Page 3 of Cast in Shadow (Drenched in Darkness #1)

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The universe was a cruel mistress for throwing Emerson in my path again. All the pain and anguish—not to mention self-loathing—I’d gone through after leaving him bubbled to the surface.

I twisted out of his arms. “I am not doing this with you.”

Silence stretched for several seconds before he responded. “You cannot go after the Navali witch.” His voice was firm, absolute. “She is too powerful.”

I stared hard at his worn front door just a few yards away, focusing on the aged wood as I gathered my power around me like a shield. Not that it was any good against him. Strong as I’d become, that shield was utterly useless against heartache.

“Don’t pretend like you’re worried about me now,” I finally said. “Besides, I can handle one witch.”

“Not by yourself. She’s slipped through our grasp twice already, and she did some damage along the way.”

That little revelation had me turning around. Megan Navali might have become stronger than I’d anticipated, but to escape the Brethren more than once? That was a rarity .

“She was cut off from her coven weeks ago, stripped back to her base magic. Where is she getting her power?” It wasn’t from normal humans like back at the festival. Even if she pulled power from crowds like that every night, it wouldn’t be nearly enough to make up the difference.

“She found a new circle.”

“When?” I took a step toward him before I realized what I was doing and hauled myself to a stop.

“Two weeks ago. She found a group willing to take her in, claiming to be on the run from an abusive coven. Within three days she’d stolen their power and killed them all.”

Killed? “How have I not heard about this?”

I’d taken the case as my own because witches who stole power from other magical beings for their own selfish gain were the lowest of the low in my book, and not just because it was morally corrupt. It was also incredibly dangerous for the victim. A person’s innate magic was tied to their lifeforce the way blood was tied to a body. There was only so much of it and losing too much could be fatal.

Taking down someone like Megan Navali was one of those things I would never hand off to one of my teams. Even if she was just a mid-level witch when she went all villainous, my people out in the field were all magical in some way. I would not risk putting them in the line of fire.

“We buried the attack on the coven,” Emerson said coolly.

I blinked in disbelief. “Why?” Then a thought filtered through my mind that left a bad taste in my mouth. “Are you protecting her?”

Did the Brethren want to bring her into the fold like they’d wanted to bring me in all those years ago?

“We did it to keep the peace. If news of an attack like that got out, it would send a wave of panic through the magical community. ”

“Then why the hell did you get in my way?” I snapped.

“Because I was protecting you .”

A bitter laugh slipped through my lips. Did he really expect me to buy that lie? “I’m not the girl you met a few lifetimes ago. I can hunt down one witch.”

His chiseled chin lifted at the challenge in my voice. “One witch who now holds the power of an entire coven.”

That changed the equation, but it still didn’t mean I needed anyone to protect me. I’d spent my time with Emerson learning and growing as a witch in my own right, but I was just a healer back then. I’d become so much more over the last hundred and thirty years.

“What are you even doing out on a mission by yourself?” He eyed me with a hint of suspicion burning in his blue eyes. “If you’re involved with Lexa, shouldn’t you have a team of agents backing you up?”

“I work alone,” I fired back, glancing over my shoulder at the door. It was only partially a lie. With my power, I rarely needed anyone on the ground with me, but I still depended on my team back at headquarters.

He let out a low, condescending chuckle. “Nice try. We’ve done our research on Lexa. Agents never go out in the field alone.”

I arched a brow as though he’d just made my point for me. I wasn’t just an agent. I didn’t just work there. Lexa was mine, built from the ground up with my own blood, sweat, and tears.

Understanding slowly dawned on his face, hardening his features, turning him from the cocky and confident demon I knew all too well into a focused hunter. “The director?”

I didn’t answer. Didn’t move an inch. It was as much of a confirmation as I was going to give him.

“Tell me you’re not, Senna.” He ground his teeth so hard a muscle in his jaw ticked. “The director of Lexa has been on our capture or kill list for years.”

Wait, what?

I knew I’d made a name with my covert organization, taking out the worst of the worst. And yeah, sometimes, there was collateral damage. That was the way it worked when dealing with the demented, power hungry, soulless monsters we faced off against. Sometimes, you just couldn’t get all the civilians out of the way fast enough.

But a kill order from the Brethren? That was next level.

“Why would you have a kill order on the director? Aren’t Lexa and the Brethren on the same side, essentially?”

He released a heavy breath. “You don’t know.”

His broad shoulders rolled back like he was releasing a physical weight, and for a second, I was transfixed by the slide of toned muscles beneath his shirt.

“Which means you can’t be the director,” he added. “That’s something, I guess.”

I gave my idiot head a little shake to break the spell he was unintentionally casting on me. “What don’t I know?”

“That your precious director drove Theloneus back through the veil.”

“What?” Theloneus wasn’t just one of the Brethren. He was one of the most powerful of the bunch, right beside Emerson. I shook my head again. “You’re wrong.”

Emerson leaned back against the counter. “We have it on good authority.”

“Whose?” If someone was spreading lies about me and my organization, I needed to know.

“Phineas. He saw it firsthand, barely got away. He was pretty torn up when we found him. Didn’t even have the strength to transport himself back to the compound.”

I’d met the demon he mentioned a couple of times when I was training with Emerson, and even way back then, when I could barely sense another being’s magic, his energy had a slimy feel to it.

“Just so we’re clear,” I said, holding up a hand. “Phineas said the director of Lexa attacked him and Theloneus at the same time, managed to send one primordial demon back through the veil and seriously wound another, and then this person, what, just walked away?”

Emerson went back to his narrowed assessment. “Yes. Which is just one of the many reasons you shouldn’t be working with them.”

I let out a sigh that started in my bones. “Someone’s lying to you. I get that Lexa’s tactics might not be palatable to some, but our mission is to take out the biggest threats. I can tell you, without a doubt, the Brethren isn’t on that list. Yet.” With that, I turned and headed for the door.

He made it across the room and caught me by the arm before my hand ever touched the knob. “Wait.”

I bristled at the command in that one word, as if he had any right to give me orders. “Get your hand off me, Emerson.”

I wasn’t about to turn around and face him when all I wanted was to escape. Freedom from his overpowering presence, his scent, the maddening brush of his energy over mine… it was just on the other side of that door.

“We’re not done talking.” When his power pulsed into my arm, I pushed back, releasing a current of raw energy that radiated out from that point of contact. He ripped his hand away like he’d been shocked. “What the?—”

I grabbed the door, yanked it open, and stalked out into the night.

“What the hell was that?” he yelled, but it didn’t sound like he was following me.

I owed a thank you to the gods for that little kindness .

With my heart twisting in my chest and my thoughts screaming in my head, it took me a few minutes to get my bearings. He’d frozen me with his magic, knocked me out cold, and transported me halfway across town to get me away from Megan.

What was he playing at?

Hell if I knew, but I wasn’t about to go back and ask.

When I rounded the corner, I broke into a run. His scent lingered on my clothes. His energy tingled across my skin. And I needed to get as far away from all of it as I could.