Shadowed(78)

Then he turned and walked out for the second time that night.

Nina couldn’t help herself. She curled up on the bed and cried.





Chapter Twenty-one





“Damn it,” Reddix muttered, tossing and turning on the hard packed floor right outside the bedroom door. He wished he would have had the forethought to bring one of the oblong, dry grass stuffed pillows the Feeling People had provided when he left, but it was too late now. He was stuck out here with one thin fur blanket and nothing else—and he was damned if he was going back into that room tonight.

Not that he didn’t want to.

For a long time he’d heard the soft sounds of Nina crying from behind the thin door—the muffled sounds of hurt—a hurt he had caused her. He’d ached to go back to her and apologize—to comfort her for the pain he’d inflicted. But he didn’t dare. If he went back in, he wouldn’t be able to resist her. And the way she’d talked to him—the way she’d said he could be someone to her if only he would let himself…the way she had begged him to stay…it was too much. Too tempting.

Have to leave her alone, he told himself grimly. I want her too much—need her too much. But all I bring her is pain. Why the hell did I have to tell her about the swamp witch, anyway? What good does it do her to know what I had planned for her? Why couldn’t I just tell her the beacon was tripped and leave it at that instead of twisting the knife?

Reddix didn’t know when he had become such a sick, twisted bastard, but he hated himself for it. Hated himself far too much to let himself take the comfort Nina offered. Especially when he deserved nothing but pain.

Not that the hard packed ground he was lying on was anything but painful.

He shifted again and somehow managed to find a semi-comfortable spot. Maybe he’d be able to catch a little sleep after all—if he could just turn off the loop of guilt inside his skull for a few hours. It helped that the soft sounds of sadness were no longer issuing from inside the bedroom. Instead, all he could hear was her soft, even breathing. Apparently Nina had cried herself out and gone to sleep. Maybe now he could rest too.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” he muttered under his breath as his eyelids started to sag closed at last. “So fucking sorry…”



A massive jolt of agonizing pain speared through his body, shocking him instantly awake.

Reddix sat bolt upright with a hoarse cry, scrabbling at the Hurkon collar which seemed to have tightened around his neck. For a moment, it seemed to get even tighter, but then, finally, he was able to draw breath. What the hell was happening? Was Nina shocking him for the hell of it? Or was she just getting him back for everything he’d said and done earlier? Reddix certainly wouldn’t blame her if she was, but it didn’t seem like her style to wait until he was sleeping and then send a massive jolt of agony through his system.

Before he could go into the bedroom and demand an explanation, Nina came rushing out, a frightened look on her face.

“What is it? What happened?” she demanded. “Was it one of the Feeling People? I told you it wasn’t safe out here—you need to come in the bedroom with me.”

Reddix frowned. “You know damn well it wasn’t anything like that. You shocked me!”

“What?” Nina looked stunned. “What are you talking about?”

“You fucking know what I’m talking about,” Reddix growled. “I was sound asleep, and a huge jolt went right through me—not my favorite kind of wake up call.”

“I—”

“I understand if you’re mad at me, Nina,” he continued, frowning at her. “So I’ll give you that one shock—I deserved it after everything I did and said tonight. But next time at least give me some warning first. That’s a hell of a way to wake up.”

“But that’s what I’m trying to tell you—I didn’t push any of the buttons,” Nina protested. “I swear I didn’t. I would never shock you in your sleep even if I was mad at you—that would be cruel and petty and immature.”

Reddix had to admit she was none of those things. But he still didn’t understand what was going on. “Are you sure you didn’t press it in your sleep?” he asked, frowning.

Nina shook her head. “No, that’s not possible. I left the controller on the night table, and I was curled up on the bed. On…on your side of the bed.” Her cheeks went pink, and she looked down. “I couldn’t even reach it from there. There’s no way I pressed any buttons in my sleep.”

“What the hell then?” Reddix was honestly bewildered now. “Did the damn thing shock me all by itself?”