Unhidden (The Gatekeeper Chronicles Book 1) (13 page)

He shrugged, allowing the redirection in questioning. “Dunno. All he said was he wanted to know where you were going and who you were working with. Oh, and if I saw you using any magic.” He said that last sentence with complete nonchalance, even going so far as to slump back down in his seat and remove his hands from between relaxed legs. I merely blinked, trying to process that new piece of information.

“Why would he think I could do magic?”

Eddie let out a snort that turned into a soft chuckle. When he realized I wasn’t laughing along with him and still looked utterly dumbstruck, he stopped and straightened. “Are you serious? What the bloody hell is going on? You’re acting like you know nothing.”

I could try to keep up this charade, but I knew so little at this point that I couldn’t even fake it. Eddie was working for the enemy, and I had absolutely no reason to trust him, but a part of me was warming up to the shape shifter. He was being honest with me, and he had made no attempt to escape or attack, even though he wasn’t restrained. Even his crude sense of humor was growing on me. I couldn’t get too comfortable with him, but maybe I could at least make him more comfortable with me.

I took the subway seat next to him, sitting close enough so my thigh touched his. The casual contact didn’t get past him, as I had known it wouldn’t. He caressed my legs with his eyes until I started speaking again.

Walking that fine line between obvious flirtation and skilled seduction, I kept my eyes lowered while I rubbed my hands along my inner thighs absently. “Eddie, I have to tell you something, but I need to know I can trust you.”

“Uh, yeah, love. You can absolutely trust me.” To add to his sincerity, he placed his hand on my knee.

Hook, line and sinker. Men—even inhuman shape shifters—were so predictable.

“I was in a car accident ten years ago, and I can’t remember anything of my life before then.”

He surprised me by jerking sharply back to reality, but his hand never budged. “Ten years ago?”

I nodded. “Why?”

He quickly recovered. “Oh, no reason. It just made me think about where I was ten years ago,” he said with a nervous laugh.

“Oh, yeah? And where were you?”

“Well, if you really must know, I was fifteen years old then. A boy, really, but I already had the appetites of a man, if you know what I mean.” He nudged my arm playfully, and I couldn’t help smiling in response. “Anyways, there was this human lass in my village who was a few years older than me and more beautiful than a field of wildflowers.” He looked wistfully into the distance as if he could picture her perfectly. “This was back when humans and non-humans could live side-by-side in the same village. I wanted into her britches as much as any other hot-blooded boy in that town, but she wouldn’t give me the time of day. I knew all I had to do was get her alone so I could show her my … ahem … assets, if you will. So I shifted into a beautiful white stallion she couldn’t resist riding, and I carried her into the forest. I stopped by a stream, and before she could dismount, I shifted back into a boy, and she landed square on top of me in all my naked glory.

“Here I was, convinced she would take one look at me and jump my bones. Instead, she screamed bloody murder and some passing hunters heard it and sicced their dogs on me. I knew I couldn’t outrun them, so I shifted into a dog, too, hoping the pack would take me in as one of their own. Well, it worked better than I thought it would. Some of the dogs got it in their minds that I was some kind of bitch in heat. Let me tell you, it did not end well for me.”

We both burst out in laughter, enjoying a rare lighthearted moment of connection between two people.

Before we could lapse into comfortable silence, I tossed out another question. “Eddie, do you know Zane Shayde?”

“Ah, love, I wouldn’t want to see a totty like you tangled up with a wanker like Zane. He’s dangerous, not to mention completely insane. I heard he was a true mage once, a long time ago. Powerful, too. Folks say he would have been appointed to the Mage Council one day if he hadn’t gone crazy during … well, never mind. Those self-righteous mage arses exiled him without a second thought. Marduk took pity on him, tried to heal his mind. It didn’t work entirely, but Marduk took him in anyway; that’s how powerful Zane is. I feel bad for the bloke, but I still wouldn’t cross him.”

Eddie was absently fingering the knife still lodged in the seat between his legs. I noticed the movement, readying myself for any sudden moves, but strangely, I didn’t feel threatened. Instead, I leaned in closer, eager to have my next question answered.

I rested my hand lightly on Eddie’s arm, drawing his attention back to me. “Eddie, why does Marduk want me?”

His eyes softened, and a smile of genuine concern touched his lips. “Love, I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but he won’t stop until he has you. He needs you. Unfortunately, I think he benefits whether you’re alive or dead, so he’s not overly concerned how you come home.”

“Home?”

“Yeah,
our
home,” he emphasized. “Urusilim.” He took hold of my hand, squeezing it firmly with genuine conviction in his eyes. “You’re one of us. You should come back with me. Marduk will protect you, fight for you, like he fights for all of us. He told us you could be our salvation against those bloody humans and mages who would see us all dead … or you will be our destruction if you side with them against us.”

His hand felt warm and soft around mine. I made no move to withdraw it. “Us?”

“Sure, those of us who aren’t human, the Monere.” That was the term Lilly had used to refer to evil, monstrous creatures. Was Eddie really one of those? He didn’t seem all that evil to me.

I drowned in the chocolate brown pools of his eyes. God help me, he was telling the truth or, at least, the truth as he believed it to be.

He released my hand and turned away. “I’m sorry, love. You must think I’ve gone barmy. Maybe I’ve said too much, but there’s something else you should know … about who you are.”

Just then, a spray of blood hit my face from the gaping hole in Eddie’s neck.

I leapt to my feet, pulling my gun and focusing the muzzle on Alex, who sat calmly in the shadows at the far end of the train car, a wisp of smoke trailing from the end of his staff.

I squeezed the trigger and took the shot.

