Antonio rapped on her door and Valentina indicated he could enter with a bob of her head. He stood in the doorway and studied the scene. “Buenos dias, Valentina. Bradley.” His tone was so cold that icicles would have dripped off it in colder climes. Not that Logan gave a shit what the man thought. He wouldn’t like Antonio if they were fellow agents in Richmond. They were never going to be beer drinking buddies like he hoped for with Ian and Zared. Not this slick operator. He was too slippery, too sure of himself and too quick to push the limits to get to his desired goal.
“Morning.” Logan’s return was sour, evading Antonio’s gaze.
“Buenos dias, Antonio. There are pastelitos on the file cabinet,” she said, tapping that pen of hers again. Valentina’s reply was cool, betraying none of the heated emotion they had just shared. He admired her aplomb. Logan was not sure he could be so steady.
Antonio’s attention went from Logan to Valentina. The flare of his nostrils and tensing of his fists was unmistakable. He did not like Logan. Good. Logan would hate to nurse this grudge all by himself.
“Hope you weren’t going for the guava, because I ate that one,” Logan said with a smug tone. “Early bird and all that. It was delicious too. You missed out.”
Antonio’s lips flattened and he angled toward Logan so fiercely Logan summoned his talent for the fight he was sure was coming. The man changed from a snake charmer to a predator in one swift motion. Then he smoothed out his face, giving Valentina an appraising glance before his gaze went to the treats.
“Dios, you are a goddess,” he exclaimed in a tone that belied the fury making his voice brittle. “What did you get?”
“What I got and what is left are two different things.”
He opened the bag. “Any cream cheese ones?”
Valentina frowned. “Yes, but only because I picked up an assortment. I usually don’t buy them since they are not favorites. When did you start liking those?”
His shrug was almost Gallic. “I am branching out. Ah well. I am sure there are plenty to choose from. Next time I will have to make sure to beat you in to get the best selection, si? Valentina, I wish to talk to you. Alone.”
Before Logan could protest, she shook her head. “Logan is here as an official emissary from not just Richmond but Washington as well. There is nothing that I can hear that he can’t. I prefer if he remains. That way there can be no misunderstanding about what is being said. Comprende?”
Antonio’s face sharpened into harsh grooves. Menace radiated off him from his clenched fists to his aggressive fighting stance. Then he subsided, his mouth tilting up in a smile.
“Whatever you say, jefa.”
Storming Time
His grin was boyish and so heart stopping that all she could do was stare at him. “Sounds like something I would have dug when I was eight. There wasn’t much money for even the local zoos, or if there was, they didn’t spend it on us.”
As dangerous as this was, it was a safe topic. “You’ve told me some information about your past, but what else has Universe been able to determine?”
He shook his head and stared at the pink birds floating on the water. Without warning one of them lifted up from the water. Its surprised squawk made Valentina grin before it floated back down to the lake. Logan had done it solely to make her happy.
Then she turned her attention back to the too-handsome, too-young man who was lethal to her senses. Logan was staring into the water, his focus far away from her.
“Logan?”
He turned to her and leaned against the railing. “You already have the basics about my being abandoned at the hospital when I was five. My parents came in when I had a fever, I guess, and then walked out, leaving me there, before they filled out any paperwork. Nobody could find them. They were just gone. They were on the surveillance cameras but the authorities could never get a match. And there I was, five years old, old enough to know names, but not to identify my address, or city. I couldn’t tell them where I lived beyond that it was a house with a white fence. I hadn’t learned the word for picket at that time.”
He put his hands on the railing and breathed in as though tasting the air. He was so vulnerable her heart flipped over. After hesitating for a split second too long, she leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder.
“Did they . . . leave you with anything?” she asked. “A note, a name, anything that might tell them who you were?”
He shook his head. “Nothing but my powers, though of course not at the time. They developed later. Logan was the name the hospital gave me. I was transferred to CPS when I was better but they couldn’t track my parents. The fever wasn’t that serious—if they left me because they couldn’t pay the bills. The agencies tried to place me but for some reason I didn’t get any nibbles. I was a healthy five-year-old, but just old enough not to be as interesting as the babies. Families would visit with me but they never adopted me. Many children my age got adopted, but I stayed behind. As I got older and less interesting those interested were fewer and fewer. I grew up in a combination of foster care and orphanages.”
She shook her head. “I would have imagined you’d be an ideal candidate for adoption. I bet you were a cute kid and you’re white. Many children get adopted by their foster parents too.”
His face was a mask of ancient sadness that made him look far older than his twenty-five years. “I believe that’s what CPS was banking on as well, but I didn’t. My parents should have given me up when I was a baby. Then I might have stood a chance. As it was, I just got less adoptable over the years. Then my talent manifested and it was over.”
Tracking Shadows Excerpts
Quillan's shadow moved, but the man didn’t.
Jiana’s gaze followed the movement from her seat in the café across from Quillan’s office. Judging by the way his shadow bobbed before merging back into ordinary stillness, something was coming. Quillan, however, was unaware of that fact. If he had possessed shadow abilities as she did he would see the wrongness, but he didn’t have such tools.
