A Shadow of Crows

by Yasmine Galenorn

  “Be careful.”

  Nodding, I shut the door and then, nonchalantly turned and headed down the narrow strip of sidewalk in front of the strip mall of stores. As I approached the red car, I realized that the driver looked all too familiar.

  “Damn you, Ray Fontaine!” I broke into a run, aiming directly at the front of his car.

  Ray jumped out, holding up his hands. “Ember, please, I had to see you!”

  I skidded to a halt, my temper flaring. “You idiot. You get the fuck away from me and stay away. I told you to stop. I’ve sicced Herne on you. What the hell do I have to do in order to get you to leave me alone?”

  I wasn’t being entirely fair. Ray was hooked on me because he was human, and he had fallen under the glamour of my Leannan Sidhe side. But that didn’t mean he could stalk me, harass me, and threaten me. I had told him numerous times to back the fuck off, but he wouldn’t listen. Herne had tossed him down the stairs at work once, but still he wouldn’t listen. I hadn’t heard from him in a couple of weeks, though, and had hoped that he finally might be moving on.

  Ray was a tall man, with dark hair and the stubble of a beard. He was also athletic. He had been almost killed by a goblin when he insisted on trying to help me, back when I was a freelance bounty hunter. I had broken off our relationship for his own safety—I had a bad track record when it came to prior boyfriends dying on me—but he wouldn’t leave me alone.

  “I love you. Ember, please, listen to me. I love you and I want to marry you—” He reached out, trying to grab my hands.

  I shoved him back. “What is so hard to understand about the word NO? I’m not interested in you. I’m dating Herne. I’m not getting back together with you, I’m not going to sleep with you, and I’m sure as hell not going to marry you. Get that through your goddamned head, Ray.”

  I pivoted, swiveling on my heel, and began to stomp across the parking lot to our car.

  Ray called out behind me and I realized he was following me. I turned around, intending on slapping him silly, when an SUV abruptly came barreling into the parking lot, headed right toward Ray. The driver was holding a phone to her ear. She tried to stop—I could see the terror on her face—but even though she put on the brakes, in an ear-splitting screech of tires, her SUV rammed directly into Ray.

  The car slammed into him at a good thirty to thirty-five miles an hour. I lunged out of the way as the driver swerved to the side. Ray went bouncing off the hood and landed on the pavement as the SUV came to a halt. The driver threw open her door, still screaming, as she leaped out of the driver’s seat.

  I raced forward, kneeling by Ray. He tried to say something but I shushed him.

  “I’m calling for the medics,” I said.

  Once again, he tried to speak, but he couldn’t get the words out. I pulled out my phone and called 911, reporting the injury.

  The driver of the SUV was on her knees, flailing around like an idiot.

  “I didn’t know he was there,” she said. “I didn’t see him.”

  “You didn’t slow down, either, and you were on your phone. What the hell were you doing, screeching into the parking lot like a bat out of hell?” I glanced at her, so not wanting to be involved in this.

  Angel joined us, kneeling by Ray’s side. He wasn’t moving, and when I glanced at his legs, I could see blood had already saturated the material on his right leg. His knee appeared to be wrenched in a way no knee ever should be.

  He reached for my hand, moaning. I didn’t want to take it, but I couldn’t refuse—not with him lying there, all mangled.

  Angel tapped me on the shoulder and I looked at her. “He’s fading in and out. I can feel his consciousness slipping.”

  “It would probably be a blessing if he fainted,” I said. “The pain must be incredible.”

  The woman who had hit him sat down on the concrete, her cheeks stained with mascara smears. “I’m so sorry. I—” She paused as a medic unit and a police car pulled into the parking lot. The medics were out and jogging over with their equipment almost before the emergency response unit had pulled to a stop.

  I let go of Ray’s hand and moved out of the way. Angel joined me. The police glanced at the three of us, then at Ray’s body.

  “First, anybody know his name?” one of the officers asked. He was Fae, that much I could tell, but he didn’t even give me a second glance. His nametag read, “Wish Dearborn.”

