Chapter 8: Betrayal

The warehouse felt different when I arrived for training that afternoon. The shadows seemed more watchful, more tense, as if they could sense the doubt and suspicion I was carrying. Victoria was already there, setting up some kind of complex magical circle on the concrete floor, but Michael was nowhere to be seen.

"You're early," Victoria said without looking up from her work. "Good. We need to accelerate your training schedule."

"Where's Michael?"

"He'll be along shortly. He's handling some business related to our Rebecca problem." Victoria straightened, dusting chalk from her hands. "Jessica, you seem upset. What's wrong?"

I fingered the silver pendant Sarah had given me, hidden beneath my shirt. "Someone came to see me today. Someone who claimed Rebecca had kidnapped her."

Victoria went very still. "Who?"

"Sarah Chen. She said she was a federal agent."

"And you believed her?"

"Shouldn't I have?" I studied Victoria's face, looking for signs of deception the way my shadows had taught me to read people. "She had a badge, official identification."

"Jessica, dear, anyone can fake government credentials. But more importantly, if Sarah Chen had actually escaped from Rebecca, don't you think Michael and I would have known about it?"

She had a point. If there really was a Department of Supernatural Affairs, wouldn't they have made contact with Michael and Victoria already?

"She knew things about Rebecca. About the ritual, about shadow walkers."

"Information that could have been extracted from the real Sarah Chen before Rebecca killed her." Victoria moved closer, her violet eyes intense. "What exactly did this woman tell you?"

I hesitated, Sarah's warnings about trust echoing in my mind. But Victoria had been nothing but helpful since we'd met, and she was the only person who seemed to really understand my abilities.

"She said Rebecca wanted to meet with me tonight. At the Morrison building."

Victoria's face went pale. "Jessica, please tell me you didn't agree to anything."

"I didn't. But she seemed to think it was the only way to stop Rebecca from hurting more people."

"It's a trap. A very obvious trap." Victoria began pacing, her heels clicking against the concrete. "Rebecca is getting desperate. The new moon is tomorrow night, and she knows we're getting closer to stopping her."

"So the woman was lying?"

"Either lying or being manipulated. Rebecca could have implanted false memories, made her believe she was a federal agent." Victoria stopped pacing and fixed me with a stare. "Jessica, I need you to promise me you won't go to that meeting."

Before I could answer, the warehouse door opened and Michael walked in. But something was wrong with the way he moved—too fluid, too predatory. And his eyes, usually that striking pale blue, seemed to flash with a different color in the dim light.

"Ladies," he said, his voice carrying an undertone I'd never heard before. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

Victoria stepped slightly in front of me, a protective gesture that made my shadows stir uneasily. "Michael, where have you been?"

"Taking care of loose ends." His smile was sharp, predatory. "Jessica, I heard you had an interesting visitor today."

"How did you—" I started, but he cut me off.

"I know a lot of things, Jessica. More than you realize." He moved closer, and I caught that wild scent I'd noticed before, but stronger now. Dangerous. "The question is, are you going to keep pretending you don't know what I am?"

"What are you talking about?"

Michael laughed, and the sound made my blood run cold. "Oh, come on. Your shadows read me during training yesterday. They had to have told you."

Victoria grabbed my arm. "Jessica, we need to leave. Now."

But it was too late. Michael raised his hand, and shadows erupted from every corner of the warehouse—not the friendly, protective darkness I was used to, but something twisted and hungry. They wrapped around Victoria like chains, lifting her off the ground.

"Let her go!" I shouted, my own shadows responding to my panic.

"I don't think so." Michael's eyes were definitely a different color now—golden, with vertical pupils like a cat's. "Victoria's been filling your head with all sorts of interesting ideas about protection and guardianship. But that's not what shadow walkers are really for."

My shadows clashed with his in the space between us, but his were stronger, more experienced. They pushed mine back effortlessly.

"You're working with Rebecca," I said, understanding flooding through me.

"Working with her? Oh, Jessica, you still don't understand." Michael's form began to change, his human appearance dissolving like smoke. What emerged was something tall and lean, with too-sharp teeth and claws where his fingernails had been. "I am Rebecca."

The world tilted sideways. "What?"

"Shape-shifter, dear. It's a very useful ability when you're trying to get close to someone." The thing that had been Michael spoke with Rebecca's voice now, her cold, cultured tones coming from a mouth full of predator's teeth. "Did you really think I'd leave something as important as your training to someone else?"

Victoria was struggling against the shadow-bonds, her face turning blue. "Jessica," she gasped. "The pendant—"

I grabbed the silver charm Sarah had given me, and suddenly everything changed. The magical disguise shimmered and fell away completely, revealing Rebecca Morrison in her true form—something that had once been human but had fed on supernatural energy for so long that it had become something else entirely.

Her skin was pale as bone, stretched tight over a too-thin frame Her