couple of the soldiers looked familiar, but she didn’t know their names. “Are Adam and Talia okay?”
    One of them spoke into a throat mic. “I’m to take you to them now.”
    Oh, thank God they were okay.
    Five minutes later, research level, and into Adam Thorne’s supertechy inner sanctum, Layla was clobbered by an awkward, but beautifully tight embrace.
    Talia was crying and incoherent. “How—” String of muffled words. “What happened . . . ? We all thought you were gone!”
    Layla herself had sniffed. “Nope.” She shook her head. “Well, I was, but now I’m back.”
    Talia opened a little distance but kept a grip on Layla’s arms. “What do you mean ‘back’? Khan said you were under someone’s skirt. Zoe and Custo are searching for you.”
    Which made Layla bark a laugh and wipe her cheeks with the heel of her hand. If they knew about Zoe, they also knew Abigail had passed. “He meant Fate. Damn, she’s a twisted bitch, but I guess I tricked her . . . and here I am.”
    Adam came up beside Talia. “You tricked Fate?”
    â€œGoes by the name Moira,” Layla said, nodding. She glanced around. “Where’s Shadowman?”
    â€œHe’s mortal !” Talia’s eyes went wide. “As in flesh and blood. Maybe even angelic. And so worried about you.”
    Mortal. That’s what she’d been hoping for. Kicked out of Twilight. Busted.
    â€œHe was en route to the Annex building, the northeastern headquarters of the