The Federal Reserve Bank loomed over the Universe offices, casting its own ominous gloom. At this hour the sun was beginning to set. The buildings made triangular and rectangular squares in jagged patterns on the street, creating the sorts of shadows she could use. Soon it would be dark.
Darkness did not bring safety. Noon was best, when the sun was overhead and shadows more difficult. Even then there was always danger from the darkness. It went unnoticed by most people, but not to a shadow manipulator.
Quillan was looking toward the Sun Trust Tower, one of the highest buildings in the Richmond skyline. His shadow wrapped around him and then expanded toward the dense pack of cars on the road between them.
Jiana and her unwelcome companion were in the Soho Café Market, located in the east tower of the BB&T. She picked at the chicken and fruit on her tray, shooting glances out the window at the head of Universe. She watched an interesting shadow by the top of the buffet area. It was big enough to use to get out the door in a hurry if necessary.
She glanced at the man next to her and then back at Quillan, still waiting by the light. Tanner, the Night Stars agent was also eyeing the tall, bearded man. He did not seem to see the danger surrounding Quillan, but she doubted he cared about that. The man her uncle had assigned as her “partner” had no interest in anything except keeping an eye on Jiana.
A flow of movement around Quillan caught her attention, and she turned back to the scene. Shadows gathered and danced around him, their forms shifting ever closer. One shadow broke off, looming higher than the others, towering over the man. By her estimation Quillan was 6’2” or more, so that was no mean feat. It was joined by another, and then another. They advanced on Quillan, covering him in darkness.
She straightened in her seat. The shadows didn’t lie. The head Night Stars opposition group was in danger. If Tanner detected her preoccupation, he didn’t comment on it. As long as she wasn’t moving then she supposed he figured he had nothing to worry about. His talent of enhanced strength was a weak one, but it made him stronger than her in a one-on-one matchup. At least that was what her uncle believed, and had passed along to the other agent.
He was about to learn differently.
Jiana watched a moment longer to make sure that she wasn’t mistaken. Spots danced in her vision and halos surrounded the vehicles. Her head throbbed like she had a headband on too tight. Then both feelings were gone and her sight sharpened. There was no error. The shadows grew thick around Quillan, flowing through the parked cars and onto the street. They almost seemed to have teeth and claws, with the sort of malevolence she did not often associate with shadows. They were used for good or ill, but they were tools rather than entities. These had a life of their own, and their malice made her shiver.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Her careful plan fading with every step the man took, Jiana sighed. She had steered Tanner here so skillfully and all for naught. Now she had to leap into action, but for different reasons than she had intended. She could see the shadows rushing toward Quillan to send him into oncoming traffic. She could not see her uncle or her cousin, the other shadow talents in Richmond, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. This didn’t feel like her uncle, though, this was . . . different.
Evil.
The shadows surged in front of a car going just enough over the speed limit to be a menace, guiding it straight toward Quillan. As before, the man was unaware of the fact. Once he was alerted to the danger he wouldn’t be quick enough to get out of the way. Without shadow talent he would have no way of knowing he was in peril.
But she knew.
Before Tanner could move, Jiana was up and out of her seat, grabbing for the nearest shadows to disappear into to confuse the Night Stars agent. Shouting started behind her as she sprinted out of the café, disappearing into the shadow of the building’s rooftop before emerging by the street and heading at full speed toward the Universe leader. It was foolhardy to give away her plan but if Quillan was going to survive the next few minutes, she had no choice. Without Quillan, she had no escape route. If she stood by and watched the head of the Richmond Universe group get killed there would be no sanctuary for Jiana Falco.
She slipped from one shadow into another created by a parked truck and then she was on the same side of the street as Quillan. The time between her spotting the unnatural shadows and what was about to occur had telescoped. Now she had mere seconds before what the other shadow talent was attempting would occur. Jiana cried out and Quillan noticed her for the first time. She had a split second of admiring his tall, broad frame and even features covered by the close beard before she shouted his name and barreled into him.
Quillan let out a surprised “oof” as her momentum carried them both crashing onto the sidewalk. The cars screeched to a halt as the one out of control vehicle now careened around the corner . . . right past the spot that Quillan was about to step into.
Quillan turned his head and followed the car’s movements. She could feel his muscles under his suit jacket and trousers and had a momentary flash of awareness. The shadows now retreated. Jiana watched them flow back to the buildings and cars they came from, restored to their original forms.
Tanner was still on the other side of the road, pointing toward her with one of his beefy fingers. His posture radiated menace and while he was too far away for his epithets to carry she had no doubt he was cursing. She could even imagine the obscenities. He loved to swear at her in Italian, a language both of them spoke. Va in mona, or go fuck yourself, was his favorite. Zoccola, or bitch, was his other one. From the hard consonants, it sounded like the latter. If his oaths were uninspired, well, that was Tanner.
