I chucked a pillow at Shadow, and it sailed right through.
“Just go. I want to nap.”
Chapter Three
Shadow
Within the darkness, I existed—yet I was nothing. I had no form beyond what I willed the shades of night to be. There was a certain peace that came with being nothing. As darkness itself, my only concern was what I had become—a phantom seeing it all.
I watched Kara rest through my smoky vision.
She called me Shadow, so I let that be who I was.
Her shadow.
Kara’s long blonde hair covered the pillow and spilled slightly off the bed. Knowing her, she’d turn and fall off before the nap was over. Despite having a huge king-size bed, she still slept on the edge.
She was so lovely it disgusted me. I had stopped seeing beauty in things long ago. More accurately, I had stopped admiring it. Eternity had a way of snuffing out enjoyment. The repetition bred a numbness I couldn’t shake.
And yet…
My form would heat all over, as if she had doused me in an eternal flame. Thankfully, I had no bodily functions… I didn’t dare think about how else I might sense her woven through me.
I would feel nothing, the other me dared to say.
As I had felt nothing for decades.
Kara was a plague upon me. No matter how many times I tried to rip her out, I couldn’t escape the disease she caused within. But even she couldn’t reawaken sensations long dead.
Which was my only reprieve with her. I didn’t want to feel anything. But when I was nothing—like now—I could stare at her as long I wanted, without remembering who she was…
Who we were…
And could never be.
I had watched a beautiful woman for hours on end in this form. It was a terrible habit, but I was exceptionally good at doing horrific things.
Those days would soon end.
After so many years, Grim was finally leaving. He had tried so hard to protect Kara. It must kill him to think of what might happen to her when he faded. If I were in my true form, I might have smiled at his impending departure.
But in this form…I was nothing more than Kara’s shadow. Shadow didn’t have enemies. He had only one purpose.
To be with Kara.
So, I waited. And watched over her, for one of the last times. Fate was upon her now. And upon me. I didn’t think her destiny would be kind.
She would see.
I tried to tell her.
Chapter Four
Kara
Something was wrong.
My eyes cracked open, and dread filled every molecule in my body. The lamp was still on, and shadows crawled up the giant walls of my room. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, but my heart hammered as I sat up. I felt the tightening in my chest—the heavy sweep of doom pressing down. It was as if something terrible had happened. I clutched my hand to my breast.
