Wings and Shadowthief by May Sage
Shadow Thief
Jack’s reflection didn’t quite look like himself. His eyes were too bright. He’d grown older in the last few days. Lack of sleep wasn’t exactly agreeing with him.
“What do you want?”
No answer came from his lips. He wasn’t that insane. Yet.
He brushed his teeth, forcing his gaze away from the stranger staring back in the mirror.
He always had issues concentrating on academic work before a mission, but they wouldn’t be leaving for Italy until the weekend. Might as well get some work done on his thesis before then.
He liked the thought of ridding the world of the queen before leaving Oldcrest. Returning to London with Aveka looming over the territory might have felt like abandoning his friends. What he didn’t like was the team he was supposed to work with. People who’d never worked together, amateurs without discipline or experience.
And Gwen.
He didn’t want to worry about Gwen being in the field while watching his own back.
Jack felt the presence approach before his cousin had a chance to knock. He opened the door. “Tristan.”
Tris glided inside, giving him a tight smile.
“You smell of Gwen,” Jack noted.
“Don’t sweat it, cousin. I’m not moving in on your girl yet. Of course, that may change if you keep messing it up.”
“You know, I can officially kick your ass and not feel any amount of guilt now that you’ve officially transitioned.” He’d known his cousin wanted to take the jump since their teens, but Tris had had the hardest time opening up to their parents.
Jack wasn’t sure what had changed this time in New York, but he sure as fuck was glad there was no more pretense in the family.
“I mean, you could try.” Tris shrugged, cocky as ever. “Gwen told me about Atlantis. You know I can’t go. I may not be the face of the Drakes, but I’m still too recognizable.”
Everyone in the vampire world knew most of the members of the seven royal families on sight. Jack was equally recognizable in certain circles, but at least he didn’t have the presence of a vampire. He could disguise himself on a surface level.
“I don’t want you on the island. I want you on the boat, watching Gwen’s back.” Jack didn’t trust anyone else for the job. Bash might have done, once upon a time, but not anymore. Not because he was now equipped with fangs, but because Bash’s priority was and would always be Cat.
Tris nodded, like he’d expected that. “You got it. Now let me know what’s going on with you. Is the spell holding on?”
“I haven’t slept,” he confirmed. “Physically, I’m fine, but my brain’s a fucking mess. It’s like…” Jack didn’t want to say it out loud. Voicing fears made them real.
“Like the barrier between the two of you is fraying,” Tris guessed.
Jack’s jaw tightened. He couldn’t imagine giving way to the darkness inside him, the thing that had done nothing but instinctively kill his enemies since it had surfaced.
And fucked Gwen. He wasn’t about to forget that little detail.
His inner demon was all wants and base needs, and Jack couldn’t imagine becoming that thing.
“I thought it might,” Tris said. “Maybe it’s not the worst thing, Jack. You can’t keep a leash on yourself and expect to remain sane.”
He sure as fuck could try. “So, what, you self-actualize and now you’re a wise old man ready to give me lectures? I’m still older than you, kid.”
“You’re also dumber,” Tris pointed out.
He proceeded to prove it, kicking Jack’s ass at a game of chess.
“Don’t you need to sleep?” Jack asked as his cousin put the white pieces back on the board to prepare another game.
“That’s my line.” Tris grinned. “I don’t need much sleep anymore. I’ll crash tomorrow night to ensure I’m in optimal condition for guarding your girl, though.”
“She’s not my girl,” Jack replied.
Gwen might have let him close without hissing this week, but they were far from any form of relationship—even friendship.
“But you’d like her to be.”
Jack raised his king on the board. “Your move.”
“Is it?” Tris asked. “Fine. Don’t hate me for this.”
He saw his cousin move with all the swiftness of his new vampire nature, and Jack could have countered him in time, had he guessed his intent. But it was too late. He’d snatched the pendant around his throat and snapped the chain.
Hunter stared at his cousin with a mixture of mistrust and amusement. He wasn’t sure why Tris had wanted him to surface, but he was certainly the only person who could have gotten away with tricking Jack like this.
Jack trusted Tris implicitly.
Hunter? Not so much.
“Your move,” he repeated.
Tris moved a white pawn on the board. “Your voice’s different. Slower, I think.”
“Only one of us speaks without considering the weight of his words.”
Tris snorted. “Tell me about it. Jack is an ‘act now, think later’ kind of person.” The vampire smiled. “What are you?”
Hunter moved his pawn.
“A Caro-Kann opening,” Tris observed. “Jack’s more of a Ruy Lopez guy.”
They moved piece after piece, fast but deft. “Jack’s obvious.”
“And you’re his shadow.” Tris smiled. “I had a shadow. When I became a vampire, it took over. I understood then.”
“What do you think you understand?” Hunter asked him. “Check.”
Tris moved his bishop, sacrificing it to save her king. “Why I was scared of it. Why I shouldn’t have been.”
“Jack should be scared of me. He’s a lie. He built his entire existence on the pretense of being a huntsman. A pseudo-human. I am truth. He knows that when I take over, he’ll fade.” Hunter moved his tower. “Check.”
Tris took a minute to analyze the board before lowering his king. “Checkmate in three,” he concluded. “You made it look easy.”
“It was. You play to amuse yourself. I play to win.”
Tris replaced the whites on the board. “I love Jack,” he stated.
“Jack loves you,” Hunter replied easily.
“And you? Do you love anything?”
Just like Tris had when he’d cornered him, Hunter paused to consider the trap laid before him. Did he love? Hunter didn’t quite understand the concept. He never had the time or the luxury to think of anything but his own survival.
“That depends on your definition of love. Jack would give his life for you.” Hunter wouldn’t, but he also would never let him walk into a situation where said life would be in danger in the first place. “Don’t go to Atlantis. Talk Jack out of it, too.”
Tris laughed. “Have you ever talked yourself out of anything?”
He never needed to. His ideas weren’t dumb.
“We have worse problems coming, Jack and I. We’ve been split apart for ten years. We’re weak, untrained in anything but huntsmen games. And we’re being hunted by something far, far worse than your little queen.”
“What?” he pressed. “What’s hunting you?”
Hunter considered his cousin carefully. Knowledge was power, and what Tris wanted to know could be a weapon against him.
Did he trust him? No.
Jack did.
Jack was a fool.
Jack did.
Jack wasn’t in charge, not in this moment.
Fucking spit it out, you asshole.
Hunter frowned, sensing Jack as clearly as he saw Tris right in front of him.
Right here, sharing his space, his eyes, and a corner of his consciousness.
That was new.
And disturbing.
Talk to him. Tris wants to help. And he’s worried about us.
How was it his problem?
Hunter was set against listening to the fool, hence why he had exactly zero clue why words poured out of his mouth. “The Fates.”