Grays shadow, p.12
Gray's Shadow, page 12
part #4 of Kings of Hell MC Series
“What. The. Fuck.”
“I’m a part of you,” Shadow said as if that was something to be celebrated, yet he didn’t move, watching Gray with the intrusive red stare.
Gray swallowed hard, feeling like a butterfly pinned to a board yet still alive and hoping it could escape its captor. “This is the creepiest shit I’ve ever heard.”
The glow of the fiery irises briefly dimmed. “I’m trying to be better.”
“No. No, you’re not! I just found out you feel me touching this phantom hand after you asked me to fucking stroke it. Do you even know how it feels to be strapped like this to someone who attacked you?” Gray asked, stepping farther away, only to stumble over a stray rock. Fucking hell.
At least Shadow stayed put. And silent.
Gray appreciated it at first, but the longer Shadow remained mute, simply ogling him with eyes from hell, the more unnerved Gray was. He didn’t even have the vaguest idea what the creature could be thinking, and since Shadow didn’t have the mind of a human, it could be anything from biting off Gray’s head to mental emptiness.
“I just thought it would feel nice,” Shadow said.
“It doesn’t feel nice to me. Let’s just wait and listen if the train’s coming,” Gray said, briefly switching on a tiny flashlight to position himself directly above the tracks. He needed to calm down, forget that Shadow could feel whatever Gray touched, and be utilitarian about this situation. Shadow wasn’t outright malicious but needed a strong hand, because only that seemed to keep him in line.
The far-off rattle of the approaching train had Gray on pins and needles, but his attention became crystal clear. With the target approaching fast, his brain switched off all unnecessary operations and focused all its processing power on the goal. Pigeon Heart would be in Gray’s hands in a matter of minutes.
Magpie had informed the club of the type of train used for transport and which car to look for. Unless something changed, there would be five armed guards on the train, the ruby hidden in a safe box under a third row seat.
It was a smart decision to keep the cargo inconspicuous by hiding it in plain sight. If Magpie’s information hadn’t been so detailed, Gray wouldn’t have known where to start the search, and he’d likely have to rely on finding people who didn’t quite mesh with the remaining passengers. Though he hoped there would be no third parties to worry about tonight.
He exhaled, stiffening slightly when the locomotive jutted from under his feet like the head of a giant snake on the lookout for victims. The overpass absorbed some of the tremors from below and sent them up Gray’s legs in warning. Eyes trained on the endless stream of cars, Gray opened and closed his fists, trying to imagine the concrete under his feet was more stable, and that the train would be too once he jumped. He couldn’t allow himself any fuckups tonight.
Seconds passed in slow motion as he counted the cars rushing through the woods. He couldn’t wait too long, but it would be ideal if he landed close to his target. The train was moving fast, and his guts twisted when he thought of an unnecessarily long journey over the cars at that speed.
Shadow stayed close enough for Gray to not only smell him but even hear his breath over the roar of the wheels rattling against tracks. Did he enjoy the company of a man-like monster who lusted after him? No, but if push came to shove, he could use Shadow as a shield as long as it didn’t kill him.
He looked back again, and this time the end of the train was within sight. He took a deep breath that filled his lungs to their full capacity, and then breathed out, leaning down as he prepared for descend.
“Make sure you don’t fall on me. And once you’re on the roof, hold on. You can’t fall, got it?” Gray asked, adjusting the wrist strap of his gloves.
“Yes,” Shadow said, sinking lower next to Gray. Despite the unfamiliar situation, he seemed focused on something other than Gray. Maybe there was a method to this madness, and he would fuck off if Gray provided him with something to do?
Time for contemplation was up. Gray took one more deep breath and jumped.
His feet hit the metal roof of the car with a force that sent him to his knees. Pain shot up to his hip, but before the rush of air could knock him off, Gray’s hands found the metal grille running on either side. Shadow was right behind him, his presence unmissable because of all the noise he made, yelping when his hands initially slipped off.
