Shadow Kissed 03 - Shadowman

that she couldn’t silence. It was only marginally better than the hellgate’s rattle. Both were the sound of doom.
    â€œIf Khan goes back,” Adam continued, “what will happen to the gate?”
    â€œThe angels will rip it apart,” Khan answered, each syllable clipped.
    He had to be using Shadow; Layla felt it on her skin, moving against her, stroking and churning like an ocean. Even now he tried to seduce her. It would be so easy to give in and let his cool fury douse the burn inside her.
    â€œI’m sorry to be explicit, Layla,” Adam said, “but I have to get this straight. My understanding is that if the gate is destroyed, then you will be killed as well.”
    She didn’t know how to respond to that, so she kept quiet. The important thing was that Shadowman went back to his duty. Her life was over, anyway. That fact was abundantly evident in the multiple near-death scrapes of the past couple days. The sooner this was resolved, the sooner the nightmare would end.
    â€œCusto,” Talia pleaded. “Please.”
    Custo stood and turned his chair back around. “It’s extremely rare for someone to be reincarnated. In every case I know of, there has been some great work to be done. The second life itself hardly mattered. Case in point, Layla was born an orphan. I defy you to find the birth mother. Layla never connected with any of her foster families, was wholly raised by a system, and moved through this world almost completely alone.”
    â€œIt’s cruel,” Talia said, eyes shimmering.
    No, Layla thought, she was on a mission; she just hadn’t known it. She’d already had a chance at life, and a good one, as Kathleen. This was about finishing Kathleen’s business, Layla’s business now. The reality sucked, but there was no changing it.
    Adam picked up where Custo left off. “Makes sense. Her work has been dominated by the wraiths and an obsession with Segue. And, she went to extraordinary lengths to get near Talia.”
    â€œWhy wasn’t she sent back as an angel, then?” Talia asked.
    Layla knew, but Shadowman answered. “We wouldn’t have been able to touch.”
    Angels and fae were at odds, the light of the first eroding the darkness of the other, which was why Custo kept well back from Shadowman.
    Layla’s face heated as cool Shadow curled around her in an embrace, caressing her skin and quickening her blood. Sensuous zings ran down her tightening middle to torture her when she had no hope of release. Yes, if she had a choice to come back as an angel, full of knowledge, but not able to be with him, or as a mortal, ignorant and scared, she’d choose mortal every time.
    â€œKathleen had to have agreed to this business,” Shadowman said cruelly, even as he reached out to Layla. His black gaze wouldn’t let her move. “She chose her fate.”
    Which made Layla tip up her chin and push back her shoulders. He had a right to act like a cold bastard. She was asking the worst and betraying him, too.
    â€œWhat I don’t get,” Talia said, “is why Khan can’t choose his fate. He’s been Death for forever. Now it’s time for someone else to step up. Then he could watch over Layla.”
    â€œAngels have been stepping up,” Custo said. “But they can’t cover all of the Shadowlands—the place is endless. And they can’t sense a passing and catch it at the brink. Souls have been lost, and they need to be recovered. Khan is the only one who can do that. His absence is a growing problem.”
    Shadowman smoldered in his darkness. “He’s saying I don’t have a choice.”
    â€œBut you do,” Layla answered. “You made one choice already. I’m asking you to make the other one. The idea that some lost soul in Twilight is fading while you and I are off doing who knows what . . . It’s obscene.”
    â€œNo, Layla,” Custo interrupted. “You have that wrong, too.”
    She gave him a look that dared him to prove otherwise.
    â€œI, as well as most of The Order, believe your union with Shadowman was necessary. Because of the two of you, magic has once again come into the world. Art and innovation are in a modern renaissance. The influx brings good and bad, yes, but both are absolutely vital to the well-being of humanity. It was past time. We are at the brink of a new age.”
    â€œAnd the devil?” she