Shadow's Awakening: The Shadow Warder Series, Book One (An Urban Fantasy Romance Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

not,” he said again.
    “Anyway, I have no idea how to find one and I’m not going to ask. I’d get put on indefinite leave.”
    “No way.” Kiernan laughed. “They’d never take you out of the field. They’d just make you write ‘I will not play with Shadows’ on the blackboard a thousand times and send you back to work.”
    “Yeah,” Conner responded, mind wandering.
    Kiernan leaned forward, lowering his voice. “I’m going to tell you something, but you have to promise to keep quiet.”
    “Will I regret it?” Conner asked.
    “Probably not. It’s something Gabe told me,” Kiernan said.
    Gabe was a friend of theirs, closer to Kiernan than to Conner. He was also a Sicarius—a Warder assassin. His job was to kill any Warder who went rogue. That happened so infrequently, most Sicari spent their time hunting Vorati demons, not other Warders. They were more than a little scary, even to a Warder who’d been a soldier for a hundred and thirty-five years. Gabe was one of the darkest. Eleven years ago, he’d executed his own brother. Word was that Daniel had gone rogue. The Directorate must have believed it, since Gabe hadn’t been sanctioned. Those who’d known Daniel found it impossible to accept the good-natured soldier could have turned on his own.
    “I won’t say anything,” Conner said. “What did Gabe tell you?”
    “We were both a little drunk. He said nesting is the least of it. The Vorati have found a way to infect Warders. He said they got Daniel. By the time Gabe realized what had happened, it was too late to save him.”
    Conner leaned back in his chair. If this was true, it explained why Gabe would have killed his brother far better than the story about Daniel going rogue. The problem was, Warders were impossible to infect. They’d been designed to resist infection.
    “That’s not possible,” Conner said. “I’ve never heard of a Warder being infected.”
    “Neither have I. But Gabe isn’t a liar. He was drunk, but he’s not crazy.”
    “Unless he’s twisted things around to make it easier to live with what he had to do. He killed his brother, Kiernan. He and Daniel were tight. That could make anyone nuts.”
    “Yeah,” Kiernan said. “He’s also missing.”
    “What?” Conner sat up in surprise.
    “No one has seen Gabe since just after the New Year. I’ve called him, but his phone is going straight to voicemail.”
    “I haven’t heard anything,” Conner said.
    “Neither have I. It’s like he dropped off the face of the earth and no one cares.”
    “The Sicari go under sometimes when they’re on a hunt. He’ll turn up.”
    “Maybe.” Kiernan sounded unconvinced.
    “You think Gabe disappearing has to do with the changes in the Vorati? That on top of nesting, they’ve managed to figure out how to infect us?” Conner asked.
    He couldn’t keep the skepticism out of his voice. Kiernan was smart. Not one to go off chasing crazy rumors. But the idea that after thousands of years the Vorati were suddenly evolving was more than Conner was ready to accept.
    Kiernan didn’t answer at first. Just took a sip of his beer, studying the humans in the bar. Eating and drinking, laughing and talking. They were a perfect illustration of everything the Warders had been created to protect. After a few minutes, he answered. “I think we need to keep our eyes open. Things are changing. I don’t know why. But something is building.”
    Conner didn’t argue. He might not be ready to agree with Kiernan, but he’d seen the changes himself. Part of him wanted to side with their handler. Stick with the status quo. But burying his head in the sand wouldn’t help him do his job. He’d keep his eyes open and see what else turned up.
    Abruptly, he pushed it all aside. For the moment all he knew was that they had a problem. Let it sit in his brain for a while and see what came of it. Maybe an idea would rise to the surface.

    Hannah lay in bed, waiting for the sound of feet on the stairs