Seduced by Shadows Read Free

peril.”
    And she’d been deliberately not thinking of embracing. Peril, yes. Embracing, not any time in recent memory.
    She shook her head to clear the wayward thoughts. “Right. There’s a men’s shelter on Grand. Tell them Sera from Mercy General hospice sent you, and they’ll find a slot in their outpatient program.”
    He sighed. She could barely hear over the wind, but she saw his shoulders lift and fall—under a coat far too expensive for him to be a drug-addled street dweller.
    “Sera.” He pronounced it as she had said it, Sear-ah . “I am not patient at all. But nothing I say will convince
you. Nothing I say will even make sense. Not yet. Just remember. For when it comes.”
    The wind worked its way under her coat, sending a chill up her spine. “I think it’s time you moved along.” She gestured with the mace canister.
    He hesitated, then, with a nod, stepped past her. He stayed near the street, giving her space.
    The wild wind spun by her, carrying the scent of spice and musk, a primitive blend at odds with his sleek urban look. With fickle abruptness, the wind pushed at her back, urging her toward him. And damn her weak leg, she actually stumbled a step forward.
    He turned instantly, one hand reaching out.
    “No.” Her voice sounded too high, panicky. She swallowed. “Go on now. Git.” As if he were a mongrel stray.
    She waited until the darkness on the bridge swallowed him. He never looked back. Only then did she continue. On the far side, she crossed the intersection against the light, told herself she was an idiot, no one was following her, and paused anyway to make sure.
    No man in a black trench coat. No mysterious threat coming her way.
    Suddenly her empty apartment seemed better than roaming the city streets in the descending November night. She hailed a cab and ducked inside with only one more glance back.
    “Cold out there.” The cabbie’s lilting English distracted her.
    “Excuse me?”
    “You’re shaking. Shall I turn up the heat?”
    She let out a pent-up breath. “Sorry. No. I’m fine.”
    Obviously she didn’t have as much of her toughness back as she had told herself, if one crazy set her so on edge. Maybe if—no, when she healed, she’d take that self-defense course Betsy was always pushing on her nurses. It wouldn’t protect her from drunk drivers, but who knew what else was out there?

    Under the cover of deep shadow, Archer watched the woman—Sera—hurry away, her slight figure outlined in whorls of ominous light. The spectral radiance visible from the penthouse balcony had condensed and centered around her. The silver green glow reminded him of a tornado sky, when doom spiraled out of nothing. The unbound demon had chosen.
    Zane joined him. “A woman? No way. All demon-ridden are male.”
    “The Lord works in mysterious ways. But not half so mysterious as the other guys.” Archer steeled the savagery lurking inside him against her thousand weaknesses: the hesitation in her steps from the painful twist of her spine; her not-unwarranted impulse toward violence; the fear that dulled her eyes. Fear of him.
    The demon didn’t need a thousand weaknesses. Only one.
    “Are we sure she’s the target? Could the demon have gotten confused?” Zane stared across the river, where Sera had gone. The etheric lights trailed behind her like frayed gossamer wings. “She seemed nice.”
    The mace hadn’t been pointed at him. Archer was glad he’d told the younger talya to stay out of the way. “The demon wasn’t confused. It only resonates with a matching soul.”
    “Then why aren’t we bringing her back with us? Did you tell her why we’re here?”
    “You can’t tell them anything until the demon ascends. They won’t believe you before then. Maybe not even then.”
    Zane peered at him. “We can’t just let her go. I know we aren’t sure which strain of demon wants her, but no one should go through it alone.” He started forward, as if to flag down the