Walking in the Dark

by Donna Augustine

  Butch couldn’t stop shoving his burger in his mouth, and Leon held a hand up as if something was stuck in his throat.

  Flip, socially awkward as ever, didn’t seem to pick up on the fact she shouldn’t be telling me. “Big Bird Gone Bad. You know, because of the weird-looking puppet thing?”

  I leaned toward her. “You gave it an acronym?” Yes, the puppet had been bad, but had it been that bad? Thinking back on it, yeah. It had probably been that bad. Still, what would be the need for a nickname?

  Flip looked up at the ceiling briefly, as if contemplating the fate of the universe, before she said, “Technically, it’s not an acronym but we had to do something. Big Bird Gone Bad was sort of a mouthful, especially when you’re using it all the time.”

  “Why would you use it all the time?” Was it me? Was I being stupid and missing the obvious here?

  The light seemed to finally be dawning on Flip as she answered. “You know, someone asks how something looks, you say, it’s not great but it’s not BBGB.” Her words came out slower and slower until she was finally realizing why maybe telling me this wasn’t a good idea.

  I was still speechless as she grabbed her plate and started mumbling about having an appointment.

  I slumped back, looking at Butch and Leon. “The director had great reviews. He said it would look completely different on screen. I don’t know what happened.” Or how I’d believed that load of bull.

  “Wasn’t one of the best commercials, but it wasn’t that bad,” Leon said as Butch remained quiet and very interested in his fries, since his burger was gone.

  “Have you guys said that?”

  Butch began stuffing fries in his mouth at an alarming rate, while Leon kept opening his mouth but saying nothing.

  I leaned an elbow on the table and used that hand to hold up my forehead. “You have.”

  Butch was choking on fries as Leon answered. “Only because everyone else was using it and it just became a thing. I didn’t really feel that strongly about it.”

  Butch was chugging beer, and if he wasn’t sitting in between me and Leon, I was positive he’d be running for it.

  “It wasn’t that bad.” Leon shrugged and then added, “It wasn’t as bad as making a deal to shadow walk with Collin.”

  My other elbow hit the table, as my head needed two hands to hold it up. “Why was that stupid? Kane wouldn’t work with me, and Collin was willing.”

  Leon scoffed loudly. “You’re lucky you didn’t end up working with him. Collin has killed every Shadow Walker he’s ever tried to work with. No one knows why he thinks he can anchor, but he can’t if his record is any indication. He couldn’t anchor a ship in the ocean with a two-ton weight, let alone a Shadow Walker.”

  I lifted my head but couldn’t quite get my chin out of my palm.

  “Why didn’t you end up working with him?” Leon asked, and then chomped away on a piece of steak.

  Butch stared at me over his beer. “Yeah, what happened?”

  Kane hadn’t told them? It didn’t seem like a secret. “Kane threatened to kill him.”

  Butch glanced over at Leon, and I saw the silent communication pass between them. I knew what they were thinking. Same thing Flip did. They were wrong. Maybe he was being nice to me again, but that didn’t mean he liked me. He had once, but then I’d left. We were work partners now, maybe on the way to being friends again, but that was all.

  Kane walked into the Underground. He looked over at our booth, fixed his gaze on me, and then nodded toward the office.

  I shoved my uneaten sandwich away. “Excuse me. I’m being summoned.”

  Butch and Leon shared another look.

  I made my way into the office, where Kane was already seated behind his desk. “Why can’t you ask me to come to your office like a normal person?”

  I flopped into the chair and swung my legs over the arm as I waited to hear what I’d been summoned for.

  “I did.”

  His eyes seemed to get stuck on my jumpsuit. It was a really cute black one-piece that did wonders for my shape.

  When he kept looking, I said, “I ran out of clean laundry.” Well, I was low on laundry. Was it a crime to look cute once in a while? “And no, you didn’t call me. You tilted your head.”

  “If I didn’t ask, how did you know to come?”

  “It’s not the same.”

  “Same end result.”

