Prince of Shadows by Susan Krinard

A long way. A very long way. Julie’s grandmother’s words came back to her with all the force of prophecy fulfilled: “A great darkness shadows you now. Kieran is a part of it. If the shadow touches you, you may never escape it. And it is right behind you.”

She knew the shadow had found her.

“It will be simplest if you tell me now,” he said, almost gently. He glanced at the dashboard, and she saw the gun that lay there, within his easy reach but well beyond hers. “I don’t want to hurt you. Is he here?”

She had no plan, almost no information, nothing to go on. But she knew if she forgot herself for even a moment, she would never have the chance to find out. With studied calm she met Arnoux’s gaze. “I don’t know.”

His grip tightened on her wrist, but she didn’t let him see the pain on her face. “No games,” he said. “I have no time for them. He was with you in Saskatchewan.”

“Not anymore.”

She could have sworn then that Arnoux looked directly into her mind. His strange eyes searched hers while she struggled to keep her breathing even, her expression blank of all emotion.

Abruptly he released her wrist, and only by sheer act of will did she stop herself from rubbing the bruised skin. He’s gone on to Lovell, hasn’t he?”

Her heart stopped. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He smiled. It was a weary smile, and it chilled her to the bone. “But I know, Miss Warrington. I heard your Indian friend tell you. Sooner or later I would have found him.”

Alex looked toward the coffee shop. A couple came out and went to their car, never once glancing in her direction. “And why do you want to find him?”

“You know what he is, Miss Warrington.”

She looked at him, revealing none of her shock. “I know very little.”

He leaned back. “You are clever, Miss Warrington. But you can’t protect him with words. I’ve hunted him too long. My duty is greater than your misplaced loyalty to a creature that isn’t human.”

He knew. Alex fought past the paralysis that tried to claim her. Think. Think. Inspiration struck amid the chaos of her thoughts.

“And all this time I thought I was the only one who understood what he was,” she said. “All this time I’ve been studying him—”

“Studying?” he echoed. He stared at her, eyes narrowed.

“I’m a scientist, Mr. Arnoux.” She folded her arms, trying for the perfect blend of wary unease and scientific detachment that might convince him. “You claim to know everything about me. When Kieran came to my door and showed me what he was, I knew I’d made the discovery of a lifetime.” She shook her head. “But you don’t care about that, do you? If you know he’s gone to Lovell, you know as much as I do. He left me back in Saskatchewan, and I’ve been following ever since.”

She knew then she’d caught him off guard, that somehow she’d found the right tack to take. He didn’t believe her—not yet—but even the tiniest wedge of uncertainty was a beginning.

“Look, Mr. Arnoux,” she said. “I don’t know what you want with Kieran. All I can say is that he’s not here, and I don’t want to get in the middle of whatever is going on.” She clasped her hands as if in supplication. “My whole purpose from the beginning has been scientific. By studying him, I—”

“Studying?” he exploded. She shrank back from the sudden violence in his face. “Studying a monster that has killed again and again? The beast that killed your lover?”

Peter. He meant Peter. And in his rage he revealed more of his motives than he had done with words. “I have hunted him too long,” he’d said. “Monster,” he said, and “beast.” His voice was filled with loathing for what he clearly believed Kieran to be.

What Kieran feared himself to be. Needles of ice pushed deep into Alex’s heart. Some terrible knowledge crouched just at the edge of her memory.

She let her feigned coolness falter. “Peter?” she breathed. “He couldn’t have killed Peter. I was watching him. He wasn’t able to control his ability to change—”

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