Shades And Shadows Collection

Chapter 4-2

“Hey, Riley.” He kept moving, hoping they would decide he had no clue what they were up to. He snorted to himself. It was true. He knew they were up to something, but he hadn"t a clue what it was. “No, we"re okay.” He stepped out into the main entryway, stopping before he would be visible to the press outside. “I just was wondering if you"d be up for a visit this evening. I thought I"d stop by.”

“Which means you need to talk without your father listening in.” Riley said with a dark chuckle. “Should I be worried?”

“I don"t know.” Alaric glanced back over his shoulder, but Roth and his companion were gone. He sighed and shook his head. “I want your opinion on something, before I bring it to Dad.”

“Yeah, come on over. Abigail"s got a client coming, but we can sit out back.”

“Great. See you in a bit.”

Alaric lowered the phone and put it back in his pocket. He carefully walled off his concerns and the overheard bits of conversation before reaching for his father mentally. “I"m heading over to Riley"s for a while. See you at home.”

I"m heading over to Riley"s for a while. See you at home.His father acknowledged the thought with little feedback, so if he suspected Alaric wasn"t telling him something, he"d kept it to himself.

Alaric knew that it would be next to impossible to get out of the area through the main entrance, so he let himself back into the lobby and headed back toward the council chambers, taking the south hall and the private back door that only councilmen and their staff had the key to. It let him out onto the shaded south side of the building, away from the chaos of the shooting, and let him bypass the cordons of police and press.

He took the side road out to the main road and hailed a cab. The house that Abigail had inherited was on the end of a dead-end road, set back from the sidewalk with tidy flower beds along the front porch. Alaric paid the cab driver and bounded up the front steps to knock.

Abigail answered, one hand smoothing over her rounded belly as she smiled at him. Alaric kissed her cheek, rubbing his thoughts along hers affectionately. There was an answer that wasn"t Abigail"s and he raised an eyebrow. She chuckled and looked down at her stomach. “He"s going to be a handful.”

“I"ll say.” It wasn"t unheard of, but Alaric had never felt an unborn child quite that strong. There were no thoughts, of course, just presence that let him know the child was there, mimicking the emotional waves of his mother.

Riley emerged from the kitchen, two beers in his hand. He passed one to Alaric before kissing Abigail"s cheek. “We"ll be out back.”

There was another knock on the door as Alaric followed Riley, past the staircase and into the kitchen before they emerged out into the small back yard. He took a drink from the beer, wishing that it would wash away the doubt and concern flooding him.

“So…” Riley asked, dropping onto an outdoor chair and gesturing to another. “What"s this about?”

Alaric sighed, sitting and looking down at his beer as he gathered his thoughts. He wasn"t sure he could even articulate what he was worried about. “Aside from the racial tension and this whole mess with the council?”

Riley shrugged, watching him. “Hey, it"s me. I"m the one who said six months ago that civil war was going to come, before we had any of this.”

Alaric looked at him. “I"m sure it"s crazy.” He huffed and took another drink from his beer before he nodded. “So, after the protest and the shooting, I was in the lobby of city hall and I heard something.”

heardRiley lifted an eyebrow and sat back in the chair. “I take it that whoever you heard wasn"t one of us?”

Alaric shook his head. “No, at least not a face I know. And it was said to someone who I think actively despises us. That"s what stopped me cold.” He thought back to the moment, the thought. “He said it into Councilman Roth"s mind. Just like I would to you or Dad. It was familiar, and Roth didn"t seem to react.”

Riley frowned. “Maybe he"s controlling Roth?”

Alaric didn"t think so. “I suppose it"s possible, but to what end?”

“Can you show me?” Riley asked, offering his hand.

He put his beer down on the ground and wiped his wet hand on his pants before reaching across to take the offered hand, clearing his mind and centering before he reached out to connect their minds. Once he had a steady rapport, Alaric let the memory play several times.

Riley didn"t let go right away and brought up a memory of his own, from the prophetic vision he"d had months before. Alaric was startled to see the same face, this time in military uniform. Whoever the man was, he would play a part in what was to come.

Alaric worried at his lower lip with his teeth, a bad habit his mother had been trying to get him to break. “I don"t like this, Riley.” Alaric said after a long moment. “Not any of it.”

“I"m beginning to think that reading Roth is going to be something one of us has to do.” Riley responded.