  Instead of staying behind his desk, he took a seat in front of me on his desk, leaning over with his hands resting on the edges. His body folded slightly forward, and it was hard not to notice the way his shoulders were shaped or that he didn’t have an ounce of belly fat.

  “The meeting to locate the missing items is set for tomorrow.” He said it calmly, but the weight of his words was unmistakable.

  I’d been expecting this. Had actually wondered what was taking so long, but I hadn’t asked him about it. If I did locate the items, then what? The crazy leprechauns might not want to kill me anymore, but would I have to leave the Underground? Would Kane stop anchoring me? Would I be asked to leave?

  Kane dipped his head down slightly closer to me. “Are you ready?”

  “Yeah, sure.” I was definitely ready for the spell. I wasn’t ready for what came next.

  I unfolded out of the chair before he figured out what was wrong with me.

  “Hang on,” he said as I had my hand on the doorknob.

  I turned, trying to hide any telltale signs about how much the news of the meeting tomorrow had ruined my night.

  “You sure you’re okay for tomorrow?”

  “Yeah.” I did a quick nod and left before he could ask again.

  Chapter 20

  Kane and I pulled up to an eight-floor apartment building, barely hanging on to the outskirts of Boston. The place was dark and had sheets of plastic covering various windows. Butch and Leon pulled up beside us in the Caddy as Kane threw the car in park. Besides us, there were three other cars, probably belonging to the most likely suspects: leprechauns, vampires, and werewolves.

  I leaned forward, trying to get a better view. It was a good spot. If I messed up the spell somehow, there wasn’t that much damage that could be inflicted, since it was only a shell of a building.

  I turned to get out of the car, but Kane’s hand on my arm stopped me.

  “If the spell leads us to Asher—”

  “It won’t. He doesn’t have them.” I didn’t argue.

  Kane didn’t move, his hand still on my arm as we silently squared off. He finally let go. I didn’t kid myself into thinking he believed me, though.

  Butch and Leon caught up to us as we walked into the building.

  “Third floor,” Kane said, leading the way toward a staircase over to the side.

  The group moved as a swarm as we walked onto the third floor. It looked like everyone had decided to use the buddy system. Rudy, head leprechaun, had his usual escort. Alexandria had brought her backup, and even Collin had decided to bring the guy who had eaten my Doritos. Yes, I was still holding on to that, because who breaks into your apartment and eats your chips? Even a werewolf should know better.

  I wasn’t used to having an audience, but I didn’t particularly care, either. Although this wasn’t an audience anyone would want. I was new to this world but I wasn’t new to reading body language. Everyone here was wound so tight I was waiting for the sound of snaps.

  “Did she get it?” Alexandria asked.

  “Yes, or we wouldn’t be here,” Kane said from my right side. Leon was on my left, and I got a sense of Butch behind me, as if I were being cocooned by testosterone.

  Alexandria stepped closer, cutting off Collin’s second from view. “We should try for my pendant first.”

  Collin was having none of it. “The blood is more important.”

  “No, we all know my map is.”

  They might’ve bickered all night if Kane hadn’t finally shut it down by stepping forward. “We go for the map first. That’s the most p
otent item.”

  Rudy looked smug, but Alexandria wasn’t going down without a fight. “What if the spell only works once?”

  “Exactly why we’re going for the map.” Kane waited, his posture daring anyone to question his decision. No one did.

  He turned his attention to me and I nodded, realizing I was a bit eager to start.

  I let the words drift off my lips, a warm, fluttering feeling building within me as they flowed. It filled my chest and spread down into my limbs until my entire body felt alive with the feeling of warmth. The spell swelled in the air. I couldn’t see it, but I felt it working, the magic pulsing through me as it built, or perhaps it had started deep inside me. I’d missed this more than I’d even realized. I thought about that retired Shadow Walker, maybe more than was healthy.

  I glanced around, and could see that everyone was taken over by the magic, awe on their faces. The air grew thick with it. I kept repeating the words, operating on instinct as sure as birds flying south in the winter.

  And I sensed the second the magic started to hiccup, like it was searching for something that didn’t exist and was tiring of the pointless job. What did that mean?