  “Ray Fontaine. He’s an acquaintance of mine.”

  “And you are?”

  “Ember Kearney. And this is Angel Jackson.” I pointed to Angel.

  “What’s your name, ma’am?” Officer Dearborn asked.

  The woman sniffed back her tears. “Renata Taylor.”

  “All right, who can tell me what happened?”

  I spoke up before Renata could open her mouth again. “Ray and I were having an argument—he’s been stalking me—and then she—” I pointed to Renata—“came barreling into the parking lot. She was on her cell phone. I heard her brakes screech but I guess she couldn’t stop, and she hit Ray, sending him flying.”

  The cop turned a grave eye on her. “Well? Is this true?”

  Renata looked conflicted, then her shoulders slumped. “Yeah, it’s my fault.”

  “Were you on the phone?”

  “No…” she paused, then let out a loud sigh. “Yes, I was. My husband called me and I know I shouldn’t have answered while I was driving, but if I don’t, he gets pissy on me. I needed to stop at the dry cleaners, and he was bitching asking why I wasn’t home yet, and I just…I took the turn too fast, and I couldn’t stop in time.” She frowned, staring at Ray. “I didn’t mean to hit him. I really didn’t. Is he going to be all right?”

  “We’ll find out, ma’am,” one of the medics said. He motioned to his partner. “Get the stretcher. I’ll stay with him.”

  “How is he?” I asked.

  “He’s in serious condition. From what I can tell, one leg appears to be shattered, and he has a broken pelvis. He’s unconscious right now, but he’s breathing on his own.” The EMT glanced up at me. “Did you say he’s stalking you?”

  I nodded. “We dated for a short time, and then I broke it off. He’s been harassing me ever since. I’m seeing somebody new and he’s really not happy about it.”

  “Well, he’s not going to be following you around any time soon, that much I’ll say.” The EMTs slid Ray onto a backboard, then stabilized his leg and pelvis and lifted him onto the gurney. They began to wheel him toward the medic unit.

  “That’s his car, by the way. The red Camaro.” I pointed to the car. The door was still open.

  The officers took some more information from Angel and me, then let us go while they continued to talk to Renata. As we eased out of the parking lot behind the medic unit, they were still talking to her, but I didn’t see if they arrested her.

  “Well,” Angel said as we headed back to the house. “That was unexpected.”

  “And unwelcome. That he was following me pisses me off, but man, that woman—she didn’t even slow down when she turned into the parking lot.”

  “Are you going to check on how he’s doing?”

  I shook my head. “I feel sorry for Ray, but not bad enough to go visit him. The fact is, he’s still a stalker and he has been harassing me for months. I don’t think that warrants a whole lot of empathy from me. I wish he’d just move out of the state.”

  “I hear you. I was just asking,” Angel said as I pulled into the driveway. “Come on, let’s go get into gardening clothes and then do some work out in the rose garden. We should get it ready for winter and the work will calm us down.”

  Grateful for something to take my mind off what had just happened, I followed her into the house with the pizzas.

  Chapter 7

  WE MANAGED TO weed the entire rose garden, including pruning back the bushes, and we worked our way through the jumble that had once been an herb garden. Angel rec
ognized a number of the overgrown culinary herbs, and we saved those, trimming them back to a reasonable size and shape. There were plenty that we didn’t recognize, so I decided to wait on pulling the rest of the weeds because there were a number of established plants there that we might want. The vegetable garden was easier. It hadn’t been used in a long time, though we found a couple volunteer veggies, but the season was over so we simply tilled the dirt.

  “Are you going to want a vegetable garden?” I asked.

  Angel leaned on her shovel, wiping her brow with her sleeve. “I think so. I enjoy puttering around in the garden, and fresh always tastes better than what you can get at the supermarket. I think probably just a kitchen garden. Though, it might be fun to grow our own pumpkins. And squash. And...” She stopped, laughing. “Apparently, I want a garden. I’ll decide this winter just how much time I want to put into it. I’m thinking we should do raised beds, though. It’s much easier to tend and the output tends to be higher.”

  I glanced at the sky. “What time is it?”