Gray shushed him, but fortunately there was virtually no chance of anyone hearing their voices over the noise made by the train. The rush of sitting on a fast-moving vehicle buzzed in his veins, and he lay flat to gather his thoughts. He didn’t even want to know what his heart rate was.
In the faint light of the tiny lamps distributed sparsely on every wagon, Gray could see Shadow behind him. Firmly holding the railing, he watched Gray for instruction. It was then that Gray’s mistake dawned on him. He should have had Shadow jump first, because now he’d be the one leading the way to the last car.
And Gray hadn’t even shared the plan with him. What a fucking cock-up.
Instead, Shadow crawled toward Gray, his long, tangled hair combed back by the wind. Gray expected a flood of stupid questions but was stunned when the creature grabbed his ankle. “You’re not safe!”
He might have as well locked Gray’s leg in a cuff, and the power behind the grip had Gray stiffen with unease that he couldn’t express if he wanted to remain in control. “Let go and start crawling toward the back!” Gray yelled as loudly as he could to convey his message.
Shadow spent far too long staring at Gray, as if he were about to defy him, but he finally released the ankle. If only Gray could keep the arm without bringing this talking, breathing obstruction with him.
Working with Shadow, who didn’t seem to have yet grown into his new body and remained awkward like a teenager after a sudden growth spurt, was nothing like the easy flow Gray used to share with his twin. Mike and he often came to identical conclusions and practically read one another’s minds while on the job. The trust Gray used to have in his brother was so great he would have jumped into a burning oven if Mike told him so.
In contrast, Shadow was dead weight at Gray’s side, like a rock gritting in the cogs of Gray’s proficiency.
The arm was the only thing that made his presence here worthwhile.
Inch by inch, the two of them moved along the train, fighting the wind, which disrupted balance and constantly slowed them down. Gray was annoyed that he hadn’t risked jumping a little bit later and landing on the roof of their target, but every time the sense of agitation pushed curse words out of his mouth, he reminded himself that a larger window decreased the risks of the job. He just needed to stay calm and trudge on, horizontally climbing toward that last car.
Shadow was way ahead of him, his long limbs moving smoothly as if he were a spider on its own net. Once he got confident, there was nothing left of the stumbling creature that could barely walk when it had crawled out of the submerged chest. Maybe he wouldn’t get in the way after all.
But as Gray followed Shadow into the noisy space between the two last cars and could finally breathe without being assaulted by wind, his sense of security was instantly diminished by the tall, bulky body pressing him against the metal ladder.
Gray shut his eyes, holding on to the side rails, and tried not to think. Surely, if Shadow wanted to assault him again, he’d have chosen a more convenient opportunity. The way over the cars couldn’t have taken more than fifteen minutes, but it had felt like hours, and Gray’s hands and knees ached from being constantly tense throughout that time.
“It’s fine. You don’t have to hold me,” he said, way too late.
“Please don’t fall,” Shadow said, but he only pulled away slightly.
This was ridiculous. Gray had years of experience with all kinds of jobs, both with and without Mike. He was the man Magpie called when both mental and physical prowess were required, and he didn’t need anyone’s concern. Especially not from someone who was doing this for the first time.
“I can look after myself. As long as I have this arm, I will be safe,” he said to make sure Shadow didn’t take it back by accident. That was the one point he really needed to put across.
Now that he was standing in a more natural position, the constant movement of the car over tracks became less bothersome, and the sense of tremors traveling up and down his body slowly dispersed, leaving behind reliable, strong muscle that would not give up on him.
But all and any sense of relief melted off Gray when he noticed the lock on the door to the last train car. Unlike the rusty metal around it, the mechanism was brand new and shone as if it had been installed in preparation for tonight’s transport.
“Fuck,” he said but grabbed the handles on the last car, stepping over the constantly moving tracks below. His hands needed to be empty, so he quickly strapped himself to one of the railings before switching on his flashlight and examining the lock in more detail. The thing seemed complicated, and additionally protected with a cypher as suggested by the small keypad hidden under tempered glass.
