The Shadow Walkers

by Shannon Reber

  She clucked out a laugh. “Oh, no. I love my pretty doodads and the stories people tell about them. I asked you here to help me with my shadows. They’ve started moving on their own and whispering.”

  I had just raised my arm to check an ornate chalice that looked like it was made of gold with symbols engraved over it. My hand fell back to my side as I looked at Dorothy. Shadows talking to her wasn’t something that made her seem particularly sane.

  Then again, we were paranormal investigators. We had to be open-minded or we could miss things. It had been my very first lesson from Erkens.

  Dorothy looked away from me. “I know you’re thinking I’m just a crazy old lady but I know what I saw. I know what I heard. I live alone. I know my house and my things. I have all my marbles. I promise you.”

  Erkens inclined his head. “May we examine the rest of your collection to be sure you haven’t picked up something dangerous?”

  Dorothy made a ‘tut tut’ noise. “Come now, Tiberius. I’m not silly enough to believe the legends associated with these things. I buy them because they’re lovely or because they simply appeal to me,” she said, confirming what I had thought her reason must be.

  I was confused by that kind of reaction from a woman with such a vast collection of things that really did hold power according to the amber.

  Dorothy pursed her lips as she fiddled with a ring on her finger.

  I looked more closely at her ring and my jaw almost hit the floor. It was a simple, kind of clunky design that I recognized immediately.

  The Egyptologist, Howard Carter, had survived the opening of King Tut’s tomb when several others from his team had died. According to legend, it was because he’d been wearing the Atlantis Ring . . . the same ring Dorothy seemed to be wearing.

  If it truly was that ring, she would be protected from most forms of magic. I couldn’t believe she was wearing that kind of artifact like it was any ordinary ring. Then again, if she didn’t believe in its power, to her it would only be one of her pretty things.

  Erkens folded his arms and tipped his chin back. “If you don’t believe in myths, why did you come to me with this?” he demanded, his jaw clenched hard.

  Dorothy shook her head. “No, no, no. I believe in ghosts. I’ve heard and seen far too much in my ninety-three years not to believe. I just don’t believe in the stories about gods and curses and objects containing power. Those are stories for children.”

  I glanced at Erkens and smirked. He and I had both seen curses, demons, fae, people with power, other worlds, a demigod, et cetera. We both knew just how real those things could be.

  The thing was, though, she was wearing the Atlantis Ring. I was positive that was true. If there was a cursed or haunted object in her house, the ring would keep her safe. I just had to hope she would never take it off.

  Dorothy gave Erkens an obvious wink as she lifted the teapot. “Now Tiberius, you can have some honey in your tea but you’ll have to take me to dinner before you can get your hands in the honey pot,” she purred, her tone so flirty, it was downright awkward to hear it.

  Erkens cleared his throat, his eyes fixed on a crystal vase of sunflowers set on the window sill. “I believe Madison and I should get to work. There’s a lot of square footage to cover and I need to head back to Pittsburgh this evening,” he said, motioning for me to follow him. “Let’s divide the house into a grid. If you find anything that turns the stone black, set it aside and we’ll have Spencer check it out tomorrow.”

  I nodded, doing my best not to laugh at him. It was downright hilarious how uncomfortable Dorothy’s obvious invitation made him. I might tease him about it later but right then, we had a big job ahead of us.

  FOUR

  By the time I’d finished two rooms, the pile of things Spencer would need to inspect held only two objects. The stone inside the amber had darkened for those things, yet it hadn’t quite turned black. It was close enough I wanted a second opinion.

  We weren’t even an eighth of the way through the house. It would take days, if not weeks to check out everything that could hold power. We hadn’t even gone into the museum area yet.

  My mind had started trailing its way down several avenues as I worked. Unfortunately, it took me to all the things I didn’t want to think about. Even the idea of seeing Mom that evening made me feel small and irrelevant. I had only just learned to deal with the way she had always treated me. I wasn’t sure my newfound confidence could withstand an encounter with her.

