"Your eyesight must be something else to be able to read in the complete dark," he said with a shake of his head, and I chuckled.
Touya left, and I relaxed a little before walking over to Diego. I removed the shadows that covered him, and took his hand in mine, leading him to one of my many sitting areas.
"There's a couch right behind you, one step," I directed, and he nodded before taking a seat. I sat down right beside him, then took his hand in mine.
I wanted to ask him what he'd meant about me being there. The last time I'd seen him, he'd still had his sight. Then again, the very last time I saw him, he'd been unconscious. Had that blow to his head caused his blindness? Was I responsible for this?
But I had a more pressing question, and it was what came out when I opened my mouth. "How did you find me?"
Diego turned his head to face me, a small smile on his lips as he shrugged. "I didn't, not exactly. Ever since I lost my sight, I've had this...feeling. It tells me where to step or when to stop, and it's saved my life more than once. It's like a guide dog in some ways, but it's just a feeling, not anything physical. But recently, it started pulling me somewhere. I ignored it at first, but today I decided to follow it, and it led me to you."
Was he saying he'd gotten some kind of supernatural sixth sense when he lost his eyesight? I thought that only happened in Liam's comics.
As I stared at him, I realized there was something there. Peering deeper, I sucked in a breath when I saw my own shadowsmixed in with his flesh and blood. Had I somehow 'infected' him with them when I used my shadows to get him to the hospital that day years ago? Or had I unconsciously given them to him in an attempt to keep him safe, like he said they had?
In all my years, I'd only ever done something like this once before, and that had been with a cat I'd saved. She'd gotten the ability to travel through shadows from me, but it'd been different for Diego. Different, but no less wonderful, because it'd led him back to me.
Two
Diego
It was him. Itreally was him. Shade. My shadow monster under the bed. My savior.
His hands were wrapped around me, and they felt almost human, except for the inch-long claws at the very end. I traced one of them with my thumb as I held on to him, afraid that if I let go, he'd slip away in his shadows and I'd never find him again.
The conversation I'd just witnessed between Shade and the other man had left me with a lot of questions, but Shade seemed to have questions of his own, so I held them back. For now.
"I think...No, I'm sure I accidentally gave you some of my shadow wisps the last time, and they're what you've been feeling."
My brows shot up, and my heart skipped a beat. Had he really been keeping me safe all these years? The feeling had always felt like it was separate from me and still a part of me, and now it made sense. My bond with Shade was stronger than any relationship I had, even the one with my mom. He'd understood me in a way no one did, and I didn't know if this was my destiny, but now I could understand him in a way not many others probably would.
After I'd woken up in the hospital and discovered I'd be forever trapped in a world of darkness, I hadn't been afraid. The doctors and nurses had called me brave and strong while I impatiently waited to go back home to tell Shade I was just like him now, that he could take me away in his world of shadows and we could always be together.
But when I got home, he was nowhere to be found. There was nothing under my bed except dust bunnies that made me sneeze. He was just gone, and I still didn't know why he'd left, why he'd abandoned me. I'd thought I would be angry if I ever saw him again, that I would want to hit him. But all I really wanted right now was to hug him and demand that he promise he wouldn't disappear again.
Finding out a part of him had always been with him helped too, but I couldn't find the words to express this.
"Well, then I'm grateful for them. They saved my life more than once, and best of all, they helped me find you."
"You're really that happy to see me?" he asked, and I detected a hint of wonder in his voice.
"Aren't you?" I asked, then wished I hadn't. What if I wasn't the only kid he'd befriended? I had no idea how old he was. I could be just one of many to him, while he was the most important person in my life even after all these years.
"I am. I didn't think I would ever see you again," Shade said, and he sounded sincere enough. He sounded so honest that the question I'd been holding back all this time popped out, and I hoped he'd be just as truthful answering it.
"Why did you leave?"
Shade was silent for a long moment, and I squeezed his hands, urging him to speak. He pulled one hand away, but before I could start to worry he was pulling away from me, he cupped my cheek with it, tilting my head. I imagined he was looking at my face, and I had no idea what he was seeing. I'd had people describe what I looked like as an adult, and they seemed to think I was good-looking, but the only opinion that truly mattered to me was Shade's. What did he think of me? Did he still see the sad little boy he'd befriended? Or did he see the man I was now?
"I left because of what happened, because of the part I played in it."
My brows furrowed. "You left because you saved me from Andrew?"
Shade blew out a breath. "No, I left because I let you get hurt before I stopped him. And because of the way I stopped him. I was afraid I'd terrified you, and that you'd be scared of me once you woke up. So I left before you did."
The day Shade had saved me from my mom's boyfriend was burned into my mind. Maybe because it was the last thing I'd ever seen, or maybe because it'd changed everything.
I'd been on the floor when it happened, my vision growing hazy as the pain in my head worsened, and the last thing I remembered seeing was Andrew getting completely swallowed up in darkness as a loud screech filled the room, and then the shadows had retreated under the bed, leaving behind nothing. No Andrew. That was when I'd fallen unconscious, and thenext time I'd woken up, I'd been without my sight, and without Shade.