  Angel glanced at her watch. “Two-thirty.”

  “Let’s give it another half hour and then go wash up and watch a movie and eat pizza. That will give me time to get ready for tonight.” I paused, fumbling with my hoe. My hands were too small in the massive gardening gloves, but we had forgotten to buy new ones. “You know, I haven’t been thinking about Herne all afternoon. Working out here, getting busy with my hands, I think it’s just what I needed.”

  “Good,” Angel said, then pointed to the ground. “Now, if we get back to it, we can have the vegetable garden finished in about fifteen minutes.”

  I wrinkled my nose at her, then laughed. “Okay, boss. I’m getting to work.”

  And we went back to focusing on the garden.

  BY SEVEN O’CLOCK, we had taken showers, eaten our fill of pizza, watched one of a half-dozen movies we dubbed our “go-to-smile movies,” and I had done a yoga workout, readying myself for the meeting with Marilee.

  “You going to be okay here alone tonight?” I asked as I gathered my things.

  Angel held up her plate. She had attacked the leftover pizza. “Yep. I’m going to binge watch My Favorite Werewolf, which is DJ’s favorite show right now. It will give us something to talk about. I’ve got pizza, cola, and for emergencies—a stash of chocolate ice cream.”

  I snorted. “You’ll be fine. I hope to be home before eleven. I guess we have to go in to work tomorrow. I’d love to take another day off, but we have work to do.”

  “You think you’ll be okay?”

  “Yeah. I’ll deal with it. Having today off helped.” My phone rang and I pulled it out, glancing at the number. It was the hospital. “What the fuck?” I answered.

  “Ms. Kearney? This is Nurse Ranger at the Lake Sammamish Hospital. Ray Fontaine listed you as his emergency number and asked that we get in touch with you about his condition.”

  “One moment, please.” I pushed the mute button. “Fuck. Fuckity, fuck, fuck.”

  “What is it?” Angel asked.

  “Ray put me down as his emergency number. What should I do?”

  “Tell them to take you off his chart.” She frowned. “We really have to put a stop to this.”

  “Pardon me for making you wait,” I went back to the call. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know why Mr. Fontaine listed me as his emergency contact. I’m really not his friend or family or anything.”

  There was a pause. “He said you were his girlfriend.”

  “No. Not under any circumstances. Mr. Fontaine wishes I was his girlfriend but it’s not going to happen.” I hesitated, then asked, “But while I have you on the phone, did he pull through the accident?”

  Nurse Ranger sounded confused. “Yes, he did, but he’s in serious condition.”

  “Thank you. Now please take me off his chart. I don’t want to be his emergency number, I’m not his girlfriend, and I don’t know how to get in touch with his family.” Before she could answer, I hung up. Then, shrugging at Angel, I turned to leave. “Ray’s still alive but in serious condition. I’m going to ask Marilee for a spell to counter his obsession tonight.”

  And with that, I headed out the door.

  I ARRIVED AT Marilee’s shortly before eight. Marilee Caulder lived near the sprawling arboretum, on Boyer Avenue. Her house overlooked the two hundred acre plus sanctuary, and we had spent several of our meetings walking through the trails there, examining the incredible array of both endemic and exotic plants and trees.

  She was waiting for me by the door, leaning against one of the posts on her porch. Merilee was barely five-four, and she was trim and strong. Her hair hung to her mid-back, and she almost always wore it in a braid. The silver strands practically glowed, setting off the pale blue of her eyes. She was wearing her regalia, an indigo off-the-shoulder gown with a silver belt, and a silver circlet around her head. In the center of the circlet was a crescent moon, tines reaching toward the ceiling, and in the center of the moon was a sapphire cabochon.

  As I darted up the porch steps, I stopped to give her a quick hug, and she led me inside. “It’s chilly tonight. I can feel the crows riding on the wind.”

  I blinked. “Crows?”

  “Autumn’s harbingers. Their talk turns to all things dark and shadowed this time of year, when the magic begins to rise with the fog.” She took one look at me and stopped. “What’s going on? You feel agitated. What happened today?”

