Read Shadow's Awakening: The Shadow Warder Series, Book One (An Urban Fantasy Romance Series) for Free Online Page A

conversation is over,” Conner said.
    “Untrusting pain in the ass. You’ll wish you hadn’t asked,” Zach said in a taunt. “Here it is. As dark secrets go, this one is pretty tame. You really are a Boy Scout. You pretend classic westerns are your favorite movies, but really you love family movies. Your stash is hidden in the bottom shelf of your bookcase behind the reference books where no one will ever find them. Until a few years ago, your favorite was a tie between Mary Poppins and Swiss Family Robinson . Now you love the Shrek movies best. You watched the second Shrek two days ago. On your tablet you changed the name to True Grit .” Zach didn’t bother to hide his amusement.
    A hot flush crept up Conner’s neck. Zach was right. As secrets went, it was pretty tame. But for a six foot three, two hundred and fifty pound soldier, an addiction to kid movies qualified as highly embarrassing. Fleetingly, Conner wished he could have been hooked on bondage or gambling. Anything but the Disney Classics Collection.
    “Shit,” he said. “You’re right. I wish I hadn’t asked.”
    “I warned you,” Zach said.
    “If you tell anyone, I’ll find you and kick your ass,” Conner said. It was an empty threat, but it made him feel better.
    “Who am I going to tell? We don’t exactly run in the same circles.”
    “Good point.” Conner forced himself to refocus. “Okay. Tell me what you’ve got. Why did you call me instead of following procedure?”
    “This is different. You’re different. The world we live in is shifting and you’re going to help put it to rights.”
    “If you want my help, speak English, not fuzzy Oracle talk,” Conner said. “It’s the middle of the night and I want to go back to sleep.”
    “Right. You like Shrek? Then this should work for you. I need you to rescue a girl from a dragon,” Zach said. “Well, a metaphorical dragon. The girl is an untrained Shadow. We usually find them early when they’re born into the human population, but we missed this one. She only just popped up on our radar. Very powerful. Young. She’s being held by a nest of Vorati. We’ve got about three days before they hand her over to a Voratus more powerful than any you’ve seen before. If he gets her, she’s lost. I need you to go in and bring her out.”
    “Why me?” Conner asked. “Why not send your own people after her?”
    “It has to be you. We don’t have anyone close enough who can handle a nest this size. The girl is running out of time and you’re her best chance,” Zach said. “There are seven Vorati holding her. I have info that says the number might have dropped recently, but I wouldn’t depend on it. Bring backup if you can.”
    “I haven’t said I’d do it yet,” Conner said, exasperated.
    “You’re just going to leave her there? One defenseless girl with seven Vorati? Can you imagine what they’re doing to her?”
    “Jesus,” Conner said. He didn’t want to picture the girl’s suffering. The images flashing through his head were a few steps past ugly. “I thought you said she was powerful.”
    “She is. She will be,” Zach said, impatient. “But she has no way to defend herself because she doesn't have any idea what she is. Without any training her own body is probably attacking her as much as the Vorati. And they know what she is. If they like to torture humans to feed from their pain, can you imagine how much better a Shadow tastes? The word delicacy doesn’t even come close.”
    Conner tried not to think about the ramifications of what Zach was saying. Warders and Shadows stayed as far apart as possible. Had for over fifteen hundred years. Avoiding all contact with Shadows was one of the first things every young Warder learned. The separation meant he didn’t know much about the Shadows, only what they were taught in school and the myths that got passed around outside of class. He did know that they had direct access to the energy around them. They could