“You were around the council a lot. Did you ever hear of anything other than pure shadows weaving two people so tightly together they can’t get away?”
Elie sat up straight, his dark velvet-brown eyes moving over her face inch by slow inch as if he was examining her carefully. “What the hell does that even mean, Emme?”
She sighed. “Apparently, you haven’t.”
Elie leaned toward her again. “Is there any evidence? When we look at shadows, we can see the knots tangled. Can you see something in the shadows binding you when they’re reflected on a wall?”
She nodded slowly, her teeth biting down on her lower lip. Once again, she glanced toward the table where their bodyguards sat enjoying food. “From the very first time I was ever around him at a party. I snuck out and went with a friend of mine. I wanted to see if I could do it because my brothers were always going places but I wasn’t supposed to.” She flashed him a little grin. “Naturally, I slipped right past them all.”
“They weren’t expecting it, were they?”
“Nope, not from the good girl, little Emme.” Her breath caught in her throat. “Val was so good-looking, and I was so young and impressionable. I stayed across the room. He was a Saldi, and I was a Ferraro. I knew I shouldn’t be there. I knew Stefano would lose his mind. I didn’t dance. I stayed in a dark corner. I didn’t want him to see me. I don’t know why I was so afraid of him, but I was, and I’ve never been afraid of anyone.”
Elie shook his head. “That should have told you something right there, Emme. You should have acted on your instincts and gotten the hell out of there.”
She nodded because it was the truth. “I know. I knew then. I felt trapped. I was afraid if I moved, I’d call attention to myself.” She swallowed hard, wondering what to tell him. Elie had been so honest, it was only fair she be just as honest. But he was an Archambault and a rider. She didn’t want Val dead, and if she wasn’t very, very careful, if she didn’t walk a fine line, that could be the result of the conversation.
“I could barely breathe when Valentino Saldi looked across the room and his eyes met mine for the very first time—they were extremely intense, Elie, and so damn green. The pit of my stomach dropped away. I couldn’t have moved if my life depended on it. He stood, a casual, almost flowing move, very controlled, and my heart accelerated. I was a trained shadow rider, and I couldn’t stop my reaction. I knew he was going to walk right through that crowd straight to me. His shoulders were broad, his hair thick and glossy black. He was the most handsome man I’d ever seen. I remember every single detail so vividly.”
Emmanuelle pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. Even now, after all this time, after all the things she knew about Val, her memories of him still had the power to move her.
“I had to fight for air when my lungs were burning. The dim lighting threw shadows on the wall. I’d deliberately sat in the corner near a shadow so I could step into a tube to escape if there was an emergency. I remember thinking maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. Something very peculiar was happening as Valentino approached. He stopped, frowning, when his shadow hit mine. I felt an overwhelming jolt, and I could see it hit him, too. It was a physical, sexual fire-ball rushing through my entire body straight to my sex.”
“How could that happen when he isn’t a rider?” Elie asked in a low voice, frowning. He looked every inch an Archambault in that moment. A member of the famed French family with many branches—the only family that could bring justice to riders when they went rogue.
“I have no idea. I really don’t.” Emmanuelle couldn’t look at him. “I was sixteen, Elie. I’d never experienced anything like that in my life, and I was embarrassed. I looked at the wall, expecting to see our shadows knotting. I’d been told what could happen, of course, but the actual experience was so mind-blowing and frightening for someone so inexperienced, I was stunned.”
She pressed a hand to her hair and found it was trembling, just as it had been that night. “I glanced at our shadows on the wall, expecting to see them tangling together the way it was described to me, but that wasn’t happening.”
Elie frowned, forgetting he had a forkful of ice cream halfway to his mouth. “It wasn’t?”
She shook her head. “There were these ropes, like a million cords rushing toward my shadow. It was terrifying. I could see them coming out from his shadow. Each time one of those ropes touched my shadow, it wrapped around it really fast, almost like a chain. I knew immediately if I didn’t get out of there, and more managed to attach, I was going to be in trouble.”
Her heart had gone crazy. She’d been so scared. “I felt as if I was being taken prisoner. The only thing I could think to do to save myself was get rid of the light throwing the shadow. That meant I didn’t have a way to escape fast, but whatever was happening to trap me would be stopped. Honestly, the phenomenon was so frightening, I nearly had a panic attack.”
“Emme.” He breathed her name and reached over to take her hand. “You didn’t go directly to Stefano?”
She shook her head. “It wasn’t Valentino’s fault any more than it was mine. I could tell he was just as shocked. The awareness between us was very sexual. He was older, and he didn’t like it. We talked for a little while, and I found him to be very sweet and gentle. He was a gentleman the entire time and ended up escorting me home. I thought that would be the end of it, but found myself obsessing over him. Evidently, he found himself obsessing over me.”
“Why didn’t you tell Stefano?”
“I actually tried to. He found out I’d snuck out, and he was furious. I kept trying to talk to him about what happened, but every time Valentino’s name came up, all of my brothers lost their collective minds. I was afraid they might actually hurt Val if I did manage to describe to them what happened to our shadows and how it made me feel. In the end, I kept it to myself.”
“But you continued to see Val after that?” Elie prompted.
She nodded. “It was difficult to stay away. I tried. I was afraid of him, of the way I was so drawn to him, and I didn’t want my shadow anywhere near his. I was careful to stay in the dark or absolute light, where our shadows couldn’t touch. I learned to be very aware all the time.”
“Was he? Did he seem aware of the phenomenon?” Elie asked.
Emmanuelle knew it wasn’t just her friend and almost sibling questioning her now. This was definitely an Archambault. She pulled back, sitting up straight and drinking her Italian soda to give herself time to think before answering. Was she still protecting Val? Why would she be? That made no sense. Still, she was reluctant to talk about this.
“Yes, he was definitely aware of it as well. We both found it disturbing. I couldn’t talk about shadow riding, of course, so I pleaded ignorance as to what it all could mean. Eventually, we couldn’t—or didn’t—ignore the physical pull between us. He waited until I was old enough—eighteen.” That was putting it mildly. The need to be with Val had been raging. Brutal. Irresistible. She had thought he had felt the same way. Most days, she still couldn’t get from one breath to the next without needing him. “I was still as careful as I could be, watching over my shadow.” That was true, although she hadn’t been careful enough.