Chapter 6: Shadow and Secret Agents



As Lucas's invisible look locked Aria's, the air between them tightened. Her pulse raced in her chest, her mind wriggling for a reason, but the quiet hanging in the air only made the anxiety worse. Lucas had not moved from his position at the doorway; his massive shoulders blocked her escape, but his eyes—those icy, sharp eyes—seemed to sear through her with a subdued wrath.

Again, he asked, his voice a quiet rumble, calm yet shockingly dangerously deadly.

Aria choked and battled to find her voice. Her hands twitched frantically in front of her as she stuttered, not meant to be here. "I was only looking around the home and the door was open, so I—”

Lucas said, "You were warned," his voice lowering to a frigid calm. "I advised you to keep off the west wing."

Her gut turned over in his tone at the harsh sharpness. She had crossed a boundary, and Lucas was not the kind of guy to let it go easily. She couldn't get rid of the image of the wall—her photograph surrounded by pictures of other guys she didn't know—even as much as she wanted to apologize and withdraw. Her face was there for what reason? With that red thread, why had she been linked to Lucas?

She looked at him, her terror giving way to will. Her voice quivering but firm, she questioned, "Why is my picture on that wall, Lucas?" "What is all of this"?

Lucas's eyes furrowed and he said nothing for a time. The quiet choked on until he at last entered the room and shut the door behind him. The lock clicked and Aria shivered down her spine.

He passed her, headed for the far side of the space with a deliberate, understated accuracy. His gaze stayed fixed on the wall, as if he were figuring his next action. Aria could see the strain in his jaw and the tiny flexion of his fingers, as if he were quelling some inner conflict.

When he did speak at last, his voice was low and somewhat resigned. "You do not grasp certain aspects of myself or of this planet. You ought not to have come here.

Aria murmured, her voice softening as she sought to sense his attitude, "I didn't know what I was walking into." "But now that I'm here... I have to know what's going on. You owe me really a lot.

Lucas laughed bitterly, his back still pointed to her. "Ove you? Aria, I owe no one anything.

Her heart contracted at the coldness in his remarks, but she persisted. "You really do. I accepted to this marriage, to live in your environment. I disagreed to be kept in the dark about whatever this is, however. Her irritation growing, she pointed to the wall. "I need to know what's going on if you want me to contribute."

Lucas ignored me for a time. Standing there, he seemed lost in contemplation and fixed on the wall. Then he turned slowly to face her, his look insumutable. "You feel prepared for the truth?"

Aria choked loudly, her nerves tingling beneath his close inspection. She knew she wasn't ready, but just now she couldn't back down. "I should know."

Lucas silently watched her, his keen eyes looking for any indication of frailty in her face. His voice was cooler than she had ever heard when he did spoke at last. "Okay. You want the truth? Then pay close attention as once you know there is no going back.

He moved to the table, his fingertips following the edge of a folder that rested there, as if deciding whether or not to reveal her its contents. "What you saw on that wall," he said, "is part of something far more than you or me." The guy you met last night, Viktor Pierce, is not just a competitor in business. He belongs to a group that has been undermining my family for many years. They want control—over my business, over the authority accompanying it, and over the spiritual universe.

Her breath froze. "Supernatural world?"

Lucas nodded, his face becoming rigid. "This goes beyond business, Aria." Here are forces at work that you do not know: ones that have molded the world of werewolves, humans, and all points in between.

Aria's consciousness spun. She knew there were secrets about Lucas, but this was far beyond anything she had dreamed of. You... are you referring to werewolves?

Absolutely. His voice was sharp, matter-of-fact, as if he were talking about the temperature or anything else as basic. Hidden in plain sight are "werewolves, witches, vampires. And always at the core of it has been my family, the Ashfords.

The pulse of Aria sped up. Surrounded by wolves and the supernatural, she had grown up in the Moonstone pack but never dreamed Lucas would be connected to that realm. He had always seemed to be very human. "Why did you not tell me this earlier?"

"Because it's dangerous," Lucas stated squarely. You were safer the less you knew.

Aria shook her head, incredulity battling with the pieces of the jigsaw that were gradually coming together. But I must know everything if I am in danger right now. Lucas, you cannot keep me in the dark going forward.

Lucas tightened his jaw, and she briefly considered he may object. Then he sighed, the strain in his shoulders drooping slightly as if he were bored with bearing the weight alone. "Every person on that wall is a member of a network—spies, friends, adversaries. Of all them, Viktor is among the most lethal. Years of attempting to take control of the assets in my family have now turned his attention to you due to our marriage.”

Her heart dropped. "So, I am merely a pawn in your game with Viktor?"

Lucas's eyes softened just a little, a flutter of something inscrutable over his face. You never were meant to be engaged. But things have changed; now Viktor views you as a means of reaching me. Should he be able to control you, employ you, he will act without second thought.

Though their marriage was only a contract, Aria's stomach turned at the idea of being used as a weapon against Lucas. "What does he want??"

"Power," Lucas murmured, just in passing. Control over the heritage of Ashford. The riches and impact of my family go beyond the human sphere. For millennia, we have served on the supernatural council, preserving harmony among the many groups. Viktor would do everything to obtain that power for himself. She wants it.

Aria choked hard, the weight of the circumstances setting in. This transcended mere corporate negotiations or financial considerations. This was something considerably more perilous, something that would cost more than she was ready to pay.

Quietly, she whispered, "Why didn't you tell me any of this before we got married?" Why keep me in the dark?

Lucas glanced at her, his eyes darkened with almost regretful shadows. "Because I wanted you not involved. I objected to you becoming a target.

She shook her head and laughed achesingly. Well, it's a bit late for that right now.

Lucas stiffened his jaw, but he remained quiet. He understood as well as she did that the lines had already been set and she was now engaged in a game far beyond of her influence.

Her voice lower, the weight of her new reality falling over her, she whispered, "What do I do now?"

Lucas moved closer, his words low, his eyes sharp with will. "You listen to me right now. You avoid Viktor and go with my lead. You have to believe me; I will shield you.

Let me count on him. The words weighty in her head. She could believe him? The guy who had concealed so many secrets, who had blindly lured her into this perilous world?

She murmured softly, "I have little of a choice here."

Lucas's face softened momentarily before the mask of control slid back into place. "No, you never do."

Aria nodded; the weight of what she had discovered tightened her chest. Now turning back was not possible. She belonged to Lucas, to his world of shadows and secrets.

Even if she wanted to think she could manage it, the anxiety chewing at the margins of her consciousness informed her the danger was just starting.