He groaned and tapped the cover with his forehead, trying to think of something. Yet another thing Magpie had failed to mention. If it had even been something he’d known of in the first place. Gray was no hacker, but neither were any of his brothers. None of them could have helped if they were there. This was still a one-man job, and Gray would excel at it, the same way he had before his accident.
“We need to open it?” Shadow asked, again standing all too close to Gray’s ear, and the buzz of his voice was like a fly Gray couldn’t swat away.
Gray counted to three and took his time to look back, hunching his shoulders when he heard the hollow sound of the train swishing through a tunnel ahead. “Yes, I need to open this.”
Shadow butted in, and before Gray could berate him, a black substance seeped through the fabric of Shadow’s top. With hair rising on his nape, Gray watched the stuff thicken and form a tentacle-like limb. Its tip, narrow and distinctly unlike a hand, reached the keypad. Within seconds, a nasty crack of metal made Gray flinch, but it couldn’t have been accidental, because for once Shadow seemed perfectly focused. Gray would remember that Shadow was also useful as a picklock.
Gray was still stunned when the shadow-like limb retreated, and the next thing he knew, Shadow opened the door with a light press on the handle. All of it had taken him less than a minute.
“Okay… that’s kinda impressive,” he said before carefully turning off his flashlight and slipping inside the dark vestibule.
Shadow followed him into the car, giddy like a golden retriever that had just successfully fetched a ball. “You liked that? Can I do anything more?”
Gray scowled at Shadow and pressed a finger to his lips. He might be a useful tool, but a goddamn talkative one, and on the job noise could mean the difference between life and death.
Gray shut the door behind them and looked around the small space at the end of the car. There were several reddish lights distributed along the interior, and he was surprised to see the ‘Kitchen’ sign on the narrow door that would usually be the entrance to a toilet in most passenger cars. His brain exploded with anger that they might have mistakenly entered the wrong train, but his agitation soon dispersed when he realized the on-board restaurant wouldn’t need to be secured with complicated locks.
“But I did well,” Shadow whispered, as if Gray told him to tone down instead of remaining silent. Out of nowhere, he sandwiched Gray between his unwashed body and the wall, sniffing him loudly. “I deserve a reward.”
Gray slipped away with a scowl. “Your reward is being out of the cell. Now shut it,” he said in the quietest whisper and pressed his back to the wall before glancing farther into the car. Beyond the glass door he could vaguely recognize the shapes of restaurant booths in the pulsating glow of the red safety light.
“Is a kiss so much to ask?” Shadow went on, ignorant of the situation around them. Did he have no comprehension that they could die if things went south?
Gray fled the insistent hands rubbing at his flesh and moved toward the entrance to the dining area where the jewel was supposedly hidden. “We’re at work. Shut up.”
“Just one,” Shadow whined, clutching at Gray’s shoulders and burying his nose against the sensitive skin of his neck.
That was it.
Gray shoved him back, unable to think straight when he remembered the way this fucking monster had tried to pin him down, undress him, and do so much more damage. Shadow had learned nothing since.
“Fuck off. Don’t touch me. Are you deaf?” Gray barked, his shoulders so rigid the push ended up way more powerful than he had intended. The red eyes glinted in the dark like warning lights just before the huge form clashed with the door separating them from the dining area.
The crack of breaking glass was like a screech of nails against a blackboard, followed by a choked sound from Shadow. Gray switched on his flashlight without thinking, shocked to see tar-like blood dripping out of a large cut on Shadow’s forearm, down the glass, and all the way to the floor. Gray’s limbs froze, and his throat clenched, but he couldn’t let the sad, shocked expression in Shadow’s eyes affect him now. The bastard had been asking for it, and maybe a bit of pain would finally teach him about boundaries.
“Open the lock. Right now. We need to get in,” he said through clenched teeth, keeping his gaze away from Shadow’s face, away from the blood and the curled shoulders. If Gray couldn’t focus now, he would fail, delivering the proof that his brothers needed to retire him.
