Bayou Shadow Protector

Chulah had said much the same thing this afternoon when she’d hitched a ride.

“I’m sorry. I promise to let you know next time.”

Steven tugged on his red beard. “I saw that Chulah almost caught you. You need to keep your wits about you. Our lives depend on that.”

“I’ve learned my lesson, and I’m prepared now. It won’t happen again.”

“See that it doesn’t.” He tried to keep his voice gruff, but she saw that the worst of the lecture was over.

“I won’t get you in trouble,” she assured him. As her temporary overseer while on the mission, Steven was as responsible for her mistakes as she was.

“Very well. Let’s get back to the apartment. Our human bodies need sleep to function properly.”

“I’m going to stay out a little longer.”

Steven frowned and she hastened to mollify him. “If it’s okay with you,” she added meekly. “I want to watch over Chulah as he returns home. He’s our best chance to get an in with the shadow hunters. We can’t afford to let him get hurt.”

He sighed. “You’re right. We’ll do it together.”

Exactly what she didn’t want. Even though she was invisible to Chulah, April enjoyed flying beside him, as if there was a shared intimacy between them alone in the woods. Steven would definitely be a third wheel.

“No, no, this won’t take long. And like you said, we need our sleep. I think my escapade tonight interrupted yours. Why don’t you go back to bed?”

He wavered, hands on hips. “I am tired,” he admitted.

“I’ll be back soon,” April said, flying up above him. “See you later?”

“Oh, all right. Just don’t do anything foolish.”

And she was off before Steven could change his mind. In the rush of the wind, she was behind Chulah. Close enough to almost reach out and touch his shoulder. It was agony and a familiar pleasure to be so close, and yet so far apart. Especially now that she knew the sweet excitement of his mouth and his hands.

In no time, Chulah entered his cottage and shut the door. Still, she was loath to leave him. Instead, she watched through the curtainless window as he settled on the couch and talked on the phone. Was he perhaps calling Tallulah? Inviting her to come over? Begging her to change her mind on his proposal?

Even after he’d hung up the phone, jealousy and curiosity wouldn’t let her leave. She’d sleep so much easier if she knew for certain that Tallulah wasn’t coming over. Chulah didn’t go straight to bed; instead, he opened a book and began to read.

Minutes later, car headlights turned in the driveway and pierced the dark. A man jumped out and ran to the door. Ah, yes, she recognized his friend Tombi Silver. A smile lit her lips. No reason to stay, other than she couldn’t bear to tear her eyes from the lit window and go back to her bare, lonely apartment.

And so she hovered, reluctant to leave.

Chapter 4 (#ulink_d230d4d1-8dd6-5918-a696-97b07cc8f354)

“What the hell? A new creature we’ve never seen?”

Chulah’s face warmed at his friend’s incredulous stare. “I swear it’s true. Saw it with my own eyes. It had wings and...” he stammered, reluctant to share his theory. But their survival depended on total honesty and trust. “If I had to give it a name, I’d say it was a fairy.”

Tombi paced the small cabin. “I believe you saw something out there. It’s just...fairies?” He stopped and stared out the window where shadows lengthened and the woods beckoned with their promise of magic and danger.

“We shouldn’t be so surprised,” Chulah said. “If there are will-o’-the-wisps, birds of the night, and spirits like Hoklonote and Nalusa Falaya, why not a whole host of other supernatural creatures?”

Tombi shook his head. “You’re sure this thing had actual wings?”

That glowed with the light and warmth of a thousand candles. Stunning. Disturbing. But Tombi didn’t need to know the effect this mystical creature had on his senses.

His friend pierced him with a hard stare. “Why did it come to you?”

He didn’t say it, but he didn’t need to. As leader of the shadow hunters, Tombi should have been the human contacted, not him. He was only second-in-command. Actually, he’d been only third-in-command until the traitorous Hanan died in the last great battle.

“I’m not sure why,” Chulah said with a shrug.

“Think there’s any correlation between your new girl and this vision in the woods? I mean, here’s this stranger in town who talks about the shadow spirits. No humans speak of such things. Even our own people regard them as old stories with no truth.”

Tombi voiced Chulah’s own inner speculations, but hearing it from another set off warning flares. And he hadn’t told Tombi that April even knew highly personal things about him, like Tallulah’s rejection. He sure as hell wasn’t going to bring up that fiasco to Tombi. Too embarrassing. “She’s not my anything. And we can’t be a hundred percent sure that she’s a...a fairy or whatever I saw out there tonight.”

“I want to meet this April tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah, you should meet. I’m sure she’ll be at her store.”

“I’ll take my wife along. Annie has amazing insight.”

“Good idea. And I’ll go with you,” he said quickly, not liking the idea of April being under an inquisition and ganged up on. Three against one was hardly fair. Annie was the epitome of kindness and gentleness, but Tombi could be intimidating and brusque. Chulah frowned, aware that he’d leaped at the chance to shield April. Her feelings should be of no importance in unraveling the mystery.

“Come if you like.” Tombi folded his arms and studied Chulah. “Let’s hunt. Could you conjure this Fae form to reappear?”

“Haven’t got a clue. But I can show you the tree where I saw it. Where sound and movement stop around the base of the trunk.”

He nodded. “Stay alert for signs of Hoklonote. Maybe we’ve grown a little complacent since capturing Nalusa.”

Chulah lifted his backpack off the kitchen table, where it was loaded with a slingshot and rocks. The familiar feel of the weapons shifting in the pack made him eager for action. “I’ve got an extra one if you need it,” he offered.

“My backpack’s in the car.”

“Let’s go, then.” Chulah wanted Tombi to witness what he had. Over the years since the lost-time episode, no one brought up the subject. Not to his face. Yet Chulah wondered if they secretly mistrusted his sanity. Other than an alcoholic, who the hell lost time? Only him.

“Wait. I want to talk a minute.” Tombi hesitated. “I spoke with Tallulah earlier.”

Damn. Chulah groaned inwardly. “I’d rather not talk about your sister,” he said stiffly, making a show of unzipping the backpack and checking his weapons.

“She’s worried about you.”

“Right. Tell her I’m fine,” he said, avoiding Tombi’s eyes.

“Are you really?”

“Yes. Okay? I don’t want to have this conversation.”

“Might do you good.”

Chulah didn’t bother with a reply.