Shadowdance(69)

Mary and Daisy looked on in horror. This was nothing like their times. Nor were the ones taken bound in gold. Before they could say a word, Eliza May disappeared, and they were left alone with Adam.

“Good Lord, Adam,” Daisy said, her eyes beginning to glow. “What have you done to her?”

He waved an idle hand. “Nothing you need worry over.” His expression brooked no argument. “Now, then, doves, as neither of you is indebted to me for souls, I consider this a personal boon.” Something wicked and altogether unsettling flickered in his gaze. “Therefore”—he reached out, and the hot, dry tips of his fingers touched their foreheads—“a gift.” An electric buzz shimmered through Mary, delicious and heady before ending in a warm glow.

“What was that?” she asked.

His smile was brief. “Motherhood.”

As if she had been pinched, Daisy let out a garbled squawk. “Did you…” She colored furiously. “Did you just impregnate us?”

Adam’s full-throated laughter echoed along the brick walls. “Hell’s bells, no.” His eyes watered as he tried to calm himself, and Daisy huffed. Clearing his throat, he tried again. “You do not need me for that, sweets. Unless you’d like to?” He waggled his dark brows, and Daisy huffed again.

“But we are…” Daisy waved a helpless arm. “You know…” She stopped there, her face flaming, which Mary had to admit was rather amusing, seeing as Daisy could wax lyrical about sexual topics without care.

Adam eyed her with a mixture of wry caution and good humor. “If I may be so bold, darling, but do you experience your courses?” His mouth twitched. “I shall take the shade of crimson on your cheeks as a yes. Which means there is nothing stopping you.”

His gaze slid over both of them. “You aren’t corpses, for pity’s sake. You are life anew, better and more precious because you asked for it with eyes wide open.” He sniffed in annoyance. “I swear, do none of my flock pay attention when I tell you the rules upon creation?”

Mary was rather glad to hear she was not expecting and had to smile at his chastisement. She’d known, but hadn’t realized Daisy was ignorant of that particular part of her nature. “My lord, would you explain what you meant by ‘motherhood’?”

His smile was beatific. “Simply that you may choose to create another. Only one, mind. No need for us to get carried away.”

Mary and Daisy blinked. Shock coursed through Mary’s bones. She could create a GIM? The notion was at once horrid and fascinating. “I…” Mary took a breath and curtsied. “You honor us, my lord.”

“I know. Choose wisely, my doves. Creation is the most intimate act one can do. That soul will be bound to you, helpless as a babe until you choose to set it free. Even after, you will always feel a connection.”

“But how do we—” Daisy’s question was cut off with a wave of Adam’s hand.

“I cannot dally all night. Do as I do, and the rest will follow.” His attention turned to Mary. “Miss Chase. As I was trying to say before, I suggest you keep an eye on that man of yours.”

“Why?” Mary would not contradict the demon by protesting that Jack was not hers, but his words left her tight and cold.

Adam’s mouth curled, revealing small but sharp fangs. “I do not take threats against my children lightly. I do believe that Jack Talent will soon find himself in the thick of a great one. Some beings were never meant to be GIM.”

“You mean the shadow crawlers.”

His expression grew pained. “Mix any sort of demon flesh with metal, and you will find yourself with a disaster on your hands.” His gaze leveled on her, and she felt the immense power he held within him. “Do not let it happen, Miss Chase.”

Dawn was slow in coming for Mary. She was being watched. She knew it with the same certainty with which she knew her name was Mary Chase. The sensation whispered over her skin like spider silk and crept along her spine to nip at her neck. An unnerving distraction that robbed her of peace and kept her awake.

It was not a new sensation. It had come and gone for some time. Too long. So long that she was almost used to the feeling. Almost, but not quite. Had she not the ability to see spirits, Mary would have wondered if her house was haunted, for the sensation of eyes upon her nearly always occurred when she was in her home.

“Nonsense,” she muttered, and tossed back her bedcovers. The white light of morning was shining through her curtains as she crossed the cool floors and headed for her front room. Still she could not shake the sticky feeling. For someone accustomed to doing the watching, it was not only unnerving but an affront.