  It wasn’t instinct that told me how bad this meeting might get once the rest of them figured it out. That was plain old logic.

  I kept repeating the spell, buying myself a couple of minutes to try and figure out what had happened. I risked a quick glance at Kane, the other person who might sense it. He always knew when my spells had fallen flat on him.

  His expression was the same as it had been when I started. But when he glanced over at me, there was the slightest flicker. He knew.

  So why wasn’t he saying anything? He knew these people better than I did. Why would he want me to tell them? He was the bossy I’m in charge person. Not me. Well, it had been my spell. I guess even a bossy person like him might see the merit in me delivering the news.

  My words dried up as I stopped pretending there was any hope left, and the silence grew as everyone waited for something to happen. I was waiting for Kane to talk.

  I looked over at him again, not so subtly this time and he gave me a one-shoulder shrug, as if to say, Just tell them. What are they going to do about it?

  I wanted to reply, Wait to get me alone and then drag me into another basement and beat the crap out of me? I didn’t. It didn’t seem like a good idea to give them any ideas.

  Of course, Rudy started, because he had to always be a problem. “Well? Did you get an answer?”

  How to word this? Was there some way to say it that would minimize the freak-out? Hmmm. Probably not if the stares were any indication, I might as well spit it out, since they were catching on.

  “It didn’t work. I don’t know where your stuff is.” Not exactly a smooth delivery, but the communication was sound. There was no way they’d misunderstand that.

  “What do you mean it didn’t work?” Rudy said. The rest of them seemed speechless.

  Had to love when someone repeated something just because they didn’t like what they heard, as if it would get them a different answer.

  “It. Flopped. It’s saying the map is nowhere. As if it doesn’t exist.”

  “Are you saying I made this up?” Rudy’s green eyes were bulging from his gaunt face.

  “No. What I’m saying is the spell can’t sense your map for whatever reason.” Jump in anytime now, Kane.

  Alexandria interrupted before Rudy could carry on. “Stop wasting time on his map and try looking for my pendant.”

  I glanced over at Kane, checking to see if there was any reason I might not want to do that.

  “If you’re up to it,” he said in response, not appearing to care either way what I decided to do.

  I did a mental stretch, seeing what I had left. For all the magic I’d used the first time, I still felt like I was running on a full tank.

  I opened my mouth, hoping the words would start to flow and that this wasn’t going to be one of those one-hit wonder spells, where you use it and lose it. That wasn’t the case, though, as the magic quickly filled the air and I got another rush.

  I could see the awe fill their faces again as they felt the power building. It made me wonder how they were going to react when I told them this one was going to be a bust, too. The spell wanted to work. I could feel this magical net of sorts reaching out, searching. And I could also feel the emptiness.

  I glanced at Kane and there was a flicker, but this time it was surprise. Well, at least I had that. I knew something first. Should I wait for him to figure it out in the hopes he said something?

  Screw it. “Didn’t work.”

  “What? What do you mean?” The same thing Rudy asked was now coming out of Alexandria’s mouth.

  Really? Were we going to do this again?

  “This is a fake, an act!” Alexandria ranted.

  Rudy’s expression went from annoyed to smug. “Oh, so now it’s a problem?” he asked Alexandria.

  She ignored him, her full concentration on me. “I bet you know where everything is and you’re keeping them for yourself.”

  “Don’t tell me you didn’t feel what I was pumping out when I know you did,” I said. “Are you magically blind?”

  It seemed like the entire group inhaled at the same time. Alexandria had her hand on her throat, acting like I’d just assaulted her. I heard Butch groan from beside me, but Kane let out a masculine laugh. I knew by now that I couldn’t judge the appropriateness of my actions by Kane’s standards.

  This was why someone else should’ve been doing the talking.

  Alexandria’s hand shifted up to her mouth while her companion could’ve killed me with her eyes while she patted her shoulder.

  Collin stepped forward, shifting the conversation. “Or maybe whoever took those things has destroyed them already?”

