Free Shadow of Doubt: Part 2 by W.J. May

deep down he knew the search was futile.
Nanny had been planning something since the night she saw Aurora.
It pushed him to search harder. Fear turned into dreaded
panic.
    The hours wore on, and dawn began to
approach too fast. Without realizing where he ended up, Erebus was
shocked to hear the waterfall of his favorite park. He didn’t know
what to do. Nothing would give him comfort except Aurora, safe in
his arms.
    What should he do? He glared at the
falling water. Its roar sounded mad at him, like how angry Nanny
had been the other night. Erebus felt lost and incredible
alone.
    Aurora was in danger – terrible, grave
danger. The Night Council kind of trouble.

Chapter 7
    Inner Terror
     
    Erebus couldn’t move. Terror ran
through his blood with the thought of what Nanny might do to
Aurora. He had no idea where Nanny would take her, or if Aurora was
still alive. Nanny could keep silent, tell no one and just hide the
body. Or she could be torturing Aurora like she’d hurt that couple
before. Erebus sucked in a shaky breath.
    The most likely possibility: Aurora
might be dead. Even if he reported it to Janus, nothing could be
done. What good would punishment be after the fact? It would be
Nanny’s word against his. What would the Night Council
do?
    All this reality weighed on his
shoulders, heavier than anything he’d ever had to bear. He despised
himself.
    He began to pace along Ithaca Falls. A
light drizzle started to fall. He ignored it, concentrating on how
to find Nanny. Killing her wouldn’t give him the answers he sought.
He had to play her game and somehow figure out what she might
do.
    He bit his lip as he stared at the
waterfall, willing the answer to come out of its continuous flow.
He stopped pacing, absently rubbing the rain off his
face.
    Need to get inside Nanny’s
head…Find out what she’s thinking…What she’d do…
    His head shot up with a sudden
thought. A tiny flicker of something sent his heart racing. Hope,
maybe? He checked his watch. He’d been searching for Aurora all
night. It would soon be dawn, and he didn’t have much time. He
grabbed the cell phone out of his coat. Looking down, he realized
it wasn’t his. He checked the numbers and knew exactly who it
belonged to.
    “Son of a bitch!” he
hissed.
    He hit the numbers to his cell as he
jogged towards the park exit. He knew she’d pick up. She’d have
been waiting for his call all night.
    “Took you long enough, honey.” Nanny’s
voice grated against his ear.
    “Sorry.” He swallowed the bile that
rose in his throat. “It took me awhile to realize the mistake I’ve
been making.”
    “Which one?” Her voice gave away
nothing.
    “You. Me. We’re the same. I’m an idiot
to throw it away.” He waited to see how she’d respond.
    “You’re right. You are an
idiot.”
    “What do you want me to say? I’m done
playing with humans.” It took all his will not to say Aurora’s name
and to act indifferent. “Where are you? I want to see you…to be
with you.” The bile rose again.
    “I’m at your place, waiting in your
bed. I knew you’d come around.”
    He pulled the phone away
from his mouth and gagged. Aurora and he had made love there and
Nanny’s naked body would forever defile the image. “We’ve got
little over half an hour before dawn. It’s going to take me twenty
minutes to get back from the park.” The desperation in his voice
didn’t require any pretending. Come on,
Nan! Meet me halfway . “Is the girl
there?”
    Nanny’s laughter came through the
phone like a screech. Erebus pictured the “Wicked Witch of the
West” from that silly movie he’d watched at a drive-in a long time
ago. He coughed and straightened to compose himself, thinking fast.
“I take that as a no. I just wasn’t sure if you wanted her to watch
us. You know, take a few pointers.” He hated himself but was
willing to do anything to save Aurora.
    “You’re joking, right? We both know
how that’d turn out. You’d be