In the space of a heartbeat, Quillan vanished. Jiana blinked, trying to orient her senses again to determine where he had gone. His shadow winked out, having nothing to cast.
SHIFTING AURAS EXCERPTS
Maya felt a gathering of minds, but one in particular pulsed across her mental landscape. She’d felt that mind before in the chaos of San Diego. Then, as now, it had a seductive quality, coupled with raw energy. Its power was every bit as strong now as it was then. She wanted to turn and run, but her roommate was weaving on unsteady feet to the back of the warehouse where three men were standing in a loose semi-circle. Their minds had an expectant air.
Maya focused on the men. The aura of the man in the middle glowed with a white-hot light that screamed of danger. It was the same mind signature from San Diego. The duo faded into the background compared to this man. She wanted to turn and run but found herself moving toward the men in Bobbie’s wake.
“I brought her,” Bobbie said, half slurring and stumbling forward.
Maya blinked as calm settled over her, stilling her movements and bringing her to a stop.
“You did well,” the startlingly handsome man in the middle said.
Maya picked up the name in her mind. Oriel.
It was all going to be okay. There was nothing to worry about. She could trust this man.
The soothing murmur flowed over Maya, and she relaxed into it, taking one more step forward. Bobbie lurched to a halt in front of Oriel and turned her gaze toward the man to his right, who clamped a hand on her arm and drew her back.
“Come closer, mishka. There is nothing to fear.”
Of course there wasn’t. Maya raised her arms and turned her hands, palms toward the ceiling. She wanted to touch him. The man nodded in response, acknowledging her reaction as his due.
Of course it was. He was Oriel, after all. Even though she didn’t know him, she did know him. He was nobody to fear.
“Randy, please take Bobbie over there. We should not be disturbed.”
One of the men, a balding man of average height, showed Bobbie to the back of the warehouse. The third man stayed where he was, arms folded. Security or hired muscle, more than likely. Maya tried to read his mind and got images of guns and snarling dogs, of plunging through underbrush and gun battles. He was military of some sort. It didn’t matter. She focused on Oriel again. He was what counted. She couldn’t read his mind. He was like a piece of plastic. Every effort she made just slid off. All she got was that he was trustworthy.
A distant part of her knew this wasn’t normal, but as soon as the thought flowed into her head it was gone again.
His presence was as radiant as the sun. She wanted to bask in his glowing bright, royal-blue aura. She almost wanted to shield her eyes against him but instead moved toward him, her strides quickening as she got closer.
The door banged open behind her, echoing loud in the cavernous room.
“Maya, stop.”
***
“She’s on the move. Hurry, Brit.”
Ian raced toward the door and yanked it open without touching it. His hands glowed in the centers, his talent surging to the forefront. Ian focused, keeping his telekinetic power at the ready.
Ian had only seen the dangerous Russian operative Oriel in surveillance video until now. Oriel was at the back of the warehouse, facing the door. Maya was about five feet from him, an expression of adoration on her face. It matched Bobbie’s face as well as the Night Stars operative Ian knew as Randy.
Damn it. They’d been warned that Oriel was a new breed of talent called a dazzler, but he hadn’t yet made any moves on their people in Richmond. Now Ian realized that was because he was waiting for the right time.
This, apparently, was that time. The right time and the right woman. Maya was moving toward Oriel, her steps plodding.
“Maya, stop,” he said, his voice a combination of fear and anger. To his relief, the sensitive paused.
Maya tensed, her body wound tight on invisible strings. Bloody hell, he wished he were a sensitive at that moment. He needed to know what she was thinking and if he should get her out or take her down. He should have dealt with this back at the motel. Bollocks.
“I must go to him,” she said. Her tone suggested the words made sense.
“No, you do not,” he cried. The expression Maya turned on him was devoid of emotion. Then he saw a flicker, and her mouth twitched. Her face twisted with some internal struggle. Good. Perhaps she had the strength to fight the effects of Oriel’s dazzling.
Bobbie was off to one side, with Randy behind her, holding her shoulder. Ian raised his voice and aimed it at Randy. “Still being Oriel’s dogsbody, are you?”
Oriel’s chuckle rolled through the warehouse, the sound echoing off the aluminum walls and ceiling. There was something hypnotic in the laugh, and he felt an urge to let go of his concern and join the man.
Oriel pierced Ian with his amber eyes and waggled a finger at him. The urge to move forward surged through Ian.
“Zared, I could use a little help,” he said into his watch.
All at once there was a clap of thunder, a streak of lightning, and loud thumps on the metal roof. Hail. It was one of Zared’s specialties. Zared had remained outside, where Oriel’s dazzling couldn’t reach him. Ian wasn’t sure how long he could hold out. It had been a mistake to do this without more backup. He assessed the large room in a quick sweep and smiled. This place, which appeared to be an empty storage facility, had weapons. Focusing on a hammer, Ian shifted it slightly.
Maya’s eyes went to Bobbie, and a crease formed across the ridge of her brow bone. She shook her head, Oriel’s dazzle apparently fading when the hail struck the roof.
“Bobbie, why?”
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