Shadow Kissed 03 - Shadowman

was predestined. I saw Fate herself on the road in front of the warehouse where you found me.” Moira had flashed her scissors. “Fate brought us together.”
    â€œWhoa.” She held up a hand to stop him. “Fate’s a person?”
    â€œA fae. Moira.”
    Layla made a face. “And who said she gets to decide everything?”
    â€œShe doesn’t decide.” Just like Death didn’t decide when someone had to pass. “She does her duty. There is no life without magic, without Shadow. She is necessary to the ebb and flow of existence. Her role is prescribed.” It was the same with all fae, in one way or another, trapped by their purpose.
    â€œWell, what about the first time?”
    Khan was silenced. To which “first time” did she refer?
    â€œWhen you and Kathleen made whoopee, was that in the cards?” Her tone was aggressive, the emotion coming off her now distinctly wild.
    â€œNo, I broke a law to be with her.” The fae were constrained by their natures, their duties, not by destiny. What was she after?
    â€œGive Kathleen a little credit. If you broke a law, she broke it with you. And if she could do it, so can I.”
    Careful, now. Layla was racing toward a decision. “I don’t understand.”
    â€œI know,” Layla answered, a glint in her eye. “How could you? You’re not human.”
    Her statement opened up a painful yawn of space between them. Fae. Human. They were worlds apart. Only a creature of Shadow would attempt such madness as to love a mortal.
    â€œBut because I kind of like you,” she said, “I’ll let you in on a little secret.”
    â€œYou ‘kind of like me’?” And just that fast, warmth spread through the chill of his Shadow. He could listen to her talk like this always. The spark of her mind combined with the snap of her temper—no wonder her soul was a living conflagration.
    â€œIt’s called free will.”
    Oh, that. “Moira is necessarily cunning. Eventually the imperative of death will find you.” He knew the imperative intimately. All mortals died. While there was occasional elasticity regarding the moment of their passing, there were never any exceptions.
    Did Layla think she could do Kathleen one better? Did she think she could change her fate altogether? Only a soul as bright as hers would dare it. She had no idea whom she was up against.
    â€œOf course everyone has to die. That’s not what free will is about. Free will, my fine faery friend, is about taking chances, making the most of each moment.”
    The heat in her gaze and the swell of building intent told him that she didn’t think she’d done enough of it.
    â€œCase in point: Kathleen did whatever the hell she wanted. She lived under a death sentence all her life. And look what she had!” Layla gestured to the painting. “Her art, you, Talia. Don’t tell me all that was fated.”
    Kathleen had pushed the limits of her destiny as far as they could go. She’d held on with spit and drive until the moment she delivered Talia. Yes, Kathleen had lived well.
    â€œAnd what do you want, Layla?” Was it anything he could hope to give her?
    â€œI want to live. And if I’ve only got five minutes or fifty years, they’re going to be good.”
    Her claim made him a little afraid. What could she be thinking with that spark in her eye?
    â€œSo step back, ’cause I’m coming through.”
    â€œLayla—!”
    But she was already rushing into the canvas. She couldn’t know that he wasn’t in the painting itself or that Twilight was as vast as the human consciousness or as varied as imagination. So many souls crossed at the same time, but— there! —for Layla the veil went up in violent flames. The denizens of Faery lifted their heads, scented her, pricked their ears to hear her. Trained their dark eyes through Shadow toward her bright light. A mortal had crossed; fair game.
    Heedless, she ran into the trees to find him. He, the monster who wanted her most of all.
    She had no idea. Twilight was not the place for this. There was no tenderness here.
    Khan rolled out of the darkness and caught her in his arms. Arms of a man, like she expected. The arms of the Khan she knew. It took one of her breaths for the rest of him to form and modern clothing to slide over his body. Black, like his Shadow.
    â€œYou must go. Your mind