Shadow Kissed 03 - Shadowman

travel between the worlds?” Layla was afraid to hear the answer. “How?”
    Talia shrugged. “I’m not sure.” Her face had drained of color. Her black eyes were wide, shimmering with feeling. “But I’m glad you’re back. Very glad.”
    Life and death. If Layla had traveled through the three worlds, particularly to that last one, she’d have to have been dead, then returned to life. . . .
    â€œAm I an angel, too?” Seemed preposterous, but in the scheme Talia had described . . .
    Talia shook her head. “No.” She backed her way to the door. “But I think you are.”
    Don’t go. Not yet.
    Layla stood to beg her back.
    But Talia already had her hand on the knob. “Now for sure you won’t get any sleep tonight.”
    â€œWhat am I supposed to do?” She couldn’t possibly go back to her old life, not after today. She’d been lonely before, but now she was completely lost.
    â€œDo? Your story is just getting started. I’ll assist you with all the research you need. I’ve been doing a little writing on the subject myself. Actually, the wraiths are a very good place to start contextualizing the rest.”
    Wraiths. Right. Her story. Everything else might be upside down, but her story was still valid. The only thing valid, maybe. There was work to be done. A war to cover.
    Okay. Research was good. This world-traveler thing . . . Talia, Khan . . . she’d think about all that later. She couldn’t handle it now. The confusion. The pressure in her chest.
    â€œTry to settle in, if you possibly can. It’ll all work out.” Talia opened the door with a quick swipe of her hand across her eyes and let herself out. “In the meantime, welcome to the family.”
    Â 
    Â 
    Khan’s Shadow settled at his shoulders with a gasp of relief. Segue remained secure, and he was here ahead of the devil. Layla’s heart still beat, even and strong. All was well.
    There was time left for them yet.
    He sought the familiar form Kathleen had made for him, but it would not come. He organized Shadow into the shape of Khan’s body, but it would not hold. It was a futile effort, but he had to try.
    He’d found Layla, and lost himself. On the mortal plane, he could now only be Death.
    Stretching himself into the dark corners of Layla’s room, Khan had to make do with watching. As he’d watched and waited for Kathleen most of her life.
    He observed as Layla sat unmoving in the center of the bed, her arms around her shins, her chin on her knees. Bits of yellow paper were scattered around her like petals. Thin eddies of disquiet trailed through the air, weakening as she deliberated silently. The trails cut off when she straightened, as if coming to a decision. Layla brushed the bits to the floor and leaned over to switch off the bedside light. The low-hanging clouds in the sky outside permitted no moonlight or starlight to touch the world, so darkness filled the space.
    Kathleen. Layla. Both brave, both willful. Both lacking caution when it was needed most. Both treating with Death. And yet, still different. He’d thought that the soul alone constituted the entirety of a person, but perhaps that wasn’t true. What defined her?
    It was a question for the angels, with an answer they would not share with the fae. Hence, the great wall that divided their realms, a relic of an ancient war between the races.
    Khan extended within the shadows, drew closer, the deepness of the dark a cloak to hide him. He could sense the wire of tension and anxiety that kept her consciousness high, away from rest. But sleep is kin to Death, so with a soft stroke, he released her.
    â€œPlease remember,” he whispered as she tumbled into fitful slumber.
    He followed her down, into Twilight, where he could be anyone he chose.
    Â 
    Â 
    Talia’s voice echoed in Layla’s sleep-slipping mind. “Welcome to the family.”
    But the mouth that formed the words was on the face of some puffy lady who was escorting her down the front hallway of a house. “I’m Mama Joyce,” the woman continued with a smile. “You can shorten that if you want.”
    Layla hugged her backpack tight against her chest to stop her heart from beating so hard. She hated new placements. This lady seemed nice, but Layla wasn’t going to call her “Mama.” Her mother was dead, and only babies said that anyway, not