I
t was clean and straight, aimed squarely at Alex’s chest, but with a flick of his wrist, the bullet was deflected, harmlessly hitting the wall.

“What the fuck, Alex?” I screamed in rage and confusion.

Alex slowly got to his feet, looking completely unconcerned, and nodded toward the body. “He was about to kill you, Ash.”

His wrong use of my name momentarily startled me, but I had bigger concerns at the moment. I glanced over my shoulder at Eddie’s body, being careful to keep the gun on Alex. Psychologically, it made me feel better to have a weapon in my hands, regardless of how useless it actually was. Eddie was slumped over in the seat, rivulets of blood running down his bare chest and pooling between his legs. An unfamiliar stab of remorse speared me. I hadn’t wanted him to die.

It was then I noticed the knife in Eddie’s hands. He had pulled it from the seat without me noticing.

“Shape shifters are notoriously manipulative and cunning. He was trying to take your guard down so he could strike before you had a chance to defend yourself. I have seen good men and women fall prey to these creatures.”

“You don’t know he was going to kill me,” I protested, but even I could hear the doubt creeping into my voice.

“Do you really think a shape shifter could be so easily captured and detained?” Alex spat with contempt. “Those bastards are incredibly difficult to kill. He wanted you to question him so he could feed you lies and lead you further from the truth without you even realizing it was happening.”

Could that be true, or was Alex the one feeding me lies? Eddie did have the knife in his hands. Had he only been fidgeting with it as he had been doing during much of our conversation, or had he intended to use it on me? I didn’t have the answers, although I did know enough to understand I couldn’t trust any of them. I needed to figure out what was happening in this fucked up game. Until then, I would play along and hope somebody let something slip.

I forced myself to calm down, at least on the outside. On the inside, I was roiling with anger and confusion; however, I wouldn’t let Alex see that.

“How did you get in here? How did you find me?” I questioned, hoping he thought I had accepted or completely forgotten the body slumped on the seat behind me.

“I followed you and your friend here.”

“How is it that I can sense everyone else who follows me except you? For that matter, how did you get down here? There is only one access point.” I gestured to the elevator doors that still stood open.

“I wouldn’t be much of a mage if I wasn’t able to pull off a few tricks here and there, now would I?”

“I’m still the one holding the gun, Alex. You can do better than that.”

He scoffed at the meaningless threat yet relented anyway. “That elevator shaft is not the only way in. A friendly old man at the train station was compelled to tell me a story about an old entrance to these unused tunnels from the Waldorf hotel. The hotel was surprisingly willing to allow me to redecorate by knocking down some of their walls.” He smirked. It was clear to me that he had used some sort of influence to get information and access to this tunnel.

“As for your heightened senses, you may not even realize it, but you use small amounts of your magic to enhance your natural abilities. You can sense people watching or following you; you are slightly stronger and faster than the average human; and you have more acute vision, so you’re more capable with long-range weapons. There are probably other things, but I haven’t been watching you long enough to learn all of your secrets. But, as a mage, I have the ability to shield myself from your senses; for that reason, I could follow you and sit here undetected.”

I slowly lowered my weapon more from the shocking impact of his words than because I trusted him not to make a move against me. Had he really just said I was using magic? I was having a hard enough time believing Zane and Alex were using real magic, and I had seen it with my own eyes. I certainly wasn’t able to do what they did. I had never demonstrated even the remotest ability to wield some mysterious power, not that I had ever even tried. Anyway, everything Alex had mentioned could be explained by natural ability enhanced by intense military training. I shook my head, putting aside his words for now. This wasn’t the time or place.

“Was it really necessary to kill Eddie? Even if he had meant to kill me, I am more than capable of defending myself in a knife fight against one injured man.”

“He’s not a man, Ash; he’s a shape shifter. And I was ordered to keep an eye on you and keep you safe. That’s exactly what I was doing. I gave you a chance to extract whatever information you could from him, but I had to act when he threatened you.”

I still didn’t feel like I had been threatened by Eddie, although I had been so distracted I hadn’t noticed him pull the knife. I supposed it was entirely possible he could have slit my femoral artery or stabbed me in the chest, taking me out before I had a chance to fight back.

“Was he really lying to me about everything?” I asked, knowing Alex had heard every word.

Alex shrugged. “Perhaps not everything, at least in his mind. People usually believe the side they are fighting on is righteous. I would have given you different answers for some of those same questions, but it’s hard to say which one of us would have been telling the truth, maybe both.”

That was an interesting non-answer if I had ever heard one. “Okay, then, let’s hear them—your answers. And start with why you keep calling me Ash.”

“Fine, but I get the first question. Were you telling the truth about losing your memory ten years ago? And I will know if you’re lying.” He didn’t say it in a threatening way, more matter-of-fact, but I knew it for what it was.

“Yes!” I yelled, stomping in a circle with my fists clenched tightly, looking a lot like a kindergartner throwing a tantrum. “In the past week, I have been set up; almost killed in some sort of voodoo ritual; attacked by ghouls, Pokémon, and shadow demons, not to mention your psycho buddy; tailed by a shape shifter you murdered right in front of me; and then you—a complete stranger, by the way—threaten me about lying when no one has yet to tell
me
the truth!”

“Pokémon?” Of course that was what he would latch on to.

’“Never mind,” I grumbled. “Just tell me what the hell is going on, or get the fuck away from me.”

“Now that sounds more like the Ash I know.”

“And love?” I asked, completing the cliché with a withering glance.

“Absolutely not,” Alex snapped. The amount of venom in his voice startled me and left me momentarily speechless. What the hell had I done to this guy to make him hate me so much? He recovered before I did and continued as if he hadn’t just skewered me with his hostility. “What were you doing at that bookshop?”