Shadow moved without a word, efficient despite the black goo dripping around his feet. He was leaving his biological signature in the place of the crime, but Gray doubted anyone could recognize the blood for what it was anyway. And even if it came to that, Shadow would be gone soon, like stolen evidence during a cover-up.
The door opened, and Gray entered the dark car, eyes trained on the wide muscular back making way for him. The interior smelled of bleach and, very faintly, of rather obnoxious cologne, but that only meant guards could be nearby.
They needed to leave as fast as possible and find their way back to the motorcycle before they passed the little town where Gray had planned to hitch a ride. Unsure on which side of the car he should search for the Pigeon Heart, he got to his knees by the third booth from the door and looked under the table, seeking anything that would seem out of place. He smiled, shocked that he found it right away.
There was a small black box hidden beneath one of the seats and screwed to the wall. When a quick survey confirmed that this was the only such object within sight. Gray put the flashlight between his teeth and pulled out his multi-tool.
But the moment he moved closer with the screwdriver in hand, his ears caught noises that were so out of tune from the rhythm tapped by the moving train they might have been a swarm of locusts about to consume him to the bone.
Voices. Male voices barking commands that sounded like seconds counted to Gray’s failure. The window of opportunity was almost closed, and the more it shrunk, the more obvious it became that if Gray couldn’t bring back the ruby, the life he knew would be over.
His fingers had never worked this fast. Focused on the screws and the box that held the key to his future, he barely registered Shadow kneeling beside him under the table, but he broke out in cold sweat when the door on the nearest end of the car opened and banged the wall. The multi-tool fell out of his hand, and he rolled to his back, grabbing the two firearms he had on him. He braced for a bloody fight in which the odds were stacked against him, and the flimsy table was his only shelter.
Next to him, Shadow fell head-first to the floor.
Chapter 10
It was as if a bomb had exploded in Shadow’s mind.
Gray was in danger.
Gray was pale, his muscles stiff like steel ropes. He was afraid.
Shadow’s first impulse was to shield him with the dark, flexible arm hiding in his body, but the moment it breached his skin, he knew it wouldn’t provide sufficient protection. Yet there was more of him, hidden away inside the imperfect human body that was so vulnerable to damage, invisible though still at his disposal like any other part of him.
Time slowed when his instincts kicked in. He crawled out of the human sheath and created a bubble of shadow around Gray, uncaring about the fate of the form that so far had brought him so much misery. At once, he was free from the pain in his arm, from hunger, from fatigue, his desires once more focused on the only person who counted in this whole universe.
Gray trembled violently when they pressed together, but now that Shadow became his shield, even his voice would be inaudible to outsiders. Safe in the warmth of Shadow’s arms, Gray was still tense with fear—his body secreting delicious sweat, his lungs unable to fully expand—but he remained alert.
A tall figure in black entered the restaurant with an assault rifle. Shadow could see the man just fine in the dark, but moments later lamps flickered and covered the entire car in a bright glow. The man made a small gesture with his fingers, but he approached on his own, face hidden behind a mask of black fabric.
The closer he was, the more Gray froze, until he no longer breathed, following the stranger’s movements and gently moving his gun to keep it aimed at the man’s head. His fingers trembled. His heartbeat became a warning signal.
But Shadow would keep him safe.
They remained still when the man stopped next to Shadow’s deserted body and nudged it with the tip of his boot. The kick rolled the flesh sheath to its side, limbs spread at awkward angles, black blood staining Shadow’s clothes. Its face was pleasant, even though lax, with empty eyes and purple lips.
It was hard to think of the flesh as his own when he’d only lived in it for a couple of days. Then again, it wasn’t like he could enter another body. This was the one Baal had chosen for him, the only bones Shadow was bonded with, so he’d grown some tender feelings for them.
Gray’s flesh pulsed so loudly its rhythmic sound felt like a caress, but when his finger twitched against the trigger, Shadow’s entire form spoke to him.
