Fading Light: Shadow Born, Book 2 Read Online Free Page B

inside their haven. Harsh florescent light streamed from the ceiling. The abrupt change from the tunnels momentarily blinded Gray. Once his eyes adjusted, he looked for Lucy. She ignored him, focused instead on Brenna.
    The gargoyle raised on her tip toes to peer across the desk. Barely five foot, she resembled a mix between a Cheshire cat and a pink hippo, aside from the pink fuzzy wings pressed against her back. Her tiny ears flipped forward, and she took a deep breath. “Did you bring it?”
    Brenna nodded. She shoved a hand in her duster pocket and pulled out a smashed chocolate moon pie. With a sigh, she pushed it through the slit in the partition surrounding Lucy. “That’s twelve. Debt paid.” Brenna shook her head. “These things are getting harder to find. The trade from back East is slowing down.”
    Lucy snorted before shoving the whole pie into her mouth. Crumbs trailed the folds in her cheeks and spilled onto her chest. “Better look harder.” She swallowed, then belched. “Friday’s poker night.” A quick rub of her belly and she burped again. “Ante up.”
    Gray turned away, a grin on his lips. Brenna spent most of her free time trying to beat Lucy in cards, but the gargoyle always won, and she only took her spoils in moon pies. But Brenna never gave up, even though it was a lost cause.
    The long hallway in front of their office was empty. Headquarters was normally chaotic, but tonight the vibe had changed. Everyone seemed distracted—the war was getting to them.
    He stepped inside the small space he shared with Brenna. Seraph had offered him his pick of solo offices, but Gray had moved into Brenna’s to make a point. Whatever idiot coined the phrase “absence makes the heart grow fonder” was wrong. Absence bred forgetfulness. He wasn’t letting Brenna out of his sight.
    The office was an eyesore. He was convinced Brenna had redecorated as a personal affront to him. She had taken all the things he disliked and merged them together. The white walls had been splashed with bright chartreuse paint. It dripped like dried blood splatter to the floor. He was surprised she hadn’t found a way to incorporate it onto the stark white linoleum. Brenna’s desk, a metal monstrosity she had tried, and failed, to cover with burnt orange paint, had been crammed into the far corner. On the wall behind it was her puppy calendar.
    His desk sat on the opposite wall. It was a slab of wood over concrete blocks. One day he had returned to find the wood painted fuchsia, the concrete light blue. Brenna had been with him at the time, and he had yet to find the culprit. Thankfully, they worked at home a lot.
    He tossed his duster and scabbard with his katana onto the rusty folding chair by the door before sinking onto the ratty brown leather couch. With a sigh, he leaned his head back to massage his temples. A few minutes later, he felt Seraph step inside. Gray opened his eyes and sat forward as a manila file landed on his lap.
    “That’s what I have. It’s not much.” Seraph walked over to the wooden kitchen chair in front of Gray. He flipped it around and straddled it. “About a month after you left, twelve human bodies showed up in a twenty-four-hour period. All turned to dust. We sent our best people, but no one could explain it. Once we started running tests, we realized the transformation destroyed the underlying biological specimen. There was nothing left for our scientists to study.”
    Gray flipped through the file. It was filled with pictures of bodies turned to dust, lab reports, crime scenes, but nothing jumped out at him. “In three months you’ve made no headway?”
    “None.” Seraph leaned forward. “All dead ends.”
    “How is that possible?” Brenna took the file from Gray. She tossed her jacket onto the chair and sat on the desk to study it. “There’s always a trace of toxin or a strand of residual magic.” Brow furrowed, she searched through the pages. “None of this makes sense. What