Return to the Shadows (Shadows #2) by Angie West

  ***

  “And just how am I supposed to feed all of those men?”

  “I don’t know, Marta,” I sighed wearily, wishing for the night to be over and done with already. I had the beginnings of what promised to be a raging headache creeping up on me, and as far as I was concerned, bedtime couldn’t possibly come soon enough.

  “Don’t worry about feeding them, Marta,” Aries reassured the old woman.

  I flashed my friend a grateful smile for coming to my rescue yet again and continued marking the map I had laid out before me on the kitchen table.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Marta scoffed. “Just because they’re heathens doesn’t mean I’m going to let them starve to death.”

  “I meant only that the men are very capable. I’ve already set them up in the guest quarters at the rear of the property. They can hunt for themselves and cook their own meals.”

  “They are still going to need some basic foodstuffs,” I pointed out. “Coffee, flour, salt—things to cook with.”

  “My guess is they’ve made do with less, but when you’re done with the map, we can go shopping. If you’re up to it that is,” she offered, fanning her long black hair away from her neck.

  “I’ll be lucky to finish this within the next decade.” I sighed and set my pen aside for the moment. “There are so many different cities and townships and territories in Terlain. That’s not even counting the unincorporated areas. And I’m not all that familiar with which areas started out as protected zones and which were not.”

  “It’s okay.” Aries touched my shoulder. “Just do the best you can. I’ll make sure you have a continuously updated list of every area with a reported zone failure.”

  “Okay,” I nodded. “But I still wish there was more I could be doing.”

  “Nonsense. You’ve got one of the most important tasks there is in this operation. It is vital for us to have a record of which fences have failed and where so that we can dispatch rescue teams to those locations. You’re the glue that holds us all together, Claire. You’re saving lives just the same as the rest of us. It is a thing to be proud of.”

  “That’s another thing, I wish we knew why the fences are failing. I didn’t think the protection spell cast by the Matrons had an expiration date,” I remarked.

  “They don’t. At least, they’re not supposed to.”

  “Maybe something has happened to the Matrons?”

  “Possibly.”

  “But you think it’s unlikely.” I could hear that much in her tone.

  “Honestly? Yes, it’s very unlikely that something could have been done to even one of the Matrons, let alone all of them. Not even Kahn is that strong, unless the Matrons took a whole lot of stupid chances, and they don’t take chances. Ever.”

  “What sort of chances would they have to take?” I asked, casting worried eyes in her direction.

  “Let’s put it this way. In order for Kahn to have taken out all of them, they would have all had to split up and walk down a dark alley, alone, in an unprotected region, and even then Kahn would have his work cut out for him.”

  “They’re really that powerful?” I was stunned.

  “Yes.”

  “So why the hell aren’t they putting a stop to this insanity?” I grumbled rather uncharitably. Wasn’t that their job?

  “Maybe it’s time for us to come together as a people and stand on our own.”

  “We might as well go with that. It looks like that’s exactly what we are going to have to do.”

  “It’s fortunate that Mark and his men have made the decision to stand with us and fight.” Her eyes met mine over the short utility table in the kitchen.

  “So I shouldn’t anger him or otherwise do anything that would make him want to rescind the offer?”

  “That would be wise, yes.” She ducked her head, eyes twinkling under the fluorescent overhead lighting.

  “If you insist,” I deferred. “I can’t look at these maps anymore right now. I’m ready to go to the store whenever you are.”

  We found Ashley and Bob in the garden at the west end of the property, taking a minute to join in their fun and games before jumping into Bob’s closed-in Jeep lookalike and heading down the drive.

  “Ashley seems to be adjusting quite well to life in Terlain—again, that is,” she quickly added.

  “I think you’re right. At first she was more than a little scared to come back here, and you can hardly blame her. I mean, she hasn’t exactly had good experiences up to now, not in Terlain. But she does seem to be coming around,” I agreed. “I told her this is a magic place.”

  “It is that.” A smile played along the corners of her lips as she navigated the car around a tight turn, taking us out of town and into a densely wooded area. “Mark seems to be coming around too.”

  “I doubt that.”

  “Don’t fret. He will soon enough.”

  “I don’t care if he does,” I retorted, waving away the thought. “Mark can do what he damn well pleases. We’re both adults and all of us are here to do a job. Mark and I share a common goal, but that’s it. We are not required to like each other.”

  “Only to love each other?”

  “Hah,” I snorted, twisting around to stare mutinously at the forest we were passing through.

  “Fine, deny all you want. But you’re forgetting one thing.”

  “Oh yeah? And what would that be?”

  “I know you and now I’ve met Mark for the second time. The first time, by the way, he was out of his mind with grief at your absence. You love him, and he is crazy about you.”

  “He was crazy about me—past tense. A lot has changed since then.”

  “So you do love him.”

  “Oh fine, yes, I love him. I never stopped. And don’t you dare tell him that. Believe me when I say he wants nothing to do with me now.”

  “You’re wrong about that, but of course I wouldn’t ever discuss your personal feelings with him. Still, Claire, I think that you should.”

  “I’ll consider it,” I hedged, knowing that it would probably be a long time coming, if such a meeting of souls occurred at all.

  “So.” She exhaled, her eyes on the rutted dirt road as she took us deeper into the forest. “How is your brother?”

  “Mike? He’s okay. He works a lot.” I shrugged. Privately, I had been wondering when she would bring up my brother. “He thinks about you all the time,” I told my friend in a hushed tone.

  “I…miss him,” she admitted, sparing a glance in my direction. “I miss him a lot.”

  “He hasn’t found anyone else, Aries. The man hasn’t even dated anyone since we returned from Terlain.”

  “Tell him…” She seemed to struggle with the words. “Tell him to move on with his life. Tell him to be happy.”

  “That’s up to him. It’s not hopeless, you know.”

  “I doubt if I’ll ever see him again.” She shook her head sadly. “You and Mark, now that’s different. Fate brought the two of you together again for a reason. Trust me, Claire, talk to him.”