  That didn’t make any sense. They obviously needed them for something, or why bother? I wasn’t going to be the one to say it, though. I had enough enemies in this group, and I wasn’t currently counting Collin among them.

  Rudy let out a sigh as his head shook, then topped it off with an eye roll. “That makes no sense, you stupid hairball.”

  Hairball? Low blow.

  “We’ll try again in a week,” Kane said, drawing all the attention back to him.

  I didn’t know why he would say that other than to buy us time. I’d felt the spell; we all had. The problem wasn’t the magic. It wasn’t me. It was the target. Unless he didn’t know? I was the one saying the spell, the one who was closest to the pulse and ebb of the magic. Maybe he really believed it would work in a week? Nah, highly unlikely.

  Rudy wasn’t having any of it. He stepped toward me. “I’m supposed to wait a week to see if you mess up again?”

  “Yes, that’s how long,” I said. “Go home and eat some Lucky Charms or shit some rainbows out, or whatever else it is you do.”

  Rudy’s cheeks were flaming. “They should’ve finished you in that basement.”

  I felt the heat of Kane’s body as he stepped closer. “If I were you, I’d watch your words. You still haven’t delivered on our agreement.”

  My eyes shot from Rudy to Kane. What agreement? It would be nice if my partner filled me in on what was going on.

  Rudy’s face was growing redder by the moment. I couldn’t see Kane’s face, but I didn’t need to. Those words, soft as they were said, were a warning flair. Rudy wobbled back slightly and then stopped himself. But he kept his mouth shut.

  No one said anything after that. There was a nod here or there in our direction, but the party was definitely over. They slowly disbanded, the disgruntled herd of them.

  We were the last to exit, Butch and Leon going to the Caddy and me climbing in the car with Kane.

  My head flopped back onto the headrest and I reclined my seat all the way back, feeling like I could sleep for a year. All the magic use caught up to me as the questions rattled away in my mind. No one would go through all of that aggravation to dest
roy the map and pendant. It made zero sense.

  If I went on the assumption that they hadn’t been destroyed, maybe the spell couldn’t sense them? It was the only thing that added up. And how could that be? Unless someone had taken the things over into the Shadowlands.

  This could be really bad. I didn’t look to my left, but if I was thinking it, Kane probably was, too.

  “You okay?” His voice was soft, maybe even concerned.

  Where were the accusations? The I told you so? Why was he being nice to me again? Was it guilt? I hadn’t seen Asher today, and I should’ve. Maybe the reason the spell didn’t know where the items were was because the person who had them was dead?

  I bit my lip, wondering if I should even ask, but how could I not? “Did you kill anyone today?” That might’ve been too vague. “Anyone I should know about?”

  He smiled, as if that were amusing. Before I had to be concerned about what was amusing, he said, “No. He’s safely resting in your old apartment.”

  I side-eyed him, wondering if he was lying. It would be a stupid lie, as I’d find out pretty quickly. Kane wasn’t a liar or stupid. Arrogant, controlling, and a bunch of other stuff, but I guess we all had our flaws.

  He glanced over at me. “Last check, he was watching a marathon of the Gilmore Girls and eating his way through five pounds of Lobster Fra Diavolo.”

  I rolled my head to the side, laughter replacing the anxiety. Yeah, Asher was alive. If someone was going to make something up about a creature that came out of the Shadowlands, it wouldn’t be that.

  The relief died with the weight that Asher might’ve had something to do with this. Who else could’ve? But why would he lie to me about it? There was no reason.

  “We’ve got to come to some sort of arrangement. I can’t worry that you’ll kill him every day.” Because if I was questioning Asher, Kane might be killing him.

  “I can’t kill him,” Kane said, and the weight of his tone made it clear he wasn’t happy about it.

  “Why not?”

  “Crawlers tend to blow things up even when they aren’t fully in this world. He might look human, but he’s a crawler. He might blow up like an atomic bomb. I’m not going to kill him while he’s living in my building. I’m not saying I won’t hand him over to someone else, but he’s safe…for now, anyway.”