The Reverence of One: Book Three of the Shadow Series (28 page)

“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely as he held up his hands. “I won’t do that again without telling you first.”

She stared at him with unblinking eyes. Test watched as Thad rested a hand on her shoulder from behind, causing her to jump spastically to the side. Instantly Thad held up his hands.

“Whoa, whoa, kiddo; it’s okay. It’s just me.”

Taking a very slow step forward, Test held his hands out for Nicole to see. “Nicole, I need to talk to Cliff, but I can’t do that unless I…
.
” He stopped himself, unsure how to state the reality of what he needed to do.

“It’s fine,” replied Nicole sniffing harshly as she wiped her nose. “You do what you gotta do. Isn’t that what you do anyways?” she asked
bitterly
.

Her words broke Test’s heart. He’d never meant to hurt her, and to see her standing in front of him in such poor condition was almost more than he could stand.
With a grimace, he looked away from her and, reaching out his right hand, released the weak pulses that would bring Cliff through.

The old man materialized next to
Test
, and once in solid form, gave the young Shadow a nod. “Everything okay?” he asked
somberly
.

With a deep sigh as he looked to Nicole, Test replied
, his voice full of pain. “I guess.”

“Prim and Maggie back yet?” asked the old man.

Test looked back to Cliff and shook his head slowly. “Not yet. Jenz thinks they’re okay, but I figured they’d be back by now.”

“They’ll be here soon.”

Jenz’s voice floated into the room from behind Thad, causing both he and Nicole to jump. Though Cliff had told them about Prim and Jenz, the sight of the albino woman was a shock to the both of them.

“Hello,” spoke Jenz in her graceful voice. “Welcome to my home.” Jenz focused on Thad and could see the heavy bags under his blood shot eyes. “You look like you could use a place to rest.”

Still staring wide eyed at the strange woman, Thad replied. “Thank you, but I’m…
.
”

“She’s right, boy,” interrupted Cliff
gruffly
. “You should get some sleep. You’ve been a big help the last couple days, but now you need to take care of yourself.”

Thad glanced back and forth between his grandfather and Jenz. With a nod of his head to the strange woman, he spoke graciously. “Yes, ma’am; I guess I
could
use some sleep.”

Jenz flashed a subtle smile as she stepped back and held
out her hand,
motion
ing
for Thad to follow. “I’m afraid that Lauren is sleeping in Prim’s room, but we have another couch
and a recliner
downstairs if that would be okay for you?”

Thad bowed his head and replied. “That sounds fine, ma’am. Thank you very much.”

Glancing to Cliff once before she
led
Thad out of the room, she nodded her head in recognition of the old man.

Thrusting his hands into his pockets, Test’s frazzled mind reached for conversation. “So,” he asked looking at Nicole who stood visibly uncomfortable with her thumbs in her back pockets, “how’ve you been?” The instant the words left his mouth, he heard Cliff huff.

“Still ain’t too bright, is he?” said Cliff to Nicole. Turning to Test, Cliff spoke in a paternal manner. “Her and Thad’s got some luggage out in the car. Why don’t you go bring it in for them?” He spoke the words more as a direct order than a question.
“There’s a cigar in the back seat. Bring that in too.”

The old man walked to Nicole and smiled with a wink. “How about we go ask Jenz if you can use her shower? I expect that’d make you feel a little better, wouldn’t it?”

Nicole nodded her head quickly and turned away from Test. Cliff followed her lead.

“It’s really good to see you, Nicole,” said Test as she walked away.

For a split second she paused, and without turning, spoke so softly that he could barely hear her. “I wish I could say the same.”

***
*

Test stepped outside just as the sun began to peek over the horizon. He closed his eyes and let the light shine through his eyelids like he had done when he was a child. The air was heavy, but a slight breeze provided some relief.

With a deep breath
,
he opened his eyes and walked to a line of three vehicles that were parked in front of the house. The moderately long driveway was paved with small rocks in various shades of brown, and it wound through a couple of turns that led to a sandy road. As he stepped through the damp grass to the cars, he laid his hand on each of their hoods, stopping at the first one
that was hot to the touch
. He could hear the sound of oil dripping from the engine and into the oil pan as he walked to
the
rear passenger door to
glance into the back seat. There, still in its wrapper, lay the cigar that Cliff had instructed him to retrieve. He couldn’t help but smile as he remembered the day that he’d met the
little
old man
in the convenience store
wh
o gnawed incessantly on an unlit cigar.
“And I thought things were hard back then,”
he mumbled to himself as he lifted the door handle. Having retrieved the cigar, he walked
around
to the driver’s door, hoping that the keys were still in the ignition so that he could pop open the trunk. As luck would have it, Thad had
either
been too tired to pull them out or
he
just plain didn’
t care
if he left them in the car.

Test removed the keys from the ignition, walked
around
to
the
back of the
car
,
and opened the trunk, lifting out the bags one by one and setting them on the ground. As he closed the trunk lid, the sight of a man standing at the front of the car caused him to fall to the ground in reflex.

“Drop something?”

Test rolled his eyes, recognizing Prim’s voice. As he lifted himself from the ground, he replied with an annoyed tone. “Damn. Why the hell does everyone feel the need to sneak up on me lately?”

Standing tall, Test brushed off his knees and looked to Prim.

“That doesn’t bode well for you then does it?” asked Prim.

