Grace and Shadow Read Online Free PDF Page A

little more of what made it safe.
    She checked the time, and two hours had passed since she had pulled off her headpiece. She slipped it back in her ear and listened to see if she was interrupting.
    She heard Link calmly addressing the survivors of an incident. “Medical treatment is on its way. Remain still.”
    Shatter and Shadow were saying the same. Imgrace went to the vid and flicked it to current feeds, and she saw the burned-out remnants of a farming town, lost to ash.
    The reporters said it had started as a bar fight that had gotten out of hand. Local peacekeepers had been unable to stem the tide, and the owner of the bar had tried to use fire to break up the fight. The fire had spread in minutes.
    Shatter had created a firebreak to stop the spread outside the town, Shadow had been in charge of fire suppression and Link had directed the rescue efforts. Healers had been sent for and the injured were being taken care of.
    Imgrace’s life had shattered on international news, but it was still hers and she was whole. She kept her irritation to herself and hoped that those who had been hurt by one man’s bad judgement made it through.
    She would keep the cookies for those who deserved them.
     
    * * * *
     
    Shadow looked down at Imgrace, curled into a small ball on the couch. Tears marked her cheeks and she held onto a pillow, but otherwise, she was just as intriguing as the first moment he had focused on her.
    He spoke to Link in low tones. “What did the Citadel say?”
    “They will take her, they will train her and they will bring her back to us when she can defend herself. She will be our liaison to the Citadel, and the talent that travels with her will be the first of their kind—a Jrematan with power in the stars.”
    “Only one?”
    “That is all they are willing to train her for. She is not a battery, she is a citizen, and she should be accorded the same respect as any of the citizens who turn to law enforcement as a career path.”
    Shadow reached out and moved a tendril of hair from her face. “She hasn’t chosen this.”
    “But she will do it. She has always done what she had to to survive. She will do this.”
    Imgrace stirred and she muttered. “She will do this tomorrow. Tonight, she wants to get back to bed.”
    Shadow smiled, lifted her in tendrils of darkness and he carried her to the guestroom. She settled into the sheets with the cushion still in her arms. He smoothed hair away from her face and left her to sleep.
    She was right. Tomorrow was soon enough.
     
    Link stared at him. “You like her.”
    Shadow smiled ruefully. “We all like her.”
    Shatter chuckled. “She reminds me of the girl who sat next to me in school.”
    Link shrugged and didn’t comment on his feelings. “Shadow, you are becoming attached to her.”
    “I am, and so are you.” Shadow looked at the slightly older man and frowned. “How is it that you and she are so close?”
    Link smiled. “You will have to ask her that. I am going to shower and get to bed. I smell like a smokehouse.”
    Shadow watched as the commander left the room and Shatter followed him.
    How did he feel about Imgrace? He mulled it over while he went to his quarters and took a shower. She was bright, she was cheerful and her kiss had been a butterfly caress against his lips that had powered him for half an hour in a place where his talent had never flared before.
    He was a man, and the image of her swimming in the pool had caused a normal reaction. The urge to punch Shatter in the face for looking...that had been new.
    Shadow wrapped a towel around his hips, dried his hair and checked the availability of his family. His father was still awake, so he called him.
    “So’orn, congratulations on the work you did this evening.” His father smiled.
    “Thanks, Dad. I have a question for you.”
    “Go ahead.”
    “What do you think of the reaction to the void?”
    His father’s face clouded over. “It is horrible.”
    “What do you