Page 39 of Darkness Defined

“What happened? How would that affect Shadow Demons? And how come I never heard of any war?”

Alex straightened up, abandoning his melancholy, and took on his lecturer tone. “There used to be a governing body called the Regency. They presided over the supernatural world and worked hard to make sure the human world remained oblivious to supernaturals. But for all they claimed to protect supernaturals, they also did some pretty awful stuff, too.” Alex shivered. “The Regency had been in control for decades and rebellions were creeping up. In their desire for absolute control, they created a specialized task force to deal with insurgents. Ironically, that group called themselves the Shadows.”

I laughed. “They come up with that all on their own?”

“They were younger than us.” Alex’s sharp gaze flicked up to capture mine and my face fell. “Vera was actually the only Shadow Demon in the group. And truthfully, they didn’t even know what she was when they recruited her.”

“I’m confused. Did the Rebellion fail?” I asked, more lost than ever.

“No, they won. Eventually.”

“But Vera is in charge of the class.” None of this was adding up.

“They switched sides. The Shadows learned about the awful things the Regency had done, and was making them do in their name, and mutinied. They’re why the Rebellion ultimately succeeded.”

“How big was this group? They would need to be an army,” I said, astounded at such a convoluted turn of events.

“Six people.” He looked into his empty container.

I shook my head. “That’s not possible.”

“You don’t understand, these people were better than the best of the best. And even after all the enemies they made, they held enough sway to get people to trust them.” Alex didn’t sound like he fully believed that.

“Is that why you hate Vera?” Granted, I wasn’t too keen on her myself, but it was clear there was no love lost there.

He looked up, clearly surprised. “I don’t hate her.”

“It kind of seems like you do.”

He shifted in his chair. “She just… she really messed things up for Shadow Demons. Before she came along and made such a mess, the world had all but forgotten we existed. You don’t know what it’s like to have people look at you and be afraid because of what you are.” He was wrong about that, but I wasn’t about to correct him.

“But if she hadn’t, then we wouldn’t be here.” Alex seemed both surprised and pleased by my answer. “I certainly wouldn’t be. Things weren’t going well for me where I was. If she hadn’t shown up when she did, who knows what would’ve happened.”

I’d probably be a pile of ash.

Alex gave me a speculative look. “Are you ever going to tell me where you’re from?”

I considered telling him now, but held back. Trust wasn’t something that came easily to me and, as much as I liked Alex, I still wasn’t ready for that. “Maybe someday.” I looked around the table, unsure of where to go from there.

Alex glanced past me. “Sounds like the rain has stopped. We should probably head back before it starts again.”

“We can take a stab at math,” I added.

“I hope you don’t literally mean stabbing the book.”

“I won’t lie. The thought did occur to me,” I joked. “Oh, hey, will this thing ever go back to normal?” I held up the spoon, which was still darker than night, though it felt solid enough.

He laughed and reached out so that his hand was around mine and the spoon. A ripple of sensation went through my fingers and I watched as the spoon returned to its original silver.

“Eventually, it would have gone back on its own. But,” he began, as he took the spoon from me once more and it faded back to black, “I would hate for it to get stuck somewhere.” He calmly slid the shadowed spoon into the center of the table so that only the rounded bowl was sticking out, then returned it to normal. He spared me a mischievous grin. “We’ll get it later.”

“Wait,” I said, as he turned to leave. He spun around, and I snatched his spoon. I leaned over the table and carefully added his beside mine so they were back-to-back. “I think that makes this our table.”

Alex smiled. “I think you’re right.”

Chapter 12

Strange Hobbies