Dusk Avenger (Flirting with Monsters #3) - Eva Chase Page 0,70

we can here. We have a basic sense of how you came to be what you are and no way of quickly determining any of the details. Did you really think we’d forget about our primary mission while we searched out the key to an incident that no shadowkind I’ve ever heard of has stumbled on before or since?”

“It might not be that hard to figure out. How many shadowkind have wanted to have kids anyway? I thought I’d at least talk to the local Fund branch again. Klaus might remember more if I ask him some leading questions. And we could use their help with that primary mission too.”

Omen made a scoffing sound at that idea. “It was hard enough getting the humans who knew you to contribute when we were in their own city, Disaster. What are these mortals going to do for us when we take on San Francisco?”

“I don’t know. It just seems worth a try. Trying did get us somewhere more than once before, as you’ve admitted yourself.” She waggled the wrap at him.

“And let’s hope I never have to again,” he said dryly. “They have your contact information if they feel spurred to action, don’t they?”

“Well, yes, but—” Sorsha hesitated, the fierceness in her eyes dimming. I was about to put down my pastry and reach out to her when she found her voice again. “We still don’t know why my powers have been acting up. I don’t know how much help I’m going to be if I can’t be sure I’ll burn up the right people when people need burning.”

Omen propped himself against the kitchen counter, looking unconcerned. “I think we’ve got enough of an answer for that. Obviously your human parts are having trouble accepting the shadowkind parts. It’s the conflict of our species all over again.”

“Wonderful explanation, but it doesn’t help me avoid setting myself on fire.”

“Sorsha.” Omen’s gaze turned momentarily intent, his tone serious enough that my ears pricked to even closer attention. “The fools in the Fund won’t be able to help you with this. You can handle it. We can handle it. I’ll just keep training your impossible self until your control improves. I’m not letting you go down in flames. All right? I’d just like us to take the training sessions in the direction of our ultimate goal so we can tackle more than one bird with the same stone.”

Sorsha blinked at him. “Oh. Okay.” Then her smile came back. “As long as these training sessions don’t involve pummeling me into a pulp like you’ve attempted in the past.”

Omen rolled his eyes skyward. “I think I can manage to keep you safe from that threat as well.”

I inhaled slowly, tasting the energy that shivered through the air between them. It was such an odd mix of antagonism, comradery, and amusement that I had trouble knowing what to make of the stew. It wasn’t at all like the steady vibe of fondness and support that flowed between Sorsha and Thorn or the sensual heat she and Ruse could spark with just a glance, but it held echoes of both of those flavors along with so many others.

Maybe they didn’t know where to go with that chaos of emotions either.

“I’d still like to touch base with the Fund people here, even if it’s just briefly,” Sorsha was saying when her phone beeped with some sort of alert. She picked it up and read something off the screen. As her face fell, my heart sank too.

“What’s happened?” I asked.

“It’s—” She swiped her hand over her mouth as if trying to push away her frown, but it didn’t quite work. “It shouldn’t really matter. I didn’t expect anything. Ellen from back home just texted me. She’s decided that as far as our conflict with the Company goes, she and the rest of the Fund members from my old branch are staying out of it completely.”

20

Sorsha

A spurt of flame leapt up from the ball hurtling toward me—and at the same time, a crackling heat washed over my hand. As I dodged out of the way of the now fiery projectile, I clapped my fingers against my shirt and restrained a wince at the stinging.

“You’re not keeping your focus,” Omen said from where he’d leaned against the wall of the batting cage a few feet away. “You can’t expect to maintain control if you’re not even paying attention.”

“Sorry for having a few other things on my mind the day after I discovered I’m