When Shadows Call Read Online Free PDF Page B

public had he seemed the doting husband, gracing me with a smile or offering his arm to me. At our wedding, he’d placed a dutiful kiss to my lips, and it had been the one and only time he would do so. For years I’d been nothing but an ornament. The excitement of this moment had no equal. I finally—after five long years of loveless marriage—felt like a woman.
    “Perhaps I don’t want to turn back,” I said. My voice sounded the same in my shadow form, though the sensation of speaking was entirely different. I could not feel the reverberation of my voice in my throat or ears. And neither could I feel my lips and tongue form the words. Rather, they floated from me as if merely a thought, with no physical effort whatsoever.
    “I knew you had fire.” Azriel’s words came through his throat in a wanton growl that made me ache in a strange but not unpleasant way. “If you truly mean what you say, Darian, then all of Seattle will hear your cries of pleasure tonight.”
    With the force of a vengeful wind, I blew away from Azriel’s body, over the foot of the bed and across the room. I slammed back into my corporeal form, and the sensation of flames licking my skin made me cry out in pain. It didn’t last long, though. My ire quenched the uncomfortable heat as good as a bucket of water. “Seattle?” The word escaped my lips in an incredulous burst. “You took me from San Francisco? My God, how long have I been unconscious?”
    Azriel gave a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes. He pushed himself off the bed and raked his hands through his hair. “Did you think we could simply stay there? Perhaps live in your home?” His icy tone mocked my shock. “Darian, I killed your husband. Beat him to a bloody pulp.”
    My God, he had. What was I thinking? I didn’t know anything about Azriel. Truly, he could have been more of a monster than Henry. He’d proven himself a murderer, not to mention a sly seducer of women. I had no doubts Azriel was a dangerous man. Handsome to a fault, but dangerous. He’d kidnapped me and taken me hundreds of miles from my home . . . “My disappearance won’t go unnoticed.” The words tumbled out of my mouth in a frantic rush. “My parents will look for me.” I wondered as I spoke, could I convince Azriel I’d be missed? Once my father had married me off to Henry, both he and my mother had washed their hands of me. They never called at the house or inquired as to my health or happiness. They’d been happy to pawn me off on the good doctor. And once I was gone from their house . . . I was gone for good.
    “No one will be looking for you,” Azriel said. “I made sure of it.”
    I swallowed hard as a lump of fear rose in my throat. “What do you mean?” I asked, my voice even and low.
    “Do you think I would have been stupid enough not to cover my tracks, my dear?” Azriel tilted his head to the side and apprised me with an amused smile. “The good doctor met his end at the hands of a violent thief. And his wife,” Azriel launched himself from the bed in one jaunty bounce, “so lovely, such a prize . . .”
    He approached me with all of the stealth of a hunting cat. I took a step back, and another. The wall stayed my progress and my breath raced in my chest. I had nowhere to run. Trapped. Azriel reached out and caught a lock of my hair in his hand. He teased the strands between his thumb and finger before smoothing them behind my ear. “Who could resist the beautiful Darian Charles? The police will find signs of your struggle. They’ll assume the thieves took you to use for their own wicked devices. They’ll search for you, I have no doubt. But in the end, you will be presumed dead. Raped, abused, and drowned in the bay perhaps.”
    “Why?” I choked out. “Why would you do this?”
    “You’re special, Darian.” Azriel placed his palms against the wall on either side of me. He stood so close, I felt the heat of his body pulse against mine, and a spark ignited every