Shadow Thief - Eva Chase Page 0,21

caught Omen up in the bindings before he had a chance to escape into the shadows.”

Even powerful shadowkind had trouble using their powers if they were bound with iron and silver. As for the rest… As Thorn grunted in agreement with Ruse’s account, a chill washed over my skin. I’d seen glowing whips in the past. A memory from much longer ago swam up: muttered commands, Auntie Luna’s cry, and the arc of searing streams of light swinging at her to bind her in place.

That didn’t necessarily mean anything. If there were new weapons that could disable higher shadowkind, anyone who set out to capture or kill them would be using them, with no connection to any other group implied. But I was about to press the men for more detail anyway when Snap leaned over the railing on the bridge above us.

“I think I’ve got something from that evening here,” he said, and then, I swear on a unicorn’s ass, he dipped his head lower and flicked his tongue across the concrete. It darted from between his lips farther than any human tongue could have, and he sucked in a breath with a snake-like hiss.

“Um,” I said, momentarily lost for words.

Ruse was smirking now. “I told you that you’d see. Omen brought him on board for a reason too. One of his kind’s primary talents is picking up impressions of the past from any object they encounter.”

By “tasting”—right. I’d never heard of that talent among the shadowkind before. There mustn’t be many like him.

The thought of licking that grubby cement made me wince, but it didn’t appear to bother Snap any. “Yes,” he said dreamily. “At least one of them was crouched here—she bumped her foot against this spot as they all vaulted over. A leather shoe, a little too tightly laced. Pushing fast.”

“And probably no one else has touched that exact spot since then,” Ruse said. “That’s why Snap can still pick up something from that long ago. The most recent impressions end up overwhelming things from farther back.”

Snap’s gaze refocused on us. An apologetic note came into his voice. “That’s all I’ve been able to find up here from the ambush. It doesn’t seem as if it’d help us find Omen.”

“The actual battle happened on the ground,” Thorn said. “See if you can discover more beneath.”

Snap leapt down to join us, landing on his feet more lightly than you’d expect from a guy that tall. He peered into the thicker gloom beneath the bridge. I found myself staring as his tongue flitted from between his lips to test one patch of wall and then another.

“He can’t get sick from doing that, can he?” I asked Ruse. Lord only knew what microbes had taken up residence under there.

Ruse chuckled. “As offensive as it might look, he’s not actually making contact, just tasting the energies clinging against the surface. As far as I know, they can’t do anyone any harm.”

That didn’t sound so bad, but I couldn’t have said I was entirely offended anyway. A certain amount of fascination was involved too. Especially when the dreamy tone came into Snap’s voice again.

“One knocked his shoulder here in the struggle—a spot where the armor didn’t cover his clothes. His shirt was torn. A piece falling. It might still be…”

He dragged his foot through the scattered leaves, twigs, and other natural debris that had collected along the edge of the passage. With a victorious exclamation, he fished out a small scrap of fabric. As he held it level with his face, his tongue flicked out again, not quite close enough to make the scrap stir with the motion. He inhaled deeply.

“Cotton. Blood from a cut underneath—Omen’s claws. The one wearing it bought it—I can see the store—All Military Surplus.”

I’d been in that place once or twice—a big warehouse type store on the industrial side of town. “That doesn’t narrow things down much. There’ve got to be thousands of people in the city who’ve shopped there.”

Snap’s face fell. He looked so disheartened that I had to add, “It’s amazing that you can tell all that in the first place, though.”

“I can taste more when there’s a stronger emotional association,” he said. “He didn’t care about this shirt very much.”

“You’re giving it your best shot,” Ruse reassured him. “Anyway, that tidbit could end up being useful in some way we can’t anticipate yet.”

“I’ll see if I can find more.” Snap turned and ventured farther along the passage.

I turned to the others. “Can you