When Shadows Call Read Online Free PDF

“Don’t fight the change. You’re only making it harder on yourself. Let the shadows take you.”
    “No!” I gasped, fear clenching my heart like a vise. My blood practically boiled in my veins, and I clawed at my dress, ripping the fabric. “Make it stop!” I writhed on the bed and wound my fists in the sheets to keep myself from tearing at my skin. “Please, Azriel.” Tears streaked a path down my cheeks and blurred my vision.
    A balmy breeze stirred the long drapes as Azriel materialized at the balcony. He flung the doors wide open, and I welcomed the stirrings of a much cooler night than I was used to. Again, he left his physical body behind and when his heat met the cold air, it created a humid mist that clung to the atmosphere like building clouds. “Don’t be afraid,” Azriel said as his shadows came to rest at my side. “I told you, Darian, you no longer have any reason to fear.”
    The feathery wisps of his incorporeal form wound around my body, and I calmed. All I’d known for the past five years was fear and uncertainty. How could I possibly let go?
    “It’s as natural as breathing.” Even innocent words sounded sinful and seductive when Azriel spoke, and I suppressed a pleasant shudder. “Let go.” Shadows trickled up my arms, around my neck, and down my spine. His shadows. “Join me.”
    “Yes.” The word had barely registered as a thought, I’d spoken it so softly, but I knew he heard me. I had no idea what to do or how to do it, but my body obeyed his command. I held my breath for the barest moment, kept as much of the pulsing heat in my body as I could stand. And then, as I exhaled a slow and languid breath, that heat melted right out of me.
    Shadows permeated my skin, like the finest, softest silks joining with my flesh. The heat that had once been unbearable became once again the comforting warmth I’d known when I first awoke. I had no expectations, but even so, it took a moment for my eyes to adjust as I saw the world through a darkened haze. A veil of shadow. My bones melted, and my entire being became a gossamer thing.
    The sensation sent an exhilarating thrill zinging through my soul.
    “I am shadow,” I said as I tested my incorporeal form, weaving in and out and around the posts of the headboard.
    “You are Shaede.” Azriel regained his corporeal form and stretched out on the bed. He looked magnificent. Sinewy muscles strained against the fine fabric of his shirt, and his dark hair shone in the lamplight. His black eyes followed the wisps and curling tendrils of my shadows with a sensual appreciation. He licked his full lips, and I couldn’t help but stare.
    A wicked thought sparked in my mind, and I wondered if I was brave enough to follow through. But I’d been freed from convention. Released from the crippling vise of socialites, gossips, and an abusive, controlling husband. My prayers had finally been answered: I’d died and was born again. With a giddiness that almost made me laugh aloud, I let go of the thoughts that tethered me to respectability. Changing course, I unwound myself from the ornate bed posts and slithered across the sheets toward Azriel. A corner of his mouth lifted in . . . not quite a smile . . . more a satisfied smirk. The expression only strengthened my resolve, and I continued my course, winding up his arm like a thick, black ribbon.
    “This is a dangerous game you play,” Azriel murmured as he tilted his head to one side. His invitation didn’t go unnoticed and I slid up past his jugular and around to the back of his neck. The fabric of his shirt rustled as I caressed the exposed flesh of his back, my shadow form tracing each defined muscle. “Have a care my dear,” he said. “Once you set foot on this path, there will be no turning back.”
    I’d never touched a man in such a way. Somehow, the absence of my physical body protected me, allowed me to be brave and brazen. Henry never showed me an ounce of physical affection. Only in