Cameo and the Highwayman (Trilogy of Shadows Book 2) by Dawn McCullough-White

why.”
    “You’re reading my mind again.”
    “Always.”
    She locked eyes with him for a moment. His eyes were silver now, in the dark, as she assumed hers were, probably what some described as glittering .
    “Yes, they are glittering.”
    She turned to look at the fountain once more.
    “I’m so happy that you enjoyed having Black Opal for a visit,” he said softly. “Wasn’t it rather difficult with a human?”
    “What do you mean?” she startled.
    “Wasn’t it quite rough for him to be with an undead? With your strength?”
    She pulled her flask from a boot, “That’s not something I plan to discuss with you.”
    Edel stared at the back of her head, which was all she was giving him to look at now; she had a little bald patch there, possibly a scar from a scuffle. “You should be with other undead, and not play at being human.”
    Cameo took a swig of her signature alcohol. “Well, I’m stuck here, aren’t I? I don’t exactly have much choice.”
    “That’s true,” he said.
    “And I’m only here because of Ivy, as I understand it. You have her remains, Haffef sent me to find them, and now I’m your prisoner. So this all has to do with me being in a bad place at a bad time.”
    “It has more to do with Haffef, really.”
    “What are you saying? You didn’t really want her remains the way that Haffef wants them?”
    “No, I don’t.”
    She turned back to face him, suddenly very interested in what he was confessing. “Then why steal them?”
    “Because the Master wants it so much.”
    “What?”
    Edel smirked, “That’s my big plan.”
    “Not much of one.”
    “No, not really. I just know he really wants her remains.”
    His hair had a reddish tinge to it, and his skin was so pale it nearly glowed in the shaft of the waning moon.
    He glanced at her just as those thoughts had crossed her mind.
    She sighed, annoyed at the constant mindreading, and gulped down the whiskey. “You aren’t going to comment on my drinking habit, are you?”
    “Drink as much as you want. It’s alcohol, and you’re not exactly alive, so it’s not going to have any effect on you.”
    “Thanks for the reminder.”
    “Besides, it’s quite endearing. Very human.”
    “So you said that Haffef used to follow Ivy everywhere. You were with him then? Did you go with him?”
    “Yes, at times.” He looked up into Cameo’s eyes.
    “If you were watching my sister, then you must have seen me.”
    “Yes, I did.”
    “Well, isn’t that a coincidence?” A weird new realization crept up on her.
    “It was only once or twice in passing, and then after you had both been attacked, of course.” He realized how hard it must have been for her to hear that. “I’m sorry.”
    Her mind went back to that time almost instantly. “Hmm… yes, it’s amazing how perfectly you can remember some parts of the past and how some things never come back to you after a while, isn’t it?” She glanced at him, looking only for some acknowledgment that he had heard her. “I can remember the feeling of laying there, breathing my last, the color of the sky, the sound of the wind in the leaves, and the way the day smelled.... It’s a strange account, I suppose.”
    “I understand what you’re saying.”
    “You do?”
    “I traveled with Haffef for years and years.” He looked directly at her, “I think I spoke of it?”
    “A little.”
    “It was not a very good time....” his voice trailed off. “Anyhow, though, you have only been enthralled by him for a few years; imagine that multiplied by hundreds. That’s how long I’ve been in his service, hundreds of years. Decades of doing for him, and the things he asked me to do. There are some things I can’t even discuss.”
    “With me?”
    “With anyone.” He stood up and walked over to the lone archway, “If I weren’t being compelled to do harm, then I was sent away. I was alone so much of the time, only to form attachments that he destroyed when he was