Shadow Kissed 03 - Shadowman

rooms beyond. Khan followed his daughter’s husband out of the room, through the connecting passageways to privacy. It pleased him how the place was webbed in Shadow. Not the mundane falls of dark that emphasized normal depth and variation, but the stuff of magic and possibility. Of Between. This was clearly Talia’s place. Time lay thick within the throbs, an echo of memory here, a wisp of ghostly movement there.
    As soon as he was beyond the notice of Layla and the others, he let his own Shadow loose around him, his illusion of a mortal form relaxing into a body haze that cost him little to hold. Adam could use reminding that he conferred with the lord of the fae, the father of his dark bride, and not one of his underlings.
    When Adam turned, he did indeed take a swift step back. Then he gritted his teeth, steeling his nerve, which also pleased Khan. Talia deserved a strong man. “Custo says that Ms. Mathews is . . .” Adam raised his hands, head shaking, as if he had difficulty completing the sentence.
    â€œLayla is Kathleen, yes.” The fact still shot an acute emotion, something sharp and sweet, throughout his body. Kathleen. Found. Kathleen. His.
    â€œImpossible.” Under Adam’s controlled exterior, he was thick with disbelief and confusion. “You can’t possibly expect me or Talia to believe this.”
    â€œYet the fact remains.”
    Adam frowned his disapproval. “I take it she doesn’t know? Or remember anything? Doesn’t know who or what you are?”
    Good. Adam understood. “She can’t know, not yet. She would reject me.”
    â€œYet you saw fit to fill her in on everything else, very likely endangering Talia in the process, not to mention our work here.” Adam threw his hands in the air. “She’s a reporter. She’s been dogging our steps for the past couple years! My favorite piece of hers featured that fuzzy picture of Talia, with the caption WHO IS TALIA THORNE? If she exposes us, Talia will be hounded. Our children will be in danger. And all this in the middle of the wraiths’ reorganization! You can’t be serious.”
    â€œLayla doesn’t want to hurt anyone. If she is driven, it is to know her daughter. Surely, the rest is the means to that end. She will reveal nothing when she learns the truth.”
    â€œThat in some cockeyed, messed-up way she’s Talia’s mother ? Why would she believe that?”
    â€œBecause it’s the truth, because there is a thing not easily broken that binds family across time and space, because Kathleen swore she’d return somehow to find us. And she did just that. She traded her memories to come back. She gave up herself on the hope that the connection between mother and child would prevail. That I’d find her. That she could have her family.”
    Adam shook his head. “But she is not Kathleen anymore. She’s Layla Mathews , and she is writing a multipart feature series to expose us.”
    â€œWe will all have to take a gamble, then, to see which of her selves prevails, Kathleen or Layla.”
    Adam put a hand to the back of his neck, frustration spilling out of him. “Talia will want to know her. Will open her heart to her.” His anger turned fierce. “If that woman betrays—”
    â€œI wager she won’t.”
    â€œHow much do you want to bet?”
    Khan pulled a grim smile. “I’ve already bet it all, haven’t I?”
    He extended himself and felt the tremble of Shadow that was his daughter above and off to the far left. She cradled a bright life close in her arms, while another little one slept nearby. Kathleen’s grandchildren. Another gift. “Will Talia be coming down soon?”
    â€œNot until the kids are both sleeping soundly, which actually could be forever.”
    â€œI promised Layla that she would meet Talia today.”
    Adam’s eyes sparked with satisfaction. “Sadly, a promise you won’t be able to keep.”
    His obstinacy was going to be a problem and needed to be broken. “Peace, Adam. You don’t know everything yet: Like Kathleen, Layla’s death is already upon her. I have held back Shadow twice now, but Fate has cut her from the tapestry of life. None of us has the luxury of time. She will die, and soon.”
    Adam stilled, his driving intensity tripping to a stop. “I’m sorry, what?”
    â€œLayla is going to die soon. It is