Shadow Thief (Flirting with Monsters Book 1) by Eva Chase

Author:Eva Chase [Chase, Eva]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Ink Spark Press
Published: 2020-07-21T16:00:00+00:00

19

Sorsha

I’d never felt nervous about heading into a Fund meeting before. Never had any reason to believe the act of walking into a low-rent movie theater might be seen as suspicious. But now, given recent events, I was waiting in a dim alleyway four blocks away, shuffling my feet against the rain-damp concrete and praying that the clouds still clotted overhead didn’t decide to open up again while I was out here. My umbrella: another casualty of last night’s apartment fire.

The afternoon’s rain had brought out a mildew-y scent that made my nose itch. Every time footsteps sounded on the sidewalk, I shrank back into the thicker darkness by the brick wall beside me. None of the people who passed through the evening looked like a possible threat to me, but then, I hadn’t been prepared for a band of organized attackers to crash into my apartment either.

I’d been working with the Fund in this city for eleven years, and none of the members had ever even been so much as harassed, except maybe now and then by the mortal-side shadowkind who didn’t appreciate our attempts to help. No one in this group had even known a member who’d been hurt in the line of duty. Only more proof that whoever had decided I needed to be eliminated from the equation, they obviously weren’t your typical hunters.

Finally, Thorn wavered out of a dark patch in front of me. “I picked up on no sign of enemy presence nearby,” he said. “I believe you can safely enter the building for your meeting. But I will be accompanying you through the shadows.”

He’d already emphasized that point before we’d left our temporary new home. I nodded, gazing up into his rugged face for a few seconds. Searching for a hint of humanity in those coal-dark eyes and hardened features—something to reassure me that this was at least a little more than a cold transaction of favors owed.

There’d been passion in his voice, if a solemn kind, when he’d talked about defending me and his companions and finding his boss. He’d thought to rescue my one token from my parents for me. There had to be something other than steely chill behind all the brawn.

I couldn’t pick it out right now, though. Well, at least steel was reliable. It’d turned out I couldn’t say that for much else.

“All right,” I said. “Off I go.”

As I moved to stalk past him, he vanished, but I knew he was staying with me unseen. The evening was full of shadows for ease of travel.

The smell of buttered popcorn laced with mint and—was that toffee?—met me at the door to the Fund’s private theater room. Only a few people had shown up so far, the Saturday meetings being less popular than the weekday ones, but Ellen and Huyen were over by the screen, and that was all I needed.

Unfortunately, Vivi had also turned up early. Before I could get one of our leaders’ ears, my best friend had moseyed down the aisle to join me.

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