  “It isn’t what happened today per se.” I dropped into one of her kitchen chairs and glanced around. Her house had a very Zen feel to it, and the energy flowed uninterrupted through her home. I broke down and told her everything. It was only fair, given she had to deal with the sides of me that weren’t very nice at times.

  Marilee listened, not interrupting until I was done. “I can see why you’re upset. But you have to set it aside. Today’s work is vital, and we can’t afford for you to be scattered.”

  “I’m trying, trust me. But I’m not sure I know how. I’ve been keeping myself busy all day so that I didn’t have to think about Herne and his daughter, but then with what happened with Ray, I think my ‘sit tight on reality so I don’t have to think about it’ approach isn’t going to work anymore.” I paused, then barged ahead. “Marilee, Morgana said something when she first told me about my Leannan Sidhe side.”

  “Oh? What was it?”

  “She said that the watchwords of the Leannan Sidhe were Once you have met me, you’ll never forget me. I’m wondering…could that be what’s keeping Ray tied to me? And if so, is there a way to break his obsession?”

  Marilee held my gaze, and I could practically see the wheels turning in her head. After a moment, she motioned for me to follow her back into her ritual room. The room reverberated with magic, the energy rippling through the air like waves. There were crystals everywhere, on shelves and on the four altars spaced around the room to honor the directions. A round table sat in the center of the room with a black and silver cloth draped across it.

  “Sit. Let me get my tarot cards.” She crossed to a chest on one side of the room and withdrew a velvet bag. From the bag, she shook out a deck of cards and then returned to sit opposite me. The deck was large, and I had never seen another like it. Adeptly, she divided the cards and began shuffling them. She gave them a good ruffle five times over, then handed the deck to me. “Eight times. Then cut the cards once.”

  I shuffled the cards, feeling a little embarrassed by how difficult I found to hold them. But Marilee had smaller hands than me and she managed to shuffle without any problems, so I assumed it was a matter of practice. I handed them back to her and she tapped once on the back of the deck, then again before laying out an eight-card spread in the shape of a circle. As she turned them over, I felt a wavering in the pit of my stomach.

  She stared at them for a moment, holding her hands over them, then pointed to the first card. “The Eight of Cups. He’s developed an unhealthy obsession wi
th you, as we know. It goes deeper. He feels stronger with you around. I think he’s sourcing energy off of you. That goes hand in hand with the Leannan Sidhe tactic—and the word tactic relates to those who know what they’re doing—of feeding their victims for a while before beginning to siphon their energy. The Leannan Sidhe get people hooked on them, before then leeching energy.”

  “I’d never do that—”

  “No,” Marilee interrupted. “You wouldn’t, not consciously. But your very nature sets you up for unintended consequences. Ray fell into the glamour that emanates from you. I don’t think it’s at full strength, and whether you ever develop the full power remains to be seen. But for some reason, Ray fell under the spell of what you do have, and he responded to it.”

  She paused, then pointed to another card. “This is the reason. Right here. The Seven of Cups. Ray has an addictive nature. He’s prone to get hooked on anything he can possibly get addicted to. If it wasn’t you, he’d pick up another vice. Drinking, smoking, drugs…gambling. Whatever makes him feel like he matters, because my sense is that, deep inside, he sees himself as insignificant.”

  I stared at the cards. “I think you’re right. He so wanted to play the hero for me, and that’s how he almost got killed when the goblin caught him. I broke off the relationship to save his life. So, what can I do about this?”

  She tapped another card. “Three of Wands, stay true to what you know. It’s not healthy for him, or safe for you, to have him hanging around. Combined with the Magician and the High Priestess that flank that card, I’d say that we can figure out a magical solution to this. The Four of Swords tells me that we should focus on a spell that breaks his love for you. Since his love isn’t from the heart, we need to break the illusion. And the Chariot tells me we should resolve this now, because his obsession will only grow stronger if we don’t. The last card, the Queen of Swords, is an indicator that you don’t play the victim and you don’t work well with those who do. Time to quit feeling sorry for him, and assess every step you can take to make him back off.”