Shadowborn by Jocelyn Adams

that resembled soggy prunes. Gross .
    “As we were saying, Alastair approached us in the forest,” Alogason continued. “We studied him until we realized he looked directly at us, then spoke in a language unfamiliar to our ears. All attempts to control him with metaphysical means failed, so we opened a doorway back to Freymoor and fled. The next time he approached us, he attacked one of our daughters who had wandered away from our group. We found her empty, a breathing, blinking shell with no spirit, unable to be reborn.”
    A fat, silver tear trickled down Laerni’s cheek and dripped off her chin. I’d assumed he meant daughter in species terms, but I wondered if she had been their biological daughter.
    I had an odd urge to hug the elf before I shook it off.
    “We contacted the woodland elves and our cousins, the water nymphs, and we all agreed he threatened our existence. We believe he somehow became stranded in this world from another plane of existence or perhaps another planet entirely.”
    “Aliens?” Liam straightened in his chair, a twinge of interest in his tone.
    “Perhaps,” Alogason said. “Though aren’t we all?” For the first time, a hint of amusement tilted one corner of his mouth. “Otherwise, he could be a demon from one of the dark realms or another form of life that mutated from a human host. We are not certain, only that he was unlike any we had seen before or again.”
    “So how do we kill it?” Liam asked. Worry lines creased the corners of his eyes.
    “Yeah.” I turned to the elves, jamming my thumb toward my supposed boyfriend. “What he said.”
    “Here is where the problem began.” Alogason’s hands worried together. “We have already slain the creature we knew as Alastair. We believe he took our daughter in retaliation.”
    “What?” Nix and I said in unison.
    Gallagher choked on his drink.
    Donovan clasped his hands on the table. “So it’s undead, then. Do you think it’s immortal?”
    “It is not undead, but as for whether or not it is immortal remains to be seen. We believe, possibly in ignorance, that our destruction of its human body released the creature to its true form. An earth-bound soul who thinks and can travel through any darkness with only one desire—to hunt for thrill and companionship.”
    “Perfect,” I grumbled. “Please, tell me he doesn’t want me as a mate, too.” After going through the disastrous courtship process with Parthalan, I didn’t want to do it again.
    “As a hard-won soul for his collection of reapers, possibly,” Laerni said. “Anything more would require feeling for others, of which he has none. I know because his mind is a dark machine bent on his own personal pleasures.”
    I wasn’t sure if that was better or worse. “Then I guess the million dollar questions are: how do we find the shadow, formerly known as Alastair, and who hired him?”
    “You needn’t look very hard to find the evil who now hunts you, Lila Gray.” Alogason’s fiery eyes scrutinized my face as if assessing something beyond my skin. “Alastair will find you, if only you let him.”
    “No.” Liam’s frown darkened his face into something sinister. “No way.”
    Brow scrunched, I stared at him. “No, what?”
    “We’re not using you as bait.” He wouldn’t look at me.
    Crossing my arms over my chest, I sat back in my chair. “Nobody’s asking you.”
    “I am the Unseelie king.” He cleared his throat and went back to focusing on the goblet in front of him. “You had better be asking me.”
    “You’ve defeated your own argument.” Nix flashed his usual cocky grin. “Unseelie have no authority over the Seelie.”
    “Now is not the time for this.” The fierceness in Gallagher’s glare sent us all into silence. “How will we know if it’s Alastair who goes after Lila and not one of his minions?”
    “This is our one advantage.” Alogason placed his hand over top of Laerni’s on the table, who stared at it like a life line.