Shadow Kissed 03 - Shadowman

was out of her mind. And after today, she just might be.
    Another chuckle. “Well, it must be pretty bad.”
    It’s evil , the blacksmith, Khan, had said.
    â€œBut not real,” Layla replied. “Right?”
    Adam gave her a look of extreme patience. “You tell me. You’re the one who just passed through Shadow to get here.”
    There was that word again: Shadow. Khan’s term for magic. Just how far did his power extend? Could he mess with her dreams?
    â€œCan you tell me what he is?” Maybe then she’d be able to get a handle on what had happened. If she listened closely she could almost hear that damning kat-a-kat.
    â€œSo you can put it in your story? Expose him and his kind to the masses? I don’t think so. And anyway, it’s not my place.”
    If Khan and his kind had this much power, the masses had a right to know. “Khan didn’t seem to have a problem filling me in.”
    Adam gazed at her long enough for her to feel utterly stupid.
    Of course. Khan had told her only what he wanted her to know. And then he’d delivered her to a place where she could be controlled. She was finally inside the castle of secrets and magic. She’d thought the place was scary before; now she found it utterly terrifying. And no one even knew she was there.
    Adam’s expression mellowed. “You obviously know quite a bit more than you did a few days ago. And if you hang out here long enough, you’re bound to discover more. Frankly, I worry for the safety of my wife and children should you make public certain private matters.”
    â€œIt is not my intention to hurt anyone.”
    â€œI’m saying, be careful.”
    There was no mistaking the warning that time. Why the hell were they going to let her stay? Just because Khan said so? “If it were up to you, I’d already be on your plane back to New York. Why am I here? What is Khan’s hold over you?”
    â€œYou jump to a lot of conclusions. It’s a dangerous habit.”
    â€œThen set me straight.” Tell me something.
    Adam looked down at the floor for a long moment. When he raised his head again, Layla knew that answers would not be forthcoming. “I’ll arrange for a room and, uh, give my wife a heads-up that you’ll be staying with us. If you’re hungry, kitchen’s through there. Help yourself to whatever you like. How about I find you there in say”—he looked at his watch—“an hour? I should have everything ready by then.”
    He’d have to answer her questions eventually, but for now, she let it go.
    â€œThe kitchen,” she agreed. Felt weird to accept hospitality from him, though. He was supposed to be one of the bad guys. Now she didn’t know what to think.
    Layla watched in amazement as Adam strode through the large connecting rooms to the elevator. No guards left behind. Just her. Alone.
    â€œOkay, then,” she said to break the silence. “Food.”
    Layla turned in the direction Adam had indicated—couldn’t be that hard to find—and halted, perspiration slicking her skin with one thud of her heart.
    A semitransparent child of eight or nine stood before her, her fancy little dress accented by a large, triangular collar of lace. Her hair was coiled in fat yellow ringlets around her face. Her shiny black shoes stood primly together. Her hands were fisted. But it was the naked loathing and spite in the child’s eyes that made Layla go fish cold. She didn’t dare breathe.
    Ghost. She was seeing things again. The child couldn’t possibly exist.
    â€œHow dare you bring him here?”
    Bring whom? Khan? Layla shook her head and took a slow step back from the little girl. “N-no. He brought me.”
    â€œThe worst of them. The darkest of them.” The little girl wrinkled her nose. “You let him touch you.”
    It wasn’t like that, Layla wanted to assure her. Khan just had a way about him that . . .
    â€œThis was once a good place. But now it’s bad. Bad! Bad! ” the child shrieked. The black pupils of her eyes swallowed the irises, then the whites. The rounded flesh of her cheeks went sallow and hollow, beyond the cast of illness. The curls unraveled into ratty string as the girl’s height seemed to stretch upward.
    Layla closed her eyes and willed the specter away. This wasn’t happening. She was exhausted and stressed, was