With an annoyed
look, Test replied. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I guess you’re lucky a Reaper hasn’t shown up yet. If you can’t sense me standing ten foot away from you, you’ve got no chance.”

Grabbing at the luggage on the ground, Test lifted them with an exaggerated flexing of his arms. “I wasn’t…
.
”

“Paying attention?” said Prim, finishing Test’s sentence. “That’s something you’d better start doing.” He walked around the side of the car and took a bag from Test’s hand. Staring at him sternly, he continued to speak. “There are a lot of us risking our lives for you. Perhaps you should start being more aware.”

Test detected a hint of bitterness in
his
voice. His first instinct was to reply defensively, but deep down he knew
the Shadow in front of him
was right. The shock of
Prim’s
arrival wearing off
, Test suddenly remembered the reason for his absence. He then became aware of a spirits presence beside him, and released small pulses to bring his mother forward.

“Hi, Mom,” said Test.

Before she had materialized completely, Maggie had her arms wrapped around
her son
. “Is everything okay here?” she asked.

Test nodded his head and looked to Prim. “How
’d
your trip go?”

Prim grinned and huffed. “Trip? I suppose that by definition that would be correct.”

Struggling to regain good standing with him, Test closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose. “I’m sorry. I just meant…
.
”

“It’s fine,” replied Prim. “I’m sorry, too.” He reached out his hand for Test to shake. “It’s been a long night and I’m tired.”

Taking Prim’s hand into his, Test replied. “I bet. We were pretty worried.”

Turning from the car, the three of them began to walk to the house.

“We would’ve been back sooner, but I used every ounce of energy I had to create the distraction,” said Prim.

“Yeah, we sa
w
it on T.V. last night. It was pretty amazing,” replied Test.
With an inquisitive look, he asked,
“Why New Mexico?”

Prim laughed and slapped Test on the back with his free hand. “Everyone knows that’s where all the aliens live.”

Rolling his eyes, Test sh
ook his head
. “Riiiiight.”

***
*

The tension in the house was unbearable as Test stood quietly in a corner of the kitchen with Alyssa by his side. The small table was surrounded by five chairs, though it was barely big enough for four, and he listened as Jenz, Prim, Lauren, and Cliff discussed Lauren’s idea from the night before.

“It’s actually quite brilliant,” said Prim with a glowing smile to Lauren.

Test watched as Lauren’s face took on a
bright
red blush, and her eyes gazed upon Prim with
a fierce passion.
“Thanks,” replied Lauren simply.

“What I don’t understand is why does it only seems to work when a spirit is on the other side,” said Cliff with his new cigar clenched between his teeth. “It don’t make sense.”

“Actually,” replied Jenz, “It makes perfect sense. When a spirit manifests, it is using the Shadow’s energy. In essence, it appears as a living human instead of a spirit. Everything that is living releases energy in some form or another, so instead of being the void of energy that blankets the Shadow, they are simply channeling it.”

Cliff scratched his stubbly chin
while mulling over Jenz’s explanation. “I see,” he replied. “I suppose that does make some sense. But if this theory is true, a Reaper would just have to step to the side and, without the spirit standin
’
directly between him and the Shadow, he would be able to feel the Shadow again.”

“That’s exactly what I said last night!” proclaimed Test as he pushed himself from the corner.

Cliff raised his hand to Test. “Hold on now, son. You didn’t let me finish my thinkin
’
.”

Test watched as Cliff scowled at him
. Though
the look from the old man was uncomfortable, he
forced himself not to look at Lauren whom he knew would be shooting daggers at him for the comment.

“The thing is,” continued Cliff as he turned back to Lauren, “if the Shadow is paying attention, then he already knows that the Reaper is nearby. As long as he can sense the Reapers whereabouts, he should be able to
keep the spirit in between them and
.
…”

“I’m sorry,” interrupted Jenz, “but your logic is flawed. You are forgetting that a Shadow and a Reaper are one in the same. The presence of a spirit will also hinder the Shadows ability to detect a Reaper.”

From next to Test, Alyssa chimed in. Trying hard not to speak in an I-told-you-so tone so as not to offend Lauren, she questioned Jenz. “So you’re saying that a Shadow is safer if we spirits are on this side, using your energy?”

Jenz gently ran her index finger over her lips while considering Alyssa’s hypothesis. “I don’t know if it would make anyone safer
,”
she replied softly, “but it certainly appears as though the benefit of one choice would negate the benefit of the other.
”

Unable to resist the urge any longer, Test glanced to Lauren whose face twisted as Jenz spoke. It was obvious that she hadn’t taken the fact into account either, and the truth was that neither had he. He watched as she slapped the table while leaning back in her chai
r and mumbling to herself
.

“It’s still an incredible observation,” said Prim in a comforting voice to Lauren. “Think about it—Shadows have existed for centuries and you have discovered something that no one else has.”

Lauren glanced up with her chin pinned to her chest. “Thanks, but you don’t have to try to make me feel better.”

“Why not?” asked Prim. “You have no reason to feel otherwise.”

“He’s right,” said Jenz
, speaking more to the point than to comfort Lauren
. “Though this discovery has its detriment
,
the potential for use is still there. We shall have to continue to consider its possibilities.”

***
*

Nicole stood silently in the hallway just outside of the kitchen. She’d been listening long enough to hear talk about Shadows and Reapers. While she hadn’t been told what these words meant, she was smart enough to figure it out.