  It had felt wrong to be in the area and not at least try. The way our phone conversation had gone told me it was going to be a bad visit. Good visits were few and far between with us, so I kept my expectations very low to keep from being disappointed.

  After I had played several scenarios through my head, my brain took me down another unwanted path. Ian. My boyfriend had died at the end of our last case together. Imogen had brought him back but the Ian who had come back was not the same. He was distant, always appearing distracted. And he had walked away from me like he hadn’t even heard my voice.

  The pain of that one was even sharper. It was almost like the way Mom had treated me in public. Ian had never been like that before. We’d spent most of our lives sniping at each other, play-fighting, and arguing for the fun of it. I didn’t know what to make of the new version of him.

  I missed the old version most of all. The Ian who would turn those eyes of his on me and make me feel like I was the only one who mattered. The Ian who always knew how to talk me through a case, help me find the answers. I missed the guy I had fallen in love with.

  It surprised me when I got to the end of the third room in my part of the grid to find Dorothy standing there, a knowing look on her face. “You look like you’ve got some very deep thoughts going through your mind,” she said, tapping the side of her nose. “I sense it has something to do with a boy.”

  I gave her a small smile and shrugged. “Some boys have that effect,” I agreed, motioning around to the house full of mythological treasures. “Was your husband as into your collection as you are?” I asked, hoping for a distraction from my own demons.

  Dorothy chuckled and shook her head. “No. My Leopold indulged me but he found my goodies spooky.” She let out a wan sigh and shrugged a little. “I imagine if I had told him about the shadows, he would have collected every piece and burned it. Silly, superstitious man,” she said with an indulgent smile.

  I raised my brows, deciding to tell her the truth. “Dorothy, that might need to be what we do. I don’t think your house is haunted. I think it’s more likely one of your trinkets is haunted or you’ve got a cursed object. I’ve seen enough of those things to feel pretty confident about that.”

  She frowned and exhaled loudly through her nose. “Madison, I understand that you believe I’m a simple old woman but--”

  “No. Not at all,” I interrupted, taking a small step closer to her. “We worked a case earlier this year where a wish-granting stone had cursed an entire family. Because of the Cintamani, our client’s entire family has three people. It took out all of them for a couple of hundred years.”

  Her posture stiffened as her cheeks grew red. “I’ll let you get back to work,” she said in a clipped tone, moving off before I could say anything else.

  I groaned inwardly, wishing I had found a better way of convincing her of the truth. It was an odd thing that a woman who did believe in ghosts refused to believe in the power of the objects she had purchased. I couldn’t understand her reasoning.

  Then again, it didn’t matter what I understood. All that mattered was to save her from whatever she had unknowingly purchased. Hopefully, we would find it before any kind of disaster struck.

  I continued in my search, a little disgusted by a few of the things I’d found. Apparently, it wasn’t only pretty things Dorothy collected. I found a jar of scales on a bookshelf, that did not look like they’d come from a fish. My stone had given off the slightest blue-green glow, then had gone clear again. I ha
d no idea what they were but I didn’t want to know either.

  There was so much junk mixed in, it was no easy feat to figure out what to examine. Since my job was to examine everything, that was what I did.

  Around four o’clock, Erkens stepped into my area, looking as tired as I was. “Come on, Madison. Let’s go and get some food before we head out,” he said, cringing a little when Dorothy rushed into the room with a rolling cart of sandwiches and drinks.

  It was clear he’d wanted to get out of the house. I could have used the time away as well but refusing her offer seemed cruel. She appeared so happy to have us there that it was impossible not to stick around.

  I hadn’t been sure she would talk to me anymore. The fact she had made that effort, even though it was probably because of her crush on Erkens, it made me want to help in any way possible. I would have to find a different way to convince her about the power of her collection.

  Erkens had told me that for him, being around Spencer was uncomfortable. I had never understood that simply because I felt no discomfort at all. It seemed that for some people, being around magic was something it took time to get used to.

