Read The Reverence of One: Book Three of the Shadow Series for Free Online Page B

hotel, entered your room and, discovering you weren’t there, waited patiently for you to return. I sat at the window for an hour or so until I saw a station wagon pull into the parking lot and park in front of the hotel lobby. The last time I’d seen you, you were just a toddler, but I remembered the scar on your cheek. As you stood and watched the car drive away, you pulled your hair behind your ear, exposing the scar for me to easily see. When I saw your torn clothes and bloodied arms I knew it was you, and not a meteorite that crashed at the lake.
    “I phased and left the room, walking slowly towards you in the parking lot, until I sensed a presence in the area. You were looking across the street and I turned to see what it was that you were staring at. It was then that I saw the youthful version of Cliff.
    “With your attention elsewhere, I began towards you, ready to end your life, but after two steps, Cliff appeared before me. Before I could say or do anything, he greeted me by using my name. It confused me.” She turned to Maggie whose eyes were as big as saucers. “My first thought was that he was another Reaper sent to get Test, and that I would be an extra catch that would earn this small black man some rank with Isaac. I turned from him and, with the speed we possess on the other side, ran a couple of blocks to get away . When I stopped, Cliff was right beside me. I stared at him fearfully, and watched as he changed into his older self. An instant wash of relief came over me as it was then that I realized he was only a ghost and not a Reaper.
    “He began to talk to me and told me that he had seen me before, in a vision while he was alive.” She turned back to Test who continued to lean heavily on the window. “He told me of his relationship with you and how he had tried to help you.” Her voice began to break up. “He told me that he knew why I was there.” The tears began to stream down her face. “He told me that it didn’t have to end this way. I didn’t have to be a murderer anymore.” She looked to the ceiling and took a couple of deep breaths. “Without saying anything back to him, I phased back to the world of the living and pulsed high into the air. I landed just outside of town on a dirt road that led to nowhere. I walked for what must have been miles, hear ing his voice repeating in my head, over and over the same message.
    You don’t have to be a murderer anymore .
    Emotionally exhausted, Lauren knelt down in front of Maggie and placed her hands on the older woman’s knees. “That little old man reminded me of who I was and who I wanted to be. I decided that I was going to help Test in whatever way I could. I went back and found Cliff hanging around the hotel. We talked for hours. It was then that he learned what Test really was. I told him my story—how I came to be the monster I’d become. ” She turned her head slowly and looked to Test who was watching her with a pained look of his own .
    “We came up with a plan. You didn’t yet know he had even passed away, and he was afraid that if we both came to you at once that the shock would be too great. I agreed to disappear for a day or two and let Cliff contact you.” With a giggle she glanced to Alyssa. “If only he’d known about your gift sooner, things might have been a little easier.” She stood and walked to Test’s side. “I wasn’t here when the humans came to the hotel for you. In fact, when I returned the next day, you had already been captured. I never in a million years thought it possible for a human to capture a Shadow.”
    Test turned and spoke in a slightly defensive manner. “It wasn’t the humans that…”
    “I know, I know,” giggled Lauren. “I was just trying to liven’ you up a little.” She smiled at him playfully.
    Test rolled his shoulders, his muscles having grown tense from the whiplash of moods that Lauren had presented in the last hour.
    Maggie stared lovingly at Test and realized just