Alaric shuddered. “I don"t know. All that hate is bad enough. He reeks of it. I"m not sure I want any contact with what"s underneath it.”

Riley shrugged and drank his beer. “You"re going to have to tell your father.”

Alaric shook his head. “He"s got enough on his plate. The protest today, the counter protest, whoever did the shooting. The emotional fallout is huge, and there"s going to be more violence before it gets better.”

“If it gets better.” Riley countered. “You know there"s an anti-Shade rally planned for tomorrow night?”

Alaric closed his eyes. “Where?”

“In the park by Roth"s church. They"re going to release a list of people in the community they claim are Shades and other "undesirables," I hear.”

“Yeah, that should be a mess.” Alaric lifted his beer, draining the last of it. “Do you have any idea if their list actually contains the names of Shades, or are they just pointing fingers?”

Riley shrugged. “I haven"t seen anything clearly, and Abigail needs physical contact to do her thing, but I don"t want her getting involved.”

“No, I don"t either. You need to protect that baby.” He stood and paced a little. “We should see if we can get the list before they publish it.”

“Abigail can give you the name of someone to start with.” Riley offered. “You got anything resembling a plan?”

“Nope.” Alaric pulled a hand through his hair. “I"m completely playing this by ear. Want to come along?”

Riley grinned, standing. “I"m always up for some craziness. But shouldn"t you have someone along with actual gifts that can help you? My random bouts of future glimpsing aren"t exactly helpful.”

Alaric smiled and clapped a hand to his shoulder. “You"re coming to be my lookout.”

Riley didn"t respond, just led Alaric back into the house, poking his head into the parlor where Abigail was sitting with her client. Alaric felt her response to the interruption, then a name floated to him, along with an image and an address.

It was someplace to start.

Riley grabbed a set of keys and led him out to the beat up old Chevy sitting in the driveway. They headed out for the address Abigail had given him, pulling up in front of an unassuming small house a few minutes later. Alaric could sense at least three people inside. One of them was the woman they were looking for.

He could see her through the window, setting food out for her husband and a son. He found himself wishing he had more active gifts. Empathic ability was great for reading the temperature of a room and knowing when someone was lying or hiding fear, but when it came to reading actual thoughts, it wasn"t particularly helpful.

His ability to hear other people"s thoughts was mostly due to the intense connection he had with his father and his Keepers. He had only tried to read someone without any of the gifts a few times, and they had all been volunteers who knew what he was doing.

This was different. He wasn"t even sure he could read anyone without touching them first. There was only one way to find out. With a glance aside at Riley, Alaric closed his eyes and stilled his mind, setting aside his anxiety and fear. Slowly he reached out for the house.

Immediately, he got love, dedication, family bonds that were very strong. He pushed past the emotion. The woman was tired. Her husband was focused, his attention on the boy who was recounting his day. It was the man that pulled his attention.

He was disciplined, strong willed. Alaric tried to read beyond that wall, but there was a resistance keeping him from getting more than vague impressions. He couldn"t be sure if it was his own limitations or if the man had passive shields.

Alaric pulled back into himself. He was shivering, sweat covering his skin, soaking into his clothes. He shook his head to answer Riley"s unasked question.

“What do you want to do?” Riley asked.

What he wanted to do was to knock on the door, get a hand on the man and really read him, but he was exhausted, the day"s events dragging him down. “Can you drop me at home?” Alaric asked, wiping his face. “I"m not up for much more.”

Riley nodded and they pulled away from the curb. Alaric watched the world outside his window, letting the motion of the car lull him. He didn"t stir until they were outside his house.

“I"ll call you tomorrow.” Alaric said, opening his door. “We should be at that rally.”

Riley leaned over the seat as Alaric climbed out. “You know what Bryan would say.”

“Yeah, I know.” Alaric sighed. “So we keep it to ourselves for now. This may be about Shades, but that doesn"t mean it isn"t also about us.”

Alaric shut the car door and headed for the house. Now that the adrenaline of the day"s events had burned off, he was physically worn out. He wanted to just go to bed, but he knew his mother would worry if he did, so he made for the kitchen instead.

As he took his place at the table, Alaric pushed all of his concerns behind a privacy wall in his mind. There would be a time and place when he would tell his parents about those things, but for now he preferred to keep them to himself.