  Being in that house, I had begun to feel the power of those objects. Dorothy must be so used to them that she didn’t feel their power any longer.

  I was used to being around Spencer and Imogen. Their power didn’t affect me in the least. Right then, with so many magical artifacts around, my skin felt quivery and my heart beat far faster than usual.

  It was like my body sensed some danger in the house. Was it possible it was a ghost or was it more likely to be an object? I wished I knew.

  Dorothy handed me a plate with a sweet smile and motioned for us to sit. “You two have been working so hard, I thought you could use a little respite,” she said, giving Erkens another one of those flirty smiles.

  I did my best to ignore them and took a grateful bite from my sandwich. I almost choked. Liverwurst. It tasted like cat food. I was sure Twitter would love it but I was not a cat.

  I eyed the orange concoction next to it and gagged a little at the sight of it. Carrot salad. With raisins. I had no idea anyone could be so cruel to food. How was I supposed to choke that down? It would be rude not to eat it but it would be equally rude to throw up all over her expensive rugs.

  Like my phone sensed my desperation to get away from the plate, it rang. It wasn’t a text. It was a call. My heart fluttered.

  I didn’t know if it was Mom, Quinn, or Quinn’s brother. Or maybe it was Ian. Or maybe I should just take it out of my pocket and find out.

  I smiled at Dorothy and set my plate aside, stepping out of the room as I answered. “Hello?” I asked, not having looked at the caller ID.

  “Hey,” Quinn’s voice said.

  My mouth went dry as tears welled behind my eyelids. “Are you okay?” I asked, leaning back against the wall to support myself. My knees and stomach both wobbled at the same time, my nervousness from before back in full force.

  “I’m fine. Dawson told me you sent him a message.”

  I narrowed my eyes, confused by her tone. “Uh, yeah. I was worried,” I answered, my eyes flicking around the room as I hunched in on myself.

  “I told you I’m fine, Maddie. Dawson is too. He says to tell you he misses you and you should give him a call,” she said in a faux cheerful voice.

  I almost dropped my phone. What was going on. I had never met Quinn’s brother. Why was she calling me Maddie? What did it mean? That was when it hit me like a ton of bricks.

  Quinn worked for the PSA. She had been placed in what they called ‘disciplinary holding’. Tria and Quinn had both told us they had signed a contract which forbade them from even speaking the name of the company aloud.

  That must mean she was being observed. Okay. Speaking in code was something I was good at.

  “Quinn, have you heard from mom today?” I asked, hoping she’d get what I was trying to say without saying.

  “Not today, no. Give her my love when you see her.”

  There we go. I think she got that I’m in Philly. Now, let’s see what else we can sneak into our conversation. “That computer you gave me to work on, the virus is harder to crack than I thought it would be but I WILL get it. I promise.”

  “Okay. I’ll talk to you soon, Maddie. I love you,” she said and ended the call before I could say a word.

  I stared at my phone. My sister had just told me she loved me. Whatever was going on, I knew those words had been true. We had only known each other for a few days but she was my family already.

  I was determined to figure out the mystery. Whatever it took. I would find Quinn and free her from the magical contract that bound her to the PSA.

  FIVE

  I looked up from my phone when Erkens stepped into the room. My mind was in full decoder mode, so I wasn’t in the right frame of mind for conversation. I needed to talk to Quinn’s brother. That was all there was to it.

  Was there a code in the ‘give my love to mom’ message or was she saying that she understood I was in Philadelphia? My mom was not the kind of person you ‘gave love’ to, so that was obviously . . . something. What, though?

  Gah. Maybe she had gone with a more sophisticated code. Maybe I needed to look at the words she had spoken. Or maybe I was overthinking things.

  I would indeed talk to Dawson Turner and after that, I would form a more cohesive plan. What I really needed was to be back in Pittsburgh where I could go and talk to him face to face.

  Erkens blinked, his brow furrowed as he looked at me. “What’s going on?” he asked in his cop voice, the tone cutting through the sludge in my mind.

  “Quinn called. I need to get back to Pittsburgh ASAP,” I said, my hands shaky as I continued to fiddle with my phone.

  “What happened?”

  “They’re watching her. I need to talk to her brother.”

  “I didn’t realize she had a brother.”

  I nodded. “Uh, yeah. I found out about him last night.”

  He furrowed his brows. “This was when you weren’t sleeping, I take it,” he accused, going on before I could explain. “If talking to this guy is going to help you figure out where she is, that’s fine by me. Spencer can come back tomorrow and figure out what’s haunted,” he said, that new compassion of his back in place.

  I wasn’t sure what to do with Erkens’ in understanding mode. He had always been kind to me but never like that. It was like he truly believed I was on the verge of losing it and was trying to help me keep my grip on sanity.

  It wasn’t an encouraging thought. It did encourage me, though. Erkens was family to me just as much as Quinn was. It looked like he felt the same way about me.

  I gave him a nod of thanks and turned to walk back into the room where Dorothy still sat with her food. Guilt filled me at the sight of Dorothy. She had hired Erkens to help her and I was putting the troubles in my own life ahead of hers.

  She dabbed her mouth with a cloth napkin and smiled. “I take it you two are leaving,” she said, her lips quivering at the edges as her eyes unconsciously flicked around. She was scared.

  “Dorothy, why don’t you come back to Pittsburgh with us? There are a lot of beautiful places you could stay. You could consider it a vacation,” I suggested, liking the idea of getting her out of the house.

  She stared at me for a few seconds as she thought the idea over. “I can’t, Madison. I don’t like being away from my treasures.” She looked around the house and shook her head. “I have lived in this house for sixty-eight years. I came here as a bride. I’ve miscarried four babies here. This is the place where my Leopold died. This is the only place I want to be no matter what.”

  I glanced at Erkens and my heart sank. I couldn’t leave her alone. Whatever was going on, she had hired us because she’d been afraid. I would not leave her with her fear.

  I nodded to Erkens. “I’m going to stay too. I have Dawson’s number. I can call him and do my searching in my usual way.”

>   He didn’t appear to like the idea but he didn’t argue. What he did was look at his watch. “I need to head out. I want you to keep me posted and if anything supernatural shows up, you shoot first and ask questions later,” he ordered, motioning for me to walk with him to his truck.

  Dorothy got to her feet with her hands held out. “Tiberius, it was very kind of you to come and I look forward to seeing you again soon.”

  Erkens reluctantly laid his hands in hers. “No problem,” he answered, pulling back as fast as he could.

  With fleet feet, he rushed out of the house. I followed him, no longer suppressing my laughter. It was too funny not to savor his discomfort.

  My body relaxed as we got out into the clean, fresh air. The scents of flowers and grass along with the warmth of the sun on my skin made some of my anxiety ease. I tipped my head back and smiled. It was almost as nice a feeling as sitting down in front of my computer would be.

  I shrugged off as much of my anxiety as possible and got my bag, as well as the protections duffel, out of the backseat. I had brought along a change of clothes for my stay with Mom. It worked out well for my new plan. All I had to do was let her know I wasn’t coming. That sounded as fun as a creeper virus in my brain.

  I inclined my head at Erkens as he gave me one of his bulldog looks. “I’m going to check out the museum area tonight and I’ll probably burn some sage just to help Dorothy relax,” I said, wanting to get to work so I could start looking for Quinn.

  He folded his arms and humphed. “You don’t need to stay here, Madison.”

  I shrugged. “I do need to, Erkens. Dorothy asked for help. I can’t ignore that and obviously, you can’t either since we came.”

  He rolled his eyes at me, his mouth set in a wry smirk. “I came because Leopold Otto was the first person who hired me after I started investigating. I am the reason Dorothy has the Atlantis Ring. Leopold always got a bad feeling off her collection but she thought he was being superstitious, so kept collecting. He was a good man and I respected him.” He glanced at the house and his grin turned down. “I don’t like the idea of leaving you alone here.”